Initiation (Wolf Blood Academy Book 1) by RaShelle Workman (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

As I fumed, a heavy rustling sounded from behind the lupangus. Faster than I believed possible, hundreds of thick green vines slithered out of the forest and covered the monster. In seconds it looked like one of the ridiculous bushes on the lawn outside the Academy. The ones that the gardeners cut into different animal shapes.

Another few seconds and the vines retreated back into the Shade, taking the lupangus with it.

I glanced down at the pool of blood mingled with mud at my feet, surprised by the sorrow in my chest.

“Get Sundance to the Academy infirmary,” my dad shouted, jogging over to our group.

I clenched my teeth together, desperate to force down the guttural growl in my throat. Going after my father now would be a death sentence, especially since our kill solidified our status as part of the elite Shade Keepers. My pack would now be required to meld into my father’s. Even as I thought it, there was a pull. A need to submit, but I wasn’t ready.

Neither was my wolf. I bared my teeth at the man I called Father.

He tilted his head to one side, studying me as an eerily calm menace came over him. It seemed to push the feeling out and over me. It was his Alpha influence, and he had every right to claim me. One would’ve thought that because he was my father, that automatically made me part of his pack. Maybe in other families. Not mine.

My father was Alpha over the Wildwood sector of the Shade Keepers—kind of like their general. In both his human and wolf forms, he was feared by nearly all who knew him. One side of his lips rose into a smile or a snarl, and I knew I should be afraid too, but I wasn’t. “After you get Sundance to the infirmary, come by my office. I have your first mission.”

Was there a gleam of pride in his eyes? Did he appreciate my fury? He obviously wasn’t going to deny what he’d done to the monster.

Veins of lightning flashed across the sky as we stared each other down. Thunder followed closely after.

“How dare you?” I demanded, but it came out garbled.

My father’s eyes narrowed as though he understood. “You wanted in. You’re in, son. Welcome to the club.” Without waiting for my response, he turned on his heel, shifted into an enormous chocolate brown wolf with a white collar, and left, catching up with the soldiers who’d come with him. Before they vanished from sight, he howled.

The rest of my pack joined in, but I remained silent. My band of brothers were more accepting of the way of the wolf. Me, well, I was compliant, except when it came to my father. I couldn’t forgive him for what he had done tonight and my whole life.

The secrets I could tell…

Don’t be late. My father’s words cut through my irritation.

I won’t. Sadly, in this instance, I didn’t have a choice. For my wolves, I agreed to become a Shade Keeper. I already regretted it.

Have you ever wished you’d never been born? That feeling twisted in my guts.

Why aren’t you more excited? Logan asked when it was apparent my father was out of our heads. We’ve been talking about this moment for months. We’re finally in.

The monster was incapacitated. It wasn’t even a fight, I snapped, heading over to Butch and Sundance. Nick was there, waiting. He kept sniffing Sundance, and I hoped the monster’s venom hadn’t done more than paralyze him.

Butch, Nick, and Logan got Sundance draped over my back, and I started for the Academy without a word.

What’s got his panties in a bunch? Nick asked.

Damned if I know, Logan responded.

Crazy to think that monster’s blood flows through our veins, Butch said.

Probably not specifically that one, Nick added.

Don’t be stupid, Logan snapped. 

I’m just saying, Butch went on. We could be related. 

That was a possibility. As wolf bloods, we were different than the regular, non-magical wolves that sometimes roamed the Shade. For wolf bloods, the supernatural part of our DNA came from the monsters of the Shade Rasa. But was it that one in particular? Probably not.

It still blew my mind that I could shift, and I’d been doing it for years. Plus, I was beyond strong, fast, healed quickly, and basically immortal. All because of the mysterious monsters of the Shade. We were born looking human, the same as other babies, and stayed like that until a blood ceremony woke the supernatural wolf part of us.

We reached the Academy grounds and didn’t stop until we were behind the academy and at the infirmary. It was connected to the school, but had its own entrance for times like these.

Get the door, Nick. 

Got it, Nick said and shifted back to his human form.

The rain hadn’t slowed. I was drenched and mentally exhausted, and I still had to speak with my father. The man made me irrational. He always had.

The rest of the guys shifted too, but I stayed in my wolf form to carry in Sundance.

“Get him on the bed over here,” Dr. Nonna, the school’s primary physician, said before she shooed the rest of us behind one of the curtains to get dressed. In the enormous facility of the Wolf Blood Academy, injuries happened regularly. Dr. Nonna saw naked daily, but that didn’t mean she liked it. Which was why she kept dozens of pairs of sweats on hand. When we shifted into our wolves, our clothes were torn to bits. Changing back to our human bodies meant we were as stark naked as the day we came into the world.

I padded over to the bed Dr. Nonna pointed to, leaving a trail of water in my wake.

The doctor clucked her tongue at the mess. “What happened?” she asked once she hefted him onto the bed.

Did I mention wolves were strong?

Sundance was still in his wolf form. I guessed the venom paralyzed even his ability to change. He looked like a taxidermized shell of his former self—his eyes