Minuk sits at his desk, trying to make his way through a mound of paperwork when his brother walks in. Ahmik plops himself down in the seat across from him. "You sent for me?" he asks laconically.

Minuk finishes reading the document he holds in his hands before looking up and pinning his little brother with a scrutinizing gaze. "Did you reach out to our guests like I asked you to?"

"Yeah, I did," Ahmik replies. "I ran into them on the way to the meeting this morning." He looks down and tugs at a loose string hanging from his flannel shirt. "There were only two of them, though," he says, "the vampire and the wizard. I invited them both to the Hanwi Eman'yatta tonight. And I assume they'll bring the bear-shifter too." He shrugs.

Minuk's lips dip into a frustrated scowl.

"I asked you to spend time with them, Ahmik. Get to know them. Befriend them. Not take them to a fight fest!" His eyes narrow. "What were you thinking?!"

Ahmik sits up defensively.

"Hey! You said show them a good time! It's the biggest party of the year, at least for those of us not ready for the old folks' home."

Minuk shakes his head woefully. "Is there no one I can delegate a simple task to?"

Ahmik frowns then mumbles, "Well, it doesn't matter anyway..."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Minuk asks.

"They're gone."

"Who's gone?" Minuk continues to interrogate his brother.

"The Otherworlders from the Academy," Ahmik tells him. "I went by their tent to tell them how to get to the bonfire and no one was there. All of their stuff was gone too."

Minuk slaps his hands on the desk.

"Damn it!"

Ahmik is confused and asks, "What?"

Minuk clenches his teeth and seethes, having missed his golden opportunity.

"Get out..."

Baffled by his brother's behavior, Ahmik slowly stands.

"But...what did I do?"

Minuk points to the door and shouts, "I said, out!"

Minuk leans back in his chair and mumbles, "Damn it! Now, I have to make that call..."

***

Back at the Academy, Master Achebe stands at the head of the classroom, waiting for Jake to answer.

Jake scrunches his face up in concentration and says, "I think it was the First Shadow War and the treaty was initiated in 1927 by the Vampyrs in Cairo." Jake cracks a big grin, quite proud of his answer.

Master Achebe groans in frustration. "No, Jake, it was the Second  Shadow War, and it was the Reykjavik Treaty, initiated by the Enchanted Chancellor, Elgar Ingólfsson. The treaty was signed ten days after the Paris Peace Treaties, which ended the Human's Second World War, which means that it was in 1947, not 1927." Master Achebe, bends his head and pinches the bridge of his nose, then after a moment, looks up.

He sets his notes aside and fixes his gaze intently on the class. "Except for the girls," he observes, "the rest of you got all of your answers wrong today." He draws in a fortifying breath. "I know I'm going to regret this," Master Achebe grumbles, "but who here actually read  the assignment?"

Only three people raise their hands: Inez, Fiona, and Ava. Master Achebe rolls his eyes and expels a weary sigh. "Look, guys, it's vitally important that you know and understand Otherworlder history from all sides, okay? You see, for too long, we've been taught an extremely skewed version of history, each from our own cultural perspective. But we can't do that anymore. And as the heads of this school, we certainly can't send you out into these Otherworlder communities ignorant of our shared history and slaves to your own racial biases. As teachers, that would not only be short-sighted of us, it would be dangerous."

Sebastian raises his hand.

"Yes," Master Achebe says, with the tiniest glint of hope that his speech might have inspired the boys to be more engaged with the class.

"Don't they have CliffsNotes for these things?" Sebastian asks, without a hint of irony.

Master Achebe closes his eyes and facepalms, convinced he's fighting a losing battle. Exasperation doesn't even begin to describe his mental state right now. He lifts his head and slowly opens his eyes. "No, Sebastian," he says. "They don't have CliffsNotes for the entirety of Otherworlder history." He looks directly at the boys for emphasis, all of them seated next to each other in--of course--the back row. "And I'm glad they don't have cheat sheets for Otherworlder history because you need to get familiar with the original source material in order to get the proper context. Which means I expect all of you to have read both the chapter on the Reykjavik Treaty and the Peace Restoration Era and be ready for a verbal pop quiz tomorrow."

The boys collectively groan while the girls share satisfied smiles, knowing they now only have to read 15 more pages, while the boys will have to read 40 pages to catch up.

Master Achebe is about to say something else when he's cut short by the toll of the tower bell. He checks his watch. "Okay then, that's it for today. And remember, do your homework! I expect each one  of you to be a history expert by tomorrow's class."

Grabbing their books and backpacks, the kids spill out of the classroom, and head back to their dorm rooms.

***

Ava rushes to catch up with Jake in the hall. "Hey, you... how are you feeling?" she asks.

Jake ignores the pinch in his abdomen he feels with every step and says, "Great. I'm doing great."

Ava throws him a skeptical glance. "Seriously, Jake..."

"No, I am!" he argues vehemently.

Ava's eyes narrow. She knows he's lying. "Jake..." she says in a long, slow groan.

"Ava! I'm fine!" he snaps, then contrite, he blows out a breath and apologizes. He didn't mean to be so harsh. He just wanted to nip her maternal tendency to dote and hover in the bud as early as possible.

"Okay, okay," Ava holds up her hands and relents. "I just ask because I saw you wincing in class today... several times, in fact. And I just wanted to make sure you're not pushing yourself too hard--make sure you're following your doctor's orders."

"I am." Jake's shoulders suddenly relax, and he raises his hand as if taking an oath. "I promise," he says with a widening smile.

"Good." Ava nods adamantly, then asks, "So, does this mean that you're okay to workout?"

"Yep!" Jake says. "The doc said as long as I focus on stretching and don't do any weights, I can start up again any time I want."

"What about shifting?" Ava asks.

"Nope. No shifting until I'm totally healed," he admits.

"Gotcha," Ava says, satisfied.

They walk through the halls to the cafeteria where snacks are laid out neatly on a long table for the students to grab at any time.

Jake grabs a few sticks of beef jerky while Ava peruses the offerings, but ultimately abstains.

Then, they walk out into the cafeteria courtyard and sit side-by-side on the low brick wall that surrounds the huge Chinese Longan tree that serves as the centerpiece of the communal space.

Jake offers Ava a slim stick of jerky, but she holds up a hand and shakes her head.

Instead, she drums her fingers on the wall, and after a moment, casually asks, "It looks like Inez came by to see you quite often while you were in the infirmary, didn't she?" Ava slides Jake an inquiring glance.

Jake doesn't return her gaze, just chuckles. "Well, yeah, she did," he acknowledges. "Apparently, she believes in literature as therapy. But...," he shakes his head in disbelief. "You know how I am about books and reading and stuff. I don't normally have the patience for it; but I will say, under these circumstances, it was kinda nice."

"What was nice?" Ava asks with a tiny smirk. "Having someone read to you or having Inez read to you?"

Jake's head whips around, "Ava, don't! Don't go making this into something it's not," he cautions.

Ava spreads her hands innocently before her. "Hey! I was just asking."

"Mm-hmm." Jake scowls at her as he takes a big bite of his beef jerky. He grunts, making it infinitely clear he has no intention of answering her question.

"Okay, okay," Ava insists in response to his prolonged silence. "But I do have something else to ask you. Have you talked to Alana at all since you've been here?"

With a stick of jerky hanging out of his mouth, Jake stops, mid-chew. He tears a piece off, swallows it, and then turns to Ava. With a suspicious squint he asks, "What's with all the questions?"

Ava shrugs, as if she didn't have an ulterior motive. "I don't know. It's just that every time I came by the infirmary, you were kind of out of it. So, we haven't talked in awhile, and I'm just curious... and concerned," she adds.

"Concerned about what?" Jake asks, sensing he might know where she's headed with her line of questioning.

"I'm concerned about someone getting hurt," she replies.

Jake stares at her for a long moment, then insists, "Nothing is going on between me and Inez, if that's what you're getting at, which means no one's getting hurt." He turns his head and looks out towards the training fields.

"But what about Alana?" Ava persists, her gaze fixed firmly on him. "What's going on between you two?"

After a beat, Jake lets out a slow breath. He rakes his fingers through his hair as his gaze shifts to the forest that surrounds the training fields, pretending that he's looking for something, but really just trying to dodge Ava's gaze. "I'm not sure," he admits. "We're just..." he shrugs. "I guess we're just giving each other some space," he finishes quietly.

"But, you have  talked to her since you've been here, right?" Ava presses him.

"I sent her a text once to ask if she could check in on my aunt and nieces," Jake replies.

"That's it?!" Ava's eyebrows rise in shock and disbelief.

"Why?" Jake can't help but feel defensive. "What else am I supposed to do?" He squints hard. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?"

"It's not about what I want, Jake!" Ava protests gently as she lays a careful hand on her chest. "It's about what you want. It's about what Alana wants." She tilts her head, considering him carefully. "Honestly, with the way you two were carrying on before we left, I could have sworn you would have claimed each other by now."

Jake remains silent for a long time, his mouth pursed, his face glum. The conversation has grown a bit too intimate for his liking, even though he and Ava are old and close friends, and he somehow ends up telling her just about everything anyway.

Ava breaks the silence. "So, after all this time, you don't believe that she's your Mate?" she asks, a note of concern in her voice.

Jake squirms awkwardly as he finds himself increasingly eager to escape the conversation. But after a beat, he relents with a heavy sigh. "How the hell do I know?" he says, his voice low and mournful. "I'm seventeen. I don't have to worry about finding a Mate for another two years. Honestly, I'm not in any rush," he confides.

"Sure," Ava concedes to him. "But Alana will be nineteen in a few months, and she can very clearly hear the clock ticking and the door shutting on her chances of forming a pair bond."

"Yeah, well. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that. Seriously?" he throws up his hands in frustration. "What idiot came up with the custom that you have to find a Mate by the age of nineteen?!"

"I don't know." Ava shakes her head in sympathy. "It's a stupid custom, but..." She shrugs. "That's how it is. It's how it's been for centuries." After a moment, she bites her bottom lip and slides Jake another glance, "So... I guess this means you two didn't sleep together after all, huh?"

"Ava!" Jake cries, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Oh, c'mon, Jake." Ava leans back and laughs. "Alana keeps texting me, and I don't know what to say to her because I don't know where you two stand."

Jake lets out a muted grunt. Normally, he would have shut down this kind of conversation in a heartbeat. He didn't like talking about his love life. But Ava was one of the few people, besides Patrick, who he could ever possibly talk to about these sorts of things. And, confused about his feelings for Inez, the whole "Mate" thing had  been on his mind a lot lately.

Finally, he straightens and, responding rather blandly to Ava's question, says, "Yes, we slept together. And, no, we're not bonded yet," he admits. Then, he turns to her and cringes. "Actually, I might have left things a little too ambiguous with her before we left."

"Oh, Jake!" Ava throws her hands up in the air. "You didn't!"

"I didn't mean to!" He pushes back, raising his hands up to his shoulders in an unassuming shrug. "I didn't have the heart to break things off with her completely. So, instead, we agreed to take a break."

"Ooooh..." Ava grimaces hard, as if sucking on an unripe lemon. "Breaks are never good," she says.

"Yeah, well... I didn't think I had a choice." Jake pulls the napkin he'd grabbed with the beef jerky out of his pocket and wipes his hands. Then, he attempts to toss the crumpled napkin into the trash can sitting twenty feet away from them, but misses.

When he doesn't move to pick it up and dispose of it properly, Ava gives him a chastising glare, like a beleaguered mom, weary of constantly having to reinforce good behavior in her wily child.

Jake clears his throat and without another word, jogs over, scoops up the napkin, and drops it neatly into the trash.

Having made "mom" proud, he returns to his place by her side.

After a short but comfortable silence passes between them, Jake makes a confession. "Ultimately, the problem is," he says, "I really do like Alana. Like, a lot. Honestly, for the longest time, she was the only girl I could ever see myself settling down with."

Ava tilts her head and scrutinizes Jake more closely. "Was?" she asks. "What do you mean by 'was'? That's past tense. Kinda like you no longer believe that she could be the only one."

Jake slides Ava the side-eye, letting her know she's now venturing into dangerous territory. She has a way of slipping past his defenses so she can dig a bit more deeply into his psyche, and he really doesn't like it.

Tired of relationship talk, Jake stretches, then makes a suggestion, "Look," he says, "let's make a deal. You don't ask me about Alana--or about Inez--and I won't ask you about Farid."

"What?!" Ava stiffens, feigning shock, as if this insinuation came entirely out of the blue. "What do you mean?" she shoots back incredulously. "Farid and I are just friends. I mean, it just so happens that we have a lot in common, but that doesn't mean there's anything more going on between us."

"Mmm...hmm..." Jake hums, unconvinced.

"Jake," Ava pleads, mounting her defense. "There's nothing wrong with getting to know a fellow student better. That's one of the reasons we're here."

"Oh, of course not." Jake shakes his head slowly. "Nothing wrong with it at all... in theory," he adds. "But you, of all people, know that you've got to be careful." His focused gaze on her intensifies. "Whether you like it or not, Ava, you're the next Fenikkusu and, given your role in the tribe and the expectations for your future, getting too close to Farid means you're playing with fire." He chuckles apologetically. "No pun intended."

Ava gives him a censuring glare, then leans back, thrusts her arms in the air, and shakes her fists at the heavens. "Ugh!" She grunts in frustration. "I'm so frickin' sick of this!" She huffs out a breath, then says, "I just want to be a girl, you know? A regular seventeen-year-old girl. I never asked to be the Chosen One. I never wanted this honor... or this responsibility." She looks at Jake, "I don't want to have to lead a life of devout service and celibacy. I mean, seriously..." she shrugs like the world's gone crazy, "...who does?"

Jake throws her a sympathetic side-glance.

"It's so unfair," she moans. "This isn't something I ever wanted and I'd give it up in a nanosecond to be a different kind of Shifter."

"Really?" Jake questions.

"Yes, really!" Ava asserts.

Jake's face crinkles with disbelief. "But what if you come back as a Toad Shifter, or a Roach Shifter, or a... oh, oh, I know, as a Slug Shifter?!" He smiles wickedly. "'Cause I know how much you loooove  slugs."

"Even a snot-bug slug!" Ava declares, using the name she used to call slugs when the boys in her tribe would chase her around the pond in the middle of their compound, holding them up and shoving them in her face, just to freak her out.

Jake chuckles at this, then side-bumps her--shoulder to shoulder--in solidarity. "Look, I get it," he says. "It's definitely a great honor. But it also... well, kinda sucks."

"Exactly!" Ava laughs, appreciating his empathy. "Big time!!"

Jake gives her a warm smile. "Who knows? Maybe we can find a way to hook you up with the Dalai Lama. And then you can facetime with him so he can give you advice on how to be seventeen and  the spiritual embodiment of all things good and light."

Ava belts out a laugh. "Oh, now that's a brilliant idea!" She laughs even harder as she pictures the conference call in her head. She crosses her arms over her aching stomach, leans back and adds, "You get right on that one, Jake. Stat!"

**********

A/N - Well, that was a chunky chapter, but OMG I had so much fun writing the conversation between Ava and Jake! She sure knows how to work her boys, doesn't she? 😁

Also, just so you know, I'm publishing more character and story art on my Instagram. They'll eventually make their way here or on a centralized site, but if you want to check them out, make sure you're following me.

https://www.instagram.com/paulapdx.writer/

Until next week! 🥰

~ Paula

P.S. - Let me know if you spot any mistakes. I don't feel like I've caught them all, and additional eyes looking on that would be great! Thanks!