"You shift, you lose." I warn.

As a member of the Student Counsel, I have to get to know my audience and there's no better way to do that then by doing what I know.

Which starts with me currently facing off with a very pissed off looking pseudo Beta. His blood reeks of status.

I issued the challenge to Eric in anger but luckily he denied me with a calm mind. We all know he'd crush me but no one knows just how bad it'd be. I can't even get a read on how strong the Student Counsel Alpha actually is and that unnerves me slightly.

The male who did take up my challenge is named River. He laughed when I suggested we do this in front of his peers, now's his regretting his overinflated confidence. I can see it in his posture. In his eyes.

I can taste his nervousness on my tongue.

The vibrations of the crowd reach my ears but I refuse to listen enough to the sounds they make. I don't need them to distract me.

I'm using this fight to make an indefinite impression on the majority of wolves watching.

"Fight clean. As she said, no shifting." Eric thunders from his seat before settling in.

Most of the other student members are here for the show, but something is telling me that this has become my first test. I'm not exactly sure what's being measured though.
The lot of them sit in posh seats right next to the field like aristocracy. Their authority, the power they exude, creates a safe bubble between them and the rest of the crowd that's almost visible.

How did I not notice it before?

I ignore Eric and take off my shirt. The crowd 'oohs' but I ignore them too. Wolves may be used to nudity but females don't just take off their shirts during the middle of the day.

"A tid-bit for the wise. When fighting a beast, you will need a full rage of motion. Shirts, no matter how loose, will restrain you. Your skin may be open but what's a couple of scratches to those with claws?" I instruct aloud.

I'm not dumb enough to think that the crowd actually came for fighting lessons but I'm most comfortable when instructing, so that's what I plan on doing here until I can leave. It's also easier to gauge where a pack is the weakest and where it's the strongest.

"Or maybe you just want to distract me with your tiny tits." River snidely adds in while taking off his own shirt. He may not like me but already he's following my instructions.

The crowd roars with laughter.

Eric nods his head for us to start and immediately my fist is kissing River's throat while he's smiling at someone over his shoulder.

River bends over chocking but I don't step back out of his space, I'm not done with him yet.
I grab his long dark hair and bring up his face to meet mine. I could kiss him with the little space between us, I can also smell mint on his breath.

"I don't care about rank, gender, or body type. All I care about is respect." I amplify my voice so that no one can miss my next words. River flinches in my grip but I want his ears to ring with my sound.

"Your lesson for today is this, don't talk shit if you can't take the hit."

River's golden eyes widen as he realizes what I'm about to do. He flinches back but my grip on his hair has him locked in place. The punch to his jaw is swift and clean. I add enough force to knock him out but not enough to break his jaw.

I let go of his hair and the over 6' feet tall male collapses at my feet.

Silence reigns over the entire field so I use it to further my objective.

"If you don't know already, my name is Bex and I'm the current interim female werewolf on the Student Counsel. Most of you don't know my younger brother Micheal but I was an instructor at his pack before coming here. We are small but our warriors are fierce. I'll teach anyone willing to learn but arrogance won't be tolerated." With my final words, I grab my shirt and shrug it back on.

My movements instantly break the spell that seemed to fall over the crowd and it gets very noisy very fast. I hear comments ranging from my unexpected first day to how I look, all of which I ignore as I make my way back to my room. Wolves love gossip.

No one on the Student Counsel says a thing so I keep my head held high as I walk.

A female werewolf pops up next to me and I give her a bland look of introduction.

"Are you going to run with us tonight?" She asks.

My arm muscle spasms but I cover the move by loosening my hair from my hair tie.

"No." The word is final and gives no invitation for more questions. She falls back with shock but I give it no attention.

My mood is ruined now that I remember what tonight is. Just for a second I felt like a true were. Respected by my kind in full.

Walking up to the apartments, I see a bright yellow umbrella and immediately know who it belongs to. The fact that she's covered in heavy yet brightly colored fabrics only confirms it.

"Well done wolfie! You certainly know how to stake your claim." Verena chirps. She even lowers her dark sunglasses to show me the dark pleasure in her eyes.

Vampires are less susceptible to the sun on the isle but they still have to be cautious or they could get a downright gruesome sunburn. With her eye sight, there's no need for her to walk all the way there to see what happened. I'm surprised she even bothered to leave the building.

"I wasn't staking any claim. Think of it more as me introducing myself." I respond walking past her with a shrug.

A hand on my arm stops me and I look at the heavily covered vampire.

"Let's do lunch. You can't introduce yourself like that and then hide in your room for the rest of the day. It just isn't done." She tsk's.

I again shrug at her suggestion but make it known that, "I wasn't planning on hiding out."

Verena of course ignores me as we make our way to the lunch hall. The area was structured after what humans refer to as a food court.

My father took us once many moons ago when he had a meeting with some human company. I found the place loud and annoying.

I still do apparently.

Everywhere I look, there is some creature either screaming or eating. The many auras, not to mention general heavy cover of emotions, frazzle my nerves and cause an overload. Instead of screaming, I shut down to handle myself.

Dulling my senses, I notice that Verena has been guiding me through the chaos without making it obvious.

She notices almost immediately when I'm finally in control again and let's me go. With her hands now free, she takes off her layers and randomly sets them down on tables as we continue walking. Our destination is clear when we stop in front of one of the stalls.

"Now, now. What shall I have today?" Verena contemplates as she stands in front of a blood distributor.

The vampire cashier looks bored until she looks up at Verena. Although she looks young enough to be a teenager, my senses are telling me that she's decades older than me.

"You're Verena! I've heard so much about you. Is it true you've had fae blood before?"

The girl keeps talking but I can tell that Verena isn't listening.

"Surprise me." Is her only response.

The vampire looks confused for a millisecond before frowning at being ignored. She grabs a cup and presses it against a nozzle until it's full.

Verena does some happy tip toeing over to her, pays, and then comes over to me with her back to the girl.

I decide not to feel anything for the vamp and look around for something I might want.

The smell of frying red meat catches my nose and I follow it until I'm standing in front of a blood red stall called the, "Butcher's Best."

Verena must've read the sign when I did because I hear her say, "how apt", from behind me.

The stall is filled with hanging chunks of meat.

I look at the young cashier and demand to have whatever I was smelling.

The shifter promptly charges me and hands me a plate of hot of the grill rabbit chunks. I throw a piece in my mouth immediately.

The heat burns but the fat melts on my tongue. I chew through the meat and it parts for my teeth with no resistance. I groan low in my throat just as I bump into someone.

'Enjoying your food puppy eyes?'

'Absolutely. But don't let me stop you from enjoying the flower juice and twigs that you eat Will.' Is my snappy response as I walk around him, my mouth full and chewing.

I hear him laughing softly but he doesn't bother to
reply.

Verena finds a table closest to the rear exit for us to sit at. Not even five minutes pass and Robert walks up wanting to speak to her alone.

I settle down in my seat refusing to move but neither vampire seems to notice as they move in sync away from the table. They settle right next to the exit and speak low which is easily covered by the noise of the other supernaturals.

The conversation starts off tame until Rob starts moving his hands as Verena amusingly shakes her head no.

Suddenly he stops moving and tilts his head to to look up at the ceiling. His next words have Verena stiffening up.

"You what!?" Her rage and confusion dig in deep into my bones. Anchoring themselves in so I can't shake them off. I'm starting to understand that powerful creatures feel emotions not just mentally, but physically. Meaning that my mental barriers are useless in times like this.

So now I need to figure out how to block the physical.

The entire food court silences but immediately picks back up with prompting from various Student Counsel members. I pay no attention after that, my focus only on the vampire besties.

Since I've known the Verena, I've been wondering about all the stories I've heard about her. None of them seemed true from her calm yet still slightly off demeanor.

Now though? I'm surprised I haven't heard more.

Her presence fills the room like none other. If I were into betting, I'd say her eyes were nearly black with blood filling her iris'. I've only read about it from books and since her back is to me, I can't see it in person.

"Are you stupid?" She thunders out, voice thick with rage. Barely anyone stops this time now that the Student Counsel members are still making rounds.

Robert speaks fast with his hands up in peace but Verena doesn't let up from the waves of anger she's giving off.

He doesn't look fazed but Rob's calm only lasts so long before the two disappear out of the exit. Most likely so that they can yell at each other without an audience.

I sigh in relief as Verena's emotions disappears with her and finish my food.

Just as I begin to pack up to leave, Verena reappears alone. She grabs my tray and throws our trash away. Luckily she had the mind to take her blood when she spoke to Robert because it would've been gross and cold by now.

She sits downy heavily in the chair across from me and hisses.

"Tonight, you and I are babysitting a witch."