Blood Of The Marked

“Welcome to Lunar Magic 101,” Professor Lee said as she stood at the front of the classroom. “You may remember from the Sorting Ceremony that I am Professor Mindi Lee. And I know what you’re probably thinking: werewolves can do magic? Well, you can.” She glanced around the room. “Before I begin your lesson, I think it’s important to share a little about myself.

I have an interesting path to becoming a werewolf—one that I feel makes me best-suited to teach this course. Before I was a werewolf, I was a witch. I was bitten by a wolf, and the rest is history. Now I’m here to help you awaken your magical abilities.”

She sat on the desk and stared out at us.

“You might think that you won’t be capable of Lunar Magic, but you should know that you are fully capable of it. All werewolves are. Although we call this course Lunar Magic because your abilities will be the strongest during a full moon, you will be able to perform magic at any time once you get the hang of it. It’s all a matter of focusing your energy into the magic you want to create.” Professor Lee paused. “We are going to begin our first exercise with Levitation. I want you to all place an object on the desk in front of you—it can be anything, a pencil or your phone.”

I pulled a small notepad out of my backpack and placed it on the

desk.

“Now, I want you to forget about the world around you. Forget about your boyfriend or the fight you’re having with your best friend.”I took a deep breath and cleared my mind of Theo and the other Darken.

“Now, I want you to feel your energy, from the tips of your fingers and down to your toes. Feel the energy vibrating through you,” Professor Lee went on. “Inhale deeply, really allowing yourself to feel it.”

I inhaled and did exactly as she said. She was right. I really could feel it. It was like a tingling sensation as my energy radiated through me. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

“Now, I want you to focus all of your energy on lifting the object before you into the air. Whisper to yourself, ’Light as a feather, stiff as a board.’”I knew that saying from the human world. I had never really thought it was actually real. Maddie and I had tried it with some girls during one of my sleepovers once, and nothing had ever happened. Maybe because they weren’t werewolves.

Focusing my energy on the notepad, I whispered, “Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”Instantly, my notepad began to float. Actually, it did more than just float. It shot up about six feet above my desk.

“Perfect! Keep it in the air,” Professor Lee said as she walked closer to my desk. “Don’t let go of your energy and continue with the chant.”

“Light as a feather, stiff as a board.” I stared at the notepad, watching as it continued to lift higher and higher into the air. “Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”

The notepad just kept moving until it hit the ceiling and then bounced back down to the floor.

“Wow.” Professor Lee glanced over at me. Her almond-shaped eyes had gone really wide. “I’ve never had a student who was able to make something levitate so high during their first attempt. You are very special, Raven. I have a feeling we are going to awaken many powers within you. I’m very excited for the challenge.” She smiled and then began to walk around the room.

I glanced around at the other students. Some of them were levitating their objects a few feet above their desks, but some hadn’t even gotten their objects to move that far yet.

Was it possible that Professor Lee was right? Was I really that special?

Was I actually going to do better than I thought at Werewolf Academy?

—-

As I sat in the classroom for Werewolves and Dark Magic, Vince came strolling into the room and sat down in a seat next to me.

“Yay! We have another class together.”

I smiled at him. “I’m glad. I hate not knowing anyone.”

“Me, too.” He pulled his notebook out of his backpack and then glanced over at me. “So, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Is there something going on between you and the Darken?” I just stared back at him. “Is it that obvious to everyone?”

“I just heard some people talking in one of my classes. Everyone is claiming that you’re one of them.”

I just blinked. “One of them?”

Here, I had thought he’d been talking about my romantic involvement with Theo—if we could even call it that. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on between Theo and I, if anything.

No,there was definitely something going on between us. People didn’t just make out on kitchen counters or at solariums if there was nothing going on between them.

“Yeah, people seem to think that you’ve joined their pack,” Vince explained. “I just wondered if it was true.”

I snorted. “No, I didn’t join their pack. They didn’t even ask me to join their pack. I really wonder where people come up with this stuff.”

“I’m guessing it’s probably just because you seem really close to them.” He paused and then quickly added, “Not that I can blame you. Even I can see how gorgeous they all are. I’d be all over that.”I let out a little laugh. “So, you’re gay?”

Not that it really surprised me. He had sent my gaydar through the

roof.

“I’m bi. There’s actually no such thing as a gay werewolf, I’m afraid.

It’s in our nature to want to reproduce. It’s, like, a primal desire. So, even though I usually find myself drawn to guys at least ninety percent of the time, I do sometimes have the sudden urge to impregnate a girl the old- fashioned way. The rest of the time, the idea kind of weirds me out.” He shrugged.

“Do all werewolf guys have that urge to impregnate girls?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“As far as I know.”

“Hmm.” I wondered if Theo felt that way about me—not that I wanted to have his baby. Not yet, anyway. I was only about to turn eighteen. But I was still curious to know if it was something he wanted, and if it was, why wasn’t he trying to make it happen, instead of stopping and refusing to go any further with me?Our whole situation was so damn confusing.

“Werewolf guys are even more confusing than human guys,” I commented. “If that’s even possible.”

“Tell me about it,” Vince agreed with an eye roll. “So, anyway. I have to warn you. This class is going to be hell.”