A King's Weakness (Book 1)

Chapter 21

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I FIND MYSELF FALLING INTO A ROUTINE. There is no constant motion here; I don't jump from place to place, person to person, until I fall into bed at night.

I've always spent time either exploring, fighting, or trying my hand at new activities. But now, I seem to have somehow developed a pattern, which disturbs me to no end. School, lunch with the shifters, practicing my unruly magic with Kage—repeat. The monotony makes me inexplicably jumpy, though I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that my life has never been routine.

Ryder seems to be under the impression that a single drunken kiss, paired with a sober one, makes me his. I have experienced my fair share of kisses, but I haven't yet encountered a guy that just assumed we were together.

Strangely enough, I don't correct him. I've never done this—the handholding, walking to class together, kisses stolen in the hallway. It feels foreign and completely unnatural, but I haven't ever been one to back down from a challenge or a new experience. And this, whatever it is, is most definitely the latest challenge in my life.

During the day, I half expect Lyra to jump me whenever I turn a corner, but I see very little of her, and when I do see her, she acts like I don't exist. A significant improvement, if you ask me.

The oddest part of my time at school, however, is that the pack has seemed to accept me as one of their own. Smiles are exchanged in passing, homework copied, food shared. Ryder pulls me into a surprise kiss anytime he sees me, which is more frequently than I thought.

And while school has now become...fun, my home life has begun to frustrate me. No matter what I try, my magic refuses to obey. It manifests in different ways, and I can't yet read the signs to predict what form it will take. I've seen ice so cold it instantly kills anything in its vicinity, fire that devours the earth nearby, lightning that crackles viciously from my fingertips. The one constant is that Kage repeatedly has to smother the magic with his shadows.

Neither of us are any closer to understanding the power that fills my veins, so I am careful to keep a tight leash on it. The last thing I want is to accidentally hurt someone—even a wolf that can magically heal itself.

As my eighteenth birthday grows closer, I notice that Jade seems to fold in on herself. She has always been submissive whenever other shifters are around, but now she is quiet with me, too. No longer does she have that bubbly, playful edge to her that calls to my own wildness. She stops sitting next to me at lunch, and seems to be avoiding me.

Yet, when I ask Ryder if I've done something to upset her, he just laughs it off. It is quickly becoming a puzzle that I can't solve, which irritates me beyond reason.

By the time my birthday actually arrives, the entire pack seems to be thrumming with excitement and underlying tension. This year it falls on a Saturday, which allows me to spend the afternoon with my uncle before meeting up with the wolves in the evening.

Kage and I celebrate as we always do: by picking some random activity to do, no questions asked. This year's entertainment is sponsored by liquid courage and adrenaline—AKA we get significantly intoxicated and then jump out of an airplane.

Apparently it is frowned upon to skydive while drunk, so we have to bribe our guides—thoroughly. Kage screams like a little girl the entire way down, whereas I keep mostly silent thanks to the fact that if I were to open my mouth, the vomit I'm trying to contain would certainly escape.

When we reach the ground in one piece, my uncle whips his head around to glare at me. "I am never doing that again."

I make the logical decision of forcing him to go twice more, which costs an ungodly amount of money. The second time down I do actually throw up, but it misses my guide so no harm, no foul.

The sun has begun to sink by the time we head home, a wild grin stuck to my face like it was superglued there.

Party time.