Kaja winced, tipping her coffee cup at me in acknowledgment. “Right.” She walked over to my suitcase and flipped it open. “Where are your uniforms? I have an idea, but you need to get ready for class.”

I shrugged. “Never got any. Hey, when I opened the door, you said, ‘It’s you.’ Please don’t tell me everyone is talking about the mate marks.”

Bad enough being the new girl, a year early, banished clan…

Kaja winced, and I had my answer.

“EVERYONE is talking about it. Blue girl and her black wolf, fated mates. They had to break up the party… ” Kaja pressed her lips together. “Didn’t I tell you that everyone is talking about it already?”

Frick. This wasn’t happening. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Come on. I’ve got an idea—or two.” Kaja pulled me out of my filthy dorm and across the courtyard into her castle-like house. As we approached the west wing, I could hear her sisters bickering in the kitchen.

“Nell!” Kaja shouted.

Nell popped her head into the hallway and, upon seeing me, grinned. “Hey there, Cinderella, that was some heavy petting last night with your prince. Have fun?”

Kaja shoved my ring finger into her face. “The dude never revealed his identity. Total asswipe. He knocked her out and left. Can you hide this before first period?”

Nell’s mouth popped open. “Holy crap. Mate marks? I thought that was a rumor. Figured Fiona was joking when she said she saw them last night on your hand. Well, not yours but Blue Girl.”

“Can you hide them?” Kaja repeated while I sank into my own mortification.

Hide them? I rolled the idea around in my head, frowning. Yes … that would be ideal. Mate marks were usually worn with pride, but all that was assuming one knew who their freaking mate was and it wasn’t forbidden! “Yes, please. Hide them.”

The last thing I needed was more rumors. No, the last thing I needed was getting kicked out of school before I mastered my elements, but the rumors would seriously suck.

Nell’s twin, Rue, peeked her head around the corner. She was the quiet one who didn’t attend last night. Smart girl. “He’s probably hiding his too. Scandalous.”

“Rue!” Nell snapped as her sister shrugged and disappeared back into the kitchen where I heard Fiona and Mele, the eldest Harvest girls, all gossiping.

Great, now all the Harvest girls knew my secret.

“Yeah, I can hide them, but my magic is only strong enough to conceal them for a day. You’ll need to come by every morning so I can repeat the spell.”

Relief poured through me, and my shoulders dropped.

Yes. This was good.

Maybe I could just forget this mate thing ever happened. Clearly, he didn’t want it—not to mention the fact that it was super freaking illegal and against pack law.

Nell held her hand over mine, and a cool blue light covered my ring finger. A moment later, all traces of the mark were gone.

That was easier than I expected and made me long to be as far along in my studies as Nell.

Kaja looked at Nell and then behind, through the doorway at Rue and the other sisters, “We don’t know who Blue Girl was last night, got it? And we certainly haven’t seen any mate marks. The mage wine was cray-cray.”

All three redheaded girls poked their faces out through the kitchen doorway and nodded.

Fiona, the eldest, winked. “Hoes before bros. We got it.”

They disappeared back into the kitchen, and I faced Nell. Her Harvest moon mark on her forehead was three-quarters full, and for a small second, I wished I’d been in another clan. Not because I didn’t like being Crescent, but I longed to have sisters—or any siblings for that matter.

She looked … sad for me.

“I’m … I’m sorry, Nai.” Her voice cracked, which caused my throat to tighten. Meeting your mate and then having them taken from you was about the worst feeling in the world.

“Come on, you can have a couple of my uniforms. I’ve got a dozen.” Kaja pulled me away, and I thanked the Mother Mage I’d met such a loyal friend.

I had no school schedule, no uniform, no books, and no money. What the hell was my father thinking when he allowed me to come here?

Kaja had shown me where the headmistress’s office was and then had to leave for her own studies.

After hounding the secretary for five minutes, which felt like an eternity of explaining how I didn’t have a schedule or uniforms, she allowed me to speak to the headmistress.

“Come in,” the woman’s soft trill came from behind the large oak door.

I gulped. Pulling the doors wide, I stepped into a relatively small office: bookshelves stretched from ceiling to floor, filled with tomes and knickknacks—crystals and multiple different colored stones in green, blue, purple, and yellow—sculptures in dark wood; a golden candelabra; and a large white bowl. I could lose myself in here for days.

“Nai!” Headmistress Elaine, AKA Midnight Princes’ mom, AKA the freaking king’s wife, pushed away from the large mahogany desk. Her green eyes lit up when she smiled. This was the same woman who’d given birth to Rage and Justice? She seemed too cheery for that.

“I was just going to look for you.” She had a piece of paper in her hand. She smiled, and I just stared at her awkwardly. “I was supposed to have dropped this off at your dorm early this morning, but I’ve never had a student with two affinities before, so it took some working out to get you a proper schedule.”

Relief poured through me, and I returned her smile as I took the schedule.

I finally found my voice: “Thank you.”

Her smile deepened. “I believe you met my sons yesterday.”

That was the understatement of the century.

When she nodded, my thoughts bounced to Rage’s foul temper, and I muttered, “Yeah, I did. They’re … nice … boys.”

Yep. I totally lied, and she laughed, deep and heartily.

“Rage and Justice will grow on you.” She made the statement as if she didn’t believe my “nice boys” comment extended to them, and she followed it up with a wink. “Sorry about the summons mix up. The king is quite upset with whoever pulled that prank.”

Hmm. Yesterday he’d called for the prankster’s head. But maybe his perspective had changed. Relief washed through me. If she thought it was just a prank, then maybe nothing more sinister was going on like I’d originally thought.

“No worries…” I didn’t expect her to be so cool and nice. She was probably a big part of how Noble and Honor got their personalities.

I glanced down at the paper, and the smile slid from my face.

Naima, Crescent Clan Heir:

7:00-8:00 a.m.: Work the coffee cart, east side of campus

8:05-11:00 a.m.: Fire Element studies with Master Carn

11:05-12:00 p.m.: Serve lunch in dining hall

12:05-3:00 p.m.: Water Element Studies with Master Jin

3:05-5:00 p.m.: Alpha Studies Main Gym

5:05-6:00 p.m.: Serve Dinner in dining hall

“Coffee cart?” I gulped and reached up to scratch my neck.

The headmistress winced, bringing her shoulders up, her discomfiture shrinking her posture nearly half a foot. Shaking her head, she said, “All of the clans pay an Alpha Island tax, which covers tuition for their heirs, along with books, maintenance of the dorms, and uniforms and such. Your father and Crescent Clan don’t pay, so you’ll have to earn your way here. I’m so sorry.”