I wanted to demand to see it in writing, but I knew better than to poke a wolf covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of his enemies.

My nostrils flared, but I swallowed my pride and choked out, “Understood. Also, your school sucks.”

Honor bumped Rage. “Don’t be a douche. She saved me from getting skewered.”

“Dude,” Noble added, snickering as he stepped up to join us, “she got to the singer before any of us could. Well done, Nai.”

Rage shook his head, glaring at his brother just as Evil Barbie stepped up next to him.

“Prince Courage!” she gushed. “That was so brave—oh, oh, what happened to your pants?”

I blinked, seeing the situation with new eyes. His crotch area was all wet with selkie blood, but his pants were really dark, so it looked like…

“I think he got a little nervous in the scuffle,” I told her, holding back a grin.

Rage narrowed his eyes at me as he cocked his head to the side, but he didn’t look pissed. He looked…

Holy mage. Was he about to smile?

A warm feeling spread throughout my chest when his lips curled into a smirk, and I rubbed the area because—no way was I getting warm fuzzies over this a-hole.

“You’re a pain in my ass, Nai.” That was all Rage said, still trying to fight the smile that wanted to grace his sexy face.

No. Not sexy. Ugly. Ugly troll man who must get off on misery.

Noble burst out laughing first. “Damn, girl,” he said, patting my arm. “I think I love you.”

“It’s selkie blood, idiots!” Rage barked, but his grin ruined his attempt at acting pissed with his brothers.

My stomach flipped over that smile, and I knew in that moment that this man would be the death of me.

My adrenaline wouldn’t shut off after the selkie attack. School was canceled for the day, and the king was rumored to be beyond pissed. Rage and the other brothers had been called to the castle for a meeting while I sat in Harvest Dorm and recounted the entire story to Nell, Rue, and Kaja. We all sat around a pristine wood-polished coffee table while Mele and Fiona, the other Harvest girls, had their respective noses shoved in books whilst hiding in the corner. Clearly, they wanted nothing to do with today’s drama.

“So, then, Barbie asked what was on his pants, and I was like, yeah, he got scared.” I finished the story, my eyes flicking over to Fiona to see her wearing a grin. She was totally eavesdropping.

The girls erupted into laughter, but then Nell’s expression furrowed with confusion.

“Wait, why didn’t the selkie song affect you? Selkie magic freezes shifters.”

I shrugged, popping a piece of popcorn into my mouth.

“No idea. I mean, it was captivating but didn’t really bother me.” I hadn’t given it much thought until now. Maybe because I had two affinities?

Nell and Kaja shared a look. “Weird, because we were all like … super helpless. I wonder if it has to do with your clan being—”

She stopped, seeming to realize what she was about to say could be hurtful.

“Cast out?” I finished for her. This used to be an issue for me. When wolves visited us from the magic lands and brought magical supplies and news of Alpha Island, I was so embarrassed. Back then, it made me angry that we weren’t allowed back.

She winced. “Sorry, I just meant … it’s the only thing that’s different.”

“No, it’s fine, and that’s a good point.” I shrugged. “Maybe that’s why I have two affinities too. Although it was probably because I couldn’t decide which one I wanted and wasn’t focusing on the right color.” I chuckled.

All three of their foreheads creased. Even Fiona and Mele set their books down from their reading chairs in the corner and stared over at me.

“What?” Mele asked from across the room.

“You know…” I considered how to explain the strange experience without sounding even more weird. “When the high mage dude whisked you away to your favorite landscape, made you pick your affinity, and then brought you back…”

The longer I spoke, the deeper the creases in their foreheads grew. Why were they looking at me like I was an alien?

“What are you talking about, Nai?” Kaja asked, her face furrowed like I was speaking a foreign language.

A chill ran the length of my spine, and gooseflesh prickled my skin.

“Didn’t the high mage let everyone pick their element… at the beach?” I asked. “Maybe I misunderstood when he asked if it was my favorite place—”

“There was no beach…”

Nerves churned in my gut as I realized that maybe no one else had had the same experience as I did.

“Not a beach for real,” I hurried to explain. “More like a mental landscape. I couldn’t see you all for a few minutes, and we were on the beach—like a relaxation technique and then—” Their wild looks made me realize that my suspicions were correct. He’d only done that little number for me. But why would he do that? All the thoughts whirling through my head only scared me more. High mage equaled bad news, and I didn’t want any favors from one of them.

“Never mind.” I shook my head and waved away my previous words. “I’m a bit traumatized from today, and clearly not thinking … clearly.”

Was this something to do with that water symbol on my solar plexus? Now, there was no way I was going to ask them about it for fear they’d put me on the crazy train—one-way ticket and all that.

“You wanna lie down? I mean, you just got in a full-on battle.” Kaja pointed to her room while the other sisters nodded and started to fawn over me.

I wanted to be alone and rock in a corner and cry—definitely not going to say that out loud though.

Instead, I just nodded. “You know what. A nap sounds great. I’m gonna head over to my place though and lie down.”

All five of them winced.

“That condemned rathole?” Kaja grimaced, her expression an exclamation point.

I chuckled. “Yeah, but it’s my condemned rat hole.”

Nell pouted, her bottom lip stuck so far out it was almost comical. “If we were allowed to co-mix, I would totally give you a room here. We have more than enough.”

Her sweet offer was so typical of Harvest generosity. I gave her a sad smile and patted her hand. “Thank you. But rules are rules.”

Grabbing my borrowed fire textbook, I forced a cheery smile. “I’ll catch you at dinner. I’m serving!”

Because my life was awesome. If the blood and guts weren’t cleaned up by then, I’d definitely be looking into therapy.

With that, I ran out of their house, afraid one of them would say something else about my weird beach encounter with the high mage. Hauling my butt across the courtyard, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Kaja wasn’t coming after me, and when I turned around, I skidded to avoid full-on crashing into—ugh!—Rage. I barely bumped into him, only a little. And then I stood in front of him, clutching my book with both hands and gasping for air.

We just stared at each other. I waited for him to yell at me, but he just kept looking at me, his gaze darting over every curve of my face. The silence stretched, weirding me out a little, or a lot, but legit, I could stare at his face all day and be okay with it.