Maisie

It started in the school’s hallway.

Everyone was staring at me.

I figured it was because the news of what happened at Lana’s engagement had spread throughout Ashbourne. Expecting this, I had opted for going to school alone with the chaffeur, over taking a ride with four of them in the testosterone-filled atmosphere.

Still, it was like a spotlight was raised over my head, and I didn’t know how to get rid of it.

And then, the next weird thing happened.

Claire Foreman waved at me. "Hey, Maisie."

Claire. Like Lana’s best friend. I was too weirded out to respond. I was sure she hit her head somewhere.

But as I walked the length of the hallway that led to my first lecture, more weird things kept happening. For example, a fourth year checked out my ass and whistled. While I was trying to recover from the shock of that, I noticed Tucker Reeves and Reid Calloway staring at me unabashedly from their locker walls.

"Hey, Maisie." It was Tucker who spoke, and I turned to check if there was some other Maisie behind me.

There wasn’t.

I was stopped halfway by four different guys, who wanted to introduce themselves to me and invite me to their parties.

"I’m Toby. I sat behind you in senior year in High School," a fifth guy said, his cheeks reddened with a blush. "I always thought you were pretty smart. And cute. And... I..." He blushed harder, and he didn’t finish his sentence before there was a completely different face in front of me, introducing himself as well and asking for my number. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I blinked rapidly, my brain turning into mush. Another blink and I found myself in a crowd of men.

I began to panic. It felt like all the walls were pressing in. Too many faces. Too many people talking at me, asking me questions. Their gazes were too bright, it almost looked feverish.

Just when the hallway began to spin, I felt firm fingers close over my wrist and yank me out of the crowd. Everything blurred and I found it particularly difficult to breathe.

It wasn’t until I was safe in the girl’s bathroom and the door slammed shut that I could get my brain and body to function again, and I found myself staring at Regina.

Her pupils were dark and blown wide as she stared at me. And then, to my further confusion, she took a step back. And then another, until she was pressed back against the door. "I need to talk to you about... the engagement. But... er... Maisie, I’m going to need you to turn it off."

My brows pulled together. "Turn what off?"

Her expression was creeping me the hell out. She looked... hungry. She blinked three times. "Your aura. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt." She swallowed. "And I could smell you the second you arrived. You smell like you’re on heat."

I blanched. "W-what?"

"Only... multiply it by a thousand, and make it more..." she made a sound in her throat. "Sensual. It’s like a ’come hither’." She licked her lips. "And it keeps getting worse by the second. And your look isn’t exactly helping. Don’t get me wrong. You look beautiful. Absurdly so. Were your cheeks always so rosy? And your eyes... your lips... oh goddess. Maisie, please turn it off!"

My heart hammered against my ribcage. "But I’m not doing anything! I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

Regina’s lips parted. "Stay right here. I’m going to get some help."

She slammed the door shut behind her and it wasn’t until I turned to look in the mirror that I saw that my eyes were flaring a bright, distinct gold.

"No," I cried, blinking hard and scrubbing at my eyes, but it only flared brighter and brighter, refusing to dim no matter what I did.

The door to the bathroom creaked and Jenny walked in.

She halted. Blinked. Squinted. "Maisie? Is that you?" Her eyes ran down my body. "My my, what do they feed you over there and can I have some of it? By the way, did you know there was a ruckus happening in the hallway outside? Apparently, there’s a female Lycan in here who’s pretty hot and has all the males in the a frenzy... Anyway, I got Regina’s text ’Bathroom Trouble’. Where is she?"

She stood in her toes, searching the bathroom stalls, whispering, "And is there really a female Lycan in here? Is she pretty? I haven’t a female Lycan before..."

Jenny tracked off at my panicked expression. Then she squinted again. Now her eyes flew uncharacteristically wide. "Oh! Shit! You’re the Lycan?"

I forgot about the engagement for all of one minute, during which I rushed forward, clutching her hands. "How can you tell? Apart from the eyes? It won’t stop doing that!"

Jenny suddenly turned pale. Then she backed up and planted herself against the door. Just like Regina. "Er... maybe I didn’t notice it when I walked in because I’m half-human, but when you touched me, I got hit by it."

"By what?" I cried.

"An intense sexual urge," she dead-panned. "May, I’m very fucking straight, but I swear, I’ve never had this much of an urge to get down and dirty with someone."

I staggered away from her, head spinning.

Oh god. Oh god. My life in Ashbourne is over. Every male outside that door wants to get a piece of me. And females.

And females!

Bah. Forget Ashbourne. I want to run off the continent and die. Maybe in a different planet. Jupiter sounds right about nice.

Somehow, the thought of leaving triggered my memory, and I suddenly remembered the engagement.

Jenny must see the change in my face, because her face in turn crumples. "May, I am so sorry about what happened. I know what you must think, but Regina and I never even got back into the ball in the first place."

That took my mind off the fact that I had turned Greymoor into some form of I’m-going-to-fuck-Maisie-Adam’s fest temporarily.

"Regina came up with the plan and told me over the phone. We had no idea Lana knew everything. That part is our fault for not being nearly discreet enough. When we tried getting in through the other entrance like we planned, we were stopped and the guards grabbed us. We fought—like crazy—thinking we were being abducted, but they shoved us into the back of the a vehicle and took us to Beta Braxton’s mansion. Regina was confined to her room and I was allowed to leave an hour later, but by the time I made it back, it was over."

I’m pretty sure I was staring at Jenny like it was all just a bunch of nonsense. "You gave me the Braxton heirloom. A stolen piece that had been reported missing! Let’s assume I even believe for one second that all you just said was true, how do you defend that?"