**Harper''s POV**


    The dining hall is not as busy this morning. I suspect it will get more crowded as students wake up, but for now it''s manageable.


    We join the small queue together and I''m already missing my dad''s famous pancakes that he would make almost every morning for the whole family.


    Dillon stands in front of me, and Archie is at my back. Both of them keep checking


    on me. Asking if I''m okay and offering small touches. I love how attentive they are, but I so wish they didn''t feel the need to be this way. I shouldn''t be so on edge. This is where I''m supposed to be. There''s noth


    "What has four fingers and a thumb, but isn''t your hand?" A voice says, and I turn to see Finley has joined the queue behind Archie and is leaning around him to look at me expectantly.


    "Huh..." I frown at him. Is this a riddle? Or is he messing with me?


    "My hand," he grins, holding said hand out towards me.


    "Cut it out, Finn. She is not your next target to wind up," Dillon says, batting Finley''s hand away from me. Finley holds his hands up in surrender. "Woah, chill out, dude. I was just being friendly."


    "Well, go be friendly to someone else and leave my bond alone."


    "Some is grumpy this morning. Shouldn''t you be all full of joy whilst basking in your post coital bliss?" Finley grins and I feel a blush rise on my cheeks.


    "Finn," Dillon warns in a low growl.


    "Oh shit, you didn''t do it, did you? Why not? Couldn''t you get it up or something? Because damn, if she was my bond, there''d be no stopping me. Do you need a guy talk?" Finley spews the words so fast that m Archie wraps an arm around me, pulling me to his side.


    "What my bond


    and I do or don''t do is none of your business. Now please either go away or stop talking,” Dillon huffs.


    "Jeez, touchy much?" Finleyughs. "Girl, do us all a favour and get down to business with him before he infects us all with his miserable attitude."


    An awkward silence falls over us all, and my cheeks burn with heat. Is Finley right? Am I making my bonds miserable? Will I make him miserable, too?


    We reached the food counter and find a buffet, including hot and cold food. Dillon and Archie load their tes with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. I grab a fruit bowl, a yoghurt, and a blueberry muffin. My I know if I don''t eat, I''ll add more worry to my bonds.


    We find a table, and I sit between Archie and Dillon. There''s a tension as we eat in silence and I hate that I''m the cause of it.


    I feel eyes on me and I look up from


    my food to see Finley staring right at me. He grins when he sees I''ve noticed him, and then he puts down his fork to make a crude gesture. Forming a circle with his fingers and sliding another finger in and out of it with a nod towards Dillon


    I scowl at Finley, and then I burst intoughter because whilst he was busy trying to tease me, he didn''t notice the stocky blond guy


    approaching him from his left"


    The


    blond had pped Finley around the back of his head as he passed, making hitu choke on the food in his mouth.


    "That''s Chase. I''m pretty sure he will kill Finley one day," Dillon says with augh.


    "Didn''t Finley call the wolf chasing him yesterday Chase?" Archie asks, and I nod as I study Chase.


    Chase seems to ooze with


    dominance as he strides confidently


    towards the breakfast bar. His hair is


    golden blond. He has shaved the


    sides of his head short, to show off, I


    suspect, the tattoo starting just


    above his ear. It''s an intricate


    pattern running down his neck and


    below his cor.


    I can see him


    being a character in one of the human shows my mum watches where they wear leather and ride motorbikes. I wonder if he wears leather when he''s not in uniform.


    "That sounds about right. Chase


    has issues controlling his wolf, and Finley seems to have made it his mission to push


    his limits on a daily basis," Dillonments.


    I pull my eyes from Chase and look back over at Finley, who watches Chase with a devious grin, as if he is nning something. I hope I''m not around when he implements whatever scheme he is concocting. "What ss do you have first?" Dillon asks me and Archie.


    "We both have manifestation," Archie says.


    "That''s close to my first


    ss. Wait for me outside your door after the lesson and I will meet you so we can meet Sage together," Dillon says.


    I manage to eat the majority of my breakfast, which seems to please my bonds, and then we head outside for a walk before our first ss.


    Dillon shows us some of the academy we haven''t visited yet and introduces


    us to a few of his friends along the way before escorting us to our first lesson.


    A part of me is d that Dillon is a year above us so that he can help us get to know our way around, but I also wish he was in


    our year group, so we had the same sses.


    Our first ss is with an olderdy called June. She looks ready for retirement with her aged skin and hair that has long turned white, but her eyes are still bright and she is seems full of sprint. June guides us through some meditation and exins how


    will use it to help manifest our gifts in a safe way. She also says it can be used to establish a connection with our wolves.


    I''m excited at the


    thought of meeting my wolf and hope she is as strong as my mums. I''m also nervous about my first shift because I''ve heard it can be painful, and also trigger my first heat, which Lam dreading, especially now that I know Finley is one of my bonds.