APEX

Ch. 13: Eligius College

Rhys

Colorful banners depicting images of its most prestigious alumni lined the cobblestone walkway leading to Eligius College's student center. Inside, booths promoting an array of school clubs and charity groups abounded, making it clear to incoming freshmen and their families that they were an accepting, inclusive academy dedicated to the education of emerging leaders.

...But only if said emerging leader happened to be a werewolf.

While the Rawlings were financial contributors to the school, Liam would be the first of our generation to attend it. Aamon had skipped college in favor of a major in responsibility avoidance, and as for myself, I'd never gone for the werewolf-only approach to higher learning. After all, we lived in a city where humans vastly outnumbered us, and we depended on them. Their support and fandom were our bread and butter. The werewolf exceptionalism taught at a college like Eligius seemed the antithesis of what I wanted Apex to stand for. Sure, we were werewolves, which gave us some superior abilities, but humans weren't our servants, and they had their own fine qualities. I didn't like to think of them as inferior...except perhaps when it came to sexual prowess.

Liam wasn't me, however. He went all in for werewolf pride and had wanted to attend Eligius since he was ten. And so, I sat with him, in lieu of my father, who could not be bothered to deal with the day-to-day parenting of his third child. I listened to the perfectly coiffed dean of emissions prattle on for what felt like an hour about all the school had to offer this distinguished generation of shifters.

"Listened" might have been giving myself too much credit. Her words half registered. The other half of my mind was given over not to where I was, but to where I couldn't be: with Calla.

The thought of her aroused at the sight of Aamon's naked body made me want to hurl that body off the roof of Apex Headquarters. It was wrong to be so petty and possessive, and I was pretty sure Calla hated Aamon as much as she hated me. Still, my mind wandered to violent places as I imagined them together.

She could have said no to him. There was no real reason for her to gallivant around Sury as Aamon did his Aamon thing. But she'd agreed to—eagerly. And there was nothing I could do about it. All I could do was hope he continued to show his careless, womanizing, asshole self to her. Maybe the silver lining here would be that she realized I was a fucking prince in comparison. Not that it mattered in the end, of course, but it would make working with her easier if her opinion of me slid a notch to the favorable side.

My mood began to lighten just as Dean Matthias finished speaking.

"What do you think?" Liam asked as we waited to be sorted by which dormitory he would be living in. A young Apex female waved at Liam from across the room and he returned the gesture with a shy smile.

I gave him a thumbs up. "She's cute."

His smile flattened. "No, not the girl. The school. Their mission, everything."

"Oh," I nodded like I'd already been giving this careful consideration. Liam expected a level of enthusiasm about this place that I'd have to manufacture. "I think it's a perfect fit for you!"

"Really?" He squinted at me. "Didn't you fight with Dad when he wanted you to come here?"

"I said it's the perfect fit for you, not for me." I'd attended Sury University, which was open to both humans and werewolves. My father had been less than pleased by my choice, and so, I'd appeased him by joining an all-werewolf fraternity.

"You don't think I'd be better off going to your alma mater and mixing with humans?" He forced out that last part like it hurt him to form sounds in those specific combinations.