Forbidden

Initiation

Van

Van had a temper. It wasn't a fact she was blind to, but she had never considered herself capable of murder until this moment. Sandwiched between Isaiah and another Novitiate- Jett or Jackson, she wasn't really certain- the fry she had been about to eat grew cold against her lips. No one at the table seemed to catch her lack of enthusiasm except for Hailey, and the blue-eyed girl looked like she would rather be anywhere but there.

That makes two of us, Hailey. That makes two of us.

"Can you believe it? It actually pissed itself like a little kid."

Don't say it. Don't say- "What else would it piss itself like?"

A deep dimple formed in Isaiah's cheek as he smiled at Van. It wasn't a friendly smile or even a polite one. It was the kind of smile you gave someone you considered inferior or a little soft in the head.

"Jett," Isaiah began, pushing back in the booth and dropping a heavy arm on Van's shoulders. "This is why it's so important for Novitiates to attend Asylum school from day one. I mean, look at Hailey..."

For someone with the face of a cherub, the look on Hailey's face was anything but angelic when she snapped, "Go on, Isaiah. Finish that sentence."

"With pleasure. Hailey's parents caved and let their daughter attend school with the humans and Shifters. Her mom has some sort of hard on for the creatures, and since she was BFFs with Van's mom, our Supreme looks the other way. Now, Hailey thinks it's okay to hang out with them and speak to them like they're human."

Van threw the fry back onto her plate. The thought of eating it made her ill. "Maybe she doesn't feel the need to go out of her way to be a douche canoe all the time. You know, my mom always told me that the true sign of a powerful person was someone who treated everyone as an equal because they didn't need to fluff their ego by putting other people down. Power isn't something you get by taking it from others. You either have it, or you don't."

It was probably a good thing Luca had abandoned her. In five minutes she'd undone all the hard work from the last week. But everyone had limits, and listening to Isaiah and Jett brag about torturing the captive, underage Shifters for sport had pushed her over hers.

"Oh, see I think this is where you misunderstand me." The gentle squeeze on her shoulder became a punishing vise. Isaiah's breath was hot and moist against her ear. "I don't treat them like animals to remind me of my place in this world. I treat them like animals because they are animals, and they forget it real fast."

Jett cleared his throat and squirmed, making the vinyl covers squeak in protest. For a Friday evening, Wanda's was practically empty. Most of the kids were what the Asylum kids called the Unknowing. A few were Novitiates, but none of them were Shifters. Tensions were high on the pack lands as they searched for Rosita, and though she wished to see a familiar set of brown eyes, she was glad he wasn't there to watch her submit to Isaiah.

"Levy?" Jett said, his voice uneven with nerves or puberty, Van couldn't be certain. The color was high in his pale, golden cheeks, and he didn't look at anyone for too long.

"What's the levy?"

Hailey shook her head while delivering a swift kick to Van beneath the table. "Isaiah, come on? Is now the right time?"

"Let's go," the boy commanded, sliding out and holding out a hand to help Van out.

She didn't need assistance, but after baiting him during the meal, she needed to do some sort of damage control. When her fingers slid onto his palm, he curled his thick fingers over them, pressing down possessively.