“Linked magically?”
“Kind of like a platonic bond? I don’t know much about it, but Laithe is only here because of Jarron. He’s basically sworn to protect him. They’re very close.”
Interesting.
“He doesn’t have any drama either. Laithe is reserved like Jarron. They keep to themselves.”
“Others at the table—well, there’s Auren, the fae princess. She’s nice, but she’s been trying to seduce Jarron for years.”
Nice? I’m not so sure about that assessment. I’m not surprised, however, to hear she’s been pursuing the highly sought after demon prince.
“And her best friend, Mia, is fae too, but not royalty. They have drama galore. We could talk for days about those two and their conquests.”
“Another time.” I chuckle. “Anything I should know about the shifters? There are tons of them, and they don’t seem all that friendly.”
“Oh, yeah. They tend to be super territorial and even controlling sometimes. There are three different packs here. You’ll notice who groups together with whom. Males do not intermix with males from other packs.”
“Well, except the occasional hook up.” Lola tinkles a laugh.
“Sure, but in general, the conflicting packs do not get along. Never get between their scuffles.”
Like I’d ever be stupid enough to do that.
“Most of the shifters at your table are from the Silverback pack in northern Montana. The one with the head alpha.”
I nod. That’s the most powerful pack in the world right now since their alpha got universal status—meaning he is the alpha over all the other alphas. That status can change at any time, though. Power changes are frequent in the shifter community.
Lola flutters over and lands on my shoulder. “The wolves won’t bother you while you’re with Jarron. It’s the girls you have to watch out for. If things don’t work out with Jarron, that’s when you should be wary of the shifters.”
I sigh.
“Well, not only girls. Just mostly.”
“Everything with the Elite is about competition,” Janet explains. “They all vie for more influence by getting close to the strongest, like Jarron. The wolf shifters all want a powerful female for a mate, so they’re all pursuing Auren because she’s the strongest female in school—aside from Bea, maybe. You know about Bea, right? She’s basically already married to Trevor, Jarron’s brother.”
“Yeah, I’m well aware of that stuff.”
They nod. “Jarron’s the biggest target, for sure. The girls all want to get close to him, and definitely a few boys do too. But no one has ever really been successful. He’s always been so cold to everyone. That’s why your relationship is so shocking. You’re the first person he’s shown any real emotion toward.”
I bite my lip. “Thanks. That’s a lot of information. It’ll help me a lot.” I force a smile and stand. “I’m gonna head to bed.” While all of this is still fresh in my mind and I can scribble a bunch of notes into my research journal.
“But I have so much more drama to tell you about!”
I laugh. “I’ll take all the drama. But give it to me in bits, please.”
“Oh, fine!” Lola sighs and slumps down to the tabletop.
“See you in the morning?” Janet smiles.
“Definitely. Tomorrow, I’m supposed to spend the day with Jarron in Elite Hall.” I give them an exaggerated grimace.
“So exciting! You’ll have to tell us all about it.”
“Do you think they’d let you take pictures?” Lola says with a laugh.
I chuckle and bid them goodnight. I don’t let myself dwell too much on what Saturday will be like. I thought entering the school was like walking into hell. Walking into Elite Hall will be like entering the devil’s den.
16
