Unwinnable Read online

  Unwinnable

  Their Shifter Academy 5

  May Dawson

  Contents

  To recap…

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  A Note from May

  Also by May Dawson

  To recap…

  Maddie here! I just wanted to remind you, because life has gotten very complicated lately, about what happened before this. Right now, as I write to you, I’m thisclose to graduation (and you know what that means—Rafe!).

  But let’s go back… three months ago, I sacrificed my wolf to the Day when I was trying to infiltrate their coven, along with Silas (who was posing as a wicked but sexy warlock named Echo). The Day was trying to destroy our wolves with the Dark Collar, an ancient Fae relic. Silas and I completed our mission and brought the Dark Collar back to the academy.

  We were pursued by Winter and the rest of the Day, all the way to the gates of the academy, where a furious battle raged between the shifters and the covens.

  I’d thought that Alice and Bennett were friends. Then Bennett tricked me into using the Dark Collar to try to save my friends…

  And instead, the Dark Collar drained my magic and destroyed all our wolves. The Dark Collar was an elaborate trap the Day set for us. When we brought it back to the academy, they were able to use our shifter magic against us, and all of our wolves were destroyed. We lost the ability to shift and we lost our heightened senses.

  For the last three months, I’ve been regaining my magic, and I’ve come back stronger than ever before. Without our wolves, shifters seem to have more power to perform magic. The packs have embraced magic, and it’s become a bigger part of the curriculum at the academy.

  Of course, on the bad side, the world seems muted and miserable without our shifter senses. The Day was all but destroyed, but that doesn’t mean there’s no more threat. We need to get our wolves back—and we hope that Saint Cain’s shield will resurrect them. For the past three months, we’ve been training to go into the Fae world and into Silas’s home—the Greyworld—to get the two halves of the shield.

  On a personal level? Clearborn punished Lex for pursuing me by demoting him into our team, which means Lex and I rekindled our romance. Meanwhile, Rafe’s kept me waiting until graduation before we can actually be together. And Tyson, damn him, is still convinced we might be brother-and-sister—things are so awkward and painful between us.

  Chase, Jensen, Penn, Silas, Lex and I all live together in Chase’s house, with his younger siblings, Blake and Skyla. We’ve grown into a family. A weird family, but that’s the best kind, right?

  Chapter One

  Maddie

  It was the last day of class for the spring semester, and no one could concentrate to save their lives.

  I sat between Chase and Penn in the class that used to be Defensive Magic. The curriculum had been dramatically expanded once we all lost our wolves, when magic became our best way to defend ourselves against the next wave of witches.

  Even though I loved learning about magic, I kept stealing glances outside at the trees swaying gently in the warm spring breeze.

  Graduation was days away.

  That meant Rafe was days away.

  Whenever the man looked at me, desire sparked in his eyes, but he held me at arm’s length—sometimes literally—constantly reminding me that the rules against our relationship ended on graduation day.

  I couldn’t wait to see that heat flare in his eyes, then have his damned merciless control finally break. I wanted his mouth claiming mine, I wanted him pushing me against the wall, I wanted to see him finally lose it as the two of us tore each other’s clothes off…

  I bit my lip and crossed my legs, pushing away my fantasies. I should be able to listen and concentrate.

  After all, I had a very sexy teacher. The incredible Silas Zip taught our magic class now.

  At the front of the room, Silas noticed my gaze and returned it sharply, without breaking stride in his lecture about simple fire magic. I propped my chin in my hand and gave him a small teacher's-pet smile, knowing he would understand everything it meant; I'd been lost in my own thoughts, but that I was with him again now.

  Silas went on. He commanded attention when he was teaching, but he was clear and to the point. He was a little bit Echo, and a little bit Silas, all the time now. Sometimes when he slipped into Echo mode, I caught one of the guys eyeing him as if they weren’t quite sure what to make of him now. I chewed the end of my pencil absently as I watched him, feeling a familiar pulse of desire…and protectiveness.

  He wasn’t a wolf, and yet, could he somehow be my mate anyway?

  Silas glanced over us all and sighed. “All right, let’s take this outside. I don’t want to end the year by burning down the classroom.”

  As we headed out, Chase bumped his shoulder with mine. “Looks like we survived our first year.”

  “Let’s not speak too soon,” I said. “We still have what, six hours go? I don’t want to tempt fate.”

  “What was it the witches said?” he asked, then raised his fingers to create air quotes. “Right. They claimed they ‘make their own fate’. No reason we can’t do the same.”

  We made our own by changing pack defense strategies as we learned how to use the magic that bloomed wild and reckless in all shifters. Funny how when we ran out of options, suddenly magic wasn’t toxic after all.

  I pulled a face at Chase. “Yeah, those witches are pretty much all dead now, so I’m not sure I’d rely on their wisdom.”

  “Two lines!” Silas called, and Chase and I fell into places next to each other.

  Silas moved down the line, checking our spells, and as he reached each person, they formed fireballs in their palms under his watchful eye.

  When he stopped in front of me, I raised my cupped hands in front of me. As I focused, a swirl of magic heated my palms. He grinned in delight, the flames reflected across his face.

  For the first few weeks after
that horrific day I faced Winter, I’d been weighed down by shame. It had almost felt as if I deserved to lose my magic. But I had seven men who never gave up on me, no matter what.

  We had trained together, long after our fellow shifters had quit for the day. Now I could open a portal as well as Silas, something that no one else on the team could do yet. I was more powerful than I’d been at Winter’s side.

  But I’d never take magic for granted again.

  There was warmth in Silas’s eyes that sparked the same warmth in my chest.

  Laurence, the guy across from me, struggled to coax his magic into existence, and he glared at me over Silas’s shoulder. When Silas turned to check on his weak flames, Laurence hastily composed his face into a respectful expression.

  The students here might not have wanted to give him any respect when he became a teacher, since they knew he was a wizard, but along with all the spells, he’d certainly taught them to pretend.

  Once Silas had moved away down the line, Laurence muttered, “I can’t believe we have to learn this shit. Magic doesn’t belong at the academy.”

  His friend next to him was pointedly not looking at me when he said, “And neither do witches.”

  Chase bristled beside me, but I smiled. “Of course you hate magic, Laurence. You suck at it.”

  Laurence glared at me, opening his mouth no doubt to say something cutting. But as his attention left his magic, the ball elongated, then fell to one side like a limp dick before it fizzled out in a spray of sparks. I couldn’t hold back a huff of a laugh, and I heard it echoed down the line.

  Then, a presence behind me that I felt in the air; a gruff but sexy voice: “Northsea, a moment.”

  Rafe.

  How was he always around?

  I threw my ball of magic into the air and then caught it in one hand—not that I’d ever show off—before tossing it to Chase, who plucked it out of the air. No matter how casual I pretended to be, nerves fluttered in my chest whenever Rafe called me aside.

  “What’d you do?” Chase asked, raising his eyebrows. “Six hours, Maddie.”

  “Six hours. I’ll be so good,” I promised.

  As I headed after Rafe, I could hear Silas remind the rest of our class of first-years, “Whatever you think about magic, the packs depend on you. They depend on your magic—so don’t let them down.”

  The bell rang just as I followed Rafe’s broad shoulders around the edge of the big brick building.

  “What is it?” I asked, even though part of me couldn’t help hoping he’d spirited me off behind the building to kiss me.

  It was only six hours now. Why did it matter?

  I knew Rafe cared about obeying the letter of the law, though, no matter how ridiculous.

  And maybe he took some joy in tormenting me, too.

  “When you come back in the fall,” he began, and my lips pressed together at the thought, because I would be coming back in the fall and he would not. “I hope you’ll lead and teach about magic. Not just bait everyone who doesn’t have your skills.”

  “I don’t bait everyone who doesn’t have my skills. I bait the people who are assholes.” I flashed him a smile that I already knew he wouldn’t return.

  Even when Rafe stared me down with those gorgeous, lushly-lashed dark eyes, beneath furrowed black brows, he was sexy as hell.

  I sighed, already hating the idea of losing him to the Council’s Own and not seeing him regularly. Even if the man did live to scold me. “You just wanted to yell at me for old time’s sake, didn’t you? You are going to miss me so much.”

  I knew he wouldn’t admit to how much he’d miss me while he was off on Council missions, saving the world, but it was true.

  “I’d actually hoped by the end of your first year, you wouldn’t need quite so much…guidance.” There was the faintest quirk to his lips that gave him away, though, and he was standing closer to me than any instructor probably should.

  “Mm.” I stared up at him, wishing I could close the distance between us and kiss that cruelly beautiful mouth. “I’m just impressed you overcame your fear of magic.”

  “I’m not afraid of anything,” he assured me.

  I rolled my eyes, and he moved closer to me, almost imperceptibly.

  “Twenty-seven,” he murmured.

  “Twenty-seven?” I demanded, raising an eyebrow.

  “You rolled your eyes at me twenty-six times this year,” he said, folding his hands behind his back even though he leaned forward, his tall frame towering over me. “That was twenty-seven.”

  “You’re keeping track.” I was torn between laughing and feeling some strange mix of misgivings and desire stir low in my belly. The memory of Rafe’s hand on my ass—just the once, despite his many threats since—was a strangely sweet memory.

  Something sparked in his eyes. “I’ve definitely been keeping track.”

  For a few long seconds, the two of us stared at each other. I’d lost my wolf senses, and yet I could’ve sworn I could hear his heart beating when the two of us were this close. Rafe’s gaze held mine, full of heat and desire.

  Then he said, “My parents are coming to graduation tomorrow.”

  Just saying those two little words—my parents—stole some of Rafe’s heat.

  “Are we going to dinner with them or something?” I asked, and he smiled, relief easing the tension at the corners of his eyes.

  “Do you really want to?” he asked skeptically.

  “No, what I want is to float in Chase’s hot tub for a solid week until all my muscles unkink from that ridiculous workout this morning.” I almost poked him in the chest, but his gaze flickered to the finger I’d raised to jab at him, and I held myself back.

  “I wanted to give you all something to remember me by,” he said, and an ache tightened my chest. I didn’t know what I’d do when Lex and Rafe graduated.

  “That’s not the way I want to remember you, Rafe,” I told him.

  I wanted to be sore in entirely different ways once he finally graduated.

  “Just tell me when you want me for dinner with your parents,” I said, then hesitated. The last time I’d had dinner with his parents, I’d yelled at them. “If you really think I’ll make things any better.”

  “Oh, I don’t think you’ll make things better,” he corrected. “I just think you’ll make things more interesting.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered, and I couldn’t resist—or maybe I wanted to—as my eyeballs rolled upward as I turned and headed toward the dorm.

  “Twenty-eight,” he warned me.

  I called over my shoulder, “What’s the point of the count, anyway? What’s it tied to?”

  He didn’t answer. He just gave me a wicked look that sent a thrill of desire throbbing between my thighs.

  “I guess it’ll be a pleasant surprise,” I muttered, heading toward the dorm.

  At least, I hoped it would be a pleasant surprise. I’d been waiting a long time.

  The man owed me the most mind-blowing orgasms imaginable.

  Chapter Two

  When I walked through the front door to Chase’s house, the cat streaked past me and jumped onto Silas’ shoulder.

  “Oh, you do love me,” Silas cooed at Echo. “Who’s the best kitty? You are, in fact, the best of kitties.”

  I whirled to walk backward across the entryway, giving him a look.

  Silas raised his eyebrows at me. “What?”

  “You never use that sweet lovey-dovey voice with me,” I pointed out.

  “Well, you’re much naughtier than the cat,” he said, but grinned when he said it. Naughty was just one of the many things that Silas loved about me.

  I shook my head. Echo the Cat was aloof, most of the time, but sometimes she gave in and revealed how much she adored Silas. We’d been stuck at the academy all week. She must have missed him.

  “I didn’t know cats could have bad taste,” I murmured as I headed through the entryway for the living room.

  “I want you t
o know,” Silas said as he followed me, “that every time you’re a smartass, I picture how Rafe is going to bend you over and sp—”

  I stopped dead, discovering an unfamiliar middle-aged woman in the living room, and Silas almost crashed into my back. His hands fell to my shoulders, steadying us both, and thankfully, he shut up.

  She rose from the couch, frowning. “Who are you?”

  “Chase’s friends,” I said. “Maddie and Silas. Who are you?”

  “His aunt Jennifer,” she huffed. She glanced through the sliding glass doors to the patio, where Skyla was swinging, her long brown ponytail flying behind her. “Where is Chase?”

  “He should be here in a second, he was in the car behind us,” Silas said.

  For once, we both resisted the temptation to comment on how Tyson—for all his ink, skill with a weapon, and general casual badassery—drove like a little old lady.

  Ty insisted that his exceedingly careful driving was my fault. I’d apparently traumatized him forever. One little car chase, and some men never get over it.

  I had a bad feeling about Jennifer’s sudden arrival, and I searched the backyard, looking for Blake. I finally found him sitting on the picnic table, scrolling through his phone. Apparently, both of Chase’s younger siblings had felt the need to hide from Aunt Jennifer.