Chapter 10: Dancing with danger
1119 Words
Chapter 10: Dancing with danger
~ Gwen ~
The music started and Elodie grabbed my hand immediately.
"Come on," she said, pulling me towards the dance floor with a grin.
The first song was a quickstep — fast and energetic and exactly the kind of thing I had practiced a hundred times in Boston. Elodie was good, but I was better, and within seconds we had found our rhythm.
People were watching.
I could feel their eyes on us as we moved, and instead of making me nervous it made me more confident. I let myself get lost in it, the way I used to, letting muscle memory take over. My feet knew exactly where to go, my body remembering every lesson, every correction, every hour spent in that studio back home.
This felt good. This felt right.
This felt like the one thing in RavenBane that actually made sense.
Then Jerome appeared. I was not so surprised to see him. The few times I had seen Yates, Jerome was definitely around. They seemed to move as a unit, those two.
He cut in smoothly, stealing me away from Elodie with a grin and a little bow that made me laugh. The song shifted to a samba — harder, faster, more technical — and Jerome kept up easily.
He was a good dancer. Really good, actually.
But so was I.
We moved together across the floor and I could feel the room's attention shifting fully to us now. The conversations quieting. The other dancers slowing down or stopping entirely to watch. The energy in the room changed, focused, like everyone had collectively decided that we were the entertainment for the evening.
I was killing it and I knew it.
Jerome seemed thrilled to be in the spotlight with me, spinning me out and pulling me back in with the kind of confidence that said he was used to being watched and loved every second of it. His smile was genuine, his movements precise, and for a moment I forgot that he was a werewolf who had shifted into a massive wolf on a hockey rink just days ago.
For a moment, he was just a really good dance partner.
I caught Fanny's eyes across the room.
She was watching me with an expression that could have curdled milk. Yates was beside her, and they were dancing, but she was not paying attention to him at all. She was staring at me with that same sharp amber-edged look she had given me on my first day.
Perfect.
The song was about to change. I could feel it in the way the music was building, the way the tempo was shifting. I had maybe ten seconds to make my move.
I made my decision.
I moved across the floor, slipping between dancing couples with practiced ease, and reached Yates and Fanny just as the new song started. A waltz. Slow and deliberate and absolutely perfect for what I was about to do.
I grabbed Yates' hand and pulled him away from Fanny so fast neither of them had time to react.
The spotlight swung to follow us.
"What are you doing?" Yates asked, his voice low and confused as I positioned us properly for the waltz that was starting.
"Repaying your kind gesture," I said with my sweetest smile. "For saving me from that intruder."
He tried to pull away but the spotlight was on us now and everyone was watching and stepping back would make a scene. I could see the exact moment he realized he was trapped. His blue eyes darkened slightly and his jaw tightened in that way that said he was absolutely furious but too controlled to show it.
Good.
We started dancing.
He was good. Of course he was good. He moved with the kind of natural grace that came from a lifetime of being comfortable in his own body, and he led well even though I could tell he was furious about it. His hand on my waist was firm, professional, giving nothing away.
But I could feel the tension in his shoulders. The controlled strength in the way he held me.
"You are human," he said quietly, just loud enough for me to hear over the music. "Yet you are fearless. Everyone in here is a werewolf. We could have you for dinner."
My heart skipped a beat.
The threat was real. I could hear it in his voice. But I recovered quickly and met his eyes with all the confidence I could gather.
"I am Gwen Casteel," I said. "From a werewolf bloodline. So you would not dare."
Something flickered in his expression. Surprise, maybe. Or respect.
"I spent the past few days learning about this world," I continued, letting him spin me out and pull me back in without breaking eye contact. "And I have decided I am going back to school on Monday. And I am going to show the entire werewolf student body what a human is capable of."
I snapped my eyes towards Fanny.
She was standing at the edge of the dance floor, her hands clenched into fists, her eyes fully amber now. Not even trying to hide it. The other guests around her had noticed and were giving her a wide berth, like they could sense the rage rolling off her in waves.
I smirked.
Perfect.
"Nice," I said, more to myself than to Yates. "A little competition. Fanny will help me survive this werewolf world if I make this about being Queen of College."
The song ended.
We stopped moving but neither of us stepped away immediately. We stood there in the middle of the dance floor with the spotlight still on us and the whole room watching and something passed between us that I could not name.
Something electric. Something dangerous.
Something that made my skin feel too tight and my heart beat too fast.
Then he let go of my hand and walked away without a word.
I stood there alone, my heart racing, my whole body buzzing with adrenaline.
Fanny was staring at me with pure hatred.
Elodie was grinning from across the room, giving me two thumbs up like I had just won some kind of competition.
And I realized with absolute certainty that I had just declared war.
Good.
Let it be war then.
I was done being scared.
If I had Yates' attention, I would probably be safe from angry werewolves. And if making Fanny jealous was what it took to survive in this city, then I would play that game with everything I had.
I lifted my chin and walked off the dance floor like I owned the place.
- Writer
