"And your assigned partner?" my mother asked, her tone remaining entirely neutral, though her amber eyes held a terrifyingly perceptive weight that felt like an interrogation. "The scholarship transfer from the valley flats. Janella mentioned her briefly and rather hysterically before locking herself in her quarters. A girl named Miles, correct? Janella claimed she was... disruptive."
The mere mention of her name by my mother caused a sudden, violent spark of electricity to arc straight down my spine. Inside my head, my inner wolf snapped instantly awake, its ears pinning back in defensive alertness, its invisible fur bristling at the threat of my family analyzing her.
"She is an efficient calculator," I stated coldly, forcing every single drop of emotion out of my vocabulary so my paren
