College Magic Cycle

Tales of Severan Chapter 2

Introduction

I welcome feedback from readers, in fact I thrive on it. Please drop me an email if you have a chance and let me know what you liked. I respond to all reader emails.

Tales of Severan is different from the other storylines in the College Magic Cycle. The characters may change frequently. Many of the stories will be one shots, while others will be serialized. My eventual plan is for there to be a combination of short tales and chapters of continuing stories. Some of these stories will take place in the past and involve the main characters from other stories and some will put the spotlight on characters who've always been in the background, even if only for a chapter or two.

The College Magic Cycle includes multiple storylines. The stories intertwine. They are listed in the College Magic Cycle folder in the suggested reading order.

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You can contact me at pseudonominius@gmail.com.

Author's Notes

·         Please remember that any scene told from a single POV is subject to the "unreliable narrator" effect. A character can only see and react to events as they perceive them.

·         Nota Bene! This story takes place just before the ritual the mages did to warp reality regarding Kieran's height and weight. In this story, Joey still sees that Kieran has changed size. In the future, Joe will be affected by the ritual and the new reality and he won't remember that he was affected at all.

·         If you want to be informed of new stories, send me an email, and ask to be put on the notification list. I'll send a notification. Everyone will be on the bcc line so your email address will not show to other members.

·         I have created a google group for people who want to get more information about my stories in that format. Only I can view the member list, so data should be secure. If a reader sends a question my way, I will post the answer to that group after removing any information about the reader. It's a good way to get more background information if you want. https://groups.google.com/g/pseudominius-stories

·         Several of the stories in the College Magic Cycle deal with transformation. Kieran got smaller, but it's not apparent to those who can't see through the velamen arcanum. Alonzo got smaller, but then he changed reality so that he had always been smaller. He did the same thing to Erik after making him grow from 66 inches to 77 inches. In this storyline, all the skinchangers undergo transformation.

·         My editor is Robbear (robbear78@gmail.com). He not only edited this story but provided a lot of insight and suggestions that made the story better.

College Magic Cycle

·  My Roommate the Alchemist (concluded)

·  Wishcraft (concluded)

·  Alchemy and Songcraft

·  Magery

·  Elf Master

·  The Pack

·  Tales of Severan

Other Stories

·  Small Town Slave Boys

·  Jack and the Giant

·  Sacred Submissives

·  Bellus Cinaedus

·  Guardian Angel

·  Eros in Arcadia

·  Nivean and the Dvergar

·  Desert Heat

·  Constituent Services

·  The Dancing Princes 

Tales of Severan Chapter 2

This is the story of Joe Peters and how he became the servant of a vampire.

Joey Peters Part Two: The Path to My Fall

I'd seen Nico this morning after my history class, but I couldn't fight my master's will effectively enough to approach him. I'd already taken AP US History back in high school, so I was taking Survey of Roman History instead. It was taught by Professor Fuscano, a middle-aged woman with a style that was almost too dry, until you realized that she laced her lectures with sarcastic humor you could miss if you weren't paying attention. My RA, Dezi Devereaux, was her TA.

I'd taken my seat next to my old roommate, Ethan, and we'd shared notes. He seemed a lot happier than he had been back when we were both involved in that fiasco in the woods with the werewolves, but it was more than that. He seemed more confident and calmer. He was no longer jumping at shadows. Sharing a room with Sebastian must have done him a world of good. (Of course, he was technically in the room next door to Sebastian, but everyone knew they were spending their nights together. The dorm was a pretty small community all told.)

There was something else about him that was strange. He had a distinct scent of... he smelled like the air before a storm, and I was sure that the bluish silver mark barely peeking above his neckline was the sign of a tattoo. I'd noticed his tribal tattoos before and had noted that it was strange to see on someone so young, but either he'd had some work done since he moved out or his tattoos were somehow growing.

I'd been so distracted by these musings; I almost didn't notice that he was carrying a wand. It was something I had started noticing slowly over the last few weeks. Some of the professors and students carried them. Dezi and professor Fuscano did in this class. Dezi's girlfriend, the RA from the floor below us, had one. The other thing I'd noticed was that none of the students or professors who weren't carrying a wand seemed to notice them. If they had, surely it would have been commented on or talked about...?

After the lecture I tried to force myself to approach the TA with my paper on the significance of the gap in the historical record for most of the early republic. I was tense and sweat was pouring out of every pore. I must have looked sick because other students were keeping their distance, but Ethan came to my rescue. He grabbed the pocket folder with my essay in it out of my hands. "I'll turn that in for you, Joey."

I watched him walk up to Dezi and hand both our papers in at the same time. Then he turned and gave me that cute smile of his before rushing out the door. It was done. Dezi had been the first one to talk to me after my conversation with Nico, so I knew he knew him. When he saw that note, he'd know what it was, even though it wasn't addressed to anyone.

I'd kept it short and sweet. "There are fairies in a cage in the house at 221 Maple Drive. I'd tried to shove a copy of my narrative so far into the pocket of the folder with my paper, but I'd been unable to follow through with it. I'd left it on my desk in the hopes that my new roommate would see it, but I had to turn it face down before the compulsion I was under would allow me to leave it. I was getting desperate.

I was shaking when I went back to my dorm and opened my laptop to resume writing.

**********

On the last Sunday before the semester started, which would make it about three weeks ago, I'd gone to the Student Union to check out all the clubs and organizations that were looking for new members. They had flyers up to attract attention. Most of them would have booths the next day for the New Student Mixer. I considered a few options. I'd played football in high school, and I thought about trying out for the team, but I wasn't sure that I wanted the extra time commitment in my freshman year. I didn't have to worry about losing any scholarships; my tuition had been covered by my great grandmother's legacy. But I didn't like getting bad grades. I'd had only three Bs in my four years of high school.

I saw a flyer for the Pagan Traditions club. Dezi had recommended that group. In fact, he'd given me a copy of the same flyer. Then I was distracted for a moment by the small man with the gnarled skin who was deftly weaving his way through the crowds, carrying a tray that was filled with pastries. He wore a tunic that left his knobby knees exposed. He was about three feet tall and he was quite the homeliest man I'd ever seen. His head was lumpy like a potato and his nose was short, bulbous and an unhealthy looking purplish red. He locked eyes with me and seemed surprised. Was it because I could see him? He looked around the lobby and got more agitated with every glance. Then he disappeared into the crowd, deftly moving unnoticed between the legs of the students.

That was odd, I thought, but I tried to put it out of my thoughts. I had made up my mind to attend the Pagan Traditions introductory meeting this afternoon when a pair of students came up to me. They wouldn't have had a better chance to distract me if they'd been chosen just for that purpose. Both looked very fit. She had blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and dark brown eyes. He had broad shoulders, short black hair, a strong jawline and amazingly blue gray eyes. Both were my height, making him a little taller than average and her extremely tall for a woman. They smiled and handed me a flyer of their own.

Brothers and Sisters of Severan

A Caring Community in Christ

Come join us for pizza, fellowship, and community.

Meet fellow students who share your values and your goals.

Find lifelong friends who will help to support you in college.

I wasn't interested in their club. It sounded too much like the clubs back home, at church and in the high school, but I could see myself with either of them – or both of them. What really hooked me, however, was when the woman said, "You saw him too, didn't you? I could see it on your face. You saw him standing there and then you saw him vanish."

The guy held out his hand and said, "I saw him too. My name's Tyler and this is my partner, Jenny."

His grip was strong, and his calloused hand made think he was an athlete, maybe a weightlifter. Jenny took my hand next. She too seemed strong and athletic. "Joe, Joe Peters," I replied. For some reason it was Joe instead of Joey that came out of my mouth. "I'm not used to people who can see those things."

"Well, we do," Jenny said. She was giving me a side hug. It was supposed to be the chaste way for two virtuous people to hug, but she was pressing her firm breast against my shoulder. "We should go somewhere more private where we can talk about it."

Tyler clapped a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close enough to whisper in my ear. "It will just be the three of us if you're interested."

I nodded and swallowed. "I think I am interested."

And that was the pivotal moment. If I'd gone to Pagan Traditions, I would have met Clarissa, and my mage talent would have been discovered. I would have been drawn into their circle. I wouldn't have ended up joining the Vigilance Committee. And I wouldn't have been fed a bunch of lies that led me down the path that ended up here.

Tyler and Jenny dropped their flyers off with another couple, two girls this time, and they led me to one of the smaller meeting rooms. It was where they had their extra flyers and some cases of bottled water. The white board had the phrase Brothers and Sisters in Christ: a Caring Community in Christianity. I wasn't paying attention, or I would have noticed that the words Caring, Community and Christianity were underlined. I was fixated on Tyler and Jenny, or I would have noticed the CCC. Back home we had a group called the Concerned Citizens Coalition. Everyone knew the CCC was a supposedly witty way to refer to the KKK.

I sat down in a chair. Jenny sat next to me and put her hand on my knee. "Before we get started, I want to ask you a very important question. We're having a picnic on Family and Friends weekend and I'm conducting a poll. What do you prefer, taco or hot dogs?"

Tyler sat down on the chair next to me and put his hand on my other leg. "It sounds like an unimportant question, but Jenny and I are trying to get an idea of how many of each we'll need."

I gave them a strange look and said, "We're not really talking about food, are we?"

Jenny smiled and winked at me. "Yes. No. Maybe. Tyler and I have been dating for two years and we like to spice things up occasionally, especially when we see something we both like."

"And you belong to a Christian group, but you decided to risk exposure after we just met?" I asked.

Tyler moved his hand to brush my dick. He looked into my eyes and said, "It wasn't so risky. I noticed you checking out butts, boobs, and packages. It was why we came over to you in the first place. You see, the two of us love both tacos and hot dogs."

He squeezed my cock when he said that so I knew what he meant by hot dogs, which meant that tacos must refer to... vaginas. Jenny moved her hand up to join Tyler's. I sighed and answered, "I like both, of course," and then I let my hand drift down to return Tyler's gesture.

Jenny laughed and touched my hand, the one that was stroking Tyler through his shorts. "But you prefer hot dogs."

She kissed me passionately, and then Tyler did the same. He was clean shaven, but his chin was just a little stubbly. It felt great against my cheek. And his mouth tasted of root beer, a mixture of vanilla, sarsaparilla, sassafras, sweet birch, and honey.

Jenny pressed her breasts tighter against me and stuck a well-manicured hand down the front of my shirt, gently scraping my skin with her fingernails. Tyler ran his strong hand down my back and then stuck his fingers inside the waistband of my jeans and tickled the top of my crack. A chill ran up my spine. I moaned quietly and leaned forward to let him get deeper into my pants.

Jenny gave my dick another firm squeeze and laughed. She pulled her hand back and said, "You break this one in Tyler. He is definitely a wiener man."

She leaned close enough to whisper in his ear, just loud enough for me to hear. "And it's a good thing you like bratwurst dear, because that's no little smokie in his pants."

"See you soon, Jen," Tyler said.

She grabbed a stack of flyers and said, "Half an hour. I'll head everyone off until then. And as for you, stud, after this meeting, you're coming back to our place. We'll cook dinner and you can prove to me that you're more than just talk about liking pussy."

Tyler laughed and pulled me out of the chair. "She's hot, isn't she?"

"Yeah," I said. "She is."

Tyler pushed me back against the wall and locked his lips on mine. He thrust his hand up under my shirt and grabbed hold of my nipples. His strong fingers clamped down and twisted them. It was like they were buttons connected by a direct neural pathway to my dick. Which made the painful pressing of my cock against the confinement of my boxer briefs even more intense.

"Is it safe here?" I asked. "Won't we get caught?"

He undid the top button on my Levi's, and that gave me some relief. He rubbed that stubbly chin of his against my neck; then he nibbled my earlobe. "We won't get caught. Jen will guard the door and head anyone off who tries to disturb us."

He took hold of the fly of my jeans and popped all the buttons, one at a time. He wrapped one hand around my neck and crushed my lips while he dug my cock out of my briefs with the other hand. Once free, I immediately sprang a boner.

"Your hand feels great, massaging my balls and... mm... stroking my dick."

I moved my hands to the waistband of his shorts and undid the button. His shorts had a zipper, so it was easy to get them open. He was in tighty whities. All the guys back home had worn them in high school. After a game, when the jocks came off and the showers were done, that's what the guys put on.

Tyler moaned when I pulled his cock out and returned the favor. Then he pulled back and said, "I have to get a good look at this."

He lifted my cock and stroked it. "Looks like I get two new experiences this afternoon. I've never sucked one this big, and I've never tasted an uncut cock. Now I get to do both."

He sank to his knees and peeled back my foreskin. Then he stuck out his tongue and ran it around the head of my cock, sending shivers up my spine.

"That feels great Taylor. Lick it good."

He only fit half of it in his mouth, but he paid a lot of attention to the half that he was sucking. He used his other hand to stroke the half that didn't fit in. I have to admit that he was more eager than skilled, but I'd learned never to discount enthusiasm. I put my hands on his head and held him gently. He sucked and I massaged his scalp.

He looked up at me and pulled off my cock for a moment. "There is no way that I'm getting this whole monster in my mouth."

"Just do what you can, dude. It feels great."

Taylor looked like a masculine jock, but he was smiling at me like a boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar; equally pleased with himself whilst showing a tinge of guilt, but clearly enjoying both. He gave me a wink and then swallowed half my cock again. He started stroking the other half so fast that he must have thought he was racing. Still, despite all that, I was horny enough that I was enjoying the experience.

I grasped his head more firmly and pushed a little farther inside him. He choked a little but took it like a champ. I pushed a little farther on the next thrust. I wanted to shove it all the way, but I'd been raised a gentleman. I stroked Taylor's sweaty forehead and asked, "Do you want me to put it all the way inside you? I can, you know."

He coughed up some mucus and wiped it off his chin. "I don't think I can..."

I used my thumb to wipe a line of drool from the corner of his mouth. "You can if I take it slow. The question is, do you want to try and have the whole experience?"

He was nodding yes slowly, then he said, "I want to try but I'll probably choke and gag."

I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. "Just hold on to my hand and squeeze the fuck out of me if you think you're going to gag. I'll pull back and give you a chance to relax."

"Oh hell, let's do it." He took my cock in his mouth again. This time he took it as far as the last time I'd pushed it in.

I put one hand behind his head and held his hand with the other. I took it easy on him and only pushed about a quarter inch farther with each thrust. And he took it. I had to stop a couple of times to let him relax. But in the end, I had the whole eight inches in his mouth, several of them down his throat. Now that he wasn't doing the fast stroke on my cock, I was beginning to feel a real orgasm coming on. My cock was getting tight, and so was my ass. Taylor's warm wet mouth and quivering throat made me feel like I was going to explode.

"If you don't want to swallow my spunk, you'd better pull off now because it's not going to be long..."

He pulled off for a moment. He shook his head, breathing heavily. "Not a chance. I want to taste your hot load."

He drew my cock back into his mouth. He was back to concentrating on the head again, which any skilled cocksucker knows is the fastest way to finish a guy off... maybe he wasn't as inexperienced as he was making out...? But I was close enough that I was past caring. "OH, GOD that feels great. Take my fucking seed, you sexy son of a bitch!"

Taylor sucked hard. I shot five heavy loads inside his mouth, and he swallowed them without spilling a drop. I leaned back against the wall and slowly got control of my breathing. Taylor stood up and wrapped his strong arms around me. Then he kissed me roughly.

We still had our pants down when Jenny came back in. "Sorry boys, but the time is almost up."

"Nooo," I said. "Taylor didn't get a chance to cum."

She walked up and helped Taylor fasten the waistband to his shorts. "Good. If I couldn't be here, I'd rather he saved all that energy for me. But you're not off the hook. You have to stay for our meeting and then you're coming home with us tonight. I'll run you back to the dorm when we're done."

We barely had time to get everything cleaned up before the group arrived. It was what I expected. There was a lot of the same sort of stuff Pastor Mercy spewed. The speaker was an uptight blond woman. She wore a long dress and a golden cross around her neck. Her name was Millicent Bierce, and she was an adjunct lecturer who'd been hired to teach a couple of freshman writing courses. I didn't know at the time that I would be in her class, along with that sexy redhead from the College Success program.

Afterwards I went home with Jenny and Taylor, and we ordered pizza. Between bites we had a chance to talk.

"You saw the little demon in the Student Union, so you must know about the magical world," Jen said.

"He's a domestic fey called a `hob'. There are a lot of them around here," Taylor said.

Jenny sighed, "A demon is a demon no matter what you call it."

This was obviously a point of contention between them. Taylor lifted an eyebrow at me and said, "Hobs are harmless. It probably works for someone around here. It was carrying pastries not buying souls for Hell. But the little flower fairies and the hobs aren't the real problem in Severan. Have you heard of werewolves?"

Jenny made us some drinks she called a "bull shot" which she claimed was a favorite of her dad. It tasted like oniony beef broth, with a large dose of bourbon. I didn't like it, but then I'd never been a heavy drinker. I didn't like to lose control. I had no idea how much booze she'd put in that drink, but it hit me hard.

They told me about the werewolf problem on campus. About the dozen or more werewolves that were here last year and how they'd been responsible for a lot of violence back during their freshman year. A few students and townsfolk had even disappeared, and no one had done anything about it. They showed me photographs, which could easily have been faked. They were blurry enough, but for some reason I believed them. I knew about the fairies and the hobs. Why not werewolves? They promised to bring me into their group. Not the CCC, which was mostly mundane, but another group that kept an eye on these things.

They were so slick. I had no idea at the time that they were thralls of the vampire Vasily. They hid it well. How it must have chaffed Jenny's hide to serve him. She'd revealed her true nature during our long conversation. She was a true bigot who hated everything to do with the supernatural. To hear her tell it, her family had been hunting witches for generations. She claimed that the fairies were the intermediaries between the witches and the forces of hell. She also claimed that the witches used werewolves to kill their enemies.

Taylor, on the other hand, was more laid back, although his hatred of werewolves ran deep, he didn't seem to be as bothered by the fairies. And he had personal reasons to dislike werewolves. His older brother had run afoul of a gang of them back home and they had killed him. His father and uncles were all hunters, although he never mentioned whether they were hunting werewolves before they killed his brother.

Jenny helped us out to the car. She wanted to come along, but Taylor insisted she stay behind. I thought she was going to argue but she didn't. When we got to the car, he had to help me inside. As we were pulling out he poked me until I looked over at him groggily.

He said, "Watch out for Jen. She's more hardcore than me. You're reacting to the moly she put in your drink. I doubt she could miss the results. You didn't transform into a wolf, and you're not writhing around in pain on the ground, so you're neither a werewolf nor a fey. I think you're a mage. Untrained from the way you just walked into our apartment unprotected, but a mage, nonetheless."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I wasn't being completely honest with him. I didn't know for sure, but I was beginning to suspect that he was right. There was something different about me. The problem was that I had no idea exactly what a mage was. I came from an old family that seemed to have this secret involving magic. My great-grandmother and my cousin Dorian were part of it, but my parents, aunts, uncles and other cousins weren't.

I promised myself that I would get in touch with my cousin Dorian. He'd told me all those years ago to contact him if I needed his help. He'd be able to explain it to me. I was sure of that. Of course, I was drunk and stoned on what Tyler had referred to as... "Molly"? I completely forgot about contacting him until it was too late.

**********

I stopped typing for a moment and thought about that last phrase. Could I contact Dorian? I hadn't spoken to him in years, but I remembered his words with crystal clarity. He'd pulled out his wand (at the time I didn't know for sure what it was) and he'd touched me lightly on the forehead. And he'd said, "Memento verba mea. Contact me at Dorian.Ambrose@securetransferlink.net."

I went to the share button for the file and copied the link. I typed an email to the correct address and included the link. My master's words came back to me and echoed in my mind. "You will tell no one - and write to no one - that you are under my control." That should have prevented me from doing what I was about to do except that he had then added, "And you won't use your... email I believe it is called... to contact anyone at that school and mention me or your servitude."

Master was confused by modern things like computers and email. He'd left me a loophole. Dorian wasn't at the school. In trying to be more exact, he'd left me the space I needed to get my story out. I pressed the send button and watched it go. Then I panicked. Master could still find out and make me delete the shared file. I sent another email. This time I attached a copy of my work so far. As soon as Dorian saw my narrative, he would know what was going on. The question was, how often did mages check their email?

I sat back and continued to write. If at least one of my attempts to free myself worked, Master was fucked, right in his cold, dead, asshole.

**********

Taylor parked at the side of Baylor Hall, then he helped out and up the stairs. He fished in my pocket for my keys. I was giggling and leaning against him. He whispered in my ear, "Most people don't see what we see. You can't tell them. Only talk about it with Jen and me. Actually, your roommate is okay, too."

"My roommate?" I asked groggily.

He nodded. "Ethan's a hunter. He's not part of our group but he's with some out of towners. I'm going to need you to coordinate with them and report back to me. My group doesn't want them getting too close to us right now. Just befriend Ethan and we'll tell you what to do from there."

Taylor opened the door and helped me inside. Ethan sat up in his bed, and Taylor said, "Good. You're awake. Help me get him into bed."

"Is he okay?" Ethan asked.

"He'll be fine. He had a little too much to drink. Just help me get him undressed and comfortable."

I passed out before they finished.

**********

I sat back from the laptop and opened a coke. I probably should have written more about Jen. She had been coming on to me that whole night, but it wasn't her who was the perfect bait. It was Taylor. At the time I had no idea that the vampire was using him, not at first. Vasily had no idea who I was. But the moment Taylor told him I was an untrained, unknown mage, he'd decided to have me.

Glancing out of my window, I could see Kyle coming back. He was walking close to a cute black guy, who was quite a bit shorter than him. I wondered if Kyle was fucking him. Then I remembered how enthusiastically that jock had taken my cock the other night and I wondered if the short guy was fucking him. It was my fault that Vasily had sunk his fangs into him. Sure, Matt Silver was the one who brought him over, but I was the one who'd approached him. I'd been under Vasily's orders, of course, but it was still my fault. Wasn't it?

I still wasn't sure why the vampire wanted Kyle so badly. Somehow, I thought that might be the key to my own predicament. I watched the two of them until they disappeared from view. Then I finished my coke and collected my thoughts. Where was I? What came next? Oh yes, the werewolves...

**********

The next day was the New Student Mixer, but before that I met up with the hunters. Ethan introduced me to his uncle, who was among them. To tell the truth, I wasn't very impressed. They seemed like a sad lot to me. Just a bunch of guys with guns who were interested in killing werewolves. But the stories they told made my blood run cold. Taylor and Jen had told me some stories, but these guys had collected several more. And the leader of the pack here at Severan was supposedly the same werewolf who had killed Ethan's parents.

Taylor had told me to join up with them and make arrangements to join their group on Monday, while they were planning their hunt. I was their "campus liaison", responsible for coordinating between them and Millicent Bierce. The whole situation was complicated. According to Tayler, Ms. Bierce was the leader of the group, but that he worked for her superiors, although she didn't know it. And he was recruiting me for this "inner circle", but I wasn't allowed to breathe a word of it to her.

"The boss says that you're special and she's not."

The New Student Mixer started at 5:00 p.m. At least that was when the food booths opened, and all the clubs and organizations would be there. I didn't dress up. I was a jock from Oklahoma, and I wasn't going to pretend otherwise. I wore a polo shirt instead of a tee, but I still wore my jeans and sneakers.

There were a lot of hot guys there, but my eyes were immediately drawn to Kieran Morgan, the redhead I'd wanted so badly during the College Success program. He wasn't alone. Another guy had his arm wrapped around Kieran's shoulders. Both of them were dressed in black trousers and mandarin jackets. Kieran's was red and the other guy's was black. It was clear that they were together. I'd spent two weeks trying to get close to this guy and now he was with someone else.

Don't get me wrong, the guy he was with was objectively attractive. Six feet tall, tawny skin, shoulder length black hair. His almond shaped eyes had a slight slant to them. They seemed narrow because of his high cheekbones, and that gave him a look that was both fierce and intelligent. I wanted to hate him, but the way he touched Kieran, the way he put his arm around him almost protectively, the way he looked at him, it was obvious that he cared for him.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. There was a scent of spicy cologne in the air, but underneath that there was a citrusy, almost floral scent. That spicy masculine scent would normally have gone straight to my dick, but I found it a little off-putting that night, like it was... challenging me. And that underlying sweeter scent, that was the one I couldn't let go of. That was the one that was making my dick hard. I was sure both scents were coming from the two in front of me, from Kieran and his... defiler.

I wanted to beat the shit out of that man and claim Kieran for my own. A vision flashed before my eyes of his stupid handsome face. I was slamming my fist into it over and over again. I took another deep breath and my violent urges grew. It was like a rage was pounding in my head.

I forced myself to step back. I walked out to the front steps of the Student Union to get a breath of fresh air. Once my head had a chance to clear, I was able to put that anger aside. Something was wrong. I never reacted like that. I liked Kieran, or more likely I lusted after Kieran. He was... beautiful was almost too weak a word... but that was no excuse. It was like there was something in the air. It couldn't be drugs. My coke had come in a can and I hadn't set it down. But it felt like a drug. I'd tried some E once, just once, and it had affected my emotions the same way. I mean the emotions had been different. With E it was joy, and this was rage. But both had come on suddenly, and both had felt somehow artificial.

It was that night that I caught my first sight of Kyle. He looked puffy and slovenly back then, pretty much nothing like the hot jock he was today. Three weeks had made a huge difference for him. It hadn't occurred to me that he was following Kieran around. I didn't find out until later what he'd done that night. I kept looking for something to draw my interest, but I really had no idea what I was looking for. I wandered around the event and eventually found myself in the dance room.

The music was loud, the lights were flashing to the beat, and everyone was having a good time. I'd been dancing with a very attractive young woman named Tara. It was flattering when she came up to me and asked me out onto the floor. She was sexy and she was very interested, but her friends had come and taken her away. She took my number and promised to text me so we could hook up later.

I heard a deep masculine voice behind me. It had an almost lyrical accent. "You dance well."

I turned around and saw a man about my height with light brown skin, black hair that hung in curls that were short and loose. His eyes were deep brown. He held out his hand and said, "David Campos".

He pronounced it `Da-veed'. I shook his hand and replied, "Joey Peters."

His grip was strong. So was mine. He leaned in close and whispered. "I want to dance with you, and you want to dance with me."

I smiled and shook my head at his boldness. "You are very confident in yourself. Did you know that?"

He pulled me close and pressed his groin against mine. I realized we were both already hard, our erect cocks both straining to escape their confinement. He put a hand on my shoulder. "You want me, as much as I want you. I'm never wrong on these things. I can smell your body reacting to mine. And I can feel your excitement pressing against me."

"You're right. I am excited. But how do you know it's not the hot girl I was just dancing with?"

He pulled me close and nuzzled my neck. "Maybe it was her, but now it's me. I have a keen sense of smell and the scent is different. I knew you were bi as soon as you came over here. And I can tell when your pheromones are changing. When you were with her, they had one smell. The longer you talk to me, the more they take on your gay scent."

"So, I smelled straight when I was with Tara, but I smell gay when I'm with you?" I couldn't believe we were having this conversation.

He brushed his lips against mine. "Not quite... You smelled half gay when you were with her and now you smell almost entirely gay because you're with me."

"Are you saying that I'm gay for you?"

"I suspect you would be this gay for any man, but the scent is stronger now because I am making you hornier than usual. Tell me how much I'm turning you on right now and remember that I'll know if you're lying."

"You can smell lies now too?"

"No. I smell how horny you are. I can hear your heartbeat when you lie."

"I don't believe you," I said, "but it's an interesting line. And clearly whilst I don't need to tell you, I am indeed definitely into you right now."

He pulled me onto the dance floor and pressed close to me. We danced like that for a while, then I started to feel light-headed. It was the same sudden onrush that I'd felt downstairs. That light and citrusy aroma was making me incredibly horny, yet it was fainter and more distant than before, like it was triggering me and making me aware of David's more masculine scent filling my nostrils. All my blood was rushing to my cock. I buried my face in his chest. It was like I was suddenly aware of David's scent dominating my senses. My lips brushed across a button. On a whim, I took hold of it with my teeth and tried to unbutton it.

David pulled my head back and said, "What are you doing?"

He was smiling, so I smiled back at him. "I'm trying to get to your sexy chest but your shirt is in the way."

I moved my hands to his shirt and started working on it, one button at a time. Then I buried my nose in the thick mat of coarse hair between his pecs. The hair seemed to thicken as I was inhaling and licking up the sweat.

Suddenly, David tensed. "There's something in the air."

I twirled my fingers in his chest fur. Then I tensed. I looked up at him, a jolt of fear running down my spine. "Are you a werewolf?"

The thought crossed my mind that his senses seemed heightened like the stories Jen and Taylor had told me about werewolves, and he must be some sort of supernatural if he could tell what was happening to him. No one else seemed to be aware of it but him and me. A jolt of fear ran through me at the thought he could be one of them. No, it wasn't fear; it was excitement.

He smiled a crooked smile. "That isn't fur."

I couldn't stop running my fingers through it. I was overwhelmed with need; with the state I was in, I would have bent over right here on the dance floor, even if he were a werewolf. But I wasn't feeling fur. It was silky, but stiffer than hair. It felt like... down, like on a baby chick.

David was looking at me intently, staring into my eyes and then looking at my fingers running through his chest... covering. I had a visible look of confusion on my face.

He took my hand in his and said, "You see it, don't you?"

I nodded. "I do."

"What do you see? Tell me. I need to know before I say anything else."

The idea that he wasn't completely human, no, that he was more than human, allowed my curiosity and horniness to blend together in a new and fascinating way. I rubbed one of the strands between my fingers. It had a stiffer central strand surrounded by fuzzy down. I said, "Feathers. Why do you have feathers on your chest? But... if you're not a werewolf, what are you?!"

"I'll show you, but first I've got to get out of here before I lose control, and you're coming with me."

He pulled me out a side door to get some air. We looked around. There was a same sex couple pressed up against the railing. It took me a moment to realize that they weren't just making out. Her dress was hiked up and his pants open. They were... mid-coitus. I turned toward David and said, "Let's leave them their privacy."

David chuckled, "Such that it is."

We went the other way. Around the corner where there was no one to see us. In the light of the moon, David's hair had become messier, and it looked a lot like feathers. His features had become sharper. And his fingers looked like curled talons.

I was still horny, and I couldn't keep my hands off him. He took a deep breath and shook his head. His features gradually changed until he looked human again. "Fresh air did the trick. Someone must have brought an aphrodisiac bomb of some sort into the room."

My urgency was fading as well. I was still hard as a rock, but I was able to think straight again. I leaned over the rail and pressed my side against him. I wanted him badly. "It's a nice night. The weather is warm enough. The moon is out. We can't hear the music from out here, but it's still a sexy scene and I am so fucking horny."

His hand caressed my butt. "It's harder to smell you out here in the open air, but I can still tell."

I pushed my butt back against his hand. Most guys who got me horny made me want to fuck, but this guy was making me want to get fucked. I asked, "Do we do it here?"

He pulled me back and turned me to face him. We kissed, our tongues dueling for control. I wasn't sure if I surrendered to him or if his tongue wrestled me into submission. David grabbed the sides of my head and pulled my face back. He bit my lip and said, "Second floor is too busy. Someone will see us down here."

He gestured at the stairs leading to the third-floor balcony. "But no one is up there this late at night."

I bent down and bit another button off his shirt. He grabbed my chin and said, "I'd better get you up there and fuck you before you eat all my clothes."

We ran up the stairs to the much smaller third floor balcony. Since this level was mostly offices, the party was staying down below. The view was even better from up here. I went to bite another button, but David pulled me upright with a grin. I'd already destroyed three buttons, so I put my hands on the lapels of his shirt and ripped it open, sending the remaining buttons flying.

David laughed. "You little shit! I'll show you for that."

I shrugged. "Only three buttons on a polo."

David held one index finger up in front of my face. He waggled it and then smiled. It turned into a long talon. I hadn't fastened any of the three buttons, which gave him the opportunity to hook that talon in the vee of the neck and rip my shirt all the way down to the waist. Then he hooked the talon in the waistband of my jeans. "Do I keep going?"

I shook my head and put my hand on the front of my jeans. "No! I don't want to walk back to the dorm naked."

A stray thought ran through my head at that moment. The idea of walking across campus naked, preferably with David (or someone like him) fully clothed at my side sent a thrill down my spine. That was a dirty thought worth filing away for later.

The nice thing about a worn pair of Levi's button fly jeans was that you could tug them just right and they came undone. David grabbed the waistband with both hands and pulled my pants down. He grabbed my cock through my briefs and squeezed it hard.

He sighed. "You jock boys and your tighty whities. I mean, it is one sexy look... but they've got to go."

With two swift strokes he cut my briefs on both sides. They didn't fall because the front got stuck on my hard cock. David grabbed the cloth and pulled it off. He lifted it to his nose and inhaled deeply before tucking it into his pocket. "I'm keeping these."

"You can't wear them now that you've destroyed them."

He spun me around so that he was behind me, and he bit my shoulder. "I like to collect trophies from my conquests."

"Is that what I am? A conquest?"

"Mm-hmm. I'm a predator, and you are my prey tonight."

He slapped my ass hard, and I could hear him fumbling with a condom. "Fuck! What am I doing? You can see through the velamen."

"What's that?" I asked.

"No time for lectures now. It's what keeps all these mundanes around us from seeing the real world. But since you are not mundane, I can use this little talisman."

He held a small silver medallion in front of my face and chanted, "Sphintria purgetur." Then he touched it to the small of my back and I felt a strange tingly down below.

David kissed my spine all the way from my shoulders to my tailbone. "And now I can do this."

He knelt behind me and parted my cheeks. I felt the first tentative brush of his tongue against my hole and it was like a light went off in my head. "Oh damn! Fuck me!"

"Oh I will fuck you, just as soon as I'm done eating this big, firm ass," he said. "Just relax and let me enjoy you."

"Yes sir! Whatever you say, sir!" I cried. I was loud enough that a couple of students walking down below heard me and looked up. I was too high up for them to see anything but my naked chest, but I'm sure they knew what was happening, especially when David's naked chest popped up behind me and waved to them. There was some clapping and hooting and then they went about their business.

David went back to eating my ass. He had me pushed so far over the rail that I'd tip over if he weren't kneeling on my jeans. A deliciously warm sensation spread from my hole. His right hand had a firm grip on my balls and his left rubbed my lower back. A tingling spread from my taint to the tip of my cock. I clenched my fists around the rail until my knuckles turned white.

I could have hung there over that railing with David licking my hole all night. Every time his tongue thrust inside me, my whole spine quivered. But eventually he stopped and stood up behind me. I could feel the tip of his cock rubbing against my loose and wet hole.

"Wait!" I cried. "Do you have a condom?"

"We can stop if you want?" he replied "I'll put one on, but we don't need it. I carry a... I'm protected from disease, so I can't spread it, and you are clean as a whistle now or I wouldn't have just eaten your butt."

"How are you protected from disease?" I asked.

He held a simple amethyst pendant before my eyes. It was suspended from a silver chain. "This little gem holds a healing spirit. Whenever I get sick, the spirit in this stone cures me. The spirit's in the stone, so I'm not sick. Do you believe me?"

When I touched the stone, it felt warm. And I could see a pale light shining within it. Somehow, I felt the truth of his words. I nodded and replied, "I do. Go ahead. Do it."

David slipped the chain over his neck again and took hold of my hips. He pressed forward, thrusting the head of his dick inside me. My own cock throbbed and spat a little burst of precum. This had never happened when I was penetrated before. Maybe it was because it hurt too much when Zack did it, not that he hadn't been good, but the experience had been too new for me. But now, as Zack had promised, I was experiencing the full pleasure my ass could give me. David's cock was stretching me open, and my hole was tingling with excitement.

I called out, "OH! FUCK! ME!"

David laughed and patted my butt. "I thought that's what I was doing."

He pressed forward and thrust another couple of inches inside me. The feeling of skin on skin was so much more intimate than sex with a condom. It was a first for me. I'd always been so careful. This was almost like an act of sedition, a rebellion against all the safe sex talk. More than that, it felt so good to feel his skin on mine.

I didn't question David's story about the magic crystal. Maybe I was still under the effects of the aphrodisiac from earlier, or maybe it was his literal animal magnetism. In any event, his story turned out to be true, although I didn't find that out until much later. At the moment, I was more interested in the sensations that flooded through me when his cock slammed home.

It felt like he was making me his. Zack had never made me feel submissive. With him, I'd been his equal. But David knew how to fuck. He could hit my prostate on every thrust, and he made me feel like... like a boy submitting to his man. I never thought that would be appealing, but it was. I didn't think this was going to end up being a new lifestyle choice, but it was an exciting change of pace.

David reached around my chest and pinched my nipples, sending a shockwave of pleasure straight down to my dick, and to my ass. I clamped down hard on his cock. He twisted them again and said, "Your fine ass fits me like a goddamned glove. I'm going to cum any minute. Are you ready to be seeded like a sexy jock bitch?"

"Hell yeah, David. Fuck me like a bitch!"

He moved his hands from my nipples. One grabbed my balls and squeezed them firmly but not too hard, while the other grabbed ahold of my cock and stroked it slowly. On the tenth stroke I yelled, "I'm cumming! Fuck yeah! I'm... Aargh! Damn that feels great!"

My spunk shot from my cock and fell three stories on the sidewalk below. I was glad that no one was below us to get an unexpected surprise, but I wouldn't have cared if there were. Of course, my ass went wild. My hips were bucking back against him, and my ass was munching on his cock like there was no tomorrow. I was still shooting when David yelled, "Take my seed you sexy jock bitch! I'm going to shoot so far inside your tight hole that you burp cum for a week!"

When he finished, he turned me around and dropped to his knees. He swallowed my cock and sucked the last few drops into his mouth. Then I did the same for him. Aside from a faint mustiness, that had to have been my ass, I could taste nothing but David's sweat and cum.

We pulled our clothes up and then sat on the edge of the balcony letting our legs hang out into space. I leaned against David and said, "You are one aggressive sex god."

He kissed my temple and gave me a hug. "You caught me on the full moon. If it were the new moon, I'd have been a total bottom and it would have been you bending me over that rail."

"Maybe in two weeks," I said.

He stroked my hair. "Maybe. But... um... I need to ask you for a big favor. I've been way too open tonight. I need your word that you won't tell anyone what I am."

I shrugged. "I'm still not sure what that is. What are you? Can I see what you look like under the full moon?"

He kissed me and then stood up. He stepped back so that no one could see him from below. "It's not the full moon yet, but I'll show you. You can't freak out on me. I'm not cuddly like a wolf. Do you want the safe form or the scary form?"

I gave him a big smile and said, "Both!"

I'd seen enough horror movies to expect something demonic, but that wasn't what happened. There was a shimmer, like the play of light across water. In an instant, his human form was gone, and it was replaced by that of a large bird of prey. He stood almost five feet tall in that form and when he spread his wings, they were easily twelve feet across. His feathers were black, with red plumage on his head and a wickedly curved beak. He gave a loud "KeKAAAW" and then changed again.

His other form stood six feet tall. He was covered in thick feathers and his beak looked just as sharp as the last form, but it was bigger. His legs were longer and the claws on his feet looked like ostrich claws, but they were wickedly curved and sharp. And the last and most frightening detail was his arms. No wings for him in this form. Each ended in a claw with talons more than six inches long. He looked at me with his gleaming eyes and then shifted back.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Were-raptor," he replied, "the most dangerous thing around here aside from the elf, and I could probably end him before he knew it, if I could surprise him."

He kissed me again in his human form and then walked me down to the sidewalk. I'd seen two of his forms, but I knew that he could call forth those claws at will. It was no wonder that he strutted around like he owned the place.

We never hooked up again. I later found out that his kind rarely came back for second helpings. Once they'd caught their prey, they had their way with them and then moved on to hunt someone else. Needless to say, I didn't mention him to the hunters at all.

**********

I had to close my laptop and get ready for my last class of the day. Then I had to head back to my master's house. He always wanted me there when he awoke for the evening. I could feel the compulsion in my head, like a distant call even though he was sleeping. These commands used to feel like an iron band, binding and forcing me, but now it felt like a rope, a slimy rope that had no place in my mind. Seeing it as something alien made it easier to segregate it into its own little closet where it didn't affect my behavior. And just like that, I was free. Not permanently. I could already feel it beginning to reassert itself, but it was a start. I knew that it would grow strong again with more of Vasily's blood in my system. There had to be something I could do to keep that from happening.

I had to go to my chemistry class, but I stopped for a moment at the flower bed. I dug into my backpack and pulled out the pack of Cheetos I kept for emergencies. I opened it and held one orange puff out. One of the little flower fairies came over to me and took the cheese puff. It had taken me days to get him to come near enough to take a Cheeto from my hand. I had no idea why his kind loved the salty, greasy, fake cheese taste so much, probably for the same reason I did.

I let him take the Cheeto from my fingers and said, "You understand me, don't you?"

He looked at me with a face covered in orange, cheese flavored dust and nodded. Then he surprised me by saying, "Yes. I understand a little."

"I don't know how long I can speak freely, and I don't know who needs to know, but... I'm under the control of a vampire and he's making me do things and tell him things. And there are two small guys, a little bigger than you. He has them in a cage."

He nodded and replied, "Vampire. You spy thrall. Fey in cage."

I gave him another Cheeto and went on my way. I saw him fly back over to the others. He shared the puff with his friends like it was a gourmet treat. They were looking skeptically in my direction. They must have thought my little friend was crazy to come near me.

They were always skittish around people, even those who didn't see them. But they seemed even more skittish around me. I'd noticed that some other students, the ones with the wands, could see them. Just the other day, I'd seen Ethan and three other twinks, of the wand carrying variety, walking by the flowerbed. Ethan had pointed the fairies out and the others had acted like it was no big deal. But when the fairies saw Ethan pointing at them, they panicked. Then they shimmered for a second. And after that they grew bold and started flying around them, as if they were seeing how close they could get. Other than the one I called Tom Thumb, they never grew so bold with me.

After class I packed my stuff and went to my master's house. I took a Lyft. I didn't go many places, so it was cheaper for me than keeping a car on campus, and my $1000 a week expense account from my inheritance meant that I wasn't suffering any hardship from it. I decided to get some more writing in before Vasily awoke.

**********

The first day of the term fell on Monday. That was also the night of the full moon. After classes, I went to Pappy Jack's to shoot pool with the hunters. There wasn't one among them that I gave a damn about, except for Ethan. He seemed okay, even naïve, and sweet. But he wasn't here today.

William McNeil, the leader of the hunters, raised his beer glass in the direction of the two guys who'd just sat down to enjoy their pizza. "That's him, right there, the tall white guy with the little black boy. He's the leader of the pack."

He was pointing to a very sexy guy with very light brown hair who was sitting next to a short and slender guy with light brown skin. He had loose black curls on the top of his head, the sort of casual mess that would take me an hour to get right.

"Him?" I asked. "He doesn't look dangerous."

William gave a non-committal shrug. "Looks can be deceiving. That's Andrew Janowski and all the other wolves look to him."

The other Joe chimed in. "He's not the real leader. He's the face man. The real leader is a guy named Howard Cromwell. This guy is his second."

I called him Other Joe. His name was Joseph Lowry, and he was Ethan's uncle. The hunters called him Joe. They called me JP. Other Joe was skinny and not a lot taller than his nephew. He had a scruffy blond beard and watery eyes. It was like he had all of Ethan's features but twisted into plainness.

"Whatever!" William said. "If he leads the hunt, he's the one we want."

Janowski and his friend finished their pizza and started playing pool. We moved to the other pool table to keep an eye on them. William was a terrible player, but Other Joe was pretty good. He beat me, costing me $20. While he was playing against Pete, I had a chance to really watch Janowski and his friend. I overheard Janowski call him Simon.

Simon was bent over the table and Janowski was standing behind him with his hands on the pool stick like he was teaching the boy to play. He was grinding against Simon's butt with each movement. The smile on Simon's face told me how much he was enjoying it.

I saw that smile change just before his whole body language changed. I was impressed. That little twink had played Janowski for a fool. I didn't know what they'd bet, but suddenly he wasn't a novice anymore. He ran the table and won the game. Janowski wasn't mad, though. He was as impressed as I was.

I tapped William on the shoulder. "Forget trying to nab Janowski's girlfriend. This boy should be our target."

Other Joe leaned over and said, "You go back with him JP. Find out where that boy is going and let us know."

"How do we trap that boy?" William asked.

"Ethan," I replied. "That boy would be all over Ethan in a minute."

Other Joe pushed me back against the wall. "Ethan isn't a fag!"

I shrugged and said, "What do you think William?"

He sighed. "Give it a rest, Joe. JP's right. We'll use Ethan."

I had to get my stuff and follow Janowski and Simon. Other Joe was a bigot and a homophobe. And he knew shit about his nephew. I wasn't about to risk making things awkward with my roommate, which was the only reason I hadn't fucked him. He was a little cutie. He was obviously gay, but he got that deer in the headlights look every time I caught him looking at me. I'd never been with a virgin before, and I wasn't sure I was ready to break one in gently enough. Let him get some experience and then I'd be more than willing.

All I needed to hear was that Simon was heading to the library. I called William and let him know. Then I washed my hands of it. From all the stories I'd heard about werewolves, I figured they deserved what was coming their way.

Of course, they survived and I never heard anything about the hunters again. But I wasn't done with the werewolves. One of them was in my writing class, the big one named Darren, and he was pawing all over Kieran. Every time I saw that slovenly werewolf put his hands on the redhead, I got a little angrier. The boy was small next to Darren, and he always seemed afraid. Was that werewolf hurting or abusing him? What I noticed most of all was how he'd changed since the College Success program. He'd been a jock, my height but a little thinner. Now he was tiny, several inches shorter than me. And his hair was longer. And he had a look of wide-eyed anxiety on his face. I didn't know why no one else seemed to notice it. He'd shrunk before our eyes and the whole world seemed oblivious to it.

I took the opportunity to reconnect with him. But that big werewolf kept me at a distance like he was Kieran's bodyguard or something. It was probably the fact that Darren was slobbering all over Kieran, when I kept wishing it was me, that made me decide to lay a trap for him. I met with Taylor to express my concerns.

We met at his place because Ethan was hiding in our room from the werewolves. He was convinced that they were hunting him. We had a couple of people watching over him, but we didn't tell him. We didn't want to make him more afraid by validating his fears. Jen was still in class.

Taylor rolled over and then sat up on the bed, his naked body covered in sweat. He breathed heavily. "That was great, Joe. I feel like you just had your arm up my ass."

I sat up next to him and elbowed his ribs gently. "Any time. I have to say that I am much more relaxed now."

"So, what's your problem?" he asked.

I told him everything about Kieran and Darren. "And I think he might be hurting him. He seemed afraid when I saw him."

I could tell he was holding something back, but I couldn't quite tell what it was. He was evasive. "We know about Kieran. He's some kind of magnet for werewolves and... others."

"What others?" I demanded. He couldn't possibly mean the little flower fairies, or the elf. I'd only met him once, but he didn't seem the type.

Taylor put his hand on my knee and squeezed it. "There are witches here at Severan as well as werewolves, and they're even more dangerous. We can get rid of this werewolf Darren for you if you can help us."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked.

"We need you to lead Kieran off campus. Take him to visit that pervy preacher who ran the summer program you were in. We leave a trail. Darren will show up if he thinks Kieran is in trouble and so will the others."

It was obvious to me. The Chinese American guy with Kieran, was a witch. He must have been the one who was making him smaller and weaker. And for some reason Kieran was afraid all the time. Was it this guy he was afraid of?

Taylor nodded. "The witches here are in a powerful coven. If we can make them think Kieran is in danger, they'll come out in force. We can identify them and then... then you can have the redhead."

I agreed. I was so eager to get a hold of Kieran that I wasn't thinking straight. I met up with him at his dorm so I could take him to a frozen yogurt place. I had to borrow Taylor's Kia because I didn't have a car of my own. When I caught sight of him, I was flabbergasted. He was wearing a pair of light blue knit shorts and a rusty orange sleeveless tee with a coiled dragon on it in darker red. He had pale blue ankle socks and the gayest rainbow-colored sneakers.

He put his backpack in the backseat and then climbed into the passenger seat. I couldn't help but grin at him. "You look so different from two weeks ago. Most people wouldn't have guessed you were gay before, but dude you are super-gay now."

He was so cute when he blushed. Every bit of exposed skin turned red, and there was a lot of exposed skin to see. He said, "Yeah. I always knew I was gay, but I was hiding it. But I can't hide it anymore. My boyfriend likes me to show off my gayness. Although it is taking some getting used to."

I laughed at that point and said, "You dressing like that is going to take some getting used to for me, too. If you don't mind my asking, do you do whatever your boyfriend tells you to do?"

He held his head up proudly and replied, "Yes, I do. I'm his boy and he's my man."

"You mean that fat guy in the jeans and t-shirt you were with in class? He's the one who's fu... sleeping with you and bossing you around?"

He shook his head. "No, that's not my boyfriend. That's Darren. He's a friend of mine and Jason's, and he's nice, when you get to know him."

I laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh. I said, "Nice and fat."

I wasn't usually that mean. The vision of Darren sitting there in class with his arms around Kieran popped into my mind. I felt bad even before I noticed Kieran getting mad. I apologized. "Sorry to make fun of your friend, but he was looking at me like he wanted to beat the crap out of me the other day in class. Not that I'm afraid of any lard-butt."

Damn! I couldn't seem to stop myself. I wanted Kieran so bad. I swallowed hard and said, "Okay, I'm sorry I made fun of your friend. Let's just start over here."

"Fine. Are you meeting any new people?" he said without much enthusiasm.

I thought about Taylor, Jen, Ms. Bierce, and the hunters. But I put it out of my mind. "Sure have. I've met a lot of new people. I've met you twice, the `pretending to be straight' you and `see how gay I am' you."

He was fast to respond. "I was always gay, Joe. You don't just turn gay. I hid it all my life until I met Jason."

"I don't know, Kieran. You're prettier than my high school girlfriend was. If I'd met you back in high school, maybe I would've been openly gay too." And it was true. If I had met this guy in high school, looking like this, I would have wanted nothing more than to make him mine, to hell with the consequences.

Kieran was still getting mad. I almost laughed, not because I wanted to make him mad, but because the madder he got, the cuter he became. He seemed to be pointedly not looking at me. I gave him some space and got lost in my own thoughts.

He's a pretty little twink for sure. He looks kind of like a kid, a younger teen, rather than a child. Pastor Mercy said that he just wanted to talk, but I was sure Kieran didn't want to hear anything he had to say. Taylor said that we must watch out for his rescuers. They could be dangerous. But so could the hunters and I didn't want to see the pretty little guy hurt in the crossfire. I had to make sure he was okay.

I glanced over at him and thought. He has long fucking legs for a short dude, of course he wasn't that short before. I still don't understand that. He's so small. I'll bet he's tight as fuck. I can't believe that I may have missed my fucking chance... unless this all worked out. Maybe I'd get a hold of him after all. I'd be more than happy to take care of him, to protect him.

When we stopped at a red light, I snapped a picture of him with my phone. I could see his sexy jock showing. "I don't want to forget about that outfit, dude. Did you know your little blue straps are showing?"

I was trying to be playful. He was gorgeous and I wanted him to know that I knew it, but everything I said seemed to make it worse. I wasn't really one of those "slick" guys, but I was usually better than this. My tongue was twisted in knots.

He readjusted his shorts quickly so that the strap was no longer showing. He was blushing again. I wanted to pull over and give him a hug, but he'd probably freak out if he saw my raging erection. I restrained myself. I pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall with the yogurt shop. Maybe I'd get a chance to hug him later. I parked at the back of the lot, so we had to walk by Pastor Mercy's van.

The side door opened, and I pushed him inside. Pastor Mercy grabbed his arms and dragged him all the way into the darkened interior. I followed and pulled his cellphone out of his hand. I tossed it in the far back of the van.

Suddenly Kieran went crazy. He started kicking and twisting his body. It took both of us to subdue him, despite our greater strength and size. He started crying hysterically when I tried to straighten his shorts. It looked like his dick was going to fall out the side. He was screaming. "DON'T TOUCH ME! KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF ME! I DON'T WANT YOU. I ONLY WANT JASON!"

I held him in my lap and wrapped my arms around him. He seemed to be withdrawing inside himself. I kept whispering to him, "Shh. No one is going to hurt you, baby. You're safe. I won't let anyone touch you, but you have to stop kicking."

He hyperventilated for several minutes while I kissed his temples. His breathing slowed and he gradually became more focused. I looked at Pastor Mercy and said, "I think he's calmed down."

I looked at Kieran and added, "Nobody's going to hurt you Kieran. Pastor Mercy just wants to talk. We all pledged that we'd look out for one another and that's what I'm doing. He just wants to talk to you about your choices."

I was lying to him. I didn't want to, but I had no choice at this point. "I'm not going to ask for details, Kieran, but you went into hysterics when I tried to straighten your shorts. I thought you were going to fall out of the leg hole, so I just tried to straighten them up for you. I swear that's all I was doing."

He whispered, "I'm sorry. I panic sometimes. I... I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't have to, Kieran, but that looks uncomfortable. I'm going to untwist your shorts now because it's making me ache just looking at it."

I grabbed the side of his shorts and jerked them sideways, so they were no longer twisting his cock and balls into knots. He struggled to get up, but I held him tight on my lap. I could feel that his package was on the small side. I wished I could see it. I was willing to bet that I could have fit the whole thing in my mouth without trouble. The way he was wiggling on my lap I knew he could feel my erection pushing against his round little butt.

My thoughts ran wild. I want to get inside this little twinkie so bad, but that's not what he needs right now. I won't let them hurt him. They're not after him. At least that's what they said. He's not one of them, not a witch or a werewolf. He couldn't be. He was too sweet. He couldn't be dangerous, not with pretty cocksucking lips like those. He was much too sweet to be one of them. This job fucking sucks, but Taylor said that if I do this, I get to meet the real boss, the one that this fucking hypocritical pervert doesn't even know he's working for. Mercy my ass. I hope he's begging for mercy before this is done.

We pulled into the parking lot of a church on the other side of town. Pastor Mercy parked the van and I put my arm around Kieran's shoulders. I led him into the community building behind the church. I had to make sure he couldn't run, not that there was anywhere to run to. Pastor Mercy had set up one of the spaces like a counseling room, with chairs in a circle. I sat Kieran down in one of them and I took the seat next to him. Pastor Mercy sat at the other end of the circle and started talking in a calm, soothing voice.

Kieran was tuning him out. I was proud of him. I wanted to tell him that, to offer him some support. He and I had both heard this kind of talk all our lives. Mercy was trying to convince him that he'd been led astray by a gay predator on campus.

"This Jason character is no good for you. God made you in his image, but Jason is twisting you so that you're becoming a mockery of God's image instead. He's probably not even Christian."

Kieran interrupted him. "Jason didn't make me do anything. Everything I've done is because I wanted to do it. All Jason ever did was protect me so no one could hurt me while I was making the changes I needed."

"Kieran," Pastor Mercy said, "You're not a faggot. This Jason has convinced you that you are. When I met you... "

"... I was already gay, sir," he said. "This is who I've been my whole life. I've just been too afraid to admit it to anyone. I was a jock on the outside but on the inside..." I let my voice trail off and I just gestured at my outfit.

Pastor Mercy changed tactics. "You made a promise when you accepted the scholarship. You promised God that you would live according to His plan."

Kieran's jaw was set. I could tell that nothing the pastor could say would change his mind. He replied, "I am living according to God's plan for me, sir. God knows who I am because he's the one who made me. What I can't do is live my life according to your plan, or anyone else's plan, not anymore. All my life I've been listening to grumpy old men telling me who God wanted me to be, but they didn't have a clue. They just wanted to shape my image themselves."

Pastor Mercy was looking at Kieran. He acted like he was only concerned for Kieran's welfare, but I could see his erection pressing against his trousers. I thought to myself, he'd better keep his filthy pervert eyes off my boy. He looks like he's about to grab him, but I won't let him. I'll keep him talking until the rescuers show up. That's the deal. As for Kieran, I get him, the boss gets the information he wants, and then the pastor gets what's coming to him. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

I wanted to pat Kieran on the back when he stood up and threw money at the pastor, basically telling him what he could do with his scholarship. I was watching him with a sense of pride, but I was also keeping an eye out for anything supernatural.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and Jason and Darren burst into the room. Jason threw a chair out of his way and strode into the circle. The only emotion I could read on his face was anger. He ignored me and Pastor Mercy and picked Kieran up out of the chair and pulled him into a tight embrace. And Kieran wrapped those long smooth legs around his boyfriend and buried his head in his chest.

I stood up to delay them long enough for the armed men outside to come in, but Darren grabbed me by the hair and pulled me backwards over the chairs. He threw me onto the floor, knocking the breath out of me. He growled. "Get up and I'll break a few ribs."

I didn't move because I absolutely believed that he would.

I couldn't hear what Jason and Kieran were whispering to one another, but they looked so much in love that I knew I would never have a chance with him. I was surprised that it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. It was obvious that Kieran was happy, and that Jason was completely and unabashedly in love with him. Maybe Kieran's happiness meant more to me than anything physical...?

Jason set Kieran down and kissed him again. Wrapping his arm around his lover, he asked, "What great revelations did you have talking to this... man?" He was glaring at Pastor Mercy.

Kieran shook his head. "I'll explain later, if you don't mind, Sir. My thoughts aren't for him. I think I understand everything now." Then he leaned against his boyfriend and Jason stroked his hair.

Jason glared at me and then at that pastor. His cold eyes showed disdain and anger. "Come near my boy again, and I will hurt you in ways you cannot imagine." There was no way Mercy could have failed to believe that he meant what he said.

Darren pulled off his mask. His bearded, but human face was twisted in anger. He looked down at me and said, "Whatever game you're playing, it stops here. You won't get another warning."

He grabbed my left arm and pulled up the sleeve. He seemed a little perplexed, but he dropped it right away and shook his head. I had no idea what he was looking for, but I was glad he never found it.

"Where's your bag, Kieran?" Jason asked.

"It's in Joe's car at the yogurt place, but I don't know where that is, Sir."

"That's okay," Jason said. "Joe will tell us where it is, and we'll go get it. But tell me Kieran. Is that the money I gave you, thrown all over the floor?"

Kieran looked guilty but contrite. "I'm sorry, Sir. I was trying to give back the scholarship money so he would leave me alone. I was upset, so I didn't think about it being your money – not mine."

"No," he said, "I gave it to you. If you want him to have it, he can have it. Besides, everything I have is yours anyway. You're my other half."

"I don't want your money," Pastor Mercy said. "I want to save your soul."

Jason laughed at him. "You don't know anything about souls. You are ignorant, sad, and pathetic, like all your kind. Just pick Kieran's money up and hand it back to him neatly."

When he didn't move, Jason gave him a cold smile. "Do it now! You were party to a kidnapping and my lawyers are better than yours. I will ruin you completely."

Wow! Jason was going to fight, American style. Mercy began scrambling around on the floor picking up the money. "We weren't kidnapping you, son, we... "

"You just grabbed him and dragged him off here without his permission," Jason interrupted. "He had reasonable cause to believe you were going to assault him sexually. The case will be devastating, poor little gay boy abused by crazed fundamentalist hate monger. We'll forget about it for now, but you owe me a favor. And I will come to collect someday. Or I will come with the names of everyone else you've done this to over the years. The case and the press coverage will be catastrophic."

Jason led Kieran out of the room. I was distracted watching them walk away. Then Darren pounced on me. One hand fastened around my neck, and the other grasped my arm. I could feel claws against my skin. He jerked me to my feet and dragged me out to the van and pushed me against the side.

"Give me your car keys and the address of this yogurt shop."

"The car isn't mine. I borrowed it," I stammered.

His claws sank into the muscle of my arm. "Too. Fucking. Bad." He paused, briefly. "Keys. Now."

I pulled them out and handed them to him. Then I gave him the cross streets where the yogurt shop was located. He snarled, "Tell Mercy to bring you to the lot, but not before thirty minutes have passed."

As soon as they were gone, I fell to my knees. I had never been more afraid in my life, and I wouldn't be again until I met my master. I was still breathing hard when Mercy came out to drive me back to Taylor's car.

**********

I closed my laptop and reset the email to go out if I didn't stop it by tomorrow. I could feel my master's call. I rushed to his room, dreading the encounter. I was constantly physically weak and lightheaded. I thought he was probably draining me too often. When I got there, Master was holding a woman in his arms. She was weak and moaning.

"Take her," he said. "Put her on your bed for now."

I took the woman in my arms. I thought she looked about thirty years old. I carried her into the room Master had assigned for my use when I was here. I laid her down on the bed and immediately checked for a pulse. She was weak, but still alive.

I jumped when my master suddenly appeared and put one cold hand on my shoulder. "I'm going out tonight to meet with the 22:18 group. Take care of her until I get back."

I didn't acknowledge him. He knew I would obey, and he didn't care enough to insist that I respond. When he left, I put a heat pad on her chest and covered her tightly with a blanket. I sat with her until she regained consciousness. Then I gave her a vitamin C pill, an iron supplement, and a cup of water.

"These will help with your bloodloss," I said.

She swallowed them and then chuckled. "I wouldn't have thought of any mundane solutions, and I'm shit at healing spells."

I gave her a warm smile and asked, "Who are you?"

She smiled weakly and said, "Marlene. I'm a courier for the Conclave. I carry important correspondence for the conclavi_,_ not that I've been doing a great job of it lately."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I gave her a look that said I did. "What are you doing here, then?"

She yawned. "I was captured by the vampire this summer. He questioned me and then he put me under a compulsion. Now I am forced to come here before delivering the messages. He looks through them and then lets me go so I can deliver them. But I'm equally compelled to never speak of him to anyone not in his thrall. Who are you?"

"Joe Peters. I'm his thrall, too."

Her eyes were drifting. Then they snapped open. She said, "Joseph Lawrence Peters?"

I nodded. "Yes. Do I know you?"

She sat upright. "You don't, but you're one of the people he's interested in. He found out about you this summer and he's been keeping messages regarding you since then."

"Why me?"

She gave a feeble shrug. "I don't know. I don't read the messages. I just deliver them. Find them. He has them hidden here somewhere."

I found some food for her and made her a cup of tea. When she was settled, I started looking for the letters. It was surprisingly easy. There was no one here who didn't serve him in some way. In his study, the courier bag lay on the desk. But a drawer contained a number of letters addressed to Professor Thorne. About a fourth of them seemed to be about me. I glanced through them for anything important.

"...writing about a late addition to the list. Joseph Lawrence Peters just accepted the position at Severan. He's the heir of Priscilla Ambrose, the first mage among her progeny. According to the preceptor's report, he has the family gift of fey sight, allowing him to see them even when they are covered by a glamor. The education committee is interested in seeing his talent nurtured. Please see that he is placed appropriately and that he receives the training necessary. After her sacrifice, we are all in debt to Priscilla Ambrose."

There were several others, including various inquiries into my progress. I had no idea what all of it meant. Priscilla Ambrose must be my grandmother. I knew her as Priscilla Vernon, but that was my great-grandfather's last name. I started to put them in my pocket, but at the last minute realized this was a terrible idea. Master would know they were missing. I pulled out my phone and took pictures of the pages then carefully put them back where I found them.

And that was when I noticed it. Sitting in the drawer with the papers was a slender wooden wand. It was carved with... perhaps it would be better to say it was incised with strange sigils inlaid with silver. I picked it up and felt a faint tingling like when you touch a battery to your tongue. I waved it around and I felt a resistance, like the tip of the wand was moving through something that I couldn't see but knew was there. It was only a slight resistance, like it was moving through water instead of empty air.

Reluctantly, I put it back where I found it. It would be too obvious if it were missing. I rummaged through the other drawers and drew back a sharp breath. In the bottom drawer, tossed casually like so many pieces of discarded wood, were half a dozen wands. I picked them up one at a time and waved them in the air. One in particular caught my attention. It was slightly longer than the others, and slightly more... swishy? springy? I didn't know. It didn't really bend, but it felt like it was bending. I waved it again and felt something swirl around me, like I was stirring water with a stick.

On a whim, I took that wand and put the rest back in the drawer. I wondered where the vampire had gotten them. I rushed back to my room. The courier was sleeping peacefully. I hid the wand in my backpack. I knew my master would see it if I carried it openly.

Then I opened my laptop to finish my narrative. The last part was going to be rushed. Whatever was happening to me here, I knew that it was approaching a climax.

**********

The encounter with Darren and Jason at Pastor Mercy's church shook me up. I thought that I'd messed up, but Taylor met me over Labor Day and took me to meet the boss. His name was Vasily. We met at a nice house not too far from campus. Of course, we met at night. Not that I knew why back then.

When he came into the room, I felt a chill run down my spine. He was almost as tall as I was, but he seemed larger somehow, like he occupied more space than he took up. I wanted to run, but Vasily was on me before I could react. His hands were like the cold grip of death. He bit my neck, and I suddenly became aware of something inside me, forcing me to stop fighting. I lay there, limp in his arms, not resisting. It was like my survival instincts were turned upside down, and now the only craving I had was my own destruction. My life was flowing out, along with my blood, but he stopped. I was weak, but still alive. And then he cut his own wrist and held it to my lips. His blood tasted bitter, but it shot through my body like a jolt of power.

In that moment, I became his thrall.

**********

And that was that. My narrative was done. When my master found out, he'd probably kill me. But I wasn't about to face it lying down.

College Magic Cycle Characters

Faerie

·         Domenic Chase. An elf from New York City who looks about 24 but is actually a couple of centuries old. He has an alien mindset that others find hard to comprehend. He stands 66 inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds. His skin is pale, and his hair is almost white. His eyes are purple. When he's not glamered to appear more human, you can see his pointed, lobeless ears, solid purple eyes (like he has no white in his eyes, just purple iris) and sharp feline teeth. He's physically tough (he claims to be tougher than the werewolves), fast and has strong, claw-like fingernails. He can weave illusions and powerful charms, although the charms require some level of acceptance from the target. He's a friend of Sebastian. He enslaved Kyle Mason as punishment after he raped Kieran and beat up Simon.

Mages

·         Clarissa Spencer. RA for the supernatural girls in the dorm. She works for Professor Sybil Thorne, the local representative of the Conclave.

·         Cynthia Fuscano. A 43-year-old professor of Classics and Roman History. She teaches the Survey of Roman History course and a higher level course on the later Roman Empire. Her TA is Desmond Devereaux. In their freshman year, both Joey Peters and Ethan Lowry were in this class.

·         Desmond Devereaux. A 23-year-old 1st year graduate student in history. He's the fifth floor RA in Baylor Hall. He's dating Viviane Lamont, the fourth floor RA. He's a competent mage, but less good at casting spells quickly. He's six-foot one inch tall and has light brown hair, green eyes and fair skin. He's not athletic but still looks fit.

·         Ethan Lowry. A 17-year-old boy from Long Island. He stands 67 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He has golden blond hair, blue eyes and always has a golden tan. In this story he was working with the hunters. His mother is a sylph (an air spirit) and his own spirit is half human and half ventus (a name for male air spirits). He holds a donum arcanum (magical gift) and is being trained as a mage. He's an orphan who was raised by his uncle, ow also deceased. He is now Sebastian Trent's boyfriend.

·         Jason Lee. A 19-year-old (about 6 months older than Kieran) Chinese American college freshman with golden brown skin, brown almond shaped eyes and collar length black hair. He is already an accomplished alchemist. He is a dominant, looking for a submissive boy. He finds what he's looking for in Kieran Morgan. He takes charge of Kieran and begins training him as a submissive. He gives Kieran alchemical elixirs that change his body, and he uses psychology to lead him to embrace his innate submissiveness. He has allowed himself to fall into tantric entanglement with Kieran, bringing them even closer. He believes that Kieran is his complement, the other half of his soul. Jason and Kieran are the suitemates of Alonzo and Erik.

·         Joseph Lawrence Peters. A freshman in Kieran's writing class who was in the same religious program before school that Kieran was in.

·         Kieran Finley Morgan. An 18-year-old boy with pale skin, golden-red hair, and green eyes. At the beginning of the story, he is deeply closeted (he is unaware that said closet had glass doors everyone could see through) and stands at 72 inches and 180 pounds of muscle. He was a high school athlete who was on the diving team, the swim team, and the track team. Jason took charge of him shortly after they moved into the dorm and began training him to let his inner submissive out. Jason gives him alchemical elixirs that are changing him physically. He sometimes struggles with the idea that he's losing himself inside Jason, but he can't go long without his lover's touch. Kieran is somewhat naive. During the story he loses height, mass, and penis size. Jason says that he's not doing it, but Kieran is sure that he is. After being raped by Kyle Mason, he suffers psychological trauma and only his relationship with Jason gives stability to his life. He and Jason are suitemates with Alonzo and Erik. He has an artistic soul. Jason has decided that Kieran will change majors to Art. Kieran is a foundling mind mage with powers of telepathy and clairsentience.

·         Kyle Mason. A 19-year-old college freshman from Kentucky. He's recently developed his latent mind mage powers, but they're weak. Kyle begins the story as a high school athlete who's let himself go a little. He's 74" tall and 250 pounds. He has a muscular build with a layer of fat and a small gut. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He's a closeted gay man and a homophobe. He has a history of beating on gay acting guys who get him aroused. During the New Student Mixer, he raped Kieran Morgan. When he got back to his room, he beat on his smaller roommate Simon until he orgasmed in his pants. In return for these acts, Domenic Chase enslaved him and is turning him into a hot jock bitch. His life has become a prolonged slave training session. He begins to show remorse and even to accept his sexuality but tries to find a way out of his magical enslavement.

·         Sebastian Trent. A 24-year-old graduate student. He's the RA for his floor and he helps Professor Thorne to wrangle the mage and supernatural scholars on campus. His female counterpart is Clarissa Spencer. Sebastian is 70 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He has light brown hair and brown eyes. He was a little overwhelmed with the fallout from Alonzo's spell and Kieran's rape, so he allowed Domenic the leeway he needed to enslave Kyle. Now there's nothing he can do about it. Sebastian is bisexual but prefers men. He has older men on campus who blow him in exchange for favors. He seems to have a lot of influence on campus for a grad student. He is dating Ethan Lowry but feels guilty about the age difference.

·         Viviane Lamont. A 25-year-old graduate student in Literature and the RA for the fourth floor of Baylor Hall. She has black hair and dark eyes. Her skin is brown, and her features are full and rounded. She's an accomplished poet and has been published in both mage and mundane publications. She's dating Desmond Devereaux. She's a competent mage, but usually takes her time.

Mundanes (or Unknown)

·         Millicent Bierce. An adjunct lecturer who teaches the writing class that Kieran and Darren are in. She appears to be very religious and doesn't seem to like Kieran and Darren, probably because they are gay. She is the leader of the Campus Community in Christ (an anti-witch and anti-werewolf organization, among other things).

Skinchangers, Non-Werewolves

·         David Campos. (Da VEED) A handsome man Blatino freshman of Domenican ancestry. He's from Philadelphia. He has dark olive skin tone, black hair that looks feathery, and piercing brown eyes. He is a were-raptor who can assume two non-human forms. He can become a raptor that resembles a large golden eagle or a hybrid form that is bipedal with sharp claws on the end of feathered arms. He is an alpha, but the were-raptors don't follow a pack structure like the were-wolves do.

Skinchangers, Werewolves

·         Dawn Schiller (Alpha). A muscular blond woman who stands 70 inches tall. She's the female alpha of the werewolf pack and Drew's girlfriend. She is bisexual and usually has at least one girl on the side.

·         Darren Groves (Alpha). A 21-year-old college junior from Montana. A heavy-set man with shoulder length brown hair, a short beard, and brown eyes. He's powerfully built under his extra pounds. He's of average appearance. He stands 70 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds. He's Drew's right hand man. In a fit of lust, he groped Kieran in the laundry room. Who knows what would have happened if Drew hadn't broken it up? Despite this, Darren is a good guy. He's become a kind of avuncular figure for Kieran as one of his protectors on campus.

·         Drew (Andrew) Janowski (Alpha). A 22-year-old werewolf from rural Pennsylvania. He's 74 inches tall, with blond hair and green eyes. He wears a short, well-trimmed beard. He has a powerful build and weighs 220 pounds of solid muscle. He runs the local werewolf pack and helps Sebastian keep order on campus. He's bisexual. His girlfriend Dawn commands the female werewolves. He also likes handsome men and pretty boys. He took Simon into his room after he was attacked by Kyle.

·         Howard Cromwell (Alpha). A large and muscular alpha werewolf in his mid-forties. He was the leader of the local pack before being drive out by Drew, Zeno, Darren, Dawn, and Meghan, with logistical support from Sebastian. He was a leader of the old school who ruled through intimidation. Under him the pack followed several traditions that Drew has tried to do away with. He originally came from New York. He is the werewolf who killed Ethan's father. After leaving New York he wandered around for a few months before settling down near the college.

·         Hugh Kent (Beta). A 19-year-old college freshman. Lalo's roommate.

·         Inga Martinez (Alpha). A 29-year-old Latina woman from Middlebourne. She's a little heavyset, but quite strong. She manages the Wolf House for Zeno, supervising work groups and organizing the business of running the house. Her younger brother Sammy is the cook at Wolf House.

·         Ira Cohen (Beta). 19-year-old college freshman. Good friends with Aidan Stringer.

·         Ivan Kovacs (Beta). 22-year-old who lives at the Wolf House. He's one of the Middlebourne werewolves. He works with Wilma Jackson at the local used car dealership and repair shop.

·         Jarod Stringer (Alpha). Deceased. Former right-hand man of Howard Cromwell. Darren and Meghan killed him in the woods before Drew challenged Cromwell for leadership. His younger brother is Aidan Stringer.

·         Kevin McNeil (Beta). 20-year-old college sophomore. An athlete with brown hair and fair skin. Roommate with Conor Tighe. Tammy's brother.

·         Lalo Arenas (Beta). A cute and thin latino freshman, with a wiry build. Lalo is short for Eduardo. He has light olive skin tone, jade green eyes, and brown hair. He is friends with the mage Oliver Rankin (they share a literature class), and now the two of them are dating.

·         Lew Muller (Beta). A tall thin beta werewolf, with long brown hair, a beard and two black earrings with wolf head instead of a ball. He's a computer hacker who knows a bit about electronics. His major is English literature. He plays guitar and writes poetry. He was Benjy's roommate until he moved into the wolf house. He's a junior.

·         Meghan Connelly (Alpha). A female werewolf who is one of Kieran's watchers. She's Darren's best friend and she was one of the original 5 who worked to overthrow the old pack leader, Howard Cromwell.

·         Naomi Bentley (Alpha). A 27-year-old woman with long black hair and olive skin tone. She's very muscular. She was one of the Middlebourne werewolves. She's now the chief of security at Wolf House.

·         Samuel Martinez (Beta). A 23-year-old Latino cook who runs the kitchen at Wolf House.

·         Scarlett De Angelo (Beta). A 22-year-old graduate student who lives at Wolf House.

·         Shelby O'Brien (Beta). A 26-year-old professional bookkeeper. She lives at Wolf House.

·         Simon Carter (Alpha). A 19-year-old gay college freshman. He's an African American boy (although his biological father was white) who was raised by two moms. He stands 68 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. He's of average size, but the men he likes best are muscular jock types, most of whom aren't interested in bottoming for a skinny black boy. After getting beaten up by his roommate Kyle, he is moved to Drew's room.

Places

·         Baylor Hall. A dorm building at Severan College which is used to house the mages and lupipelles (werewolves) on campus. The third floor is use by male supernaturals and the fourth by female supernaturals. The muripelles (wererats) refuse to use this dorm and they stay elsewhere on campus. The dorm has a dining hall on the first floor.

·         Numina Flux Zone (NFZ). This area of southeastern Ohio is a weak spot between the worlds. Magic rituals are easier to perform here, and a higher-than-average number of people born in the region have mage talent, although most of them are never identified or trained. The realms of faerie, umbra, outland, spirit, underworld, astral, dream, and light are easily accessed from this zone. Other realms may or may not be easier to reach from here than from elsewhere. A similar, but smaller zone surrounds the Sagacia Academy and the Ossuarium in the Bayou of Louisiana.

·         Severan College. A fictional private college in fictional Severan Ohio. It was founded by the mage Aurelius Severan, originally to provide mundane college degrees to young mages. To accomplish this goal, mundane professors needed to be hired. Over time, the magical nature of the school became hidden behind a layer of mundane scholars and professors. The college sits near dead center of the numina flux zone that marks a weak spot between the worlds.