Untamed

noted was pink leather with silver metallic spikes all around it), and neatly clipped a leash to it. The instant his leash was reattached, the bear stopped barking, plopped its round butt down on the floor, and stared, panting, up at the kid. "Yeah, great. Now you want to act right," I heard him mutter to the obviously grinning canine.
    Even though the barking had stopped, the cats in the cafeteria had definitely not stopped freaking. There was so much hissing around us, it sounded like air escaping from a punctured inner tube.
    "You see, James, this was what I was trying to explain to you earlier," Dragon Lankford said as he stared, frowning, down at the dog. "The animal just won't work at this House of Night."
    "It's Stark, not James," the kid said. "And like I was trying to explain to you earlier—the dog has to stay with me. It's just the way it is. If you want me—you get her, too."
    I decided that the new dog kid had an unusual way about him. It wasn't like he was being openly rude or disrespectful to Dragon, but he also wasn't speaking to him with the respect, and sometimes outright fear, with which the vast majority of newly Marked fledglings spoke to vampyres. I checked out the front of his vintage Pink Floyd T-shirt. No class insignia there, so I didn't have a clue what year he was and how long he'd been Marked.
    "Stark," Lenobia was saying, obviously trying to reason with the kid, "it's just not possible to integrate a dog into this campus. You can see how much he's upsetting the cats."
    "They'll get used to him. They did at the Chicago House of Night. She's usually pretty good about not chasing them around, but that gray cat really did ask for it with that whole hissing and scratching thing."
    "Uh-oh," Damien whispered.
    I didn't need to look—I could sense the Twins puffing up like blowfish.
    "My goodness, what is all this noise about?" Neferet swept into the room, looking beautiful and powerful and completely in control.
    I watched the new kid's eyes widen as he took in her gorgeousness. It was soooo annoying that everybody automatically fell stupid at their first glimpse of our High Priestess and my nemesis, Neferet.
    "Neferet, I apologize for the disruption." Dragon placed his fist over his heart and bowed respectfully to his High Priestess. "This is my new fledgling. He arrived only moments ago."
    "That explains how the fledgling got here. It does not explain how that got here." Neferet pointed at the panting dog.
    "She's with me," the kid said. When Neferet turned her moss-colored eyes on him, he mimicked Dragon's salute and bow. When he straightened, I was utterly shocked to see him give Neferet a lopsided grin that looked more than a little cocky. "She's my version of a cat."
    "Really?" Neferet lifted one slim auburn brow. "Yet she looks oddly like a bear."
    Ha! So it wasn't just me being overly descriptive.
    "Well, Priestess, she's a Lab, but you're not the first person who's said she looks bearlike. Her paws are definitely big enough to be a bear's. Check it out." Disbelieving, I watched as the kid completely turned his back on Neferet and told the dog, "Gimme five, Duch." The dog obediently lifted a decidedly massive paw and slapped Stark's hand with it. "Good girl!" he said, ruffling her floppy ears.
    Okay, I had to admit it. It was a cute trick.
    He returned his attention to Neferet. "But dog or bear, she and I have been together since I was Marked four years ago, so that makes her cat enough for me."
    "A Labrador retriever?" Neferet made a show of walking around the dog and studying her. "She's awfully large."
    "Well, yeah, Duch has always been a big girl, Priestess."
    "Duch? That's her name?"
    The kid nodded and grinned, and even though he was a sixth-former, I was again surprised at how easily he spoke to an adult vamp, especially one who was a powerful High Priestess. "It's short for Duchess."
    Neferet looked from the dog to the kid, and her eyes narrowed. "What is your name, child?"
    "Stark," he said.
    I wondered if anyone else saw her jaw clench.
    "James Stark?" Neferet said.
    "A few months ago I dropped my first name. It's just Stark," he said.
    She ignored him and turned to Dragon. "He's the transfer we've been expecting from the Chicago House of Night?"
    "Yes, Priestess," Dragon said.
    When Neferet looked back at Stark, I saw her lips tilt up in a calculating smile. "I've heard quite a bit about you, Stark. You and I shall have to have a long talk very soon." Still studying the