by E. M. Moore
“Oh, no,” Sean replies smoothly, peering past Jonah to the Daybreak personnel. “I’d rather have her with me. You know how it can get, being mates and all.”
The two security guys accompanying Jonah glance at one another. Before they have a chance to talk, a cry comes from the waiting room. “Nathan? Nathan?”
My blood runs cold. Gayle’s blond hair bobs into view. She pushes past the burly security—including Jonah—and runs toward Nathan, flinging herself onto him. I nearly lunge at her, but Kinsey grabs my hand, centering me a little. However, my fingers still turn to claws in her grip.
This bitch better get off my man.
Nathan lets her hang there without reciprocating the gesture. She stays that way far too long for someone who’s not getting anything in return. I look away, attempting to help myself because the longer I look, the more I feel my wolf scratching inside me, pawing her way out. I grit my teeth, bearing down on my jaw to keep her inside.
My stare flicks to Sean, who’s also glaring at the scene. His shoulders are bunched, expression mildly irritated before smoothing out and turning his eyes to me. He walks over. Dread pumps through me with each step. When he’s at my side, he threads his fingers through mine, and I swallow the bile threatening to come up. Leaning over, he whispers, “I should’ve known it was Nathan who ran me out of the woods. I have your phone, Mia. The constant texts with him probably wouldn’t look good if they got out. Let’s play nice for everyone, don’t you think?”
I snatch my hand out of his grip. “No, I don’t think, asshole.”
“Play nice,” he growls again, baring his teeth like he’s attempting to pull alpha over me. It doesn’t work.
I stand my ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
A knock sounds on the wall next to the open door. It’s getting crowded in the small room. We all look as Lydia Greystone makes an appearance. My heart flip flops. She scowls at Kinsey, who gives it right back to her. The rest of us, though, give her space as she walks in. Peering around the room, her gaze catches on Nathan and me. She’s never at the academy, but she must have some knowledge of who we are because she picks us out like we’re long-lost enemies. “My students. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I refrain from rolling my eyes. Kinsey’s jaw snaps shut, and I swear I hear a warning growl in the back of her throat. Kind of ballsy if you ask me, since Lydia is high in the Lunar pack. I don’t blame her for her reaction, though. Lydia tried to kick Kinsey out of the academy.
“You both must be exhausted. And here are your mates here to save the day. Excellent.”
Sean threads his fingers through mine again. No matter how much I want to tear my grip away, I can’t. Not with Lydia’s stare on me.
“We’ve had such a terrible field trip back home, haven’t we? First, Robert running away and his subsequent punishment before banning.” Her words echo in my ears. Punishment. Banning. We weren’t told about that. “Now this,” she continues. “We can only hope that Ms. Wells pulls through.”
“It’s worse than that, Lydia,” Jonah grunts. “Someone is trying to kill your student, Miss Adams.”
Lydia flicks her stare to me, eyes shuddered. I can’t tell if it’s because she doesn’t believe him or it’s for some other reason I’m not privy to. “Evidence?”
“Earlier, she and my mate were under the concert speaker and it fell.”
“Not an accident,” Nathan growls.
One of the Daybreak guards finally speaks up. “The fasteners were found to be cut.”
“And now the fire,” Jonah offers, like he’s trying to lead her to the conclusion she should plainly see.
“Not just a tragedy?” Lydia narrows her gaze, as if she’s trying to call Jonah out.
“Evidence of accelerant was found at the scene.”
Lydia turns her nose up. “You would think Daybreak Pack would’ve been better prepared while they host the Winter Solstice party this year. My students were supposed to be guests of yours.”
“We’re not guests,” I counter. “We’re a part of Daybreak Pack, and I’m sure they’re doing as best they can under the strain and pressure of hosting.”
I never thought I would be backing up my pack like this again, but I’d take them over Lydia Greystone, whose hideous family thought up the Rejected Mate Academy. Maybe the original founder never envisioned someone staying as long as me, but that means new rules need to be made.
“If that’s the case, I’m sure your security team will do its best to figure out who’s responsible for these heinous acts.”
“They’ve agreed to let Mia stay here for protection,” Jonah states. “It’s the best course of action.”
“I disagree,” Sean remarks, squeezing my fingers until they hurt. “I want her with me.”
I don’t look at Nathan. I don’t trust myself. We all know Sean is full of shit. Instead, I watch Jonah as he formulates his thoughts. “I disagree. She—”
“Who better to have her than her mate? I’d protect her with my life.”
Under usual circumstances, he’d be right. I glance at Kinsey. Her shoulders are thrown back as if she’s not backing down either.
“I agree,” Lydia finally says. “Mia and Nathan are in my charge, and I accept their mates’ hospitality.”
My stomach clenches. She turns and exits, leaving no room for argument.
The security guys step back, gesturing toward the exit. Sean pulls me along behind him, his fierce grip meant to be nothing but a romantic gesture. However, for me, I see it as a claiming. I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do with me when we get there, but he better know that I’m not going down without a fight.
“I know if we were back in Lunar,” Jonah offers, “we’d put a guard on his house, at least. Just in case anything happens. We take life threats seriously.”
The Daybreak guards sigh as if they’re slowly losing their patience with him, but they agree to send us back with a guard. Relief floods through me. Sean won’t be able to kill me under their noses, will he? I can at least make enough noise to draw attention to what’s going on.
Kinsey rushes to hug me goodbye. “We’ll figure this out,” she whispers in my ear. “Stay safe.”
Again, I don’t even chance a look at Nathan as I’m led out of the security wing. The last thing we need is to show evidence of our true feelings. Especially right here in front of Lydia and alpha security.
Sean leads me down the cement steps and to the parking lot on the side of the alpha’s mansion. Opening the passenger door, he grins. “Look at that, me being all gentlemanly.”
“Didn’t know you had it in you.”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know.”
“Ditto,” I growl back as I sit and swing my legs inside.
He closes the door a little too hard, and from the corner of my eye, I see the silhouette of my sweet, jealous Nathan stalking toward a small, white car that must be Gayle’s. At least I know he can handle himself with her.
If all these people would disappear, I’d run away with Nathan right this second. I’d take our chances with Feral. Hell, I wouldn’t even care if we died a week later, packless. At least we’d have each other.
Alarm rings through me, causing my arms to sprout goosebumps. I pinpoint its origin as coming from my wolf. Mentally, I soothe her worries. I’m only ruminating on the impossible. Robbie was punished and cast out—something we hadn’t even been told, though it makes sense. With the other packs in town, Daybreak would’ve wanted to deal with the Robbie’s situation as soon as it happened and not have it linger. He had two strikes against him. One, he tried to run away, and two, he was rejected. A second-class citizen.
The SUV thrums to life underneath me, and it’s like a signal to start a race. I don’t know how Sean is going to play this, but I know I’m smarter than him. I’m better than him.
“Answer me this,” I voice as Sean takes a left out of the alpha’s compound.
“I’d rather n
ot,” he deadpans.
I shrug. “I would rather not be left at Greystone forever, but we can’t always get what we want, can we? Oh, except for you.” I let my words sink in before I move on to my original thought. “Why do you hate me so much that you’d want to kill me?”
Sean peers over, the dark shadows from the early morning sun casting his face in a black hole of nothingness. “It isn’t really you. It’s the loss of control, Mia. When I figure out how to get rid of this, I’ll have taken back my own life.”
“We could’ve been something,” I tell him. “You wouldn’t give it a chance, so we’ll never know, but we could’ve been something.”
“I thought about that a couple of times,” Sean admits. “But I don’t want my life chosen for me. I choose my own.”
I shake my head. “Didn’t it ever occur to the two of you that you may not get paired together?”
Sean laughs. “It may have started with her, but it’s not about Gayle anymore, Mia. She drank the Kool-Aid. She wants Nathan more than anything right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not already trying to hop on his dick.”
I suck in a breath, my fingers curling into my thigh. “You’re not together?”
“We were. For a long time. After you,” he says, peeking at me like I’m going to give him a reaction. “We pushed the boundaries. We fucked like rabbits. It made me stronger, but Gayle went into a depression. Of course, I wouldn’t let her accept Nathan because I still wanted my plaything, and she still wanted my dick, so….” He shrugs. “Eventually, fate caught up to her. It took her long enough, but she’s most definitely on Team Nathan now.” The hard clip in his voice tells me he’s bitter about this, even though he’s trying to smooth it over like he’s not. ‘That’s why I took desperate measures. I’m not about to be anyone’s bitch.”
“But your wolf,” I throw back at him.
He growls. He seems frayed around the edges, able to cover it up well enough, but alone, he’s a frantic ball of energy. Even while he’s driving, his free foot jumps up and down. His fingers keep playing over the steering wheel.
“Has it been hard for you since he came out to see me?” I ask, voice husky. “Do you hear him in your head?”
“Shut up.”
“Does he claw at your insides?”
He slams on the brakes. “I said shut up!”
My body whips forward, and I grab the dash for support. My heart beats like a bear on steroids as I peer over at a man who seems to be slowly losing it. He cracks his neck and starts the vehicle again. While he drives, I make myself small, thinking about the next steps. Sean won’t let me run. I’m supposed to be in his care, not that that’s worth anything. If anything he’s trying to do the exact opposite.
Eventually, we arrive at his house. I turn around in the seat, frantically searching for the guard who’s been assigned to me. He might be my only hope.
“Get your ass in the house. I’m sure your precious guard will be here. Not that you need it. Oh, I forgot.” He throws his door open, slams it, and stomps around to my side of the car before yanking the door open and grabbing me. “This is the way to do it, right?” He pushes me forward, and I trip, falling to my knees. He huffs, tugs me to my feet, and wraps his fingers around my upper arm, all while forcefully leading me into the house. “I can be chivalrous, Mate.”
There’s such a disconnect between the Sean talking right now and the wolf who met me the first day I got here. I wonder if all the rumors are true about disassociating yourself from your shifter side. You end up being hollow and dark—a mere shell of the person you’re supposed to be.
If he is suffering from that, who knows what he’s planning.
24
Tied up in my ex-mate’s laundry room is not how I imagined I would spend the night before the ball. Sean brought me in here the moment we walked into his house, using rope to restrain me to his utility sink. He’s left me here ever since.
My stomach growls, and my ass aches like it’s been paddled—and not in the good way.
He paces a lot. I’ve heard him traverse around his small apartment like he’s in a marathon. The lone window in this room has a shade pulled down over it, but rays of light are now shining around the perimeter.
I lean my head against the sink. My neck pulses, sore from having fallen asleep bent forward. It’s impossible to find a good spot to sleep in, and I just couldn’t hold it off after the adrenaline crashed. Not even the fear of what Sean might do could keep me lucid. I woke with a banging headache and a neck that felt as if it had been partially severed.
Closing my eyes, I wonder what Nathan is up to. In another reality, we could’ve been mates determined by fate. We could’ve been living amongst our pack this whole time. The Winter Solstice would’ve been a great party, something to mix up everyday life.
Instead, he’s with his mate who suddenly wants to be with him, and I’m with mine, who’s slowly losing his damn mind.
If he would just shift, I have no doubt his wolf would let me out of this. He must have him barricaded so far under that there’s nothing he can do. Or maybe that’s why he’s been pacing. He’s been fighting his wolf.
I can’t imagine being at odds with mine. We’ve always been on the same page ever since I started feeling her. We were devastated at our joint rejection. We were each other’s company through the loneliness. And by some crazy mix of fate, she was on board with Nathan, too. Through the year of being there for me, she felt his true worth.
I gulp, holding back my emotions. If Gayle wants him now, will he still have those feelings for me? What if he does a one-eighty? Mate bonds are strong. They’re supposed to be. They’re the key to our species’ survival.
When I get out of here, I wonder if he’ll still even be mine? It breaks my heart to think that he won’t be.
Footsteps move past my door. “You know,” I shout out, “you don’t have to leave me in here tied up. What am I going to do? It’s not like I can shift and tear your ass apart.” No matter how good that would feel.
Surprisingly, the door to the laundry room opens. Sean pokes his head inside and drops a bowl in front of me. Cereal pieces spill over the rim and onto the white tile. “Why haven’t you shifted?”
I shrug. “I guess I don’t see you as a threat.” Honestly, I didn’t shift because if anyone walked in here, I wanted them to see how I was being treated. It would be another piece of evidence in my favor.
Part of me wishes I had just to give me a better sleeping position, but I’ll take the sore neck if someone finds out who Sean really is.
His dark eyes twinkle. He seems even more out of it than last night. He’s definitely not thinking clearly. I should ask him why he even attempted to restrain me since he should know shifters can’t stay tied up. Because he’s rejected his own animal, maybe he thinks I have, too. Or, he’s just that far gone that common sense is the last thing on his mind.
He scowls. “You should be afraid. I have tried to kill you twice.” He shrugs. “I had to make it look like an accident both times.”
“Your attempts sucked.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a better way.”
The thread of violence through his voice makes me sit up and take notice. He kneels next to me, and I veer as far away from him as I can, but since I’m tethered to this sink, there’s nowhere to go. His scent wafts over me, and I wrinkle my nose. I used to dream about his fragrance. It was the best smelling thing in the world. That’s completely gone now, and not just because I’m not attracted to him anymore. His body odor game is raw and strong, like he hasn’t bathed in a few days.
His fingers work on the knots, and I press my lips together. “What are you doing?”
“Letting you free to eat. Your friend is coming over so you can get ready for the ball together.”
Disbelief colors my words. “Kinsey is coming here?”
Sean pulls away, tracing his thumb along my jaw. “Of course. I told her you were already in the shower so you couldn
’t come to the phone when she called, but she’s very excited.”
I slap his hand away. “I doubt she believed you.”
“Not my problem if she didn’t. It was pretty clever of you to make such high-powered friends, though. I didn’t realize shifters with Kinsey’s stature were sent to the academy.”
He has no idea how Kinsey grew up. He’s only assuming since she was paired with Jonah that she had some fantasy childhood, but that’s not the case.
Giving my head a quick pat, he smirks down at me. “You better eat and take that shower so you don’t make me look like a liar.”
I stand, shoving him back. Now that I’m on two feet again, I realize it would’ve been very difficult to shift in here anyway. There’s so little room, and I would’ve had to basically claw my way through the door to escape, which would’ve just drawn attention to us. “You’ve lost it,” I tell him. “Sean, let your wolf back in.”
“So he can be with you?” he snarls. “No.”
“I don’t give a fuck about being with you,” I snap back. “You need your wolf to feel whole again. You’re not thinking clearly. Tying me up the whole night, pacing...”
“I needed to make sure you stayed out of my hair while I came up with a plan.”
“And a locked door with a bed wasn’t an option?”
He tilts his head, then replies simply. “No.” He turns, leaving the room and almost kicking the bowl of dry cereal over. “Don’t try anything.”
I swoop down and grab the bowl, shoving the circular carbs into my mouth. It appeases my restless stomach as soon as I swallow. If only things were different, I’d try “anything” in a heartbeat. However, I’m a rejected shifter, so naturally, I’m the untrustworthy one. No matter the circumstances, we’re trash. Bringing what’s happening to someone’s attention would crucify me. No one would believe that a mate could do what Sean’s done. Everyone would assume I’m lying because I’m the cast off. We’re all pegged as desperate and damn near derelict. Just look at Robbie.
Not even Kinsey and Jonah can help me fully.