by S. L. Morgan
“On what and why? I’m not good with secrets, and I’m even worse at pretending to be fake. Where’s Ethan? He always sits next to me at lunch.”
“Don’t worry about Ethan,” he dismissed me with his jerk tone.
“I can do whatever I want.” I pushed him off me. “I’m not good with this. My stupid wolf is acting like this is all A-Okay, and it’s not. Tell me where my friend is.”
“If you remember correctly, he’s my cousin, and I’ll handle him.”
“You’re a jerk,” I seethed. “And trust me, for Ethan’s sake, I didn’t cuss. Please, tell me what’s going on. For all I know, you idiot, arrogant masters are playing games before your big challenge tonight. None of this makes sense.”
“Why would you think I would play silly games like this?” He grew more severe, and I got a peek at the wolf he kept hidden in him while he was in his normal form.
The black, enormous wolf was fierce. It made a chilling feeling shoot down my spine, and it made my inner wolf lay down and whimper in submission.
“I’m not submitting to an arrogant, piece of crap like you and your immature friends. You want to throw your wolf in and freak me out, then I’m not playing your dumb game. You, Dominic Rossi, can go find some other groupie of yours to pull this nonsense off with. I’m out.”
In less than a breath, Dominic had me up against the wall, his firm body towering over mine. “You need to relax. If anyone is acting like an immature fool right now, it’s you.”
“Get off me.” I went to shove him away, but the surprising act of him bringing his hands up to my face and lowering his eyes to meet mine, paralyzed me.
“It would be nice if your biased mind didn’t jump to conclusions about me,” he said in a low growl. His lips were at my ear, hands tenderly caressing my face he had framed in them. “I would never play games with a girl, and I would definitely not play games with you, Jenna Silvers. I’m asking you to go along with this for reasons that I can’t discuss.”
“You don’t trust me,” I exhaled, my body betraying me in every way possible. “Then, I don’t trust you.”
“You’ll learn, and then you’ll understand, you stubborn brat.”
Before I could snap back at him, his eyes darted toward what I assumed was Dean Edgewater’s long and lanky figure. I couldn’t see or even think for that matter now because my lips were silenced by Dominic’s firm lips on mine.
My body went limp, and my heart was set ablaze with some flame that ignited out of nowhere and sent it beating at a pace that should have given me a stroke.
His lips found my bottom one, and I swear I heard the dude softly moan like he actually was just as taken by this simple kiss as I was. Officially, Dominic had become my first real kiss.
Instead of pushing the attractive guy off me, my hands slipped under his arms and pressed into—holy crap—the taut muscles of his back. He was all power and strength. Oh my gosh, I was getting lost in the Dom spell over a kiss.
“Hey. Hey,” Dean Edgewater’s voice broke through this oddly connecting moment that was starting to bud between Dominic and me. I couldn’t get the woodsy, rich fragrance of his masculine scent out of my head that was completely spinning right now.
Dominic chuckled and pulled my weak body up and next to his in a tight embrace. It was apparent he knew I was limp as a noodle right now. “Yeah, Dean Edgewater?” Dominic lifted his chin and smiled at the Dean’s mischevious stare.
“A master dating his student?” the dean arched a brow at Dominic. “You know I will have my eyes on you both. I expect no favorites to come out of your mastering her amongst the others, or you will lose your title.”
“I have no intentions. In fact, I have her going up against Master Scott’s finest shifter tomorrow.”
Dean Edgewater studied me, “You both agreed to this.”
“I didn’t,” I said, angrily and truthfully. “I have no idea what Dominic is doing. Trying to get the love of his life killed?” I said, not really realizing I used the word killed.
“Immortals killed?” Dean Edgewater laughed. “That’ll be the day. I’m watching you,” Edgewater said to Dominic.
“Yes, sir.”
“Both of you are late to your classes, not a great way to impress teachers as a master dating his student at Immortal Academy. Before you know it, you'll have the entire school watching your every move.”
Dominic smiled, “We wouldn’t want any distractions, would we?”
Edgewater laughed with his weird smile. “Too late for that, Dom,” he said with a smile. “Get your shifter selves to class before I throw you both in the dungeons.” He winked creepily, then vanished.
“Get to class. Mission one…accomplished.” He kissed my hand like he was some dude who fell out of the time when young men actually behaved like gentlemen. “By the way, that kiss,” he let out a breath and gave me a devastating smile, “next time, I’ll take you to your limits, Silvers.” He licked his lips and grinned at me, “I’ll never forget how that made me feel.”
“Quit being disgusting. How long do we play this game of yours before you explain what’s going on?”
Dominic turned back, and a smile played on his closed lips for a fraction of a second. “For as long as I need it to. And don’t say you and your eager little inner wolf didn’t enjoy that simple peck either. It felt like more, didn’t it?”
I watched his curious expression, his wolf still shut off to me. “Felt like you assaulted me to get the dean’s attention. That’s it. This better be worth it.”
Dominic smiled, “I knew you felt something more. See you after class, Silvers.”
“I think I can manage walking to House Mage on my own.”
He threw a hand up, walking away, “After class.”
He dismissed me and then took off.
What. The. Hell.
If someone wanted to distract me from more pressing issues at this school, Dominic kissing me was obviously more effective than a piece of pie. A freaking peck had my knees buckling? I had to ground myself.
It would’ve been nice to have my best friend and a grounding spell right now. Too bad, she was drinking the fairy juice, and I was sitting here as one of Dominic’s victims, getting played to probably make the jerk look better. God only knew, he probably had some stupid bet going on with his friends. The big challenge was tonight, maybe they all pulled some sick joke on each other like some weird initiation to being the champion and lead master.
Sounded about right. Scott and Ian had stupid smiles on their faces while Dominic started the whole boyfriend-girlfriend status between him and me at lunch. So there’s that. The most obvious choice, and tonight I would be rooting for Finley to kick all their arrogant asses.
I walked into my Fairy class and scanned the room for Ethan. I hadn’t seen him at all, not even to chew him out for dressing Dom and me as matching King and Queens from Sparta. Did he take off? Did he see what I saw last night? Now, he wasn’t in class.
My heart was racing in fear for my new friend. I practically shouted thank God when I saw him sitting in a different place in class. Unfortunately, there was no space to sit next to him, and the usual glaring headache I had in this brightly-lit, colorful fairy room hit me harder than Dom’s lips earlier.
At least Ethan was cool. Maybe I was starting to think the worst because I saw the worst. I wanted to ask Ethan if his owl picked up on anything weird, but he was out of the class before I could catch him, and as promised, my new fake boyfriend was leaning up against the archway entrance like a shifter god sent to take me to my next class.
Good God, if this was some joke—at my expense—between him and his lame friend, I was going to literally knee him in the balls so hard they’d never drop down again. This was BS and even worse than what the mean girl trio could conjure up with their jealousy.
I was officially their target, and the fact that Dom just drew me in and planted another kiss on me—instigating a chorus of gasps and whispers—wasn’t good if
I wanted to stay under the radar.
My life was going to change at this school because of this charade Dom was playing, and if it did, I was going to make sure Dom’s life changed for good too.
Chapter Eighteen
Bright lights overlooked the grass field which had been turned into some kind of an arena for the challenge of the shifter masters tonight. I sat with my friends who were insistent on finding out how and when Dom and I got together. Dom’s little charade put me on just about everyone’s radar…the jealous girls, the headmasters and professors, and creepy Dean Edgewater.
I wanted to believe this was some lame challenge the masters put on each other, and Dominic Rossi was proving to them he could snag any girl at any time, knowing my wolf wouldn’t let me back out of it if I tried.
I was more angry about becoming the girl who was instantly hated and judged for dating a celebrity who deserved better. It was hard enough to keep my mind clear of thinking about what I’d seen at the Ageless Ball, now I had to make doubly sure I didn’t let my mind wander to that night because all eyes were on me, and anyone who had the ability to read minds wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.
I narrowed my eyes down at the arena where Finley and Ian were in a match of skill. Scott had been eliminated for taking a hard shot and dislocating Dominic’s shoulder, which if I was honest, I enjoyed watching even if it was a cheap shot, but Dom didn’t even flinch. The pain made him smile. He reset his arm and acted like nothing had happened. In fact, the only thing that annoyed him about the cheap shot was the fact his friend broke the rules by causing an injury to win a match. He stood, arms crossed, intently watching Finley and Ian go at it.
The match between the two masters was short lived when, even though Finley was sharp and agile, she was taken down by Ian’s stealth move and large frame that had her pinned for trying to take him down from behind. The guy ducked her attack, spun her around, and pinned her to a point to where she tapped his arm, forfeiting the match and losing. Bummer. I was rooting for her to kick Dom’s butt next. I took note of the move I would have naturally used to save my own butt from someone bigger and stronger than me, seeing that it leaves you more open and vulnerable than I would have imagined.
“Five minutes, and we’ll have our final match between masters,” Professor Samson’s voice ordered over the speakers.
I was shocked at how this event attracted spectators of each supernatural race at the academy. Maybe they were intrigued by how shifters fought in their natural form without shifting.
“Why’d you even come out to this?” I looked at Vannah, who was holding Nick’s hand as if this was date night for them.
“Extra credit.” She smiled at me. “Besides, I was curious if your new boyfriend would achieve the esteemed role of Master Shifter.”
“Give me a break.” I glanced back down at Nick holding her hand, “You two just wanted an excuse to be out on some weird Immortal Academy date together.”
“True.” Nick laughed and pecked Vannah on her cheek.
I inhaled deeply, I couldn’t get mad at their open display of affection. Dom had practically made a new rule at the school that it was okay to grab your girl and kiss her in front of anyone at any time.
“We’re going to get some punch, want some?” Vannah said, standing up with Nick.
“And miss Dom getting his butt whipped by Ian? No, thanks,” I said with a laugh.
The two waltzed off like newlyweds, leaving Tanner and Emma down the benches from me, smiling in my direction. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, watching Dom take his shirt off, leaving only his black workout pants on for the final fight. Oh, God. Give me a break. I wanted to be annoyed, but good Lord, this guy’s body was cut, chiseled, and perfect. I would have thought this was Dom acting like a peacock shifter and strutting in front of everyone, but Ian followed in the new shirtless fighting match that was about to happen.
Unfortunately for Ian, Dominic made Ian’s ripped, muscular body look scrawny and like he missed a few workouts while Dom was a devoted student of chiseling out the perfectly-carved, manly body.
“God, Jenna, stop!” I quietly scolded myself. “Dude’s a joke,” I reminded myself.
“He protects the ones who are in danger.” Ethan’s familiar voice almost made me jump four seats down to where Tan and Emma were sitting.
I looked at him and shut my mind down right then and there. “Where have you been?” was all I could manage to ask.
“He didn’t know about her, or he would have—”
“Ethan,” my heart started racing, “About her? Who? Do you know something?” Then a thought that should have hit me a while ago slammed into me hard and fast, and I couldn’t clamp my mouth fast enough to not ask. “What did you do to her? Did they use you? Was it you?”
“You ask a lot of dangerous questions.” Ethan’s blue eyes met mine. “Don’t. You will be next if you question things.”
“Are you threatening me?” I looked at him in disbelief. Everything in me knew that Ethan couldn’t hurt a fly, but maybe that’s the vibe the owl was giving off. A freaking owl shifter. Maybe that’s the trick to killing immortals.
“I could not threaten you. You threaten yourself,” he said in the matter-of-fact Ethan tone.
“Listen, Ethan,” I grabbed his arm, sending his blue eyes to glance down at my hand with some fiery gaze, “you need to tell me the truth. Stop talking like this. You weren’t at the dance. You were nowhere to be found when your dumb cousin made a spectacle out of us today—to protect you. I went along with it because I—”
“You talk too much. It’s dangerous. You have to stop thinking about what happened.”
“How can I ignore what happened to Jess?” I said, brokenhearted that Ethan must have done something and Dominic seemed to have been covering for him and using me in the process.
“If you want to survive, you’ll stop asking questions. Forget what happened and live.”
And just like that, Ethan stood and left. I went to follow him, but all eyes were on me right now. Thanks, Dom! My new fake use Jenna to cover up his cousin killing someone boyfriend was walking into the middle of the field with a sparring stick. Dean Edgewater’s eyes were practically looking through my soul, mindreading, or listening to everything Ethan and I had been talking about.
Focus on Dom’s abs! I inwardly told myself, knowing my mind would get distracted and stop thinking about things that Edgewater could call me out on later.
The two masters stepped out, and my eyes went to Dominic. He oddly drew me into how he was finally going to fight. His eyes were focused, his body was flexed, and he was parading around like Ian was, twirling the sparring stick he held. Ian had a stupid grin on his face while Dominic had a calculating look on his. Dom’s stature was rigid and ready for attack once Ian stopped showing off for the audience. Dom could have taken the dude out so quickly, but I could tell Dominic wanted the fight, not the easy victory.
Ian’s smile deceived us all when Dom spun to the side, and Ian jumped over the stick Dom used to take him out by the back of his knees. Ian squared up to Dom, and now the fight was on. Back and forth, the two sticks matched each other’s attack. Ian was faster than Dom on sudden strikes with Dom taking a hit to the lower back, his arms, and now his waistline.
I wanted to call the winner then and there, but I sensed what Dom might have been doing. The dude apparently could turn off his pain receptors and take a hard blow with a sparring stick. He was wearing down his opponent. The two friends didn’t once smile or smirk, they were now in full combat mode.
Dom stepped toward Ian’s sparring stick, which would have hit him in the chest if he hadn’t leaned to the side in a blur of speed, and then he pulled Ian by the stick past him. He quickly turned, ducked Ian’s weapon as it swung toward his head, and jumped Ian’s follow-up move that was meant to take Dom down with a blow to the back of his knees.
Their sticks made a loud cracking sound each time they came into contact with each other,
and the sounds resonated through the area as the fight grew more fierce.
Dom dropped Ian, but Ian rolled and sprang to his feet to counter Dom. I watched Dom’s feet, they weren’t moving super fast; instead, they were grounded and ready to counter any attack that came his way. He moved slowly, and when he did, he seemed to move in a direction I would’ve never expected. Just like the wolf he kept hidden from me—and most likely everyone else at this school—Dom’s fighting moves were a mystery. A natural, calculated counter-attack or lead attack wasn’t how he fought. Instead of taking the obvious shot with his weapon, he took a simple yet smart shot against his opponent.
Ian was doing precisely what Dom seemed to want him to do, wear down. Dom wasn’t sucking in air fifteen minutes into constant strikes and blows, but Ian was. Smart, but stupid. Sometimes you need to move quickly to save your life, not sit there all day taking time to wear down your enemy. If this were a vamp, Dom would be toast. Vamps were faster than a gust of wind, and if they threw you off mentally, they drained you and could kill you. If anything, Dom was going to lose this match by points. It was apparent Ian was faster, made more contact with Dom—even if Dom didn’t react to the blow—and was still going.
It wasn’t long before—in true Dom fashion—dude changed the game. Dom went after Ian, moving so fast I could hardly see his stance, his position before he struck Ian, or how he made three moves in one all while countering a sudden attack.
Dom was now using his feet to strike Ian, knock the dude off balance, then a follow-up with his sparring weapon to Ian’s back. This happened five different times before Ian’s frustration was apparent on his face and in his fighting technique.
The crowds cheering or gasping—all of that was background noise to me as I tried to learn from the two masters as they fought.
Dom was sent to the ground after Ian delivered a few quick and violent blows. Dom lay there and just when I thought the dude wanted to lose the match, Ian jabbed the point of his stick down toward Dom’s chest. Instead of rolling out of the move like Ian had done with Dom, Dom lay there. To my shock, the dude caught the jab with both hands, gripped the stick, and used Ian’s weapon to hold him. Ian’s face was red and tense, fighting to get the stick to touch Dom’s chest for the win. Dom kept the tip inches from his chest, then used a leg to sweep Ian off his feet.