by J. L. Wilder
He seemed to notice the same thing at the same time. His hand slid slowly down her arm. “Do you want me to go away so that you can get dressed?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head. “You don’t need to go,” she said.
He stood and helped her to her feet. She saw the way he looked at her body as if he was drinking her in. She should have been trying to cover herself up, but for some reason, she didn’t mind.
It was as if fireworks were going off beneath her skin. She felt awake and alive in a way she never had before.
“I never noticed,” he said slowly, moving closer to her.
“Noticed what?” She felt breathless.
“How fucking...stunning you are.” He took a breath. “Christ, if I didn’t know better, I’d think your professors had been keeping your scores down on purpose to keep the wolves at bay. How are the alphas not all over you?”
“You’re not all over me,” she said, aware as the words left her mouth that she sounded like she was baiting him.
Maybe I am baiting him.
He sucked in a breath between his teeth. “You’d better be careful,” he said.
“What’ll happen if I’m not?”
She could imagine Aubrey somewhere saying cruel things about her. She didn’t care. She didn’t know what was happening right now, but she did know that whatever it was, it felt natural. It felt like her body was doing something it knew how to do. Something it had been born to do.
For the first time in her life, Grace felt like she was in the right place at the right time.
“Tell me to leave,” he said, looking her up and down again. His gaze was so heavy that she could practically feel it as if he was running his hands over her body. “Tell me to leave right now, and I will.”
“I’m not telling you to leave,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because I can tell you’re about to do something,” she said. “And I want to see what it will be.”
“Are you sure of that?” he asked her. His voice was threatening and anxious.
She nodded. She was afraid, but she was sure, nonetheless.
He pulled her against him, and she was deeply, profoundly aware of her own nakedness. She felt wild and unrestrained. He ran his hands down the sides of her body, fingers exploring every inch of her skin, and Grace felt as if her body was something even she had never fully known before. He was showing it to her for the first time.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “You’re so hot.”
“Are you going to fuck me?” she whispered, unsure if she was posing an innocent question or begging for it.
“You said no,” he reminded her, his voice husky, his hands now moving to her breasts. She closed her eyes and arched her back, pressing herself into his grip, not knowing what she wanted but wanting more of it desperately.
“That was before,” she said.
His hard thigh slid between her legs. She rested her head on his shoulder and rolled her hips slowly, grinding herself against him. It wasn’t nearly enough.
He lowered his head to suckle at her collarbone. “What’s changed?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I have no idea.”
“But something has.”
“Something has,” she agreed.
He turned her in his arms and wrapped his body around hers, reaching between them to shed his pants. His strong arms held her like a harness, and she wasn’t sure what to expect, but to her surprise, she didn’t feel any anxiety or doubt. All she felt was desire. All she was aware of was how badly she wanted him.
And then he was inside her.
It was like the moment she’d finally shifted: strange, unfamiliar, and yet the most natural feeling in the world. She sighed, rocking back against him, going limp in his arms, allowing him to hold her up as he fucked into her slowly.
His pace accelerated. The force of his thrusts increased. “Oh, God,” he said. “Grace. Oh. God.”
She had no words. She wanted to tell him that everything that was happening was absolutely perfect, that it was exactly what she wanted, that she wouldn’t have changed it for the world. But when she opened her mouth, the only thing that came out was a moan of unmitigated rapture.
His hand wrapped gently around her mouth, silencing her cries. She felt him shudder behind her. She closed her eyes and felt as if the world had turned upside down, as if she had lost track of her place within the universe.
When she opened her eyes again, they were on the ground, Jonah on his knees, Grace balanced in his lap.
“I think I just imprinted,” he said, his voice weak.
Chapter Ten
JONAH
The second social of the semester was a day of athletic competition. Anyone from either school was permitted to sign up to compete in the races, and alphas could also try their hand at feats of strength and hand-to-hand combat.
Ordinarily, Jonah would have been the first to sign up.
“You’re not even going to try?” Alex asked. He had just added his name to the list for every footrace that was being held. He offered the pen to Jonah. “Go ahead. Sign up for combat. You’ll get to fight Gabe. What could be more fun than that?”
“I mean, yeah,” Jonah said. “That would be fun. But I don’t want to spend the whole day thinking about competition.”
“Why not?” Alex asked. “What do you have to do that’s so much more important?”
“I have a date,” Jonah confessed.
Alex turned to face him. “You have a date? To Field Day?”
“Don’t act so surprised. People take dates to Field Day.”
“That’s not why I’m surprised and you know it. So you finally got Aubrey to see the light?”
“Um,” Jonah said vaguely.
Alex apparently noticed. “Jonah?”
“It’s not Aubrey,” Jonah admitted.
“What?” Alex asked. “You’re taking another girl? Why?”
“I don’t know,” he said. He wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened between Grace and himself. He definitely didn’t want to tell Alex that he thought he had imprinted on the lowest-ranked girl at Omega U. She was a joke. He was wild about her, it was true...but maybe there was a way to keep that a secret until they graduated.
Alex’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re trying to make Aubrey jealous, aren’t you?”
“Something like that.” At least, that was the original plan.
“Holy shit,” Alex said. “You’re a genius. She’s going to lose her mind. Who are you taking? I hope it’s one of her friends.”
Jonah hesitated. But there was no way to keep it a secret. Everyone was going to see him with Grace at Field Day.
He wished he understood why he suddenly felt so awkward about that fact. He had been completely fine with the idea of being seen with her before. Maybe it was the fact that she actually meant something to him now that had changed everything. He felt as if everyone would be able to read the fact that he had imprinted on his face.
Aubrey wouldn’t be jealous if she knew. She would think I was just as much of a joke as Grace is.
It was annoying how much he still wanted to impress Aubrey, how much he still wanted her approval, even now that he had imprinted on somebody else. If there was any justice in the world, he ought to be able to forget about her.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work like that.
He hoped he wouldn’t be too distracted when he saw her at Field Day today. It wouldn’t do him—or Grace, for that matter—much good if he spent the whole day staring at her.
They had made arrangements to meet in front of the oak tree that stood by the road that ran between Omega U and Shifter U. As Jonah and Alex crossed the street, Jonah saw that she was standing there waiting for him.
His heart began to beat faster, just as it had the other day when they’d been down by the river. When he’d imprinted on her. When he’d taken her in his arms and made her his.
Never mind Aubrey—how was he goi
ng to walk around with Grace all day and keep from tearing her clothes off?
Alex looked from one of them to the other, clearly awaiting an introduction. When it was clear that one wasn’t coming, he held out a hand to Grace. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Alex Brody.”
“I’m Grace Foster,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh, you’re Grace Foster?” Alex said. “Sure. I know who you are.”
Grace’s face fell.
Jonah couldn’t believe it. Was his friend really going to start the day by bringing up Grace’s rank?
But Alex surprised him. “You’re Skye Morales’ roommate, right?” he said.
“You know Skye?”
“I know her sister,” he said. “Heather. She’s in some of my classes.”
“You’re a beta,” Grace surmised.
“He’s my second,” Jonah explained.
“I didn’t know you had a second already,” Grace said.
Alex frowned. “Why would you know that? Didn’t you two just meet at the last social?”
Grace caught Jonah’s gaze. He saw her register the fact that Alex didn’t know anything about their new relationship.
He had a brief moment of anxiety. Would she spill the beans?
But Grace just laughed. “Fair enough,” she said. “Is Heather here tonight? I wouldn’t mind meeting Skye’s sister.”
“No,” Alex said. “She studies pretty much all the time. Her grades are really important to her.”
“Is class rank something that matters for betas?” Grace asked. She started toward the athletic field, and Jonah and Alex followed.
“Not really,” Alex said. “Not in the same way it matters for alphas and omegas. But it’s always easier to get welcomed into the pack of your choice if you have marks that will impress an alpha.”
“But she won’t have any problem getting into a pack anyway, right?” Grace said. “Skye will ask whatever alpha claims her to take her sister on as well.”
“Sure,” Alex said. “If that’s what Heather wants.”
They came over a hill and made their way down toward the field. There was a dirt track at the center, surrounded by bleachers. On the outside, a group of professors was manning the grills, cooking up fish and burgers and corn on the cob. Coolers stood full of beer and soft drinks.
Several students jogged around the track, warming up for the events they would compete in. In the center of the oval, others stretched or did calisthenics in preparation for the combat challenges they would compete in later in the afternoon.
“Are you two competing today?” Grace asked.
“I am,” Alex said. “I’m racing.”
“Are you fast?”
“Pretty fast,” he said. “Faster than Jonah.”
Jonah rolled his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Are you racing today, Jonah?” Grace asked.
“No,” Jonah said. “I don’t need to prove myself against the rest of my class for fun. We spend all our time worrying about how we stack up against one another as it is.”
“Yeah, well,” Grace said. “And you’re already at the top of the heap, so why risk your reputation when you don’t need to, right?”
“Hey, if I wanted to compete, I’d compete,” he said. “I’m not afraid of being taken down. I just thought it would be more fun to spend the day hanging out with you and eating burgers.”
Grace smiled.
Alex eyed the two of them as if he was figuring something out. “I’m going to go and get ready,” he said. “I’m in the first race of the day.”
“Good luck!” Grace called after him.
When he was gone, she turned to Jonah. “He seems really nice.”
“I’m glad you like him,” Jonah said. “He’ll be your packmate after graduation.”
“So you still mean what you said before?” she asked. “You think you and I share an imprint?”
“Are you kidding?” He frowned. “What happened between us a few days ago...that was unmistakable. I’ve never felt like that before. Not with anybody. Don’t you think it was real?”
“Yes,” she said. “But then you didn’t tell Alex about us, so I thought that maybe...” she trailed off.
He felt guilty. Here he’d been worrying about what people would think seeing them together, and he had inadvertently made her fear that she was losing his affection altogether. “It’s not like that,” he said. “It’s just...well...”
“You’re embarrassed that it’s me,” she said.
“No!” he protested, even though she wasn’t wrong. “But what we’re doing—it’s against the rules. I don’t know yet who I feel safe telling. I don’t know if Alex would keep our secret.”
“And that’s why you haven’t told him?” She sounded skeptical.
“Have you told anybody?” he countered.
“Well, no,” she said. “I wasn’t sure whether or not I should.”
“Right,” he said. “Exactly. It’s the same thing. I just didn’t know whether it was a good idea to tell him everything or not. So I decided to keep it to myself for now.”
“Okay,” Grace said. “I guess that makes sense.” She hesitated. “So...what should I say we’re doing here together?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, before, we were going to act like we were on a date, to make Aubrey jealous,” she said. “But now that plan’s over. And you don’t want people to know the truth. So what do we tell them? Why are we together?”
“Oh,” Jonah said. “Well, we can still say it’s a date.”
“Aubrey’s going to get jealous.”
“That’ll just have to be her problem,” Jonah said. “She’s never shown any interest in me. If it’s going to bother her now to see me with somebody else, I can’t help that.”
They walked down to the grill. “Can I get you a burger?” Jonah asked Grace.
“Oh, that would be lovely,” she said, grinning. “I think I see Skye. I’m just going to go and say hello, and then I’ll be back, all right?”
“Don’t be gone too long,” he said, smiling.
She disappeared into the crowd. Jonah approached the grill, picked up a plate, and held up two fingers to signal the professor working there that he wanted two burgers. The professor nodded in response and added two patties to the grill.
“Hey,” a voice said behind him. “Fancy seeing you here.”
He turned, knowing as he did so who he would see. Sure enough, there stood Aubrey Price.
His heart plummeted. She looked devastatingly attractive. She was dressed simply enough in a sports bra and bike shorts, her hair pulled into a ponytail high on her head. Field Day was the only time omegas were allowed to show so much of their bodies, and he wasn’t surprised that so many of them took advantage of that rare freedom. But it was difficult to be among them and keep himself from staring.
Still, he made an effort. “Hi, Aubrey.”
“Didn’t know you were here,” she said to him.
“Sure, I’m here,” he said. “Just about everybody’s here.”
“Just about,” said one of the girls behind Aubrey and snickered as if there was something privately hilarious about that idea.
Aubrey cast an annoyed glance over her shoulder. “I figured you’d come and find me when you got here,” she said. “But I guess you’ve probably been warming up for your races, haven’t you? I should have known. How many are you competing in today?”
“Oh, I’m not racing today,” Jonah said.
She raised her eyebrows. “You’re not racing? At all?”
“No,” he said.
She frowned. “That doesn’t look great. People are going to think you’re avoiding competition because you’re afraid of someone being better than you at something.”
“People can think whatever they want,” Jonah said. “That isn’t my problem.”
“Well, it’s kind of your problem,” Aubrey said drily. “I don’t know that I want to be
with an alpha who’s so cavalier about his reputation.”
“You don’t want to be with me anyway,” Jonah said. “You told me so at the bonfire last month.”
“I didn’t say that,” she protested.
“You said you could get any guy at the party,” he reminded her. “You said I was striking out with you.”
“We were just playing. For God’s sake. Can’t you even take a joke?”
“When they’re funny,” he said. “Maybe next time you should try for that.”
She looked outraged.
The professor handed over the plate with Jonah’s two burgers. Aubrey frowned. “Is that for me?” she asked.
“Why would it be for you?”
“Then who—?”
Grace came jogging up to them. “Skye’s getting ready to race,” she said. “She’s really excited.”
Then she seemed to notice who was there. “Oh,” she said. “Hi, Aubrey.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Aubrey demanded.
“I go to school here,” Grace said blandly. She accepted one of the burgers from Jonah. “Thanks,” she said and took a bite.
Aubrey sputtered for a few seconds. Then she turned to the professor, who was manning the grill. “Professor Jenkins, Grace Foster is being inappropriate with this alpha.”
Jonah’s blood ran cold. Was it possible that Aubrey knew what had happened between them?
Jenkins looked up. “What’s the problem?” he asked.
“She’s flirting with him,” Aubrey said. “Taking burgers off his plate. She’s making him uncomfortable.”
“No, she isn’t,” Jonah said. “I’m not uncomfortable. Grace and I are here on a date. I got this burger for her.”
Aubrey made a noise that sounded like she had swallowed a bug.
“So everything’s okay here?” Jenkins asked.
“We’re fine,” Jonah said.
“I think Aubrey’s upset about something, though,” Grace said. “Maybe you could use a drink?” She leaned down, grabbed a can of soda, and pressed it into Aubrey’s hands. Aubrey was so surprised that she accepted it.
Jonah and Grace went over and found seats by the track. By the time they sat down, Jonah was laughing aloud.