Wolf Bitten: Lunar Academy, Year One

by Snyder, Jennifer

  I knew from personal experience.

  “Here you go,” said Faith, Axel’s girlfriend, and one of the few bartenders at Last Call, as she slid two beers and one mixed drink my way. “That’s fourteen even.”

  I pulled out my wallet. Of course Summer’s drink would be the one that cost seven bucks. Why had I expected anything less?

  I flashed Faith a smile and handed her a twenty. Once I had my change, I said thanks and passed the girls their drinks before we followed Walker and Paris to a table near the back. My eyes drifted to Tori as I walked. Something was off with her. I’d noticed it before we left the dining hall. I couldn’t figure out what had changed her mood, though I was certain something had.

  Tori

  I swallowed the first sip from my beer, hoping it would wash down my nerves. Why was I so worried about the sanctioned run that wasn’t supposed to happen until next week? I should be focused on the drink in my hand, the music, and the company I was with like everyone else.

  The problem was: I wasn’t like everyone else.

  Shifting into my wolf didn’t excite me. It scared me. I couldn’t control things while she was free like I could while human.

  My wolf bristled at my thoughts, clearly not caring for them, and I downed another swig from my beer, hoping to sedate her. Did alcohol have that type of effect on her? I hadn’t drunk enough since being turned to know. I tipped my bottle back again just in case. I was already upset with myself and my insecurities; I didn’t need to feel her anger toward me about it all too.

  “Dang, girl.” Summer nudged me with her elbow. “For someone who didn’t want to come out tonight, you sure are enjoying yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink a beer so fast.”

  “Hey, no harm in that,” Walker insisted. He lifted his beer in a toast. “We should all aim to enjoy ourselves a little more this semester.”

  Murmurs of agreement floated to my ears. I lifted my beer to toast with them, even though I wasn’t feeling festive. I should aim to enjoy myself this semester, though. Maybe I should make a new list of rules with that being at the top. Or I could add it to my calendar as a reminder so it popped up every other Friday night. Better yet, I could block out that time on my calendar each Friday night and make sure it was a bright color so I’d notice it.

  What was I thinking?

  Normal people didn’t make reminders for themselves when it came to having fun. They didn’t pencil it in on their calendar either. They just did it. Without thinking. Without planning.

  I took another long pull from my beer and hoped no one noticed how disgusted I was with myself.

  “You okay?” Holt asked in a low voice as he tapped his beer to mine. I blinked, his question pulling me back to the moment. My gaze darted around. None of the others seemed to be paying attention to me anymore. Thank goodness. Paris and Summer had locked themselves in a conversation about shoes—which could last for hours—while Walker stared at Paris’s boobs while sipping his beer, which could also last for hours.

  “Yep. I’m fine.” I flashed Holt a smile that I hoped was believable, and then swiped my bangs to the side. When I glanced at him, something in his eyes said he didn’t believe me. “I’m just tired, I guess. There was a lot of family to see over the holiday. Most of them stayed with us too.”

  “Ah. Okay. I thought maybe something was bothering you.” His green eyes narrowed.

  Damn he was observant, even if he didn’t realize it. How was it he could see me exactly as I was all the time? No one had been able to see me the way that he did. It made me uneasy.

  “Nope. Nothing’s bothering me.” I lifted my beer to take another sip, but the look on his face made me pause. The ghost of a smirk twisted his lips, making him look sexy as hell. Mischievous even. “What?”

  He leaned back in his chair. The sexy smirk that hung on his face never diminished. “Nothing.”

  A chuckle rumbled from deep within his chest.

  “What’s so funny, then?” I asked.

  “Nothing is funny, per se. I guess I’m just calling bullshit is all.”

  I arched a brow. “And, what exactly are you calling bullshit on?”

  Knots the size of my fist formed in my stomach as I continued to stare at him, hoping he hadn’t been watching enough to realize the cause of my discomfort. If he mentioned the sanctioned run, I would be leaving. I didn’t feel like getting into all the reasons why it freaked me out, and I damn sure didn’t feel like listening to Summer lecture me on it again.

  “Oh my God!” Summer shouted, causing my eyes to snap her way. I braced myself for her to dig in, thinking she’d been following our conversation, but she didn’t. “I love this song!” she shouted before standing. Her eyes landed on me. I knew she wanted to dance, but I wasn’t going anywhere.

  I planned on sitting right here and waiting for Holt Taylor to explain himself to me. Summer shifted her gaze to Paris, having picked up on my mood shift. Paris jumped up almost as fast as Summer had and the two of them dragged Walker to the dance floor. The goofy grin on his face made it clear that he didn’t mind.

  Holt leaned his elbows against the table and stared at me. I could feel the heat of his eyes on my face. It caused my cheeks to grow warm. I hated that I blushed when I breathed.

  “I’m calling bullshit on you for saying nothing is bothering you. I can tell something is. My wolf picked up on it. Your unease is lingering in the air around you. I can feel it.”

  He could feel my unease? I shifted in my seat, hating that he could sense anything about what I was feeling at all. He shouldn’t be able to do that, should he? I could sense things with Summer sometimes, but I figured that was because I knew her so well. We were roommates.

  Holt Taylor didn’t know me.

  “Well, yay for your wolf.” I lifted my beer to take another swig and was disappointed to learn there was barely a sip left. Wow. We’d been here less than thirty minutes. This was a personal record. Typically, I babysat my beers to the point of them being lukewarm because I wasn’t much of a fan.

  Clearly, that wasn’t the case tonight. I came here with the hopes that the cure for my unease in regard to the sanctioned run rested at the bottom of my bottle.

  At least a temporary one.

  I was one beer in and still wasn’t feeling it. I set my empty bottle down and leaned back in my chair. I folded my arms over my chest and refused to look at Holt, even though I could feel his eyes still on me. Instead, I found Summer and Paris living it up on the dance floor with Walker.

  “Want to talk about it?” Holt asked.

  “Nope.” I kept my eyes on the others, watching as they had fun while the minimal amount of alcohol I had consumed flowed through my veins.

  I barely ever drank, so a single beer was enough to have me feeling buzzed. It warmed me from the inside and had me bouncing my foot beneath the table to the beat of the song playing.

  “Okay, then.” Holt leaned in closer to me instead of away like I thought he would. I locked eyes with him when his knee brushed against mine beneath the table, sending sparks of electricity rushing through my lower stomach. Did he know he was touching me? “Can I buy you another beer?”

  “Sure.” My words were nearly lost in the bassline as a new song came on.

  Holt downed the remainder of his beer before standing. He bent to grab my empty bottle and the scent of his sexy cologne invaded my nostrils.

  God, he smelled good.

  I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and forced my attention back to Summer and the others on the dance floor. Holt headed to the bar. Air filled my lungs again once he’d walked away. What was wrong with me? Why the hell did I let him affect me so much?

  No, the question was: Why the hell did he affect me so much?

  He shouldn’t. I mean, he wasn’t the first guy I’d ever had a crush on. However, he was the first I’d ever felt drawn to. What the heck was that all about anyway?

  Summer waved her hands in the air wildly, catching my attention.
When I glanced at her, she flashed me a wicked smile and then made an obscene gesture with her hand and mouth. Sometimes, she was as perverted as a guy. Still, I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Holt asked as he slipped into the chair beside me, and placed a freshly opened beer in front of me along with a shot of something.

  “Nothing.” My laughter died at his sudden close proximity and the abundance of alcohol he’d just set before me. “Just Summer’s dance moves. She cracks me up.”

  “She does seem like a character,” he said before motioning to the shots. “I bought us a little something more. You seem like you could use it.”

  I cocked my head to the side, eyeing him. “Do I?”

  “Yeah.” A grin spread across his face as he held my gaze. “You seem tense. Drink up.” He reached for the shot glass in front of him, and I did the same.

  I had no clue what the amber-colored liquid was, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was for my mind to settle and my wolf to relax.

  “On three,” Holt said. “One, two, three.”

  He downed his shot at the same time I did mine. Our eyes remained locked, even as the liquid lava rushed down my throat to settle in my stomach. I winced, mouth hanging open, as I struggled not to inhale, knowing it would only flame the fire burning inside my mouth even more.

  “Chase it with your beer,” Holt insisted.

  The amusement in his tone irked me. Still, I reached for my beer like it was a fire extinguisher and downed a few swigs. I panted, struggling to catch my breath after the fiasco.

  “That. Was. Awful,” I said between pants. “Yuck.”

  Holt laughed. It was rich, sexy, and contagious. Half a heartbeat later, I was laughing at myself right along with him.

  “You’re not a liquor person, are you?” he asked.

  “Honestly, I’m not an alcohol person.”

  “I figured as much. I think I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen you here.”

  I knew he meant well, but his words made me feel as though he was calling me out on not getting out much. I was sort of a shut-in. Always had been.

  Awkward silence bloomed between us.

  “So, um, are you excited about your classes this semester?” he asked in an obvious effort to keep the conversation going.

  “You don’t have to sit with me and chitchat,” I said giving him a lopsided grin. “You can dance with someone if you want or whatever. I’ll be fine.”

  He arched a brow. “Are you trying to make me go away?”

  “No.” Did that seem like what I was trying to do? My cheeks heated. “I’m just saying you don’t have to sit with me and talk. Like, don’t feel obligated to. I’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t feel obligated to sit with you. I like talking to you.”

  His honesty caught me off guard. I stared into his green eyes longer than I should, trying to see if he was being authentic in his admittance. It seemed as though he was. “And, why is that?”

  The alcohol was making me bold. Brave. It caused the question that always came to mind whenever I was around Holt to bubble to the surface with too much ease.

  Why was he interested in me? I needed to know.

  Holt shrugged. “I just do. I think you’re cool.”

  His lips pressed together the same way they had in the dining hall when he’d said I reminded him of his mom. When he wiped the palms of his hands on his jean-clad thighs, I knew the reason was because he was nervous.

  Was he nervous because of me? Did I make him nervous? How was that even possible?

  “Why don’t the two of you quit yakking and get out on the dance floor?” Walker shouted to us from over the music. His hands were cupped around his mouth when I glanced at him. “Let your bodies do the talkin’ for once.” A shit-eating grin spread across his face. Both Paris and Summer cackled like hyenas as they continued to move around him in perfect harmony.

  A laugh erupted from me. I blamed the alcohol.

  “And… I think the beers have gone to his head. Well, all of them really.” Holt chuckled. “But, do you want to dance?”

  “Sure. Let’s go.” The words scratched my throat on the way up, but I ignored the sensation and gave into the alcohol humming through my veins.

  Holt’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected me to say yes. Neither had I. I stood and held my hand out to him.

  “Come on, before I change my mind,” I shouted over the music.

  Changing my mind would have been a good idea, because dancing with Holt Taylor definitely wasn’t. Not with the alcohol flowing through my veins. Not with the way he smelled. And damn sure not with the way he looked at me as we walked to meet our friends.

  A song with an upbeat tempo played, and I lost myself to the beat. My hips swayed. My hands lifted into the air, and my eyes closed as I moved.

  Holt’s hands fell to my hips. He invaded my senses with his closeness, and all I could think about was how much I wanted him. I spun around, positioning my back to him as we continued to move to the beat together. If I hadn’t, I knew I would have kissed him. Summer danced her way toward me, sandwiching me between her and Holt.

  “I’m glad you decided to let loose. You needed this!” she shouted over the music, her face lit with excitement.

  “I did!” I agreed, the words rushing past my lips to disappear in the bass of the song playing.

  A guy began bumping and grinding behind her, and she shifted her attention to him. I spun to face Holt. His teeth had sunk into his bottom lip, and his eyes were hooded with lust.

  I could sense how much he wanted me in the air.

  I licked my lips before moving to stand on the tips of my toes, and then I crushed my mouth against his. He didn’t pull away. Instead, he moved his mouth against mine as though it were something we’d done a million times before. His fingers dug into my hips as I cupped the sides of his face, holding him right where I wanted him. His tongue snaked into my mouth to brush against mine, and I felt my knees buckle. I leaned into him, letting him become the only thing holding me up, and allowed my nerve endings to catch fire as our scorching kiss continued.

  Holt

  I woke to my wolf irritated beyond belief. While it was true that I wasn’t a morning person, it had become apparent my wolf wasn’t either. Monday mornings seemed to be the worst for both of us. The only thing that motivated me to get out of bed was the chance that I might see Tori.

  I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind. All I could think about was our kiss last night, which was probably why my wolf was so irritated this morning. Lack of sleep generally did that to him.

  My feet hit the cool hardwood floor of the dorm room, and I let out a big yawn as I stretched. My gaze drifted to Walker. He was still in bed. His mouth was open and drool dribbled onto his pillow. I was about to chuck my pillow at him so he’d wake up, thinking he’d forgotten to set an alarm again, but it went off before I could. His cell buzzed to life with a weird ringtone that sounded like some crazy intergalactic music.

  I grinned as I slipped out of bed and grabbed my slacks from on top of my dresser. They were clean-ish. I’d only worn them twice. While the clothes I’d taken home with me on break were clean, thanks to Mom washing them for me, my uniforms weren’t. I needed to head to the campus laundry area at some point this week.

  After I buttoned my slacks, I stepped to the closet for a white button-up. Cheeto bags from Walker littered the closet floor along with other trash and empty soda cans.

  Jesus, Walker was a slob.

  I pulled on my white shirt and then reached for the yellow striped tie Wolf Bittens wore. Usually wearing the tie didn’t bother me, but this morning, I swore no matter what I did, it was too tight. My fingers fumbled to retie it again, but it didn’t matter. My wolf growled, and I huffed a sigh of frustration.

  I needed coffee. Lots of it. And, for Walker’s alarm to shut the hell up. How had he not woken to turn it off yet?

  I glared at him. He was still sprawled
in bed as though he couldn’t hear a damn thing. When someone in the dorm beside us beat on the wall, I knew I needed to cut the alarm off before the situation escalated.

  “Hey,” I said, shaking Walker after I’d shut his annoying alarm off. He didn’t budge, so I shook him harder. “Wake up.”

  He mumbled something and swatted at me. I pulled in a deep breath and then tried again.

  “Walker, I’m serious. Get your ass up.” The words roared from me. Walker opened his eyes and stared at me like he didn’t know who I was or what the hell was happening. “Get up. You’re freaking alarm woke half the house. Why do you have the volume up so loud?”

  I reached for my tie again, ready to give it another go.

  “So I can hear it,” Walker said. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

  “Doesn’t look like it does any good. I still had to be your mom this morning.” As soon as the words fell from my mouth, I wished I could take them back. One thing I always tried to refrain from was saying anything about Walker’s mom.

  “I’m up. Jesus. What’s your deal this morning?” he snapped as he swung his legs off the side of his bed while running a hand through his hair.

  “I didn’t sleep well, and I’m in desperate need of coffee because of it.” I slipped my shoes on in a hurry.

  “Really? I figured you’d sleep like a baby since you were practically lip-locking with Tori all night. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?” A slow grin spread across his face.

  “It is. It just… I don’t know.”

  “I doubt she thinks it means y’all are a couple or whatever if that’s what you’re worried about.” He stood and shuffled his feet to the closet. “You didn’t marry her. You kissed her. Hell, maybe she’ll regret it this morning. Who knows,” he said, misinterpreting my awkwardness for the entirely wrong reason.

  I didn’t want her to regret our kiss. In fact, that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

  Shit. What if Walker was right? What if she did regret it this morning?