by E. M. Moore
He brings out his phone to check the time. Frowning, he relays, “I should go. Um, I was thinking, maybe we could exchange numbers? That way if one of us has to cancel or, you know, talk to the other, we won’t have to go through Ms. Ebon.”
“You...want my number?” My mouth parts. He’s my mate and this shouldn’t be surprising, but it also feels as if he’s kind of hitting on me. Out of everything that happened today, this might be the most shocking.
“Yes,” he replies softly, looking up to meet my own gaze. There’s vulnerability in his brown eyes. We haven’t shied away from touching each other, even if platonically, and I wonder if he feels the same pull I am. I dig my phone out of my bag, ignore the text from my parents, and bring up a new contact. He plucks it from my fingers. “I’ll put it in.”
His fingers dance around the screen, and when he hands it back to me, I find he’s put his name as Mate. My heart races, and I can’t gather words to speak, so instead, I shove my phone in my bag and stare at him dumbly.
He steps closer. “If you need anything, call me.”
The possessive rumble emanating from his chest hardens my nipples, and it’s damn good this academy uniform hides it. I’m already trying to come up with reasons why I might need to call him as a pool of heat settles between my legs. My wolf wants me to throw myself at him; to stake my claim. Luckily, the human part of my brain speaks up. “What’s it like at Brixton?”
He shrugs. “A lot like Lunar, I guess. I’m not there all the time. I don’t live on campus or anything. I just go to visit friends and attend a few classes.”
“So, you’re mostly in Lunar?”
He nods, and I don’t know why I’m suddenly so consumed by what he does on a daily basis. Maybe his possessiveness is sparking my own. Our bonds are forging whether we like it or not. The more time we spend together, the harder it will be to control—in theory.
His expression morphs. “What is it?”
Wow. I’m suddenly feeling super stabby about what he does in his spare time, and I know I should keep my mouth shut, but I can’t stop myself. I sigh and run my hands through my hair, my hackles rising. I don’t like the idea of him being away from me, and I’m wondering what he’s doing. I fan my face. “I got, like, a whole jealousy thing going on, and I don’t know. I’m about to ask you something stupid, but you’re going to have to answer me straight. Are you seeing anyone in Lunar?”
He growls. “Of course not. Are you seeing anyone here?”
I recoil. “No, I’ll be freaking shipped off to Feralville.”
He steps forward, looming over me. “Is that the only reason?”
His husky voice makes me swallow. I shake my head, feeling small in his overwhelming presence. “No,” I squeak.
“Good.” His chest rumbles.
Dear fucking heaven. This boy. My wolf is ready to lay down and have him go at it. My face flames hotter, legs weakening.
“Now that we have that out of the way....”
I raise a finger. “Actually, I have another question.” He lifts an amused brow, so I go on. “I said you were my first kiss, but you never said….” I peek at the floor, unable to meet his eyes. “Was I your first kiss?”
His breathing deepens. I almost tell him to forget I asked, but my stupid curiosity and natural jealousy won’t let me, and I can’t stop it now if I tried. Giving into my wolf instinct isn’t all good apparently. Right now, I’d like to use one of the girls he’s kissed as my own personal scratching post.
He places a finger under my chin and lifts until I’m staring into his sharp gaze. “I need you to listen to me, Little Mate. My head is so filled with you, I can’t remember what the others were like.” A growl starts in my chest, and he pinches my chin. “I understand how you’re feeling. My wolf roared in triumph when you said I was your first kiss. I wish I could give that reassurance to you. I really do.”
I bite down on my lip. I expected that I wasn’t his first kiss. Sifting through my memories, I can’t bring an image forth of him dating another girl, but I’m sure it happened. He’s Jonah fucking Livestrong, and I’m nobody. That doesn’t take away the fact I wish he could give me that reassurance, too. My heart beats a mile a minute. I clench my hands to fists at my side, and my fingertips bite into my skin.
There’s a mentality in young pups to have fun while you can because when you do get paired, your heart is no longer yours. But it’s not supposed to be like that. Fate, the Gods, whoever it is, is the ultimate. And you don’t realize that until you get older and you’re staring at your mate the way Jonah’s staring at me—as if he would happily strip away the past and give me his first everything.
The emotion is so powerful that it threatens to knock me off my feet.
He stares at my lips, then backs away, releasing his taut hold on my chin. The breath whooshes out of me.
The sound of heels on wood echo off the gymnasium floor, and I slide away from Jonah as if we’re doing something wrong. “Miss Walker?” I tilt my head up, finding my advisor just inside the door. “I need to see you in my office.”
I swallow. What the hell is wrong now?
13
The clock on the wall ticks behind me as I sit across the desk from Ms. Ebon. Jonah stands just off to the side. His mere presence is a crushing sort of domineering warmth that spreads over my shoulders and down my front. Even Ms. Ebon keeps flicking her gaze above my head to the imposing figure.
“What’s this about?” Jonah asks.
Ms. Ebon slides her stare to him and then back to me. “I’ve heard from Greystone Academy administration regarding your rule infraction. I have the punishment at hand.”
My heart beats a crazy, disjointed rhythm. Mindbogglingly, Jonah steps closer. He’s practically on top of me. I need to fan my face again. The number of emotions flowing through me can’t be healthy. One second, it feels as if my heart is going to stop ticking for good. In the next, it’s as if it’s soaring off on a rocket ship.
“I explained to you that it wasn’t her fault,” Jonah states evenly, almost dismissively. His cool tone exudes power, and despite where I’m sitting, his confidence turns me on.
“Yes, well, Lydia Greystone differs in opinion.”
A rumble starts in his chest. “I wrote her as well.”
I spin in my chair. “You wrote the alpha’s sister for me?” I can’t believe it. Not one single person has ever interfered on my behalf. Never.
With his hands behind his back, his biceps bulge, and I trace the hard line of his body as if I could jump him right here. Unfortunately, he’s not looking at me. Instead, he addresses Ms. Ebon again. “What is the punishment?”
I turn around, making myself pay attention to what’s actually going on. This is serious.
She leans back, gaze tracking over the two of us. She doesn’t make any outward show of it, but her studious nature must sense something different between us. When she answers his question, she looks at me. “You’re forbidden from shifting while staying at Greystone.”
Horror rips through me. I stand with my hands clenched to fists. “No.”
Jonah’s at my side in an instant, snarling under his breath. “That’s degrading.”
Ms. Ebon’s hands tighten around the arm of her chair. “It wasn’t my decision. I understand your frustration; however, Mrs. Greystone believes this is the worthy punishment for your actions.”
Jonah paces, his hulking form too big for even this huge office. I glance at the floor, anger and shock rippling through me. It’s as if I’ve taken a few huge leaps forward and then someone came behind me and put me in my place again.
Jonah moves toward me, grabbing my forearm. “I’ll fix this.”
“There’s nothing to be done,” my advisor states. “I’ve already argued on Miss Walker’s behalf, but Lydia’s opinion is final. Your interference will only make it worse.”
I stare down at my hands. My wolf starts to claw at my chest now as if she’s just realized how serious this is. I’ve
only shifted a grand total of three fucking times. Three. And once was a damn accident. I grit my teeth. I’m used to putting my wolf in a box, but I’ve been trying to let her out, to give her more freedom. The weeks after your first shift are supposed to be when you bond with your wolf fully. Now, I can’t let her take control at all.
“This is bullshit,” Jonah bellows, and I swear the glass in the cabinets rattles.
“Mr. Livestrong,” Ms. Ebon admonishes.
It’s as if everything is happening outside my body. One good day. One fucking good day, and now this. A cruel, unusual punishment for someone who was only following her nature. This has to be because of who I am.
Two pairs of eyes watch me as I stand there in silence. The true sympathy in Jonah’s gaze does nothing to deter what I’m about to say. “The only thing that’s bullshit is that I’m here in the first place.” I turn, giving them both my back, and stride toward the door. “I’ll lock her up. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”
The usually heavy door throws open easier with the adrenaline pumping through me. I have no idea how I’m going to keep my wolf inside when what she really wants to do is escape and tear into people. I speak calmly to her, reassuring her that we’ll get out of this. It’s taking all my willpower to keep her at bay right now, so I don’t hear the heavy footsteps approaching me from behind.
A hand closes around my arm, and a growl rips from my chest, ending in a ferocious snarl. Gritting my jaw together to stop the change doesn’t work. My teeth elongate, pushing through my lips with a sharp pain, and a keening sound starts low in my throat.
Jonah pulls me into a dark alcove. He places his huge, meaty paws behind my head and backs me into a wall. “Shhh,” he soothes, barricading my body. Instead of making my wolf tense up, it does the opposite. She starts to withdraw. His very presence reads safety to her. I breathe in deeply, exhaling in heavy pants. Eventually, my wolf calms down enough to realize that Jonah and I are close again. Close enough that I could look up and....
And I’m doing it. Fuck it.
I tip my head back, my gaze tracking from his yellow eyes to his full lips. I’m not tall enough to bridge the distance between us unless I climb him like a tree—which I’m not above doing—but I don’t have to. Jonah swoops down, capturing my mouth with his. He thrusts his tongue inside, an invasion of my body and mind as I’m swept away by him more and more. Deftly maneuvering around my sharpened teeth, he kisses me until they retreat. He moans, passing his tongue over the cut on my lip, and my legs turn to mush, crumbling beneath me.
He plucks me from the air with ease and holds me against the wall as he strokes my mouth into pure submission. I feed my fingers through his hair, tugging and clawing, caught between wanting to keep him there and wanting to make him suffer for what he’s done.
I’m damaged. I’m broken. But most of all, I’m conflicted.
He breaks away, a groan piercing the silence between us. Reaching up, he touches a spot of blood that’s blooming on his bottom lip.
I bit him. Holy shit.
Pinning me to the wall once more, he runs his hands from my lower back to my neck, then down again. “Take it out on me. I can handle it. Just don’t shift,” he rumbles.
“I hate you,” I growl as I slam my mouth against his again. I lick the length of his lower lip, catching a drop of blood before we clash. It’s as if we’re at war, fighting over who can invade the other first. I rake my hands over his shoulders. His muscles bunch underneath my touch, tensing while I inflict physical pain on him.
Coincidentally, other than trying to plunder my mouth, he’s soft with me. His fingers massage the back of my neck while his other hand creeps down my spine, dipping lower to squeeze my ass.
I break the kiss, gasping into the air while my hips rock forward and find his waiting cock. “Jonah,” I groan, a fire stoking in my core.
He places his large, outstretched hands around my head, using his lower body to keep me suspended. With my legs wrapped around his midsection, my skirt hikes all the way to my navel. All I can feel is him.
He rolls his hips into mine and a delirious friction sparks the nerve endings between my legs. As embarrassing as it is, I whimper. I bite my lip, stifling the sob inching up my throat. The good news is my wolf no longer wants to claw her way out of my body. However, my body, on the other hand, has other ideas. I press forward, searching for him and am rewarded, once again, with his erect cock sliding against my panties. “That feels good,” I moan.
Fuck. I need this. I need the reassurance of my mate. It’s not just how sexy he is, it’s the comfort he’ll bring. It’s finding solace in the one person who’s supposed to be with me forever.
“Touch me. Do something.” I capture his mouth again, feeding into our kiss. I push the pace until I’m moaning, dry humping his cock.
It takes me too fucking long to realize he’s stock still. I peek up to find him staring at me. Indecision clouds his gaze, and it extinguishes all the fire inside my body at once.
I drop my head against the wall, chest heaving. I close my eyes, but Jonah isn’t having any of that. “Open up those eyes, Kinsey.” I swallow. When I return my gaze to his, he makes sure he has my attention before saying, “I can’t do this with you right now. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to. Obviously, you can tell I fucking want to.”
Judging by the fact that he’s still hard, yeah, I can see that.
“I was trying to distract you so you wouldn’t get into more trouble.”
I flinch at his words. “Mission accomplished,” I deadpan. I try to wiggle down his body, but he presses back against me, driving his hard cock into my hip.
I gasp at the sensations that course through me, and he levels a glare. “I’ll make you come right now. I’ll make your pussy mine. I’ll give you everything you want.” He slams his lips down on mine, and for a brief moment, I wonder if he changed his mind. However, this kiss doesn’t last long. He pulls away. “Your first orgasm shouldn’t be in some dank hallway, hidden in secret after the roller coaster of a day you’ve had. It should be private. Sensual. In a place where we don’t have to stop at one.” My pussy clenches, and more arousal floods my panties. Jonah sniffs the air and growls. “You like the sound of that.” His eyes yellow, staring at me as if I’m the prey.
“I love the sound of that,” I counter, giving him as much aggression as he’s giving me.
He swipes at the blood on his lip, zeroing his gaze in on the spot where my own mouth is tender. “You’d let me touch you? You just told me you hated me.”
I groan in frustration.
Jonah clasps my ass, holding me upright as he backs away. With his fingers digging into my skirt, he lowers me to the floor. He knows he’s won. He’s made me see reason through the rush of sex, and I hate him even more for it.
He straightens my uniform, making sure that my skirt once again covers all of my important parts before retreating to pick up my bag. Instead of handing it over, he throws it over his shoulder. In true, possessive wolf fashion, he says, “I’m walking you to your room.”
“Are you even allowed to?”
He gestures toward the opening in the alcove. “I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to be forcing you into dark halls either. Now, are you going to show me your room, or should I just start opening doors?”
I take a few moments to get my bearings. I don’t want to attempt walking and end up flat on my face because my legs have decided they’re going to desert me. Luckily, when I take my first step, they work fine except for a little wobble. “I’m on the second floor,” I mumble.
I show him up the twisting, ornate staircase. When people pass us in the hall, their eyes bulge out at his hulking form, and then they glare at me as if they want to poke my eyes out with hot irons. Not because of Jonah, but because they can tell he’s my mate. They most likely suspect I’ll be leaving soon—that I’ve done what they couldn’t—and they’re jealous.
Hell, I would be.
“You’re
making a scene,” I whisper.
“I’m making sure my mate gets to her room after a rough day. I don’t care what anyone else fucking does.”
It’s too late to balk at the word mate, but part of me wants to tell him he should’ve thought of that before he sent me here. “This is me,” I say once we get to the top of the stairs. He inspects the huge, wooden door that’s big enough to accommodate his figure. I take my key out of my bag while he holds it out for me, and I unlock my room. Pushing the door open, I walk inside. “My humble abode.”
He leans against the frame and peers in. He doesn’t take a step over the threshold, just drops my bag inside the door and crosses his arms, watching me as I prop my hip on the desk, waiting for him to say or do something. “It’s nice,” he says.
“Yeah, it’s bigger than my room at home. I even have my own bathroom and the buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are to die for. I’m not”—I clear my throat—“used to that.”
His hands turn to fists at my words. The muscles on his forearms pop out. Something I’ve said has triggered him. Maybe it’s the revelation of my life back home? Even with the small house and being the black mark upon the pack, I’d much rather be home.
He frowns at me. “I know I did this to you. If you could not hate me while we figure this shit out, I’d be grateful, Kinsey.”
I blink at him. A response doesn’t immediately come to mind, so I stare into his eyes. The rawness in his words and expression squeezes my heart.
When I don’t say anything after a few good minutes, he reaches for my door and starts to pull it closed. “Have a good night.”
The door shuts with a soft click. How a huge man like himself can be so delicate, I have no idea. I throw myself on my bed and curl up, stuffing a pillow under my head. Scared to think about my predicament for fear I might freak out again and be unable to control myself, I, instead, throw myself into the moment I had with Jonah. My body heats all over again. I’m about to yell out Why? when my wolf gives me a dubious look. It’s not as if I can see her, but her movements are mine, like a separate but identical entity. I can feel her emotions, and right now, she’s saying, Duh. It’s the nature of our match. I can still hate Jonah and want him to kiss me like that again.