“Then tell me.” I was done being talked to like an idiot. I was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.
“One is Dameon.” Jackie gave me a long, intense stare. “Not that it should surprise you. It was odd he was here to begin with.”
“Yes. That guy is odd.” At least I could be honest about that. I’d grown to feel okay about him, but that didn’t mean I didn’t think he was weird.
“We have reason to believe he may be trying to recruit you as well.”
“Recruit me?” I laughed. “No. Not exactly.”
“Are you sure?” Jackie narrowed her eyes. “He hasn’t talked to you about anything?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I mean he annoys me. But nothing about stopping you.” I was outright lying, but I had no choice.
“I think he’s gone straight to Nadia.” Jackie turned to Carver. “I think he has his claws in her.”
What? Jackie was throwing Nadia under the bus already? “No. Absolutely not. If he was, I’d know. Nadia and I spend lots of time together.”
“Are you in a relationship?” annoyed girl asked.
“Yes,” I answered immediately. “So I would know.”
“Something is going on there.” Jackie pursed her lips.
“Is this why you didn’t want to bring her?” If Jackie wanted to play things that way, I wouldn’t just sit back.
“What do you mean, she didn’t want to bring her?” Carver frowned.
“I wanted to bring Nadia, and Jackie didn’t want me to.” It was the truth. I’d asked to bring her multiple times.
“I said I thought he should come alone first. I had to use my discretion. Particularly because I believe she may be involved with Dameon’s mission,” Jackie spoke quickly, as if struggling to get her excuse out fast enough.
“She isn’t.” Maybe I was jumping too fast to defend Nadia, but I couldn’t help it. It came naturally. “I can assure you she wants nothing to do with him.”
“If you say so.” Jackie rolled her eyes. She did that entirely too much.
“I know so.”
“So what do you say?” Carver gave me a serious look.
“Say to what?” I’d missed something. That wouldn’t help my case for arguing I was smarter than I was being given credit for.
“Will you join our cause?” the annoyed girl asked. “That is why we asked you here.”
Maybe I should have asked for her name, but I figured it didn’t really matter. “I need to know more about it still. In theory, I agree with what you say you support, but I’m not going to take your word for it.”
“You need to be initiated before we tell you more. And that initiation needs to happen soon.” Carver was talking normally to me again at least.
“Well, I’m not getting initiated into anything without more information.” They were crazy if they thought I’d do that.
“Is he always this difficult?” Carver turned to Jackie.
“Yes.” Jackie nodded. “But that’s part of his desirability. Everyone knows he doesn’t enter into things willy-nilly. That’s why I wanted to get him here first. Before I brought in the twins. They will follow as long as he does it.”
I imagined Nadia listening to this. She and North would follow because I did something? That was laughable. Very laughable. “I’m not so sure about that, but whatever you say.”
“Time is of the essence here.” A guy with jet-black hair and yellowish eyes walked over and put his arm around Jackie. “We can’t waste it.”
“So, this is the famous Edmund, then?” Jackie hadn’t told me much about him, but I was well aware of his existence.
“Famous?” Edmund turned his head to look at Jackie. “You been talking about me, darling?”
“Nothing more than I should have been.” Jackie laughed in a forced way.
He patted her shoulder. “You’re not in trouble. I was just wondering how much he knew about me.”
Not in trouble? What the hell was this? “I don’t know much. I only know the two of you are together, and you’re the one who introduced her to this illustrious organization.”
“I like this kid.” Edmund pointed at me.
“I’m not a kid.”
“I’ll call you a kid until you’re initiated. How does that sound?” Edmund gave me a condescending smile.
“I’m not getting initiated without Nadia and North. How does that sound?” I didn’t like anything about this situation. I wanted to regroup and try again.
“Ryan.” Jackie slipped out from under Edmund’s arm. “Can we have a word for a moment?”
“What?” I looked at my wrist even though I wasn’t wearing a watch. I couldn’t wear one easily when I shifted to my wolf. “What do you want to have a word about?”
She walked off from the others, dragging my arm to get me to come with her. She stopped and hissed at me. “I thought you would give this a chance.”
“I am. I showed up. However, I don’t like the way you’re dismissing Nadia. I’m not doing anything unless she’s involved.” I folded my arms over my chest. Maybe it seemed like a childish move, but I didn’t give a shit. I meant what I’d said.
“You know you can still be together even if she doesn't join, right?” Jackie sighed. “Because if that’s what this is about, you’re being ridiculous.”
“If you’re correct and she’s being recruited by a rival organization, it’s okay?”
“I didn’t say she was actually joining, just that she’s being recruited. That’s something altogether different.”
“I already told you all I have to say.” I stepped back from her.
“So that’s it? You’re leaving?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?” I’d already been there long enough. I had a feeling Nadia was getting worried.
“No.” Carver walked over to join us. “You can leave. We will wait if we have to, but we would like your help with our cause.”
“Good.” I changed out of my pants and shifted back to my wolf, letting his strength surge through me, before running back toward campus. I changed, found the clothes I’d hidden, and immediately pulled out my phone to call Nadia. I was surprised she wasn’t waiting for me outside. Maybe she wasn’t as nervous about things as I’d thought.
“Hey!” Nadia picked up immediately. “Ryan! I miss you!”
“Hey… you sound drunk.” I’d never heard or seen Nadia drunk. To say I was surprised was an understatement.
“I am drunk. I shouldn’t have had so many drinks, but they were so good!”
“You got drunk tonight? While I was at that meeting?” This wasn’t like Nadia at all. And who the hell was she getting drunk with? I felt my wolf growl. He didn’t like this anymore than I did. Maybe we hadn’t officially declared ourselves a couple, but I hoped she wasn’t off with Dameon. The only other person she’d have normally gone out with was Jackie, and she’d been with me tonight.
“It’s all Finn’s fault.”
“You are with Finn?” I felt better. I didn’t necessarily like the jealousy that was surging through me but at least I felt better when I figured out who she was with.
“Yes! I did karaoke!”
“You did karaoke?” Was this the same Nadia?
“Yes!” Admittedly, she sounded ridiculously cute and excited, but that didn’t make up for how worried I was.
I needed to see her. “I’m on my way.”
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Uh, I’ll tell you about it when I see you.” I didn’t even know where to begin.
I found the boots I’d stowed and headed down the road to the bar. It didn’t take me long to find her dancing with a couple of girls I vaguely recognized.
I put my arms around her from behind. She spun around. “Ryan!” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “I am so happy to see you!”
“I’m happy to see you too, babe.”
“Babe?” She put her hands on my shoulders. “You never call me babe.”
“Do y
ou mind if I call you that?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Not at all.”
“Hey, man.” Finn walked over. “How’d the super special meeting go?”
“You got her drunk?” I tried to lower my voice so Nadia wouldn’t hear. She seemed to be more interested in the music anyway.
“Not on purpose. But she was all upset that you went to that stupid meeting without her.” He took a swig from his glass.
“It was her who was upset?” I knew he was pissed. He had every right to be.
“We both were.” Finn shrugged. “And I’ve been looking out for her. Of course.”
“I appreciate that.” I did. I appreciated him more than he realized.
“Ryan.” Nadia rested her head on my chest.
“I think I should get her home.” I put my arm around her. “You staying out?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you later.” Finn gave a half wave before disappearing into the crowd.
Nadia could barely walk a straight line, so I gave her a piggyback ride to the Wolf Born dorms. She giggled the whole time.
“This is so much fun!” She talked louder than she needed to. It had me questioning if she’d ever been drunk before. I’d definitely never seen it.
I made it back to her room. She handed me her key. I unlocked the door and she stumbled in, tugging me over to her bed.
“Make love to me, Ryan. Now. Please.” Her eyes were wide and bloodshot. A reminder of how much alcohol flowed through her veins.
“Sorry, babe. Not tonight.” I tried to sound as nice as possible. Having sex with Nadia was high on my to-do list but not like this. She was trashed.
“You don’t want me?” Her bottom lip quivered.
“Of course I want you.” I pulled her into a hug. “Just not when you’re drunk. I won’t let our first time be this way. I can’t.” I listened to myself. Was this really me? Was I really turning down an opportunity to have Nadia?
“But I want you.” She wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Oh, babe. I want you too. I want you more than you’ll ever know, but not like this.”
“You’re no fun.”
“Nope. I’m not. But I don’t want you to ever have any regrets.” I brushed her hair back from her face.
“I won’t.” She ran her lips down my neck.
I tried to pull back. “You might.”
“Ryan?” She rested her head on my chest again.
“Yeah?”
“I love you. I mean, I am in love with you.”
I felt something. A surge of something in my chest. “I love you too, Nadia.” I kissed the top of her head and helped her into her bed. I pulled the blanket up on top of her. “You may not remember this in the morning, but I will.”
I walked out of her room and closed the door. I’d either made the biggest mistake or the best decision of my life. I really hoped it was the latter.
Nadia
“Why are we here again?” Ryan whined while we waited in the main lounge of the Wolf Blood dorms. I knew he was complaining out of discomfort, and I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t love standing inside a dorm full of half-vampires either. Although knowing Ryan, he was more concerned about being in the dorm of another house rather than their abilities. He didn’t think anyone was as strong as we were. And in brute strength that was true, but I wasn’t about to screw with the Wolf Bloods either. After a few months at Lunar Academy, I’d learned to beware of all the houses for different reasons.
“Because we need help, and rumor has it this Lee guy is supposed to know something about the Elites.” I whispered their name, not wanting anyone else to hear.
I’d already gone through my usual connections, both on campus and off, and as Dameon had predicted, I kept hitting dead ends. No one knew about the group.
At least, they weren’t admitting to.
Since they were breathing down our throats about initiation, we didn’t have any time to waste. I loved Ryan had put his foot down and asked North and me to be included, but we still needed more information on the Elites before any of us agreed to take part in what they were doing. I’d overheard Jackie mention Lee’s name to Edmund in a couple of their phone conversations she thought I was asleep for recently, and figured he might be our shot at learning more.
“We don’t need his help.” Ryan kissed my forehead. “You’re the best.”
“You have to stop thinking that. I know I’m good at researching things, but I’m not the best.” I had plenty of confidence, but I was also a realist who could admit when she needed to outsource some help.
“Is this about that A- you got on your paper?” He slung his arm over my shoulder. “Because an A- isn’t all that bad.”
“No, it’s not about a grade. Don’t be ridiculous.” I looked at my watch. What was taking Lee so long? He was supposed to come get us. We’d agreed on three o’clock since he said his roommate wouldn’t be in at that time. Apparently, he had a class on the other side of campus until four.
Two Wolf Bloods slipped through the dormitory doors. Their eyes skimmed us, but thankfully neither asked what we were doing here. I shivered once they started up the stairs. Ryan wasn’t the only one who was uncomfortable.
“Don’t be ridiculous? You cried,” he said, pulling me back to our conversation. If the sight of those two had unsettled him any, he didn’t let it show.
“I didn’t cry.” I looked at my watch again.
Where was this guy? I didn’t want to stand here any longer than we had to.
“You cried. Don’t lie.” Ryan nuzzled my neck.
“No, I got teary because I was disappointed in myself.” I never left things to the last minute, yet I had when it came to that paper. That seemed to be an all too frequent occurrence now. “There’s a difference.”
His head cocked to the side. “Is there? Enlighten me.”
“Yes. The two are completely different. Crying implies lots of big tears spilling down your face, and you often lose your breath.”
He pulled me into a hug, a lopsided grin on his face. “And that’s what I love about you, babe.”
“You know I shouldn’t like you calling me babe.” I smoothed my hand down his toned arm.
“Why is that?” His lips pressed against my neck.
I stiffened. Was he crazy? He was kissing my neck in the middle of the Wolf Blood lounge?
I laughed like the sensation tickled, and shifted away from him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem offended. “Because, it’s like you’re calling me less or something.”
That wasn’t entirely true. I liked the endearment coming from Ryan. The problem was that I knew I shouldn’t. I never would have tolerated it from anyone else.
“Where’s that coming from?” He spun me so I was looking at him, and put his hands on my hips. His brows pinched together as a serious expression took over his face. “I take it you don’t remember what was said the night when you got drunk, then?”
I blinked. “Not really.”
“You don’t remember anything from that night?”
My cheeks heated. “Should I?”
Crap. Hopefully, I hadn’t said or done anything stupid.
“Well, probably. But it’s fine.” He kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry about it.”
But I would worry about it. Had I been that drunk? Most definitely. I was still mad at myself for it too. Between that and my school studies, I was acting so far from my normal self that it was crazy. Then again, I was also doing whatever it took to figure out more about the Elites and what they were up to. Research. That was why I was here. I was researching more about them. So, maybe I hadn’t lost myself completely.
Footsteps on the stairs caught my attention. I glanced that way, hoping it would be Lee.
I knew what he looked like, simply because I’d looked him up, and the two people coming down the stairs weren’t him.
“What are you Wolf Borns doing here?” the guy snapped. His eyes were dark and menacing. The girl with him placed a ha
nd on her hip and gave Ryan a once-over.
Ryan turned and positioned himself in front of me. It was a protective stance, but one I was okay with given the circumstances. “We’re waiting for Lee.”
“Lee?” The guy narrowed his eyes. “Lee who?”
“Twain,” I said.
“Are you serious?” the girl asked with a chuckle. “Lee Twain has guests?”
“Yes.” While I might not know the guy, I still didn’t think he should be laughed at. “Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all.” The girl’s eyes slid over to Ryan. “It’s just not every day Ryan Grayson walks into Wolf Blood. Especially not to see Lee Twain.”
Of course her focus was Ryan. I wondered if I would ever get used to being an afterthought to other people when I was around him. It was something I’d have to accept if I wanted to be with him.
“He’s on the fourth floor,” the guy said, his upper lip curling.
The girl slapped him on the chest. “You can’t just send them up.”
“Why not?”
“Because this is our turf. No one wants a couple of Wolf Borns snooping around.” Her eyes shifted between us, her dislike of the idea evident.
“Exactly. They’ll be watched.” The guy laughed before he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him to the exit.
I tried not to worry as we made our way up the stairs. No one would mess with us and risk expulsion. Right?
“How are we going to find his room?” I asked as we walked down the hall of the first-year Wolf Blood men’s hall.
“We’ll figure it out.” He draped his arm over my shoulder as we walked past a few guys dressed in athletic shorts giving us the eye. I recognized one of the three from my Meditation & Spiritual Release class.
He nodded, and I flashed him a small smile.
We continued down the hall. Most of the doors were closed. I had my doubts we’d find Lee’s room, until I overheard a guy mention his name.
“I’m just gonna ask him for his Essential notes. Two seconds. That’s all it’s gonna take,” the guy said.
The other guy huffed. “Dude, we have to go. I’m meeting Stella in the quad.”
“Two seconds.” The first guy continued down the hall, pausing in front of one of the doors. He lifted his hand to knock, but the other guy strutted away.
Wolf Born: Lunar Academy, Year One Page 11
