by Jen L. Grey
"It's nothing." She sniffed and wiped a tear away from her face.
"It sure doesn't look like nothing." I didn't want to pressure her, but she needed to know I was there for her.
"Well, it's Nate." Her bottom lip pouted a little. "He's wanting me to come home to meet his parents over fall break, but I can't."
"Why not?" To me that sounded like a very good thing. He was ready to take their relationship to the next level.
"Don't you remember who my parents are?" She placed her hands in her lap. "They are pissed about Liam and you. Could you imagine how they would take news of Nate? I can't bring that into our relationship. I can't ask that of him."
"But it's his choice to make. You don't have the right to make the decision for him." That's what Liam had done with us. He decided on his own that I wouldn’t want to take all the risks of becoming a council mate. I'd be a target for anyone that wanted to hurt him, but the thing was, he was worth the risk. "Look at how that worked out with your brother."
A small smile spread across her face, and she leaned over to wrap her arms around me. "I am so lucky to have you in my life."
"I love you too." I hugged her back. "I’m thinking you don't plan on leaving him, right?"
She pulled back and frowned. "I know I'm supposed to, but... I can't."
"Honestly, there is absolutely no reason why you should." Yes, it was clear that the council thought fated mates made them weak, but I didn't agree. Destiny had to know something we all didn't. In my case, I was meant to be the Overseer, so it made sense that Liam and I were meant to be. "It's something I hoped the heirs changed when they take over." Hell, I'd be taking over with them, and I’d make sure it changed.
"You really think there is hope?" Her eyes lit up as she anticipated the next words out of my mouth.
"If I have anything to do with it, there will be." Nate was the perfect half to her. He was amazingly kind and treated her like gold. That was what mates were meant to do; make you strong and complete. After everything we’d been through, finally, Liam was coming around.
If the both of us could handle the pressure of the council, there was nothing that could get in our way.
"Then, I'll tell him yes." A small smile spread on her face. "I'll come up with something to tell Dad." She waved her hands around.
The front door swung open as Liam entered the room. His face was tense, and his jaw ticked, which was a sign of him being royally pissed off.
"I take it things didn't go well?" There was always such turmoil around and involving the two of us. I hated that we couldn't just be happy.
"No, but he'll learn to deal with it soon." He walked over to pull me to my feet and into his arms.
"Dad?" Bree stood beside us and arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah, he wants me to reject her." He ran his fingers through my hair. "I told him he could go to Hell."
"I never thought I'd see the day when you would challenge the council." She headed toward her room. "I have a feeling I don't want to see what comes next." She slammed her door.
As soon as we were alone, his lips were on mine.
It bothers me that I'm causing so many problems for you. Even as I said the words, his lips were making goosebumps climb my skin.
You've made me the happiest I've ever been, and I'm not giving you up. He grasped my waist, lifting me up, not missing a beat while continuing to hold our kiss.
I wrapped my legs around his waist as he headed to my bedroom. Within seconds of slamming the door shut with his arm, he was on top of me on my bed.
He placed his hands on the blood-red comforter on top of my bed to hold himself up and kissed down my neck, scraping his teeth against where he'd already marked me. One hand slipped under my shirt, and I raised myself slightly as he pulled it from my body.
I winced as my shoulder twinged with pain from the movement.
"Dammit, I tried to be careful." He threw my shirt on the ground, and his eyes zeroed in on my injury. It was only scabbed on the surface, but the tissue Simon had bitten through was still healing internally.
"It's fine. I'll be healed by tomorrow or Thursday." I lifted up and kissed his lips, wanting to get his focus back on me. He’d refused to have sex with me until I was better, so this wasn't going to go in my favor if I didn’t get his attention elsewhere.
"Then, we can wait until then." He started to pull away from me, but I wrapped my legs around his waist, forcing his body forward.
He caught himself at the last second, trapping me within his arms.
"No, not allowed. You don't get to deny me this morning." I pushed him over and rolled on top of him. My lips slammed onto his, and I reached down, rubbing my hand along him over his pants.
I never thought I'd enjoy being dominated, but dammit, it turns me on. His hands wrapped around me, easily unclasping my bra. I removed it, tossing it over the side of the bed.
He raised his hips as he unbuttoned his jeans and removed them and his boxers in one movement. Within seconds, he was peeling the rest of my clothes away, removing all barriers from between us.
As I sat straight up, I guided him inside, and soon we were moving in synchronized movements. It had only been days, but it felt like a lifetime since we'd connected like this. The last time had been the night we claimed one another.
He sat up, brushing his lips against my breasts, making my head dizzy with more desire. I upped the pace, and within seconds, pleasure exploded throughout my core.
A low growl sounded from his chest as he rolled me over so he was settled on top. "Now, my turn,” he said, his breath hitting my face.
Then, he thrust, hitting just the right spot once again.
I wrapped my arms around him, digging my fingernails into his back. He groaned with pleasure as he began moving harder and faster.
It wasn't long before both of us moaned in pleasure, connecting us in both mental and physical forms.
When it was all over, he plopped beside me and wrapped me in his arms. I love you.
My heart picked up a beat. He’d never said those words to me before even though I knew he felt them. His admission rang clear between us. I love you too.
Then, my eyes grew heavy, and I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Liam walked me to Pre-Calculus.
“I better get going to class.” He lowered his lips to mine, kissing me almost borderline inappropriate for the hallways.
“See you soon." I winked and turned on my heel, heading into the classroom, Tripp's jade eyes met mine.
"Someone looks awfully happy." He gave me a sad smile. "Especially now that Kai is hurting."
That wasn't fair. "You knew Liam was my true mate." I met Tripp the same day I had met Kai. We were both freshmen getting a tour from an older academy student. So, to say Tripp became friends with both Kai and me at the same time wasn't an understatement. "It's not like I'd asked Liam to show up that night. I had intended to be with you all the entire night."
"You still could have tried harder." The corner of Tripp's eyes tightened. "I really thought you'd be more considerate than you were."
"I tried to make it work with Kai, but the bond is kind of overwhelming. I couldn’t keep lying to myself or lead Kai on anymore. If you ever meet your fated mate…you will understand." If he thought I was going to let him get away with being an ass, he was wrong. I didn't deserve this. In fact, I had been struggling with how I felt and cared about both Liam and Kai just as bad, if not worse, when all this shit went down.
He sighed. "Maybe." He shook his head and glanced at the front of the class. The happy-go-lucky friend I knew wasn't here. "But at the end of the day, Kai is hurting. Maybe you do deserve your fated mate…but don’t forget all the ones who got hurt along the way.”
"If you’re expecting me to apologize, it’s not going to happen. I hate that Kai is hurting and that you are stuck in the middle, but I can’t deny fate.” I unzipped my bag and pulled out my notebook. "The problem is you’re only seeing Kai’s side an
d not putting my best interest at heart. It's great to know I had such a good friend. I won't make that mistake again."
His body tensed as he kept his eyes glued to the front of the class.
"Looks like there's some drama in paradise." Robyn flipped her red hair over her shoulder and glanced from one of her friends to the other. "This might be an interesting class today."
I hated those three with a passion. They were the other students who’d joined Tripp and me on the tour. We'd all shifted to run behind the school so Kai could show us the areas we were free to use. They had rushed back and poured skunk piss all over my clothes.
Before I could reply, Professor Walker breezed into the classroom, ending the conversation.
Later, when I walked out of Comp one, I was a little surprised not to find Liam there, waiting for me. Maybe something came up.
I took the back stairwell, and as I walked through the door, a voice at the bottom stopped me in my tracks.
"Amber, how much clearer do I need to be?" Liam's voice was low and angry.
"You've got to be kidding me." A girl's voice raised. "You know both me and Dad were banking on you mating with me."
"Well, it's not going to happen." His voice was clear like he was making sure to enunciate each word. “I’m already taken.”
"Liam, we can still salvage this."
Oh, hell no. I headed down the stairs, and when I turned the corner, blondie came into view. Is this why you didn't meet me outside my classroom?
Dammit, I'm sorry. He turned, and his blue eyes landed on mine. I had a problem come up.
That's an awful pretty problem. I wasn't jealous, but the girl was gorgeous. Her blonde hair was long and straight, and the girl rocked our school uniforms. She somehow managed to turn a plain button-down shirt sexy. She even had her skirt pulled up high enough that there was little left to the imagination. She was the same girl Liam had used to taunt me after we kissed for the first time right here in this stairwell, heading for the same class I was going to now. He’d had her plastered against him, allowing her to rub her fingers all over his chest.
The bitch needed to get a clue and fast.
Liam made his way over to me as I took the last step and grabbed my hand.
"Wait." The girl's aquamarine eyes widened. "This is who you dumped me for?"
What now? He had a girlfriend?
"We weren't dating; it was more of a business arrangement. You knew that as much as I did." Liam pulled me closer. She didn't and doesn't mean anything to me.
"Business arrangement?" What did that even mean? It was insane how they thought of mates as assets and not as actual soulmates. Something was really wrong with these people.
"Of course, he didn't tell you." She rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her immaculately styled hair. "We were engaged."
Whoa, what? Please tell me she's joking. I wanted to pull my hand from his, but it would give her too much satisfaction.
"No, we weren't." His eyes landed on mine. "We'd talked about it in the future after college. Then we broke up because well, hell, she was already showing me rings to buy her." She meant nothing to me.
"My dad is a regional alpha who reports to Mr. Croft." She paused and stuck her nose in the air. "You know, the council member representing the south. Obviously, I need to spell all this out for you … especially since you don't know your place, but Liam will wake up soon."
"In case you didn't see the bite marks, he's mine, so back the fuck off." All of these entitled people were really pissing me off. Though, my role was getting clearer every day. When I took my place on the council, these assholes were going to have one hell of a rude awakening. I'd make sure of it. I had to be strong, not only for Liam but for myself. "It's a sealed deal, so why don't you take your skanky ass away from us."
Her plump bottom lip stuck out. "This is who you chose to be your mate?"
"Yup, the one and only." He bent down and brushed his lips against mine. "She's my fated mate, the love of my life."
"But we would've benefited each other greatly." She stomped her foot a little, placing a hand on her hip. "And the sex wasn't bad."
She was trying to hurt me and get me riled up. Her obvious goal was to cause us problems. "Well, at least you have those memories to keep you warm at night while I'm the one who is under him."
I love you so much. His words echoed in my ear as his shoulders shook ever so slightly. "Hmm … Sometimes I'm under you."
"That's pretty mind-blowing too." I winked at him.
"You've made a horrible mistake." She opened the door to head out. "I'll just have to get with Evan or Simon, then." She paused as if she was waiting for Liam to beg her to stay or say that he had changed his mind.
"Evan won't be interested. He warned me a while ago that you were a little too ambitious." Liam turned toward her and shrugged. "Simon would be down for a lay a time or two. Good luck with that."
She didn't even bother to respond but rather slammed the door behind her.
"You didn't think to tell me about a crazy ex?" I arched an eyebrow as he pulled me into his strong arms.
"It was nothing." He leaned his forehead against mine and took a deep breath. "She wasn't into me, not really. Only the power of what my future title would hold."
"You know that's also the only reason I'm in this." I had to tease him. We hadn't had time to just be two people who were into each other. We either had someone fighting the bond or a crazy heir trying to kill one of us. "Damn … It better be worth it."
The corners of his mouth tilted up into one of the most genuine smiles I'd ever seen on him. Hell, I wasn’t quite sure if I'd ever seen him smile before that moment; it almost took my breath away. Honestly, he always looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Is that so?" His fingers began to dig into my waist.
A giggle escaped before I could rein it in, which only encouraged him further.
"Stop." The words were only a breath as I collapsed into his arms in a fit of laughter. "Please, stop?"
"Fine, but only because you asked so nicely."
One of the doors opened from above the stairs, and I glanced at my watch. "Shit, I need to get to class. I want a minute to talk to Tripp."
"Fine, but he better behave himself. I'd hate to have another person next to Kai on my list." He opened the door for me, and we hurried out into the hallway. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you to meet with Dad? I can skip my class."
"No, he wants to talk to me alone. It's safer in the restaurant since there are a lot of people." When we reached my classroom, I stopped. "It'll be fine. I'll link you if it gets too bad."
"Promise?" He leaned down and kissed my lips.
"Promise."
I turned to walk into the room when Liam grabbed my arm. "Meet you back at your dorm at one?"
"You bet."
As I headed into the classroom, Tripp's jade eyes met mine, and he had a frown on his face.
Luckily, I got to class just in time for Mr. Johnson to stroll through the door and place his bag onto the floor underneath the whiteboard.
He wore his usual blood-red polo shirt and ran a hand through his thick black hair. He was at least in his sixties and had taught this class for the last twenty years.
"Good morning, everyone." He stood in front and eyed each one of us. "Let's get going."
I'd always enjoyed this class, but I had a feeling I’d wish it would last longer today for other reasons. I had to meet Mr. Hale right after this and had a feeling it wasn't going to be pleasant.
Chapter Three
Not wasting any time, I stood as soon as class was over and hurried out the door. I didn’t want to have another confrontation. I was hurt too, needing some time and space. It didn’t help that I had to meet Mr. Hale.
"Mia, wait," Tripp called after me, but I didn't slow down.
I didn't have the time or energy to waste on him. If he felt bad for what he’d said, good. He should.
A hand touched my shoulder, gently turning me around, bringing us face to face.
He frowned as the fall breeze picked up though he had so much gel in his blond hair, it didn't budge. "I didn't mean to be a dick back there, but Kai is hurting so damn much."
"And you think that I'm not?" Yes, I was happy with Liam, but that didn't mean I didn't have regrets.
"You sure had a huge smile on your face when you walked into the room." He arched an eyebrow as if he was daring me to counter it.
"I may be happy with Liam, but that doesn't mean that I don't regret how things went with Kai." Right now, I had to get to Mr. Hale. If I was late, I could only imagine how much worse the meeting would be. "You knew just as well as him that Liam was my fated. Yet, you blame me for that night when he was about to lose control of his wolf. Yes, I wanted to try to be with Kai, but it wasn't possible. So instead of being happy for me that Liam and I worked things out as fate wanted, you are trying to make me feel like I owe you and him something. Frankly, you can kiss my ass. I don't have any more time to keep rehashing the same damn conversation." I turned on my heel and headed to the restaurant.
He didn't call after me, which was a good thing. I wasn't quite sure what would've happened if he forced the conversation more. We'd said all we had to say to one another.
When I got to the door, I took a deep breath. I had to calm my ass down before going inside. I had to be calm, cool, and collected while talking with Mr. Hale. Unlike Tripp, who was blunt and honest, this meeting was going to be all about strategy and who knew what else.
As I stepped into the restaurant, I wasn't surprised to find Mr. Hale already there. He was sitting in a corner booth on the left side of the restaurant. He’d chosen a table away from everyone else and waved his hand at me.
I walked past the various large rectangular and small circular tables placed strategically inside. It was strange that some called this a cafeteria. It was equivalent to a medium scale restaurant with waiters and waitresses attending to your every need.
