Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(28)

She opened the door and pulled out a black long-sleeved high-performance shirt, matching cargo pants, and a pair of combat boots. “She’s jealous. Thorne wants you, and he’s supposed to want her.”

“He wants to eat me. There’s a difference.”

“Oh, he wants to eat you, all right. That’s the problem.”

I blushed at the wave of heat that thought sent spiraling straight through me and shook my head. Following her lead, I placed my palm on the metal door in front of me, and the same thing happened. Opening the door, I found the same outfit Moira was wearing waiting for me. We dressed quickly before folding our original clothes and placing them inside the lockers. Before I closed mine, Moira stopped me.

“Don’t forget the amulet. Sanderson told us to wear everything.” She pointed to the pendant hanging inside the door. A simple disc suspended from a braided leather necklace.

Affixing the clasp, I instantly felt a weight on my chest and gasped at the heat coming from the pendant. “What is this?”

“I’m sure it’s got something to do with our assignment.” Moira hooked her arm with mine. “Come on. Back to class. Let’s see what the old hillbilly has in store for us today.”





Chapter

Fifteen





KINGSTON





I trailed out of the locker room after my classmates, filled with the same restless energy I’d lived with since my wolf caught her scent again. Sunday. My mate. The one who rejected me in front of both of our packs. Technically, that meant she wasn’t my anything. But my wolf didn’t give a shit about technicalities. As far as he was concerned, Sunday belonged to us. And her getting attacked at the club and nearly dying only intensified my wolf’s protective instincts.

It was a damned pain in my ass if I was being honest. Because me, the man, didn’t want anything to do with her. She humiliated me in the most public arena that existed for shifters. I’m the Alpha’s son, future Alpha of the Farrell pack. Only one other pack in North America matches us in size. The Fallons.

A union between our two Families would have been some real Romeo and Juliet shit, bringing together two rival packs to create the largest wolf pack seen in centuries. But she sent any talk of peace right up in flames with her outright dismissal of me. As if I was the one unworthy here. She couldn’t even find her damn wolf. What right did she have rejecting me?

Sunday would be lucky to be my mate. Bitches have been sniffing around, practically begging me to mount and claim them since I was old enough to understand what it meant.

Except for her.

Just like always when it came to Sunday, all the old insecurities and hurt came roaring to the surface. And right on their heels, the anger. Seeing her again, after all this time . . . I hadn’t been prepared for just how fucking angry I still was.

It was easier to pretend when I didn’t have to look at—or smell—her. Fuck, that scent. It haunted me. Worse, it went straight to my dick. Every. Fucking. Time.

Just the memory of it was enough to have me adjusting myself as I found a spot to wait outside the grove for Sanderson to let us in on whatever game she had planned for today. Usually wolves were social, but as a rule, we didn’t fraternize much outside of our home packs. As a result, I found myself sticking to the outskirts in mixed classes such as this one.

My eyes trailed over the other students milling around, my wolf snarling as my gaze landed on Thorne and his little red-haired skank. God, they deserved each other. If Sunday and I were the shifter version of Romeo and Juliet, they were the vampires’ very own Ken and Barbie. Richer than God and blood bluer than the Atlantic. Pampered. Spoiled. Utterly insufferable. He probably had to consult her day planner when he wanted to schedule time to get his dick wet.

I laughed at the thought of Thorne pounding away while Callie snapped at him to hurry and finish while scrolling through her social media feeds. Personally, I wouldn’t trust my dick near the chick. I’m pretty sure she could make it shrivel up and die with a single look. Her voice alone made my skin crawl, and her scent was toxic. Like huffing nail polish and gasoline.

“She doesn’t actually expect us to go in there, does she? I mean . . . the sun’s out.” Callie’s high-pitched voice grated even from where I stood.

“Do you listen to a word anyone else says?” Thorne snapped. “This isn’t real. It’s an illusion.”

Callie pouted. “It feels real. It’s warm.”

I rolled my eyes at Callie’s whining, wishing the artificial rays pouring out of the grove were enough to turn the bloodsucker into a pillar of ash. It’d be one hell of an improvement.

The name was misleading. It wasn’t actually a grove, per se, but a magical antechamber that professors could modify as needed. Right now, Sanderson had it converted into a daytime woodland. But, just like the rest of the campus, there were all sorts of magical fail-safes in place to prevent any of its students from coming into contact with something that would cause them harm. Case in point, the sun. Most vampire classes took place in the evening hours for that reason, but there were some exceptions to the rule. And in those cases, Ravenscroft was magically equipped to ensure their safety.

Furthermore, the grove was one of the few places on campus where said fail-safes—such as shifting—could be lifted. I doubted such a modification had been made for today; it was rare in mixed-species classes. But, it wasn’t unheard of during species-specific training.