Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(74)

His voice was heavy with the recollection, telling me there was far more to the story than he was letting on, but my slut of a brain was stuck on the realization that Caleb might have gone thirty-eight years as a human man without ever touching a woman. Why did I like that idea so much?

“Caleb . . . have you always been . . . chaste?”

“Are you asking me if I’m still a virgin?”

“Yes?” I couldn’t believe I had the audacity to ask him something so profoundly personal. I blamed it on the darkness of the booth. It made me far bolder than I’d be if we were face to face.

“I’ve never lain with a woman, Miss Fallon. Not that it’s any business of yours.”

“Have you ever been . . . tempted?”

He cleared his throat. “I believe you’ve collected enough of my secrets, Miss Fallon. Unless there’s anything else you’d like to get off your chest, I think this confession is over.”

“Sounds good to me. Isn’t there some kind of . . . punishment you’re supposed to assign me now?”

“The ache in your knees should suffice. And if it’s not enough, we can address that in your next session. Wear a skirt.”

His shadow shifted behind the lattice, and I knew the instant he was gone, taking the spicy scent of incense with him.

I sat back on my heels, my heart far lighter than it had been when I’d sought out my confessor. I wasn’t any closer to finding answers to the questions hounding me, but my mind was quiet. My heart calm. Confession with Caleb had been exactly what I needed. I felt closer to him now. Like we’d shared something far more sacred than a couple of truths about ourselves.

Like we may just actually be . . . friends.

Rising, I stepped out of the booth and made my way out of the church, knowing while this had been my first confession, it certainly wouldn’t be my last.

Until next time . . . my dark and twisted priest.





Chapter

Thirty-Six





THORNE





I shoved the doors of the headmistress’ office open with such force they broke off their hinges. I couldn’t believe what I’d just been told. Fury boiled under my skin, barely contained. Everything had been shot to hell with one conversation.

“Thorne, wait!” Callie called, trailing after me and yapping a bloody mile a minute like a damned rabid Chihuahua. “This is a good thing! It’s the right thing. You’ll see.”

“Callie, do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up before I shut you up.”

She pouted, batting her eyelashes at me like it would garner any ounce of sympathy. All it made me want to do was shove her into the lake and see if they’d double as flippers. “Thorne, you know how these things go. The Vampire Council makes edicts to keep us safe. This is the way things are supposed to be. You and me. Together. I mean, I even have your aunt’s name. I was made to be a Blackthorne.”

“Keep my aunt out of this. You and I are nothing, Callista. You don’t understand what you’ve done, calling attention to things this way.”

“I didn’t call attention to anything except that we haven’t gotten a chance to spend the appropriate amount of time together because you’re always running off. We’re to be wed, Noah—”

“Do. Not. Call. Me. That,” I snarled, baring my fangs and scenting her resulting fear. Good. Maybe the little fool had some sense after all.

“She’s not good enough for you. Whatever this is, she’s got some kind of spell cast on you. Don’t you see? It’s her and that witch friend of hers. They’re trying to ruin everything.”

She reached out, attempting to run her fingers through my hair, pressing her body against mine.

Before I could stop her and shove her away, her gaze locked on something behind me. “Oops,” she whispered.

“What the hell is going on here?” Sunday’s voice, filled with hurt, hit me like a bucket of ice poured down my back.

Callie sneered. “If you wanted to get frisky, Noah, you should’ve asked me to meet you somewhere more private. I know you’re excited about the ball, but really . . .”

“Oh, piss off,” I muttered, flinging her hand away and spinning toward my mate. “You know this isn’t what it looks like.”

Hurt still flickered in her gaze, Kingston’s actions too fresh for her to immediately dismiss what she’d seen. “So what is it, then?” She cast a livid glance at Callie. “ What does this dollar store Barbie doll mean about you being excited about the ball?”

“Oh, poor lamb, she doesn’t know?” Callie put on an air of pure innocence. “The Council decreed like species must be paired for the ball. That means, unfortunately for you, our Noah can’t lower himself to take a disaster like you.”

Uncontrolled rage built in my chest, exploding before I could stop it. “Don’t you dare speak of my mate that way, you pathetic little maggot.”

Callie’s pale skin leached of all color before two angry splotches of red stained her cheeks. “Your what?”

“You. Heard. Me.” I stepped forward with each word, and she took careful steps away. Then I ripped the sleeve of my shirt free at the shoulder, exposing my voluntary traitor mark.

Callie lifted a shaking hand, gesturing in Sunday’s direction. “This? This is what you choose when you could have had me? This low-born, half-breed, nothing of a reject shifter? Her own family doesn’t even want her. She’s not good for anything—”