Wolf Girl (Wolf Girl, #1)(26)

He looked down at me, conflicted emotions warring in his face. “Me too,” he finally said, and it was not what I wanted to hear.

Not at all.





“So, first date was a little bust, no biggie.” Sage sat at my bedside in the hospital, which, surprise, was called Hudson Emergency Room. It seemed his family owned everything in Werewolf City. Everything important anyway.

I snorted. “A little bust? We all nearly died.”

What a horrible first date. Sawyer was clearly never going to speak to me again. Because of me, he had threatened Eugene and lied to his father. This was so fucked, and it sucked because I really liked him.

Sage shrugged. “I mean, if you want to be the alpha’s wife, you need to be used to attacks.”

I didn’t respond, because this wasn’t an attack for the alpha’s son, it was for me, but I hadn’t told her that.

“I just want to go home.”

She nodded. “I’ll have the nurse get your discharge papers.”

I’d been found to have no wounds, but Sawyer had told the doctor to keep me for a few hours to make sure I remained stable. I think he feared for my mental health more than anything. Which right now was teetering on the brink of insanity.

When Sage returned a few moments later with a stack of papers, I sighed in relief. I just wanted to go back to my dorm, take a hot shower, and forget this shitshow ever happened.

We made our way outside, where a sleek black car was waiting.

“I didn’t think you would want to ride a scooter across campus looking like Carrie on Halloween,” Sage informed me.

I looked down at my crusted bloody red dress and gave her a wry smile. “Very thoughtful of you.”

It was a five-minute ride across campus to our dorm, and because of the late hour we were able to slip in undetected. Even the front door lady, a different one than Kendra this time, was asleep at the desk. I did notice, though, that the campus was crawling with security.

Sage dropped me off at my front door. “Get some sleep. I’ll be right out here if you need anything.”

I frowned.

She grinned. “I’ve been assigned as your own personal bodyguard.”

I gave her a wan smile, but it didn’t feel real. Neither she, nor I, knew what she was guarding.

I wasn’t a normal werewolf, that was for damn sure.

It was a long time before I could fall asleep.





The next day, I threw on black yoga pants and a t-shirt that said Classy but I cuss a little. After tossing my hair into a top knot, I put my camera around my neck and slung my backpack over my shoulder because I had zero fucks about what I looked like right now. I was just trying to tell myself that yesterday was in the past. Today, I was a photography student and I was going to focus on that.

Something normal.

When I opened the door, Sage was there waiting with two coffees. Her hair was still damp and she wore no make-up but still managed to look insanely beautiful.

“Did you sleep?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Got four hours while Walsh took over my shift. We’re getting new schedules today. There is to be two guards on you at all times.”

My eyes bugged and she waved me off. “It’s more common once Sawyer picks his top five girls later this year, but you got in early.” She winked.

Yeah … I’m not sure that was a good thing.

When we arrived at breakfast, I noticed Sawyer sitting at a table full of girls. One on each side of him and two across from him. Sage and I clutched our trays of food and walked to find a table. “I’ll ask them to move,” she said, but I shook my head.

“I’d like to just eat alone and get to class,” I told her.

Her face fell, but she nodded. “Okay.”

We sat as I silently pushed my eggs around the plate. When I looked up, Sawyer glanced over at me, gave me a wan smile and looked away, back to his conversation with Priya and Meredith.

My heart pinched as I came to the realization that things between Sawyer and I were probably over before they began. I had too much baggage for him, and if I was being honest, I wasn’t a fan of this whole dating game. I didn’t want to share him, I didn’t want to feel second best, or third or fiftieth. I wanted to punch all these bitches in the face and then straddle him right in this cafeteria and kiss him in front of everyone.

Sigh.

Brandon and Walsh walked up, fully outfitted for war, knifes, stakes, and guns strapped over their black canvas jumpsuits. Every eye in the cafeteria tracked their movements.

Don’t come over here, don’t come over here.

They stopped at our table. “Demi, we will be accompanying you to your classes today,” Brandon told me.

Great.

I chugged my OJ and grabbed my stuff. “I’ll see you at lunch,” I told Sage, and stood, following them out of the cafeteria. I risked a glance behind me, just in time to see Sawyer look up at me and then turn away quickly.





My first two classes were agony. All I could think about was what I would say to Sawyer in my third period class. I wanted to apologize for any inconvenience this whole vampire attack thing caused him, because clearly it was my fault. I wanted to tell him I was still down to play Call of Duty anytime he wanted. I wanted shit to feel normal between us because we’d started something fresh and real and exciting, and I didn’t want to lose it. By the time the bell rang for third period, I was already in my desk, eyeing the door and waiting for him to walk through.