“Dean Blackmoor?” he said hesitantly, like I was going to lunge at him, like he didn’t have the power to fold me in half like a fucking spoon.
“Yeah?” I grunted.
“You can come out, if you’re ready,” he said. “Are you going to be civil this time?”
“I was civil before, too. He insulted me,” I growled through my teeth.
Dr. Price raised an eyebrow. “What did he say, exactly?”
“I don’t remember, but it wasn’t nice.”
Dr. Price just sighed and held the door open, standing aside to let me out. “I’d advise you be on your best behavior unless you want to forget the last couple of months,” he said in a warning tone. “You and Alistair are to get along on your way to the headmaster’s office. Youwillbe escorted.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, brushing past him on my way into the hall. Much to my infuriation, Alistair was already there, sitting calmly on the bench beside the exit door, looking down at his hands with his long hair forming a curtain around his face.
I cleared my throat, wondering if he was even going to acknowledge me.
When he finally looked up, his eye was sharp with the same rage that had been in it out on the lawn, but he was annoyingly restrained. At least most of the time.
He looked away a second later as Dr. Price ushered me in and motioned for me to take a seat across the desk. It wasn’t long before the headmaster came in, and I could tell from the weary expression on his heavily lined face that he wasn’t in a good mood.
Probably my fault, to be fair. Or at least, half of it was my fault.
Before Alistair could start playing the victim card, I decided to put in my side of the story. “He has no business being around her,” I growled.
The headmaster frowned in confusion as he sank into the chair behind his desk. “Being around whom, Mr. Blackmoor?”
“Around my mate,” I snarled before I could stop myself. After a shift, I was always off for a while. Not quite in control of my emotions or my words. Hell, if I managed not to tear into Alistair’s throat during the lecture we were both about to get, it would be a damn miracle.
I saw the blank expressions on the headmaster’s and Dr. Price’s faces, and knew there was no taking it back.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Even Alistair was staring at me like he couldn’t believe what I’d just said.
“I’m sorry, did you just say yourmate?”the headmaster asked.
I cringed. I wasn’t afraid of any vampire, or the administration, for that matter, outside of their ability to wipe my memory, but Bells was another story. Bells was gonna fucking kill me.
Before I could answer, someone knocked on the door. I bristled immediately, a growl building in my throat. There better not be another one.
Dr. Price opened the door and murmured something to the person on the other side. When the scent of wildflowers hit my nostrils, all my rage melted into the same adoration I felt whether Bells was smiling or glaring at me.
And she was doing the latter right now. Guess she’d heard about the fight.
“What is this?” she asked warily, her arms folded as she came into the room. She was still in her uniform, so I wondered where she’d been while the rest of us were outside. “Whatever it is, I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“You’re not in trouble,” Dr. Price said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. The sight of him touching her made my wolf rise up again, and if it had lasted a second longer, I knew I would’ve snapped. “This does concern you, though. And I believe Mr. Blackmoor was just about to elaborate.”
Now Bells was looking at me as curiously as the rest of them. All except for Alistair, who looked like he still wanted to finish what I’d started.
The headmaster returned his attention back to me. “Elaborate, please.”
I glanced back at Bells, who was staring expectantly at me, then at Alistair, who was still glaring daggers with his one eye, then reluctantly looked back at the headmaster. “I imprinted on Bells,” I explained stiffly. “And Alistair claims he did, too.”
“Is that what the fight was about?” the headmaster asked, raising his bushy eyebrows. “Something biologically impossible? You’vegotto be kidding me, Dean.”
“I know it is, which is why I’m sayinghe’sfull of shit,” I said, pointing at Alistair.
