They sat down at the table after getting their drinks and Nathan looked about as uncomfortable as she did. He took several scalding sips before he asked her where she was going.
Laurel tried to smile, like she wasn’t dying inside to leave.
“You know, I don’t quite know yet. I guess I am going to go back to my parents’ house for a little while, try to work something out.”
“Do you have to go?”
His words were so light that she almost didn’t hear them, and his handsome face was so stern, she didn’t imagine that he would actually say the words. Had he, or was she just hearing things?
“What?”
“Do you have to go, Laurel? I mean, there is a lot going on around here, and I am sure that you could find something to do. You could work at the Academy maybe.”
Laurel shook her head. She had thought about asking for a job, some way to keep her foot in the supernatural world that she felt a part of. She knew that she was just human, but she wanted to be more. Yet at the same time, she couldn’t wish it into existence.
“Nah, I don’t want to be the conciliatory human.”
“You know there are lots of humans there.”
Laurel disagreed with the idea. “It just won’t work, Nathan, but I thank you for the offer.”
She was thinking about his mate Nancy. She was beautiful, but cold and the air dropped several degrees when she came into the room. Laurel didn’t know why they were together, but it was something to do with fate, if she could believe Mallory. Why did fate hate Nathan, then? He obviously wasn’t happy with her.
“I wouldn’t get to see you in the mornings and at pick up, anymore.”
“Like I said, Nathan, I just wanted to tell you goodbye.” Laurel said.
She was disappointed by his response. Laurel had felt this immediate connection to Nathan. As soon as she had met him for the first time, something had come alive inside of her that had been dormant thus far. She was afraid that it was going to go back to sleep, and she wasn’t going to feel the thrills like before.
He straightened and then stood up. He gave her a hug, the awkward sort, and she melted into his arms for few seconds and she had to pull herself away reluctantly.
“Shifters were just hotter it seemed.” She thought in her mind.
She didn’t want to admit that she was affected more than she was. If she wanted to keep that up, she needed to get out of there before the tears started to flow.
“Well, I’ve got to go.” Her voice cracked a little and she rushed out to save some of her dignity, or at least as much as she could at the current time, running out of a coffee shop like it was on fire. Not much.
Chapter 2
Nathan watched the petite blond rush off, and he didn't know what the hell had just happened. She was mad at him for something.What?He didn't know. He was doing his best to hold his own emotions in about her leaving, and now she was gone. A knot formed in his stomach, twisting tighter with each step as he went back to the Academy.
“Nathan, you have a couple of messages.” Secretary on the first desk said.
He waved off the front desk secretary, “I would take care of them later.” It was just one more thing that Nathan had to endure, and it was becoming too much.
He went into the practice room, and even though there were at least thirty teens, from the age of twelve to fourteen, he went right to the wooden dummies and went to town on it. He hit it as hard as the pain of her leaving was going to be. Nathan didn't stop until his knuckles were bleeding and he could finally feel the throbbing in them. Every single punch before that was just numbing, almost satisfying, like he could pound away the pain.
Nathan looked at the wooden dummy, stained with his blood and cursed underneath his breath. He was an adviser to most of the children in the room, and he knew better than to let his emotions take over. That was the number one job of the Academy. They took in shifters of all ages, even as young as three, and they taught them how to control themselves, use their powers, but also how to control their powers. Self-control was taught as if it were a religion. And here he was, beating the shit out of a dummy in front of everybody.
When he turned around, wiping his hands on a towel, he saw that everybody was looking at him. Nathan cursed underneath his breath again. It was not the way he wanted them to see him.
He was feeling a little bit better, if that was somehow possible. The pain in his hands seemed to numb the pain that was inside of him. How was he going to explain his actions to a bunch of kids that he had told for years should never do things like that? The dummy wasn't just bloody, it was broken, and with a little less restraint, he could have knocked it clear off the pegs. He had let his shifter power take over, each punch had gotten harder, and it was a prime example of what would happen if any of them were to lose their cool in public, in front of humans.
Humans. Laurel. The one that he couldn’t have, and the one he wanted so badly he could taste it.
“Your lesson today is that this is what happens when you lose control. Imagine if this was a human. A brick wall that you punch and actually break. Everyone is running around with their phones. I see that two of you have yours out now. This is why you need control. One false slip and not only will you be detected, but all the rest of us will be as well. This is why we're here, guys. Think about it.”
Nathan walked away, and although he tried to make it like it was a lesson, he was pretty sure that they could see right through him.
