Chapter 17
Coming home made me feel empty inside. I’d told Zoey that I didn’t want to take things to the next level until she was absolutely certain in our forever. But apparently the bond didn’t care about that. Even at a distance I could clearly feel her emotions. It should have scared me, but in truth, I was just hoping that it would drive her crazy enough to seek me out because a night without her sounded more like a nightmare to me.
When I arrived at the house, there was a party thumping.
I groaned. Not tonight.
Then I couldn’t help but wonder if Theta was there. Would Zoey come? She was the president of the sorority after all.
Catching myself is this odd turn of thought, I laughed. How I had dreaded Theta coming over so many times. Now I was hoping they were there. The bond did some crazy shit to a man.
I walked in through the front door and those upstairs hanging out all stopped and stared at me.
“Monte!” they yelled as I entered the house.
“Dude, you shacked up with Zoey Rey?” Caleb asked. “And you said you wouldn’t tap that.”
Without a conscious thought, I hauled back and punched him in the face.
Remy grabbed me from behind and held me back.
“What the hell?” Caleb said.
“I told you not to talk about her like that,” I warned.
Braxton started laughing. “Pay up boys. I tried to tell you.”
Our pledges all started fishing twenty-dollar bills from their pockets and handing it over to him.
“Seriously?”
He winked at me. Brax was one of the only people who knew I was mated to Zoey, and he used that knowledge to screw over some unsuspecting freshmen. Asshole.
“How’d you know?” Troy asked. “Like what are the mating signs that tipped you off.”
I glared at Braxton.
“We’ll talk later,” he assured Troy.
A group of girls walked in. I glanced their way to see the usual freshmen head straight for our pledges. I signed a quick hello to Kylie, Lauren’s little sister. She was deaf, and Denny had insisted we all learn some basic ASL to make her feel welcome at the doghouse. I didn’t mind it. She was a sweet kid and deserved to fit it and feel welcome when visiting her sister.
Speaking of which, Lauren detoured towards me on her way to see Kylie. She signed something across the room to her, but it was too fast for me to comprehend. When Kylie looked my way, I knew it had to be something about me. That was my cue to get the hell out of there, but Remy was still holding onto me.
“Let go. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
“Like punch a brother in the face?” Kellen teased.
I glared at him.
He’s not wrong, Jax said only to me through his mind crap.
He shouldn’t talk about Zoey like that.
You didn’t seal your bond. Your wolf is highly unstable.
Do you really want me to punch you too?
He burst out laughing.
