I… I don’t know. “I could have donesomething.”
“Her mind was made up, Juniper,” Ian says softly. “After what she must have suffered, I’m sure all she wanted was to be at peace. And she got to do that without Grace’s death on her conscience. All because of you.”
I nestle into Marcus and finally nod, though tears slip down my cheeks.
Another knock sounds at the door and both alphas let out low growls, their instincts roaring back at the potential threat.
Ian sets his tea aside and goes to the door, looking through the peephole. “It’s Professor Cadigan. I’m sure he’s just checking on all the omega students. I’ll speak with him.”
He slips out the door and they talk in low voices, but I hear them anyway.
My affinity? Am I gleaning the conversation from Ian, Professor Cadigan, or Marcus—hearing it with his superior senses?
“She’s home safely.”
“She is.”
The older professor sighs. “I worry about your… dedication to this particular omega, Ian. That you may be acting outside the bounds of propriety that exist between students and their professors—and for good reason. You must realize you’re in a position of power and she is not. It’s wholly inappropriate and if you were to—”
“We haven’t,” Ian lies. “Nothing untoward has happened between us. I give her extra lessons because she asked me to. She helps me with my research because she’s clever and took an interest.”
“You vanished from the ball with her pretty quickly. We could have used you in the fight.”
“I got her out at Hawthorn’s request,” Ian hedges. “And I stayed because her honor guard had the night off. We ran from a fucking firefight, Alan. With the Soldiers on campus, with the issues we’ve had with our wards, I did my duty. I stayed with her until Haley returned.”
“I worry about you, Ian. That’s all. If you were to stray beyond the bounds of propriety, you’d lose your job, and you’ve worked too hard to risk everything for one omega.”
Marcus growls and picks me up off the sofa. “You’ve heard enough, sweet-tart. Time for bed.”
I go to protest, but Marcus’ tone brooks no argument, his alpha riding him too hard for me to push back on him. I nod, clasp my hands around the cup of tea, snatch Ian’s tuxedo jacket off the chair, and head up to my nest.
I wrap myself in Ian’s jacket over Marcus’ sweater, letting their combined scents wrap around me. I pray to the saints for sleep, but the only thing that finally allows it to come is pretending that these two alphas I love are my pack.
CHAPTER35
With my world falling apart around me, I can’t waste any time. I text Simon the very next morning, asking if we can talk.
His response is immediate.>
We set a time later in the week, hoping campus will have emerged from lockdown by then.
I’ve just stepped out of the shower when Marcus calls upstairs to me.
“We’ve been summoned for questioning.”
Fuck.
As if the last twenty-four hours haven’t been bad enough, I now have to appear before Mage Inspector Mattis again, limp-dick coward that he is. Bought and paid for by Pack Radcliffe.
I’ll have to flay myself open for the uninterested mage inspector once again, relive the horror of the night before, all for him to ignore me. For him to disparage me.
It’s a farce and one I have no patience for.
Not anymore.
* * *
Hawthorn’s waiting justoutside the wards for me and Marcus and immediately pulls me into a tight hug. “Thank the fucking saints, Junibear. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
