‘Mate. Help.’
His plea shot through me, and I clenched my fists.
Oh, hell no.
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than my wolf snarled. Seeming to appear out of nowhere, she surged forward. Desperate to save our mate from a fight with his own brother, her instinct overwhelmed me. My body seized, and I pitched forward with a snarl, my bones crunching and rearranging as fur exploded from my skin.
I inhaled, a low guttural growl of warning, and then, leaping forward on all fours, I sank my teeth into the nearest wolf’s flank, not deep enough to cause serious injury but hard enough to be a warning.
The creature yipped in pain, trying to spin toward me, and created the perfect gap.
I released him and pushed through the space toward my mate.
His wolf crossed the space between us and nuzzled me.
‘Mate. Strong.’
I inhaled, letting his scent fill me with comfort. He was safe.
He continued to nuzzle me, and suspicion trickled through me. I glanced behind me, and sure enough, the other three wolves were gone.
‘You set me up.’ I’d meant it to sound accusing, but honestly, I felt nothing but relief that he was okay.
‘Mate. Learn. Shift. Safe.’
I knew what he was saying, and I nuzzled him back. While I might not shift in self-preservation, my wolf had no reservations when it came to protecting my mate.‘But I don’t know if I can do it on my own.’
‘Practice.’
I snorted, the sound odd coming from a wolf, and then barked with laughter.‘Fine. I’ll practice.’
‘Run?’he asked, his yellow eyes alight with enthusiasm.
How could I say no to that?
‘One thing first. Thank you for the food.’Even if I didn’t know if it was Rage or Justice, I still appreciated the kindness. I leaned forward and sniffed his once-injured shoulder, but it smelled totally healed.
I didn’t want to talk about the attack on the academy, how his mom was doing, why he wouldn’t tell me who he was, or anything else. I’d save all that for Samhain in a few days when I could confront his human side. Right now, I wanted one last night with his wolf.
‘Mate.’He nuzzled me again and then nipped at me playfully.‘Run.’
He darted into the darkness, and I chased after him.
The next morning,I woke and ran through my usual routine. Hair in a messy low bun to cover my neck mark, ignore Nolan and hide my mate marks from him as I grabbed breakfast, and then time to head over to Nell.
After crossing the foyer of our dorm, I wrenched the door open and gasped, stumbling to a stop, face-to-back with Rage. Even before he turned, I knew who he was. How exactly? No clue.
More importantly, why was he here?
His black shirt hugged his broad shoulders, dipped around his biceps, and tapered at his waist, accentuating not only his physique but also his wealth. No way those shirts were standard issue.
Out of habit, I snaked my left hand behind my back to hide my mate mark and then rolled my eyes. How ironic would that be? That I could be hiding my marks in front of my actual mate.
He pivoted and stared down at me, saying nothing.
I stared right back.
My breathing grew more shallow the longer we stood there, him exuding rugged sexiness like spilling a bottle of pheromones. I licked my lips, and his gaze dropped.
