My gaze went to the red pinprick dot of blood on his arm which had already crusted over and healed. He reached out, slowly, giving me time to back away, and grasped the bottom of my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Will you let me explain? Meet me for dinner tonight?” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and I swallowed hard.
I knew what he was going to say, that he was trying to protect me. I’d read the book page. It said that I should be put to death; they even put it in the bylaws. But to have him force the cuffs on me, against my will, it was like being raped all over again.
“There’s more you need to know…” He looked over his shoulder to make sure we were still alone. “I’ve got one shot at picking the perfect mate and I don’t want to fuck that up with you.”
The air charged with electricity.
Wait, what? What did that mean? That he thoughtImight be the perfect mate?
My head spun with his words as he leaned in and whispered into my ear. “Meet me tonight? My dorm? I’ll cook for you. Don’t make me beg. I will if I have to.”
There was something so incredibly sexy about a dominant future alpha saying they would beg for you. With a shaky breath, I nodded and he started to pull away, which made me realize I didn’t want him to go. His smell, his heat, his everything. I needed it.
I wrapped my fingers behind his neck, crushing my lips to his. A moan let loose from his throat as I slipped my tongue into his mouth and stroked against his own. Reaching out with my teeth, I nipped his bottom lip harder than I normally would and then pulled back to meet his searing blue eyes. “If youeverforce something on me again without talking to me first…” I shoved one of my cuffs in his face to indicate what I meant. “I’m done.”
His brow furrowed. “If it means I’ve saved your life, then it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Now it was my turn to furrow my brow. Did hereallythink someone would kill me because of what I was? His dad, his sweet dad who I’d met and seemed as alpha as a stuffed teddy bear would kill me over some bylaw? But the blazing yellow protective eyes that stared back at me said yes, he did believe that, and maybe I should too.
Fuck.
I released him and he plucked the pin out of my fingers. “I’ll be confiscating this, Miss Calloway. No voodoo dolls for you. I’ll see you tonight. After Sage’s surprise.”
I grinned and watched him walk away, more confused than ever before. How did he know about Sage’s surprise? I thought they weren’t talking.
Maybe Sawyer knew more than he let on and maybe hehadsaved my life. Maybe binding my wolf had stopped the scent or whatever was leading the vampires to me. Shit, I didn’t know what to think anymore. But I couldn’t wait until dinnertime to find out.
* * *
The driveto the Dark Forest took about half an hour. It was beautiful to weave through the mountains, houses topped high on the hills, verdant green trees dotting the landscape. When we reached a small access road, the school bus took a hard left and I clutched my seat to keep from tipping into Walsh.
“Now, the waterfall assignment is broad. I don’t want to stifle anyone’s creativity, so if you want to hike to the top and take a picture looking down in a bird’s eye view or whatever, it’s fine with us.” Professor Woods looked at Professor Hines, who shared a conspiratorial wink. They would make a cute couple. Lord knows they were always batting eyes at each other.
“Just stay onourside of the woods.” Professor Hines tone dropped into ominous levels and I perked up.
“Werewolf City’s border is marked with red stakes every few feet. Do not step over into the Wild Lands.”
Walsh shifted uncomfortably next to me and I frowned. “What is the Wild Lands?” I whispered to him.
“Look…” He ignored my question and I peered up to see the bus drive out from the thick canopy. As the treed road opened up into a green valley, the breath hitched in my throat.
“Holy crap,” I breathed.
Two giant mountains stood next to each other like old friends. Between them was a bright green valley full of lush green growth and mossy sponge covering the ground. The mountain to the right, the slightly bigger one, had a cobalt blue vein of water pouring down its middle. It was like we were at Yellowstone National Park or some other famous place, but instead we were in an unknown portion of Werewolf City, gazing at the most beautiful waterfall I’d ever seen.
Walsh pointed to a small cluster of wood cabins to the right. “I used to come here as a kid. My mom has a cabin over there.” I’d never spoken to him this much, but seeing his home seemed to bring the chattiness out of him.
On the other side of where his mom’s cabin was, there were a line of reddish-orange flags in the dirt, clearly demarcating a property line. I thought about what Professor Woods said about staying on “our side” and frowned.
I wished my parents had told me more about this place. I had little idea who the Paladins were, or any of this stuff.
We parked the bus in a designated spot and disembarked, taking in the picturesque surroundings. The beautiful sound of over thirty students’ shutters opening and shutting in tandem made a grin pull at the edges of my lips. I decided to try something different. Pulling a spare lens out of my bag, I held it up, looking through it about twelve inches away, and then snapped a picture of the lush landscape through the lens, through my camera, catching my fingers holding it in the frame as well.
“That’s going to be a good one,” Professor Woods murmured beside me.
I gave him a wry smile, so grateful for this fieldtrip.
“Let’s start hiking! We aren’t even to the really pretty stuff yet,” Professor Hines said.
