“Yes!” Alistair’s anger burns like a brand, his touch searing my skin as he grabs my neck and hauls me closer. Squeezing my throat, he bares his teeth. “Are you so blinded by your affection for Revyn that you can’t fathom being bound to anyone else? Is that it?” The fist in my hair unfurls as he threads his fingers through the strands. “Or are you truly so out of touch with your wolf that you can’t recognize a bond when it manifests?”
I stare at him and fight the panic threatening to rise. That feeling of knowing—the warmth overflowing inside my heart—makes it impossible to breathe. “No, that’s—that’s not possible.”
I can’t be bonded with Alistair.
That would mean that we’re more than adversaries. More than unlikely friends or catastrophic neighbors. We’d bedoomed.
“It’s not possible,” I repeat, desperately prying his fingers from my throat. “Let go of me!”
“Itispossible, Sienna. Can’t you feel it?” The soft, silver glow of moonlight accentuates his features: the sharp cheekbones, the flush of his skin, the frightening resemblance of his golden irises to mine. “This invisible thread tying us together?—”
“All you do is tie me in knots!”
“That’s exactly my point!”
We growl in sync, our voices harmonizing, and I finally tear away from his grip. Stumbling back, I snarl at him. “No fucking way. Irefuse.” Alistair fucking Dire is the last shifter on earth I could ever be bonded with. The future I’ve planned for myself would instantly go up in flames. I wouldn’t gain a pack with Alistair—I’d gain a lifelong prison sentence.
“You can’t refuse fate,” Alistair replies somberly, his eyes returning to their normal hue as he calms down. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“Then try harder.” I resist the urge to pace and tear open my balcony door. I need space. Somewhere to think without Alistair’s scent invading the very air I fucking breathe. Slamming the door in his face, I swallow a scream as the cracked glass splinters. When I look back through the broken window, Alistair has disappeared. A wolf howls at the base of the castle, joining a chorus of others as they tear across frozen earth and run from their problems . . . or in Alistair’s case, from his fate.
If what he’s suggesting is true, we’re royally fucked. I’ve been operating under the assumption that true mates are so rare they’re practically myth. If they happen to be real—and if I actually have one—then it’s only a matter of time before fate stops stringing us along and actually ties us together.
Permanently.
Chapter 18
Sienna
I’mat my breaking point.
The full moon rises tomorrow, and everyone’s horny as fuck. Myself included.
Not only are shifters restless during class, incessantly tapping their toes and barely listening to the professors’ lessons, but in every waking moment of free time, someone’s getting felt up in the hallway or fucked in the not-so-private study halls.
Even now, I’m staring at myPack Dynamics in Ancient Timestext while someone moans in the background. Gemma hums happily to herself as she reads a horticulture article from her favorite witchy magazine, and Callum is...smirking at me.
When he notices me staring, it quickly morphs into a smile. “Your eye is twitching, darling.” Reaching across the table, he brushes his fingertips over my temple and tucks my hair behind my ear, even though it wasn’t out of place. “Pack dynamics can’t be that tedious a subject.” His touch cools the blush warming my cheeks.
Fuck, his body would feelamazingon mine. I’m practically overheating on account of the oncoming full moon. Maybe a vampire is exactly what I need to cool off . . . and get a certain alpha male out of my head. Just as I imagine Callum naked onmy bed in place of the man haunting my dreams, the vampire’s gaze darkens like he can read my mind. For all I know, he can, and he likes what he sees.
Playing with fire is dangerous, but playing with vampires is deadly.
I mentally scold myself and hope Callum hears it. “Says the man avoiding hisVampire Dynamics in Ancient Timesassigned reading.” The author couldn’t have been more boring with naming the series.
“Vampire politics are extremely dull,” Callum drawls, playing with the ends of my hair. “In ancient times, vampires did little more than rape and pillage unsuspecting human villages. It’s all rather dull.”
“Is ‘dull’ your favorite word of the day?” I grumble, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples. “I’m ready for the full moon to be over. I never realized that shifters were so?—”
“Horny?” Gemma pops her lips as her eyes track a burly male passing our table. He doesn’t notice her, poor girl, as he follows a cheeky brunette into the stacks. More moans fill the air moments later, punctuated by not one buttwomen’s voices. Craning her neck, Gemma leans back in her chair and whistles appreciatively. “Damn, you guys are freaky. Si, babe, come look at this.”
Callum quirks a brow and leans back to check what’s captured Gemma’s interest. “I can assure you that there’s nothing freaky aboutthatparticular move.” His lips purse. “Although, I’ve never seen it performed while standing. Bravo.”
Groaning, I bury my face in my hands. It doesn’t help that Alistair’s face keeps replaying in my mind. The way he tilted his head back and smiled up at the moon . . . how soft his lips felt against mine . . . the jagged breaths that tickled my ear . . . the unmistakable lust igniting between us . . . how his eyes always find me in a crowd.
I tear my gaze away from his and try not to glare at the blonde bitch glued to his side.Veronica.What a stupid name.
“How does he do that?” I wonder aloud, slumping in my seat. Not only can he find me anywhere on campus, but he went right back to his normal routine the next day, like our kiss never even happened. I know Isaidthat’s what I wanted, but he doesn’t have to make it look so damn easy to forget about me.
