“Hey!” Theo waved him over. “Are you back in the dorm?” Ethan had said he was moving in with Evian. Had something changed? Theo didn’t want his friend all alone.
“Nah, man.” Ethan dropped to a crouch beside him. “I moved most of my stuff to the house. It’s just easier to keep my hockey gear here than trying to lug it all around.”
That was smart. Theo nudged Wylder’s knee. “We’re still going to his game tomorrow, right?”
“Of course we are!” Wylder said. “And I’m going to buy you the cheesiest nachos, a hot dog, popcorn—everything that you’ve always wanted from a concession stand.”
Ethan laughed. “Are you coming to watch hockey or eat?”
Theo blushed. He’d confessed to Wylder about his first hockey game and how the other students around him had shared nachos that had looked so good. Wylder had promised that Theo would get the whole hockey game experience. “We’re going to cheer you on,” he told his friend. Hockey was okay. Ethan was better.
“You’re awesome, buddy,” Ethan replied before stealing an apple slice.
“How’s your mating going?” Wylder questioned Ethan. “I still can’t believe that Evian ended up being your mate.”
“It’s pretty dam cool,” Ethan said with a shrug. “He was a little worried about the whole professor and student thing. He even offered to give up his position if need be since he wants me to stay in school.”
“He’s leaving?” Evian was Theo’s favorite professor.
Ethan shook his head. “There was no need. As long as I’m not in any of his classes, it’s not a conflict of interest.”
Hellcats! Theo was so relieved. “So you’ve known about shifters?”
“I do.” Ethan settled on his ass and crossed his legs.
Theo passed Ethan the Ziplock bag with the apples. Then he handed a cookie to Aurelia, who was still curled against Theo’s chest. He would much rather have the sandwich anyway.
Wylder set his own apple slices in front of Bo, who immediately began to shove them into his mouth.
Looking around at their little group as Ethan told them about his shifter friends, Theo couldn’t help the huge smile on his face. This was what he’d seen other students doing. Sitting around talking, sharing food, and just hanging out.
Sure, their little group was unusual. Two humans, one of them enhanced, a shifter that had no clue about their world, a dryad, gargoyle, brownie, and troll slash gnome. It was even better than Theo had hoped for.
* * * * *
Mitch
The heat from the fire at his back already had him sweating. Mitch tried to hide his impatience. He’d returned to the hell realm to gather the rest of his belongings to move them. Sami was back at Mitch’s house, packing up boxes and magically transporting them to Mitch’s room in the new place.
Dario had called to tell him that the offer had been accepted and they already had the keys to surprise the boys with once theygot done with school for the day. Dario was pushing for them all to get moved as quickly as possible.
Seb and Mahah had already placed a protection dome around the house. Having a private estate in their name made working the magic easier. It had been near impossible to completely protect the apartment with so many humans living there.
They hadn’t told Theo that was the real reason for the push to move into a house that would belong solely to them. He needed to feel safe in the apartment and Mitch had agreed with Dario and Alek’s reasoning.
He didn’t like keeping things from his little shifter.
That was a worry for another time. First Mitch had to deal with his father.
As soon as Mitch had portaled to his home realm, the summons from his sire had come. He set Sami to work as he went to try to hold his father off a little longer. His sire was determined.
“Your mate has returned to you,” Micitian said.
“He has,” Mitch agreed.
“I expected you to bring your mates to me by now.” Micitian was obviously not pleased.
“It’s only been a few days,” Mitch explained. “He needs time—”
