Page 39 of Plug and Claim

Although, I will have to retrieve Gloria’s engagement ring at some stage.

He changed and exited into the vampires’ common room, a large open area shared by the two lowest levels of the dorms, floors six and seven. A staircase connected the two levels, which led up to an interior balcony that overlooked the common room.

Compared to the wolf dorms, which had drab door-lined corridors, the vampire dorms contained large suites, and the common was equally as grand, boasting fine furniture and decorations. The common room was technically for the use of all students, but no wolf ever dared come here. He and the other vampires had the luxurious common room to themselves.

He sank into his favourite armchair by the fire, shifting to the flames. The heat failed to melt the image of Kira from his mind. It wasn’t just that she was a pretty wolf. It was her sharp tongue, her fearlessness, and the blazing determination that threatened to engulf him if he stood too near.

And yet, he’d intentionally made her fear him, making him the opposite of what she truly needed. Behind her tough exterior, there were two wolves: one who was fierce and protective, and another who was timid and shy. They both needed someone to guide them, to fight with them, to help them succeed.

I could be that person for her.

But Kira was not his. He had to remind himself that she could never be his, not truly.

Despite this, he had a fantasy that she might one day show him her wolf form. There was something special about when a female wolf shifted. Except for battles, females were far less likely to shift than their male counterparts, and Nathaniel knew why. It was an intimate transformation, and it was considered a great honour when a female deigned a male worthy enough to shift for.

Fuck.

Now he really wanted to see Kira’s wolf form. There was no chance of that ever happening, especially not after what a brute he’d been in his office. As if the horrors of the slain wolves were not enough, he’d driven the point home by being cruel.

I will mount you on the wall.

He had purposefully let her misunderstand his meaning.

Yes, he would mount her on the wall—but not in the grotesque way. He wanted to be on top of her, to slide his cock into her and mount her anywhere and everywhere. On the wall, on the table, on the floor…it didn’t matter, so long as she writhed beneath his touch as he finished inside her.

“I know who you’re thinking of,” Victoria said playfully, her voice echoing down from the balcony.

Nathaniel sighed and gazed up to where she was leaning over the railing. He hadn’t heard her emerge from her room.

“I could hear you brooding even with the door closed,” she said with a dramatic sigh. Her heels clicked as she walked down the steps. She took a running leap into the armchair across from him, crossed her legs, and shot him a wicked smile. “You’re thinking of Kira.”

“No.”

“Oh yes, you are,” Victoria insisted. “I called it the moment I saw you two in potions.”

There was no point denying it a second time.

Victoria’s smile widened, revealing her fangs. “You’re going to fuck her, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“So, you’ve already fucked her?”

Nathaniel sighed. “No. No one is fucking anyone—especially not Kira.”

“As in, you’re not fucking Kira? Or Kira isn’t fucking someone who isn’t you?”

The implication hit hard, driving deep as he imagined Kira with someone else. “Neither.”

“Oh? I wouldn’t be so sure. Those packs will snap her up pretty quickly.”

He didn’t answer. It was something he’d known would happen sooner or later, but he was trying very hard not to think about it.

“Can you imagine the thought of her belonging to someone else?” Victoria pressed.

His jaw clenched as anger sparked, causing a surge of protectiveness to rush through his veins. He pushed the emotions back and forced himself to shrug for Victoria’s benefit. He wasn’t supposed to care about Kira, not when he had someone else to pursue—Gloria with her thick blonde ringlets, false smile and cool blue eyes. So different from Kira’s burning amber eyes, free-flowing hair and hot temper.

Try as he might, his heart beat only for Kira.