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Great, Cody. Well done.

“First of all, you're not telling anyone anything,” I gave Cody a warning look and got up from my seat. “And secondly. No.”

Just because I sometimes exhibited typically male behavior and hadn't had time for a relationship with a man yet didn't automatically mean I was a lesbian.

My thoughts wanted to drift back to Julian, but I stopped them in time and pushed my chair back, perhaps a little too loudly.

“Just no.”

Kieran and Cody exchanged amused glances, and I was grateful that Cody was distracted from his worrying theories for a moment. If Noah had been here, he wouldn't have treated him as gently as Kieran did, and we would have been thrown out of the library for good.

“I have to study, so get lost,” I grumbled, and before either of them could protest, I disappeared toward the shelves.

Searching for part two of the book, which was still on my desk, I hoped the guys would stay seated until I returned. Otherwise, my worst study nightmare would come true.

I hurried around the stone shelves until I ended up in the temporary section with the mahogany shelves, where students returned their borrowed books.

I pushed the books aside and stepped closer to the shelf.

Someone stopped on the other side of the shelf and peered through the shelf gap.

Animals

Maroon 5

“So, Oliver Bexley really is your type?” laughed the person whose existence I had managed to completely block out for a moment.

Miles.

He had followed me. And now he was looking through the shelf, leaning against it to hold my gaze. I remembered earlier, and warmth flooded my cheeks.

Quickly, I turned away to continue walking.

Of course he must have heard about Oliver. That middle school crush still haunted me to this day.

“Or is it raven tattoos and motorcycles?”

I kept walking so he wouldn't see my grin.

I had really tricked him into assuming there was something going on between Kieran and me.

At the next shelf, I browsed through more titles, trying to ignore the fact that Miles was following me on the other side.

“Who is that jerk?” it came from the other side, but this time I couldn’t see him completely. Only his striking chin and masculine lips pressed together. He seemed to be staring at the floor, but I couldn’t really tell from where I was standing.

“Why, DeLoughrey?” I laughed softly, knowing I had won this round. “Don't you have enough enemies on this campus already?”

I watched his jaw tense up and knew I had hit the mark.

“I recommend one thing,” I continued. “Stay away from him.” I walked on and heard his quiet footsteps on the other side. “You're going to have a very restless sleep tonight. You wouldn't be his first hunting trophy.”

I wasn't joking. Kieran did something the pack appreciated, but outside of Blairville. My father respected him a lot for that. And I often wondered if I shouldn't just do the same, but I knew the pack needed me here. On the other hand, I didn't know if I would ever be ready to actually kill one of them.

“He kills Ruisangors,” Miles murmured with a hostile undertone.

“For fun,” I confirmed, trying to catch a glimpse of him through the shelf.

There was more to it than just fun, but Miles didn't need to know that.