Chapter 17 Connor
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
connor
Ipace the length of our dorm room, breathing through my mouth because the place still smells like Felicity, like her scent has embedded itself into the walls. My wolf paces within me, a continuous growl rumbling from his chest, his tail swishing in agitation.
“What did she say?” I demand again, even as Vaelor’s frustration swells, stealing all the oxygen in the room.
I slide a glance his way, but he hasn’t moved, his back to me as he stands at the window, gripping the wooden sill, his knuckles white and straining.
There’s a noticeable tremble to his arms, his muscles straining against his shirt. “You need to purge.”
“I’m aware,” he bites out. “And she didn’t say a damn word.”
“What do we do?” I run my hands through my hair, tugging ruthlessly at the ends. “The mating isn’t complete—she never claimed us back. But if Felicity is away from us too long, she might start feeling the effects.”
The bond between mates was a connection at a biological level, similar to the soul-bind that Vaelor cast on the two of us.
Too much distance, and it starts gnawing at the bodies.
It only grows worse the longer the distance is prolonged.
But my knowledge of humans is limited, so I have no idea how Felicity might react.
“We find her,” Vaelor decides succinctly. “We make her listen.”
A low sound of disbelief escapes. “Do you think she’s pissed about what we did?”
He shoots me a look. “She had no idea we were mates, and we drugged her, forcing her into a mating frenzy.”
“Okay, she’s pissed,” I concede. “How do we talk her around?”
Vaelor doesn’t move for a long moment. Then, he turns and strides for the door, saying over his shoulder, “We don’t.”
He doesn’t say a word as he leads the way outside and over to Felicity’s dorm building, his expression set in a thunderous scowl.
As we head into the lobby, we walk past a group of students, their hushed whispers reaching me, “...called to Dean Chamberlain’s office. Do you think she’ll be expelled?”
Something about them has my instincts rearing, and I slow. Vaelor gets a few steps further before realizing I’m lagging, turning on me with a sharp glare. But my focus is on a crowd of three students, standing in a huddle to the left of the door.
“Her family won’t let her be expelled. Right?
The Hamiltons might be human, but she’s the only grandchild of Frederick.
There’s no way he’d just cut her loose.” The words come from a girl in a beige blouse, buttoned up to her throat.
She screws up her nose, asking, “What did she even do this time? The girl honestly needs to keep her legs closed.”
“Oh, fuck off, Hilary. She was in her room last time,” a brown-haired girl at her side snaps. “I know exactly what you do in your room, so who are you to judge?”
“I heard she was dancing with Jason at the bonfire, but that she left the party with someone else.” This comes from the first person who spoke—a preppy fucker in a polo. “We know it’s not Ditzy because she’s gone.”
Vaelor’s eyes meet mine, his rage palpable in the air. The oblivious trio don’t have a fucking clue, too focused on their gossiping to notice us.
“Dizzy,” the brunette corrects. “Her name was Dizzy. And yeah, she’s gone. Why the hell do you two even care?”
Not interested in hearing any more, I close the distance between me and Vaelor. “We need to get to the dean’s office.”
He tips his chin in agreement. “What the fuck is going on, Con?”
I lift a shoulder as we turn and head back the way we came. “I have no idea, but I’ve got a bad fuckin’ feeling.”
As we step into the front office, we can hear Felicity through the closed door that leads into the dean’s private office, her tone shrill with panic.
The secretary behind the desk stands up, her palm already out like she plans to physically stop us from going in.
“Dean Chamberlain is currently unavailable. You’ll have to come back later. ”
Vaelor slowly turns toward her, his eyes glinting with malice. “I don’t think so.” An unseen force shoves her back into her chair, her cheeks paling with fright. “He’ll see us now.”
“B-but—” She clamps her mouth shut when he lifts one dark brow, her wide eyes flitting nervously over his runes. When it’s clear she isn’t going to protest again, he shoves open the inner office door, stepping inside with me on his heels.
Our mate is huddled in a chair, facing the stern-faced dean behind his desk. Both whip their heads around at our entrance, giving me a clear view of Felicity’s wet cheeks and reddened eyes. She looks paler than usual, lines of strain etched around her eyes and mouth.
“What the fuck is going on here?!” I roar, the sound booming through the room. My wolf lunges at the barrier holding him with a snarl, eyes fixed on the male he deems as a threat. Dean Chamberlain jerks back in his seat, fear dripping from his pores.
Vaelor hisses through his teeth, and ice wraps around me like silky vines. “Leash it.” I bare a fang at him. He eases the strength of his hold but doesn’t let me go.
The dean slowly stands, his leathered face creased with irritation, masking the fear that still seeps from his skin. “This is a private meeting,” he enunciates slowly. “And it doesn’t involve the two of you. Please remove yourself before I’m forced to call campus security.”
Vaelor’s chuckle is dark and mocking. “Try it, you old fuck.”
Chamberlain’s face mottles a furious red. I fight Vaelor’s magic, straining against his hold so I can step in front of him, breaking the standoff.
“You know who I am.”
Chamberlain’s bright eyes fix on me, his hands clenched into fists on the surface of the desk. “Of course I know who you are,” he grits out. “What I don’t understand is why you’re in my office uninvited.”
I shake my shoulders out, tipping my head toward Felicity. “Because she is my fated mate.” My voice is guttural with my wolf, and he shudders. “And I want to know why the fuck she’s in here, crying.”
Leather creaks under Felicity as she leans forward and then back in her chair, not quite sure whether she wants to run or not. I solve her predicament by picking her up, taking her seat, and setting her sideways on my lap.
Felicity stares up at me uncertainly, but in the next breath, exhaustion flows through her expression, and she curls into a ball, tucking herself against my chest. I band my arms around her, pressing my lips to her temple, and she shivers, her eyes drifting shut.
“You okay?” I whisper, the wolf still rumbling through my chest, able to sense her distress in the air.
She just bites her lip, lifting her shoulder in a shrug.
Vaelor moves to stand behind us, his arms crossed as he glares balefully at the dean, who’s sinking back into his chair, staring at the three of us in shock.
“Your fated mate?” he murmurs. “I wasn’t aware. Your family—”
Vaelor cuts him off, demanding, “Why is she here?”
Chamberlain’s stare flits between the three of us, clearly debating how much he wants to divulge.
But he didn’t earn his position as head of the university through ignorance.
He’s aware of each supernatural species that attends his school, as well as the lore around shifters and their fated mates.
Chamberlain knows he’s unwittingly stepped in a pile of shit.
My family holds enough clout that he would never want to take them on—no matter how they might feel about me and Vaelor.
“I received a phone call from Frederick Hamilton yesterday. He informed me that Felicity’s tuition is being pulled,” he says tonelessly.
“She was called in today for a meeting to discuss her options and future at Bartholomew. However, with no way to cover the cost of her tuition and an ineligibility for any kind of scholarship, her enrolment status has unfortunately been revoked.”
She flinches in my arms just as Vaelor asks, “Why would he pull her tuition?”
Chamberlain raises his eyebrows. “I’m not privy to Hamilton’s financial decisions, but he, uh…
” His eyes dance away from ours, something that looks a lot like embarrassment flaring in his expression.
“It appears he learned something about his granddaughter that he didn’t approve of. That is what led to this decision.”
Felicity grows more rigid with each word, her breath hitching in her throat. “It’s a real asshole move, pretending you don’t know what he’s talking about,” she whispers.
For a second, I think she’s talking to the dean, but when he only frowns, I realize her words are aimed at me.
At us. I look over my shoulder at Vaelor, but he shakes his head, rounding the chair so he can crouch at our side.
She buries herself against my shoulder, hiding, but he presses two fingers to her chin, forcing her to face him.
“What’re you talking about?” he asks, his tone gentler than I’ve ever heard. “Why did you run this morning?”
Her eyes flash with fire, but just as quickly, it vanishes, her mouth trembling. “Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?” Her voice is a soft, cracked whisper.
“Princess—”
“Don’t call me that!” Felicity snaps, but she slumps in defeat.
“I just wanted to get out. I never wanted to be part of my grandfather’s world.
Especially not when my value revolves around how much power he can barter me for.
But he promised if I got the degree he wanted, I’d get access to my trust fund.
He doesn’t think I have the nerve to escape him, but if I had that money…
” Felicity shakes her head mournfully. “Now it’s gone.
” She looks over at Chamberlain. “Do I have to leave today, or do I have a little time?”
He opens his mouth, but I speak before he can. “You aren’t going any-fuckin’-where, but you are gonna tell us what the hell you’re talking about.”
Vaelor agrees with a grunt. “We did do something, but I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing.” I grimace at Vaelor, but he just shrugs at me. “We’re being honest from here on out.”
“Maybe this conversation could happen somewhere else,” Chamberlain suggests, but buttons his lip when my wolf prowls through my eyes, a murderous rumble escaping my chest.
“Tell us,” Vaelor urges Felicity. “Tell us exactly what we did.”
She glances from his face to mine, her brows scrunching up, confusion and wariness warring for dominance against her fury.
“You sent my grandfather a sex tape of us, but blocked out your faces. After what happened with D—” My wolf snaps his jaws before she can say that name, and Felicity blinks owlishly at me.
“Yeah, between the tape and that,” she tries again, “he’s disowned me completely. ”
“A sex tape,” Vaelor repeats slowly. “Of the three of us.”
Felicity bobs her head.
“From Saturday night.”
She nods again, her lips flattening into a line.
Vaelor looks at me, the air crackling with the intensity of his anger, his power pulsing through the space like a rolling storm.
A sharp, splintering crack rings through the room as the massive pane of glass behind the dean splinters, the entire window erupting outward.
A short scream escapes Felicity as she burrows into me, and Chamberlain ducks under this desk with a yelp.
I sigh heavily, looking from the mess to Vaelor. “Leash it.”