Chapter 9
NINE
JACK
I meandered along to class, holding hands with Knox.
Being with him was nice and the sex was good, not as great as with Atticus because that man knew how to use his enormous cock to his full advantage.
Too bad he was an ass and we could never be together, but when I was alone at night and needed an orgasm, I’d replay sex with Atticus in my head.
It was a fantasy, like any other. Not that I wanted to be with him, gods no, it was just a way of getting off.
Knox kissed my cheek and strolled into his classroom while I daydreamed about playing soccer professionally or perhaps having my own art exhibition.
Knox didn’t feature in any of those futures.
He was my just-for-now guy, and though he hadn’t said it, I figured I was the same for him.
We weren’t each others’ great loves, and I had no idea if that person existed for me, and if so, would I find them.
I still grappled with Rawling, my Rawling, being pregnant and mated to a wolf shifter.
And not just any wolf shifter. Phelan was equal to Atticus in the Sombertooth wolf hierarchy.
That my friend and his mate were keeping a secret, one I’d kept for most of last semester, and Bardoul was also keeping along with Channon, weighed on me, though it hadn’t bothered me much when it was just me.
Perhaps it was because those in the know were expanding and someone would slip and let it out, and with Rawling being pregnant, he was vulnerable in a way he hadn’t been before Phelan impregnated him.
I covered my mouth as I giggled, because when I used to talk about Atticus and me having sex, Rawling was grossed out.
And though Phelan and I weren’t friends and I’d been a witness to how his assholery behavior had hurt my best friend last semester, I just shrugged off any mention of them having sex.
Maybe it was Rawling being human that made him grossed out about others having sex.
“Hey.”
Gods, I was just thinking about him and he popped up in front of me, though with his big belly, he wasn’t doing much “popping.”
“Hi, yourself.”
“Do you want to pair up for that astronomy project we have to finish by Friday? Professor Stanton said we have to finalize our partners by today.”
“Sure.” I agreed without thinking because since that talk with him and Phelan about hunters, Rawling and I had sort of avoided one another.
And I hated that. I loved him like a brother, but he had a mate and a baby on the way, plus his studies, and we didn’t see much of one another.
I missed the days when we shared a room.
We met up in Rawling and Phelan’s quarters, as I called it.
He nudged me when I said that ‘cause it was pretty basic, but they were the only ones in the school with access to a kitchen, they didn’t share a bathroom, and they had a living area and bedroom.
I tried to picture it when the baby came, with toys strewn around and Rawling and Phelan with shadows under their eyes from lack of sleep.
I came from a large family, but I so wanted to be a good auntie to my bestie’s little one.
“Rawlins loved astronomy.”
“Like most kids, I suspect, I used to dream about visiting other planets.”
“Seeing as I had no idea I lived amongst shifters and my godfather was one, something that would have been fantasy before I made the discovery, I now believe life on other planets is more likely.”
We discussed how we’d approach the astronomy topic, and I typed while Rawling brainstormed. As we tossed ideas back and forth, the hint of tension that had been present since the beginning of semester thawed a little.
“I’ve missed this.” He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Being friends with me is a lot right now, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Jack.”
He sniffed and tears scrolled down his cheek. And that made me cry. I jumped up and stood behind Rawling, wrapping my arms around him. It was so good to be physically close to him and hear those words.
“Love you.”
“Love you right back.” He grabbed a tissue and offered me the box.
But now that we’d removed some of the tension, I had to be honest with him about Bardoul because my roommate was never going to tell my former roommate the truth of why he was avoiding him.
“I’ve been talking to Bardoul.”
Rawling hunched his shoulders just a tad because he was preparing himself for what was irking our friend.
“What’s with him and his shitty attitude? Whenever I try to talk to him, he blanks me and runs away.”
“He knows you’re human.” I relayed how he’d discovered it last semester when he was bringing Rawling food.
“Shit.” He got up, and I was worried he was going to tip over. I hoped he wasn’t carrying twins because one baby was enough when you were still at college.
“While he didn’t say it in so many words, I’m certain he wants me to stay away from you.”
Rawling yelped, and I berated myself for piling on so much bad news at once.
“Does he loathe humans so much? I never sensed that when he spoke of non-shifters.”
He plonked himself back on the chair, and it almost toppled over. He grabbed the table, and I got hold of the chair and righted it. Gods, the world was like a challenging survival game when you were a pregnant human.
“It can’t be that, can it?” Blood drained from his face, and I put a hand over his. I’d started this and now I didn’t know any way out except straight ahead. He leaned toward me with one hand on his burgeoning belly. “Does he sense somehow that I’m a hunter?”
The fear in his eyes was something I’d never witnessed, and he rubbed his bump and mulled how he loved the baby.
Phelan should’ve been here to comfort him, but if he were, he’d be kicking my ass for upsetting his mate.
Hey, I could do that all by myself because I regretted causing my friend so much pain.
“He’s never said that.” That was a weak-ass response, and Rawling’s expression of narrowed eyes told me he was calling BS.
“Don’t do that. This is me.”
If we’d been in one of the rooms, I’d have told him to lower his voice, but we were insulated here in the infirmary.
“Maybe. Yeah, but that’s only because you put the idea of hunters into my head by thinking you were one.”
He called me on my shit again, reminding me how we’d spent the previous semester trying to find information about hunters and if one or more had killed Sasha and Mika.
“I’m putting the baby and Phelan in danger by staying here. If Bardoul raises the alarm, the entire college could come for me and my mate would try to protect me.”
Phelan would be collateral damage was what he was saying, and then Rawling and the baby would be disposed of.
“If Bardoul thought you were a danger and he had evidence, he’d have informed the board already.” That was fine for now, but what about the future?
I told my friend that if he was ever in danger to remove his ring. Everyone at school would scent him as a shifter, and while they might be confused, the baby giving him camouflage was how to save their lives.
I had to get to soccer practice, and while I thought Rawling should skip archery, he insisted on going, saying he’d miss a lot of sessions before and after the birth.
“Besting Atticus is the boost I need when my mind is frazzled. And Phelan will be there.”
For maybe the first time in my life, I longed to talk about someone the way my friend spoke of his mate. The tension vanished from his face and shoulders, and he cradled his bump. His voice was softer and a tiny smile played on his lips.
“I’m so lucky to have this soccer scholarship and don’t have to worry about my folks paying the school fees.” Even though my father had found a new job, the weeks when he’d been without a paycheck still had repercussions today.
“I thank whoever endowed the school with this scholarship in the name of Charlie Dempsey.”
I continued to walk until I discovered Rawling was no longer at my side. Glancing back, I found him frozen to the spot with a gaping mouth.
“What did you say?”
“Huh?” I’d said a heap of words, and he was aware of my scholarship.
“That name.”
“Charlie? I can show you her photo.”
“Her?”
“Yeah. She played soccer here twenty years ago and was a huge star.”
I dragged him along the corridor where all the sporting team photos were going back years and pointed out Charlie.
“That’s her. Charlotte. The one whose bank statement I have and the property transfer agreement.”
Okay, I didn’t understand what that had to do with Rawling and how it was connected to soccer, but I had to get to practice or I’d lose my damned scholarship.