Chapter 7
Blake
I’m striding down the hallway, my girlfriend, Lacey, tucked under my arm, and a bunch of my buddies flanking me on both sides. Acting like kings of the world, as usual.
Then I see her:
She’s standing in front of a locker, staring at a piece of paper. We’re all goofing around, and I’m not even sure what pulled my attention toward her, but I notice she looks upset. She’s not crying, but her forehead is all furrowed, and her narrow shoulders are shaking.
As I get closer, I see—it’s not a piece of paper, but a porno pic, torn from a magazine. A girl with black braids, and three guys with their dicks out. Someone obviously stuck it in her locker. Rage pours through me. She shouldn’t have to see something like that.
I charge over, snatch it out of her hand. Ball it up and hurl it at the ground.
Her head snaps to me, lips parted.
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask.
She scans me, surprise then suspicion flashing across her face.
“Come on, Blake,” Lacey whines. “I need you to give me a ride home.”
“Just a second,” I tell her.
“What the fuck, Blake?” Her voice is loud in my ear.
“I’ll catch you up.”
She curls her lip at me and stalks off.
I turn back to the girl with the braids. “Who put that in your locker?” I demand.
She plants her hands on her hips. “Why do you care?” she snaps.
I recoil. I’m not used to chicks hating on me. “I… I just do—”
“Yo, Blake! What up?” A heavy arm lands around my shoulders. “We are gonna annihilate those Eastlake pussies tomorrow!”
“Yeah, with this guy!” Another guy gets me in a headlock and scrubs my hair with his knuckles. As the team’s star quarterback, this kind of thing happens to me a lot. And before I know it, I’m being borne along the hallway in a huddle of my teammates.
I’m young, dumb, and I let them pull me away from the small, skinny chick with the anxious face.
But at the last moment, I turn back.
She’s still standing at her locker. She’s taken her glasses off, and she’s rubbing at them with a cloth.
I stop walking, I’m being pummeled in all directions by my buddies, but I fight them off and hold still.
Look up, I think.
And she does.
Without her ugly glasses, her eyes are huge and radiant. When they lock onto mine, her small, rosebud mouth opens in surprise.
She looks like an angel.
She’s not the type of girl I usually go for. But I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as her.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t move.
Mine—! my wolf growls.
My entire body jolts, like it’s been electrified.
“Huh?” I mutter, but my animal has fallen silent again
“Blake! Goddamit. I swear, if you don’t come right now—” Lacey is whining again.
Reluctantly I tear my eyes away, turn back to my cheerleader girlfriend. But my animal is going wild inside me. I’ve only been shifting for a few months, and everything feels new. I don’t always understand it—
I lurch upright with a gasp.
My heart is pounding, and I’m drenched in sweat.
Some dream. It was so vivid, it felt like—
It wasn’t a dream. It was a memory. Buried so deep in my subconscious that I’d never thought of it until now.
But I know that’s exactly what happened that day in the hall.
I connected with her—that vulnerable, brave girl that my buddies and I had been bullying.
And my wolf put a claim on her.
But I wiped the memory from my mind, because it was so different from what I’d expected for myself. Like the dumb jock I was, I thought it was my destiny to marry some superficial girl. Even when my animal was telling me otherwise.
I leap out of bed.
I’ve got to get back to Elinor.
My cock juts out like a flagpole as I cross the room. It’s so hard, it hurts.
I jump into the shower, turn the water on ice cold. But it’s no good—my erection isn’t going anywhere.
I’ll be quick. I encircle my thick shaft with my hand, and start to pump. Up and down, long, fast strokes.
Kissing her in the women’s washroom.
Her small, sweet mouth, suddenly so hungry.
The way she wrapped her legs around me, wanting me close.
Her small, firm tits pressing against my chest.
Fuck, she’s so sexy. I’ve never met anyone like her before.
So spiky and edgy and unique.
She’s as tough and fragile as glass.
I imagine her naked, on her knees, my cock nudging past those rosebud lips—
That’s it.
I explode. Ropes of cum shoot from the end of my dick, splashing down onto the shower floor.
Soon, I’ll push my cock inside her, drive her wild. Make her come apart.
And then I’ll give her my mark and make her mine forever.
Soon.
There she is.
I’ve been waiting outside her apartment for fifteen minutes when Elinor emerges. She’s all cocooned in a big red coat and winter boots, and she’s wearing a little knitted hat over her glossy black hair. She knitted it herself…
And I have absolutely no idea how I know that.
Mine, my wolf growls. At the sight of her, its ears are pricked up and it’s panting. It wants to launch itself at her, of course, but I force it back, force myself to stay in the shadows.
She’s walking fast, like always. This baby bird doesn’t seem capable of dawdling.
And what’s that—? I strain my ears as a sweet sound drifts back to me. She’s singing to herself. It’s a tune I’ve never heard before. Something unusual—as beautiful and complex as a nightingale’s song. What a beautiful voice. As I listen, euphoria floods my veins.
I keep my distance until she turns a corner, then I jog to catch up. I keep following her like that, all the way downtown. I thought she was on her way to work, but then she turns off Main Street, into a small side street. Not her usual route.
I dash after her. But the alleyway is empty, like she’s vanished into thin air. Weird. A dart of adrenaline pierces me and my heart beats faster. My beast urges me on.
Her cherry blossom scent is thick in the air, and—
She’s there, at the end of the alleyway, facing me.
Relief washes over me.
A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips. She knew I was following her. Her cheeks are flushed from the cold, and she’s absolutely breathtaking.
“—I’ve been thinking,” she says, like we were mid-conversation.
My wolf’s fur burns my skin as I step closer to her. “What?”
She tilts her head to the side and regards me with her bright black eyes. “I guess I’ll come work for you.”
“You will?” I try not to sound too eager, but my wolf is howling, and I’m fighting the urge to sweep her into my arms and put her in my truck right now. Drive off with her and never let her out of my sight again.
“Three times my current salary, right?”
“Whatever you want.” Hell, when she’s mine, I’ll give her everything, everything she’s ever wanted and more.
She looks thoughtful, tapping her cherry lips with gloved fingertips. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to take any shit from you.”
“Of course not,” I say quickly. “You’ll be your own boss.”
“And—”
She scans me from head to toe. “It definitely doesn’t mean I’m going to fuck you, Blake Waldgrave.” Her tone is as cool and sassy as ever, but a tell-tale pink flush floods her cheeks.
Oh, god.
She’s thinking about me taking her virginity. She’s just too adorable and sexy.
I suppress a groan of need, while my cock turns as hard as a rock.
“We’ll see about that,” I growl.
Her brow furrows and she folds her arms. “Never gonna happen.”
“Oh, it will,” I drawl, scanning her deliberately. “When you’re good and ready for me.”
She makes a little scoffing sound. But I can see the desire in her eyes.
This is going even better than I’d hoped.
If she wants me, she can’t hate me that much. All I need is to get her back to my lair, so I can start making things up to her. Show her how sorry I am for everything I did in the past.
Then, if she can find it in her heart to forgive me, I’ll show her that I’m the right one for her. That she’s mine.
I take a step closer. “Don’t tell me you didn’t want me, last night in the bathroom.”
She snorts, but her cheeks are getting even redder and I can hear the little hitch in her breath.
“I could tell how aroused you were.”
She gasps and spins away from me. “I need to get to work,” she snaps.
Too much. I’ve got to pull back before I scare her off.
“I’ll pick you up later.”
She turns again and frowns. “Don’t you have a job to go to?”
I do. My dad caught me just as I was leaving this morning and gave me a hard time for slacking off work.
I snarled at him until he backed down.
I’m trying to make the best of this crazy business plan he’s cooked up, but he’s sure testing my patience.
And nothing could be as important as being with my girl. Protecting her.
“I can take time off to drive you—”
“I’ll drive myself.” She cuts me off. “I’m independent.”
“I know you are,” I say. It’s one of the things I love about her.
But all I want to do is take care of her. Make up for all these years.
“Laters, Waldgrave.” She starts walking. “And quit stalking me.”
I grin. She’s sure got my number. There’s no getting past a bird shifter.
But I don’t care.
All that matters is that my baby bird is coming to my lair.
And it won’t be long before she’s mine.