Chapter 5 #3
Well, that clearly answered the question on why my wolf had bullied me into action.
I don’t want to say that this was a particularly muscular chest, because I seemed to have been coming across a lot of them today, but this was rock solid, and I found myself almost bouncing off of him.
I probably would have hit the floor if two iron band-like arms hadn’t wrapped firmly around me, a low, threatening sound echoing from behind us. Was that Caedmon?
My eyes trailed up a pair of dark brown boots, slightly worn and covered in snow, up to dark blue jeans that were fitted to muscular, built legs, until I reached a large belt buckle.
I tried to not hesitate on that for too long, because there were other parts of him that seemed equally as large and hard, but I did notice that it had a moon on it, which I absolutely loved.
In fact, my fingers literally twitched to touch it…
but even I knew that would be essentially accosting the man.
My eyes trailed up his tan long-sleeve shirt that was pushed up to reveal a rich almond shade of skin that seemed to legitimately sparkle with gold.
My eyes flickered at the way his pulse seemed to beat fast against his neck as I traced his clean-cut jawline.
Finally, I met a pair of stunning black eyes that reminded me of obsidian. Oh wow.
My brain sort of blanked before rebooting, briefly categorizing how uniquely beautiful this man was, with his strong nose and high cheekbones, a mess of dark hair laying on top of his head, cut short in an attempt to tame it.
I swallowed, my inability to talk only intensified by the way he was looking at me, both clinically and heated.
I think I saw surprise there, but also something a lot more than that.
Something I didn’t have a name for at all, but I liked it.
I really liked how he was looking at me.
His body was tense and still, except for his chest, which vibrated in a rumble that had my eyes growing heavy. Suddenly, without my permission, my wolf pushed out with my magic and created a symbolic connection with his, like some magical space where they could interact.
I should have felt intimidated by his massive, dark wolf that was staring openly at us with curiosity, but he almost immediately laid down on all fours and tilted his head, still almost double our size despite attempting to be less scary.
My small white wolf approached him and licked the side of his face as he nuzzled against her.
My eyes fluttered shut as the man holding me pressed his forehead to my own, his grip tightening.
What was going on right now?
Everything felt hazy and soft, a rumbling sound echoing around me as I wondered briefly if he had some type of special magic that would explain the effect he had on me. Explain this intense connection forming between us.
My fingers moved up his chest and smoothed over his neck, voices growing like small buzzing noises behind me as I tried to ground myself, but even when I pulled back, I was completely entrapped by his gaze. Nothing about this was normal.
“Normal is relative, little wolf.”
A warm, almost molten feeling rushed over me at his deep and melodic voice, causing my knees to nearly break under the force of it. I nodded, not able to respond, not knowing if that was even possible.
“Dakota, you need to let go of her. She doesn’t understand what is going on.
” Julian’s smooth voice jogged me from my haziness a bit, but only until Dakota moved one of his hands to cup my jaw gently.
I leaned into it, his eyes flashing with something that almost appeared like victory before his lips moved.
I couldn’t hear him, but I had a feeling those around me did.
“I’m not letting go of her.” Dakota scowled slightly as I finally was able to pull myself from the cocoon of his energy.
Why would he let me go? That wasn’t necessary.
His chuckle was soft. “See, Tore? She doesn’t even want me to.”
“She doesn’t fucking understand why—” Caedmon started as Dakota’s amused expression went serious, a low growl breaking through his lips.
“Do not fucking talk to me,” he demanded. “You shouldn’t even be here.”
“I have as much a goddamn right as you do.” Caedmon’s voice was harsh and sharp.
‘Right’? He had a right to do what?
I blinked, not liking the conflict as I tried to step back from Dakota. ‘Tried’ being the key word, because he only tightened his grip on me further. I winced at the pressure he was putting on my ribs. They weren’t nearly as bad as a few days ago, but they weren’t good.
“Dakota,” Tore snapped. “You’re hurting her.”
Immediately, the man looked down at me, his grip loosening as he instead put me behind him, making my brows go up as he looked back at Caedmon. “You need to leave.”
It took a moment for me to rationalize what he was saying.
First, because of the heartbreak that surged through me, assuming he was talking to me and wanted me to leave.
Which was clearly not the case since his grip on me was so tight it hurt, but not even in a bad way…
just intense. Second, because he wanted Caedmon to leave, and my wolf let out a legitimate whimper at that notion.
“I don’t want him to leave,” I managed to get out in a shaky voice. I wasn’t positive why I said it, but it seemed to freeze the room. Honestly, I half expected them to ignore me because it was clear they had issues that were unrelated to me, but I also felt like I needed to make my opinion heard.
Something that not only made me nervous and shaky, but also empowered. I was so used to keeping my mouth shut back home because of what I’d face with Gerald. But I didn’t want to be a doormat anymore. I wanted to be stronger.
On the other hand, I was also terrified of being hit. Women who voiced their opinions were usually hit in my pack.
When no one said anything, I winced slightly and stepped away from Dakota. His eyes flickered down to me, his jaw clenching.
He wouldn’t hurt me. I kept reminding myself of that as Dakota seemed to relax his entire frame. Was that because of my thoughts? Was that possible?
I looked over at the others. Caedmon was staring at me, seemingly at a loss on how to handle this. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but then Julian chuckled softly.
“You heard her!” He clapped and grabbed the plate of food we were sharing before nodding towards the living room area.
Tore flashed me a small smirk and walked right between the two large and fairly angry men, gently grabbing my hand and leading me towards where Julian seemed to be settling in comfortably.
I blinked, unable to process their reactions. No one seemed mad at me, and that was unsettling. I mean, it was a good thing! But… unsettling.
I looked back to find both Caedmon and Dakota looking at me, making my cheeks flush as I curled against Tore, his head snapping back as he made a frustrated noise. Maybe if I ignored them they would stop staring at me? Honestly, though? I didn’t want them to ignore me. Like, at all.
It was possible this was the most confused I’d ever been.
“She doesn’t like fighting,” Julian called out, as if explaining it to them. I looked at him curiously, because he was right, but how did he know that?
“Or yelling… or cursing,” Caedmon muttered, almost to himself. Dakota spared him another glance before seeming to deflate slightly.
Did they think it was a bad thing that I didn’t like fighting?
I shrunk slightly into myself as Tore suddenly pulled me onto his lap so that I was positioned against his chest, Julian sitting next to us.
I swallowed nervously, offering them a small, shy smile, because while I was a bit distracted by the other two men, both of them had a very strong effect on me.
Enough so that I was distracted and refocused on them instead of the other two.
“Here.” Julian offered me another small bagel.
I grabbed it easily and took a small bite, my voice a bit softer than before as I spoke to him. “These are really good.”
“Bagel Bites,” Julian explained as Tore’s fingers gently brushed over my back. I had the urge to tug off my beanie and have him run his large fingers through my hair.
But the more handsome men that showed up, the more nervous I became about how I looked. Did they think I was attractive? I’d never cared about that before… rather the opposite—I’d almost always wanted to avoid having men find me attractive.
Before I could do something ridiculous like ask them what they thought about how I looked, I followed the path of the two figures joining us.
Caedmon stretched out in a large armchair nearby, his green eyes following the bagel I brought to my lips before he made a soft noise, his gaze snapping to Dakota.
The man had a dominance rolling off him that had my wolf watching him with excitement and a bit of an infatuation.
This was possibly going to be a problem. No, seriously… I had no right to be so interested in men I barely knew. Which was why I was sitting in one of their laps as the other fed me bagels.
Goddess, today was a very odd day.
“I don’t understand how this is happening,” Dakota finally stated as I quietly ate another bagel.
His large hand ran over his clean-cut jaw before he fixed me with a look, seeming more speculative now than before.
Honestly, I liked the look he had on his face when I was pressed up against him far better.
He continued. “Have you been on campus all semester?”
At least I had an answer for him on this.
“No.” I cleared my voice slightly. “I only arrived today, took the train up.”
“From the city? By yourself?” Caedmon looked horrified as I blushed slightly.
“I mean… how else would I get up here?”
“No one could drive you?” He looked incensed as Tore pressed his forehead to my shoulder, muttering to himself in a different language.