Chapter 13 #2
“It is a lot at once,” I admitted, walking on the side of the lake to block her from the harsh wind coming off the water.
“You don’t need to do anything yet, Effie.
I promise you’re safe here, and we will figure out all of this.
Do we need to worry about the mark? Is it still not making you feel well? ”
“I am feeling much better,” she murmured, not commenting on my uncharacteristic rambling. “I don’t know if I need to worry about it, though…”
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her temple, as I considered what I could say to make her feel better.
I wasn’t good with words. I wasn’t as bad as Caedmon or Tore, but I was far worse than Julian.
It was easier for me to act than explain myself.
Still, I knew there were at least some words that could possibly make her feel better.
A small promise.
“Effie, anything you need, even if it’s a break—it’s yours. You just have to ask,” I explained softly. Her face turned up towards mine, the slight glint in her gaze sparkling like the snow around us and making her look like some ethereal creature.
By all technicalities, someone like Effie shouldn’t exist. She was everything this world wasn’t.
Soft, beautiful, good. It made me almost feel guilty that she was stuck with a violent, somewhat psychopathic, mate like myself.
She probably deserved better, but I was far too selfish to relinquish my hold on her. Our bond. Our possible future.
“You guys have done so, so much.” She let out a small sound that almost sounded guilty. “I don’t need anything else, except some explanation on this mate thing and maybe a better night of sleep.”
“You didn’t sleep well last night?” That concerned me, mostly because I didn’t like the idea of her wanting in any way, unless it was wanting one of us.
I wanted her well-rested, well-fed, also well-fucked…
but we were clearly not there yet. I inhaled, knowing I was going to need to keep this lust locked in. Hard.
I had known where Effie was, from the time she woke up on the couch with Tore to when she had gone to Caedmon’s room.
I was never fully sleeping—at least, my magic wasn’t—so I had been able to monitor her.
I had been only partly surprised when she had gone to the awkward bastard’s room.
The woman had an instinct for things that balanced out her clear naivete.
For whatever reason, she had felt the need to be near Caedmon and check on him, and while I was pissed at him, I would never interrupt that. Even if I thought he should fuck off.
I hadn’t been lying. I knew he had been scared as shit when he woke up this morning to her in his bed. Mostly because I had watched him practically run from the dorms. Something that was laughable to an extent, but only furthered my annoyance with him overall.
I easily could admit to being hurt when he’d suddenly decided that he didn’t want to be friends with us.
I’d spent most of my life not feeling as if I was good enough as it was, and I didn’t need someone I’d considered a brother pulling the same shit.
My wolf let out a low rumble of agreement as I shook the thought, not wanting to get into my problems with Caedmon’s lack of loyalty right now.
Effie’s adjustment and comfort were far more important in my mind.
That and keeping her safe. A surge of bloodlust jolted through me as I considered making good on my promise to kill Guy.
Sure, I had said I would gut him if he ever breathed her air again, but a dead man can’t say I broke my promise and killed him anyway.
Plus, it would probably go a long way to making me feel better.
“Dakota?” Effie’s voice had me looking down on her as I realized we had walked in pretty much silence towards the dorms. Well, silence except for the thoughts and bloodlust howling in my ears, demanding vengeance.
Effie looked concerned, and her words explained why, reminding me that I needed to tone back my naturally intense nature. At least for now. “You were growling.”
Unsurprising.
“Sorry, little wolf,” I murmured as we neared our dorm building.
I could feel eyes on us as people left the building and crossed our path, their fear saturating the air.
Something I would normally love. I still did, as long as it didn’t include Effie’s fear.
I kept my gaze on her, wanting to make it clear that she was the only person that would ever matter here.
I couldn’t help but slip out why I had been so worked up, though.
“I was thinking about that fucking asshole Mars.”
She blinked and then nodded, leaning into me slightly. “Yesterday seems so long ago. In fact, it’s hard to believe that it’s only been a little over a day since meeting all of you.”
She wasn’t wrong—it felt like I had known her my entire life, and I knew it was largely because of our bond but also because of the warmth that radiated off Effie.
“It’s because we’re mates, in part.” I brought up her gloved hand and kissed it gently.
It felt good to be able to say that part out loud.
It had been little more than a day, and the urge to say the title out loud had grown nearly impossible.
I had no idea how someone could keep something like that a secret longer than necessary.
Then again, as mentioned, I wasn’t one for patience.
Her cheeks flushed, but she was suddenly distracted by the thin, dark door that was on the side of the building.
Each Eclipse building had a small, closet-like door on the back right side of the dorm.
It was somewhat of a locker room, and as I opened up the warm space, she looked around with interest and a bit of confusion.
My chest relaxed as her face flushed and she removed her gloves, clearly warm once again.
“Here, throw your jacket in here.” I opened up one of the lockers for our floor as she easily shimmied off her coat and I hung her backpack inside.
My eyes ran over her frame, specifically her clothes, as I wondered if she needed to strip like some wolves did when they shifted.
My cock jumped at that concept, and I tried to shake that notion, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.
As a totemic alpha, I not only had far more control over my wolf form, but maintained my mental connection to my humanity while shifted.
I wasn’t positive how it worked for bitten wolves exactly, Julian being a different case considering he was an alpha as well.
Something that was extremely rare as a bitten wolf.
Then again, Julian’s entire backstory didn’t make a ton of sense to me, if we were being honest.
Hell, if he wasn’t going to question it, neither was I. After all, I didn’t really want to admit to everyone I had slaughtered in my past, so why would I get in his business about his shit? I was just being a polite bastard, in my mind.
I pulled off my shirt, smirking as her eyes ran over my chest, a bright flush taking over her face and neck before she hesitantly toed off her shoes.
Fuck. I loved that blush way, way too much.
I also wanted to peel that turtleneck and jeans from her delectable little frame.
Fuck. No one should be allowed to have that many curves yet be that delicate and easy to toss around.
I could put her over my shoulder and take her away, and there would be nothing she could do about it.
It called to a part of me that I had long assumed didn’t exist. Let me assure you, it very much did.
“Do you want me to turn around?” she asked, her eyes flaring with heat as her breathing went fast.
“I will never complain about you staring at me,” I admitted, kicking off my shoes and putting them with hers inside of the locker.
I stepped into her space as she shivered, my fingers sliding under her turtleneck to rest on her curved waist. “What about you, little wolf? Do you want me to look away?”
I wasn’t positive I would, anyway.
Nibbling her lip, she cast me a small, flirty smile. “I can shift with clothes on or off, actually.”
I groaned, imagining her naked as I nipped her nose.
“That’s a shame,” I openly expressed.
A small surprised laugh broke from her lips as her fingers ran over my bare chest and her breathing caught, my body pressing into hers, feeling how hard I was.
I dipped my lips, pressing her fully into the locker as I brushed my mouth against hers, causing her entire frame to shudder.
Almost immediately, she was responding back to me and curling against my chest like she fit there perfectly.
Her taste exploded on my tongue, and her soft stomach tightened as her hands fisted my hair, a flare of heat seeming to set both of us on fire all at once.
When I finally pulled back, she nipped my bottom lip, hard enough that it drew more blood than last time.
My wolf let out a savage snarl, realizing that it wasn’t a mistake, even if she seemed surprised by her own action.
No, Effie was very much trying to mark me, even if she didn’t fully realize it.
“You marked me,” I murmured, my tongue darting out. She watched the action with a flushed face, and her breath caught, as if surprised by herself.
“I didn’t mean to make you bleed,” she promised, but once again, pressed forward and seared our lips, my blood pressing between us and making her entire body tremble.
I snapped just slightly, my frame slamming further against her as my hands slid down her waist to grip her fantastic ass as she rubbed against me, almost as if seeking relief. My little mate was needy, and I had no idea if she even realized it. Realized that I could fix it for her.