Chapter 14 #3
“Do you want me to message one of them?” he asked, sitting across from me. Then, offering a hesitant, slight wince, added, “Or are they the problem?”
I almost smiled at that, knowing somehow that Dakota would be livid if he heard him say that.
Aaren seemed nice. I meant that authentically.
I didn’t feel anything of note around him, bad or good, and it was refreshing.
I was starting to wonder what my life would have been like if I had grown up with just a few people that were just ‘nice.’ I feel like it would have changed everything drastically.
“I’m just going to wait for class I think,” I said. “It’s not them. Not really.”
His nod was hesitant, but before he could say anything, a large pair of double doors opened up down the hall, a man walking out from a massive executive office.
I looked around, realizing that I seemed to be in a foyer of some kind outside of a large office that was labeled ‘President Erik Hastain, Ph.D.’.
My cheeks flushed with color, feeling stupid for crying in what was obviously a private space, and one that belonged to the President of Silver Falls University, no less.
This day could not get any worse… except for the fact that I assumed that the man walking out of the office, looking at us with somewhat cold, dark eyes, was the president.
Crap.
“Son!” The man flashed a smile. “Good to see you actually made a meeting on time. The others are in the room, I was just seeing if you were out here.”
Aaren nodded and stood, offering me another look before saying, “You sure you don’t want me to send a message?”
“What’s the problem here?” Dr. Hastain’s cold tone interrupted. I looked up at him, and he offered a smile. “Ah, this must be miss Effie Harlow, our bitten female wolf on campus. I have been meaning to meet with you for some time now.”
I’d been here a day.
My mouth opened in surprise. “You know who I am.” It wasn’t much of a question since it was very clear that he did.
Aaren—his son, I had to assume—made a concerned noise, his posture stiff as if he wasn’t happy to be here or around his father.
The older man nodded. “I know all the important shifters on campus, and you are very much one of them. Why don’t you join us?”
“No,” Aaren insisted, his voice firm. “I have already explained the situation, and it has nothing to do with her.”
I frowned, arching my brow. What was he talking about?
“Nonsense, she hasn’t even met the others.
” Dr. Hastain motioned for me to stand as Aaren turned to offer me a concerned look that was filled with warning.
I also saw something like authentic fear in his gaze, and it wasn’t for him…
it was for me. Well, I would have to use my best guess and call that a red flag.
My body stiffened as I tightened my hold on my backpack and stepped away from both of them, the president watching me in a way that made me extremely uncomfortable.
“You should go, Effie.” Aaren looked back at his father, his fingers moving across his phone without looking down at it. “You know she already has been marked and claimed by them.”
“I don’t know anything,” his father mused, putting his hands in his pockets. “In fact, I don’t sense any mating marks on her. Plus, didn’t you say you sensed your mate on campus? She hasn’t met the others—she could be the one!”
My heart sped up as I began processing and understanding what was going on here, what the president was implying.
“She is not our mate. I don’t know who is, but it’s not her. She belongs to them.”
I could see three other men standing in the office door, seemingly tense, and I slowly hedged away from all of this, wanting to leave.
President or not, I didn’t want to be in a small room with men that weren’t my mates.
I was still rightfully cautious, and I trusted Aaren’s opinion on this rather than his father’s.
His father, who was eyeing me as if I was very important to whatever it was he assumed was going on.
I had no idea how to explain to him that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with his son or his friends.
“He doesn’t care what you want.”
Unfortunately, I was going to have to agree with my wolf’s analysis on this, and that terrified me.
There was nothing worse than being subjected to being around anyone, let alone someone more physically dominant than you, that didn’t care what you wanted.
That had been my entire life as a shifter, and I needed that cycle to break, starting today.
My wolf was going to be thrilled, because I was done curling up in a ball and hoping for the best. I had more options than that now.
Running might not be the bravest of choices, but it sure as heck was something.
“Her mates aren’t here. Plus, are we actually going to buy into that fated mate bullshit?” He chuckled, a patronizing look on his face. “It may not even be a true element for blood-bonded packs, that is just supposedly how they work.”
“She’s not our mate.” A deep voice echoed from the door. I saw darkness flash over the older man’s face before he scowled and then looked directly at me.
“She’s a bitten wolf, one that I made sure would be brought here.
” His voice was a low hiss as I felt the world grow slightly darker.
Aaren’s frame moved closer to his father, as if blocking his path towards me.
“She is the best option for mating, and I don’t want my son waiting around for someone else when there is a perfectly good breeding option right here on campus. ”
Oh Goddess.
A choked sound broke from my throat as my panic began to take over, darkness blurring my vision.
Aaren looked back at me and nodded towards the door.
I turned, but the doors suddenly closed with an electric buzz, leaving me feeling as though I was about to have a full-blown panic attack.
I wish I could feel my bond with the others as strongly as I did when we were together.
My fingers ran over my wrist and Ryder’s mark as I trembled slightly, edging towards the door despite it being closed.
I found my feet slowing as if something was pulling on me, the contradictory fight, flight, or freeze really making itself known.
Years of ‘it’s safer to just not move and give in to shows of dominance’ were riding my muscle memory hard, making it difficult to do anything.
“What the fuck do you mean you made sure she was here?” Aaren snarled.
“I mean I purchased her from her pack down in the city.” The man chuckled, looking completely unrepentant and entertained.
He what?! Purchased me? I blinked, not immediately processing his words fully.
Was that why I was here? I had been purchased? I didn’t truly belong here. This man had purchased me, for what… the off chance I would be his son’s mate? And his friends’? Because I was a bitten wolf? I had heard a lot of horrible stuff in my life, but this topped it.
“Open the door for her,” Aaren warned, his voice edged in anger. “Now. You know you don’t want to make an enemy of her mates, and if you continue to pursue this, you alone will be doing so.”
I stepped back towards the door, and instead of Dr. Hastain doing anything, one of the other men walked towards me, making me shrink as he grabbed the doorframe and yanked it open.
An electric buzz filled the space in rebellion of the physical action, but I darted out immediately and without a look back, began sprinting.
Oh, thank the Goddess.
I ran down the steps, not stopping on any of the floors until I broke out of the building, relief filling my chest. Holy crap.
I let out a ragged gasp as I clutched my bag to my chest, tears blurring my vision.
Students were starting to come out of buildings, so I slipped past a gated fence and began walking down a small hill towards the lakefront.
It was a steep slope, but once I was down on the beach, hidden from view, I felt protected.
The cold weather and the icy spray against my skin was nothing compared to the hot tears and panic.
A shaky tremble ran through me as I began to stumble along the water, keeping out of view, as I kept my gaze on the frozen peaks that edged the lake like high fortress walls.
I knew that the shores were partly rocky, but more than that, when it was this cold out and waves crashed up and over the ice and snow, these massive mountains and cliffs of ice would form.
They were beautiful, and the longer I walked along the icy shore, careful to not wander too far up the peaks, the better I felt.
I couldn’t tell you exactly where the water and shore separated because of the ice, so I was careful, not wanting to hit a weak patch and fall in.
My gaze tracked to where I could see the dorms in the distance, so I slowed down, not positive I was ready for what would meet me there.
Had my pack really sold me? To this school? To him? That question was ringing in my ears, and the betrayal was all too real. I couldn’t even begin to process that fully.
Had they ever wanted me there to begin with?
Had they always planned on selling me because of the type of wolf I was?
Because of what I could bring them? Because I was a bitten wolf, I was a good mating option?
A good, what had he said again? Breeding option?
Was that why my boys wanted me? Confusion filled my chest as a small sob broke through my throat, feeling blinded by the anxiety and panic.
Putting aside the fact that his words meant that I had been important in society this entire time yet treated like crap… there was a chance that my only purpose here was being someone’s mate. Was that my only worth? Was that why the boys had been so protective and sweet?
I let out a small, almost cynical, laugh. Hadn’t I learned a million times before that people always wanted something? Specifically men? Why hadn’t I trusted my instincts?