Chapter 5
Effie Harlow
“So they just called off school? Just like that? No classes? Nothing?”
Ryder nodded in confirmation as he slowly drained his cup of coffee.
I had no idea where he had procured a change of clothes from, but when I woke up this morning, he had been freshly showered and sitting at the large table in the room, looking over papers once more.
It made me wonder just how often the man took a break from work…
Although I shouldn’t have been that surprised he worked constantly, considering how smart he was. Normal stuff probably bored him.
I had considered asking him why he couldn’t just leave stuff here, like pack a bag and stay, but I realized just how presumptuous it would come off, so I kept quiet.
After all, I knew Ryder was most likely only here because of the storm and the important stuff we needed to talk about.
I just needed to continuously remind myself of that.
I would admit that it grew a bit difficult, though, when he looked so at home here.
“It’s too dangerous for students to be on the road this morning or even walk into campus until it’s been salted, especially with how icy it got overnight,” he explained.
“Aanya is staying at my condo for the day instead of coming to campus, something I’m sure her mates will be pissed about, but oh well. ”
“Do you get along with her mates?” I asked curiously.
Ryder chuckled. “Does any older brother get along with his sister’s mates? I’m not positive that’s even allowed.”
I considered this and nodded. “That’s true. I’m not sure what it’s like to have siblings, but I imagine you are protective over them.”
Ryder’s eyes filled with warmth. “She hates it, but that’s to be expected. Plus, she’s the only person I feel protective over… Well, besides you.”
I blinked and felt my face flush. “Me?”
Ryder let out a low rumble in his throat and nodded. “Very much you.”
I really liked the sound of that.
“Anything from Ruby?” I finally asked after a stunned moment, hoping to distract from his comment so I didn’t say anything embarrassing. Plus, I was very concerned because I’d heard nothing from her.
“No.” Ryder sighed, looking frustrated, and I didn’t blame him.
That entire situation had been very upsetting, down to and including Julian using Alpha commands on me.
I wouldn’t lie though, I felt like that discussion had been important to have, and more importantly, I’d met Coffin.
Something my wolf absolutely loved, so much so that she was actively searching out his overwhelming power whenever he was in the room.
We still had yet to see his wolf form, but I could now recognize the intensity there, and sometimes when Julian looked at me, I felt like I could see both of them.
Julian sat down next to me, almost as if summoned by my thoughts, and handed me a paper plate with food on it.
My concern for Ruby was suddenly overshadowed by the curious item he’d give me.
I was positive it tasted good—so far everything he’d introduced me to had—but I had to admit it was a bit odd-looking… Like a cookie but in a flat rectangle.
“A Pop-Tart?” Ryder asked, annoyed. “She needs something better than that for breakfast and you know it.”
“Pop-Tart?” I popped the ‘p’ and considered the odd name before grabbing the pink frosted item that had sprinkles on it and taking a big bite. Flavored jelly exploded on my tongue, and I made a happy noise and looked up at Julian, who seemed thrilled at my reaction.
“I disagree, Ryder,” he mused. “I think this is the perfect option.”
I blushed as he brought his thumb to my bottom lip and wiped some jelly off before offering it to me.
I wasn’t positive what prompted me to do it, but I leaned forward and sucked the jelly off, watching Julian’s face flash with something almost…
feral. It had my heart beating faster as I pulled away, Ryder producing a choked noise from behind me.
It had my head snapping around to find him glaring at Julian, the man in question offering a light laugh.
“Calm down, old man.” Julian rolled his eyes.
“He’s not that old,” I poked back, causing Julian to flash a smile.
“How old are you, Ryder?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“See? Less than ten years difference,” I pointed out.
Ryder huffed and looked back down at his laptop, seeming distressed. My chest pulsed in pain because I realized I’d just offered up one more reason for Ryder to not enjoy being around me.
“Ryder.” Julian’s voice was a hard snap. Ryder looked up, narrowing his eyes, before looking over at me, regret shining there.
“Effie…”
“What?” I took another bite of my breakfast.
“Yeah, what, Ryder?” Julian’s voice was light, almost teasing, but not.
“Nothing,” Ryder grunted.
After another bite of breakfast, realizing they weren’t going to continue, I asked a question that would at least help me get focused for the day. “So, how am I supposed to do my homework? Do I need to find a way to the library?”
Before anyone could answer, Julian broke off a piece of the Pop-Tart and put it up to my lips so I could take a bite. I tried to not smile at him feeding me, but I couldn’t help it. Especially since he was now scrolling through his phone, seeming to do it on instinct.
“I have a solution to that,” Caedmon stated, coming out of his room after I’d taken a bite. There was something different about him today; he seemed almost more relaxed. I hoped that it had something to do with me, but I also didn’t want to assume I had that much influence on him.
I swallowed, noticing the tight long-sleeve shirt he was wearing and how it highlighted every muscle on his body, paired with jeans and some casual slip-on shoes.
He looked somehow even more handsome than normal, especially since his hair was a bit messy.
Julian broke off another piece and fed it to me as Caedmon crouched down in front of me with a bag in hand.
Honestly, I was sort of loving how relaxed today was. It felt very ‘right,’ the group of us sitting around, spending time in the dorm together while it was snowing outside. I could live in this moment forever, truth be told.
I was completely cozy, between my socks, leggings, and an oversized sweater from Tore…
and I do mean oversized. Like, holy crap, it went down to my freakin’ knees!
I loved his scent around me though, especially since I couldn’t be right next to him.
He and Dakota were working on something in my room.
I had no idea what, and I wasn’t allowed to see, but the idea of the surprise made me excited.
“Here.” Caedmon pulled out a glossy white and black box, my brow dipping as I eyed the picture of a sleek computer on it.
I wouldn’t lie, I was completely confused for a moment and almost thanked him for the box.
Luckily, I caught on just fast enough to save myself from that particular embarrassment.
“What is this?” I asked.
Caedmon’s eyes darkened, gauging my reaction. “A laptop, so you don’t have to always go to the library and can do homework here with us.”
I was momentarily overwhelmed by the sweet gesture before noticing that he almost looked nervous…
He really didn’t need to be. While I wasn’t completely comfortable with any of them spending money on me, there was something very authentic and sweet about this despite how expensive it had no doubt been.
It made me feel taken care of, and I was finding I liked the idea of my mates being able to do that.
Life has been hard—why couldn’t we take care of one another and make it better?
“Thank you, Caedmon,” I murmured.
He nodded sharply and stood up as I began to open up the box. When he disappeared into my bedroom with the other two, Julian let out a small chuckle. I looked up to see Ryder shaking his head, looking amused at seemingly the same thing.
“What?” I questioned.
Ryder put his hand through his hair. “Just interesting to watch, kitten.”
“What’s interesting to watch?” I frowned.
“He’s been acting like this since he first met her; she has no idea,” Julian stated before adding, “Same with Tore.”
Okay, now I really wanted to know what they were talking about.
Ryder made an interested hum. “And she hasn’t interacted enough with other students to know yet… That actually makes far too much sense.”
“What are you guys talking about?” I finally demanded.
Ryder focused on me fully before explaining. “Caedmon and Tore—actually, all four of your mates—are considered some of the most terrifying people at this school. So watching an interaction like what you just had with Caedmon is a bit odd. Not in a bad way, just…different.”
I could only focus on the way he said ‘all four of your mates.’ I had nothing to suggest that we were mates, but I knew he had marked me, and he had said he wasn’t rejecting what was between us…
Which meant there was something to reject in the first place.
It didn’t even bother me that people were scared of my other mates, I just wanted to know why he was trying to draw such a clear line in the sand.
Plus, the idea of my mates being scary actually made me feel safe. Was that wrong? I felt like that was a bit wrong.
“You should open this up,” Julian suggested, tapping the laptop.
I opened it, and for the next hour, I learned more about laptops than I had ever thought I could, from how to download certain programs to bookmarking websites. When I had chosen a password, I had originally wanted to put ‘eclipse3’ but then Ryder said that was too simple.
“You picked ‘bagelbites6’?” Caedmon’s eyes were filled with humor.
I nodded seriously. “Ryder said to make it more unpredictable.”
Ryder had a hand over his face as he chuckled, finding my choice as funny as Julian, but I didn’t fully understand why. It made sense to me—I enjoyed Bagel Bites, so I would always remember it, and there were six of us…