Chapter 6
Effie Harlow
When did I start to spend so much time getting ready in the morning? I wasn’t positive why I had more of a vested interest in looking nice today. Maybe it was trying to project the confidence I desperately wanted to feel. Or at least feel as if I fit the part of a blood-bonded pack mate?
I had no idea what inspired it, but after a shower, I spent a long time blow-drying and brushing out my hair straight so that it laid at my butt in a silky, colorful sheet.
When had it gotten so soft? Was that because of the shampoo I’d been using?
I looked towards the shower, not recognizing the name on the matte black bottle.
Something in French, maybe? I had a feeling it wasn’t the kind I could just find at Walmart.
Trying to not overthink my motives for today, I applied a bit of Chapstick before walking back into my room and scanning through my clothing options.
Pulling on a pair of fleece leggings and an oversized sweater with cozy purple socks, I already began feeling more comfortable.
I wouldn’t lie, I was excited about my new clothing arriving…
And maybe a bit nervous. I just wasn’t used to owning so many nice things.
Or so many things in general.
“Little wolf.” Dakota’s voice ran across my skin comfortably as I looked up to find him in the doorway of my room. “You ready?”
“Yes.” I nodded before grabbing my coat and backpack, which now held my laptop, as well as my ID that I kept on me.
I also remembered to grab a hat, because Ryder, before leaving early, had insisted on me doing so.
I assumed that it would be only Tore, Dakota, and I for breakfast…
So you can imagine I was surprised when Caedmon was already in the main room waiting for us.
Hadn’t he told Julian, who was skipping his first class to get some extra sleep, that he didn’t have an early class either?
So why was he up? Not only was he up, but he was freshly showered and dressed in an expensive suit and dress coat that had my toes curling in my boots as I tried to not stare at him for too long.
“I expected you to still be sleeping,” I said.
His ears heated and he just offered me a small smile, not answering.
I was tired enough that I didn’t push it and instead leaned against Dakota, his warmth surrounding me.
Tore was quiet as he closed his eyes and leaned against the inside of the elevator, the entire space bathed in a comfortable silence.
“We have to do something Saturday or Sunday, it will be her first weekend here,” Dakota declared suddenly, making me realize I really had been here an entire week. That was crazy to me. How had everything changed in such a short amount of time?
Before we had a chance to fully discuss it, the elevator door opened and we crossed the lobby, stepping out into the cold morning air.
I curled further into my jacket, glad that I had slipped on gloves as well as a hat, as the morning lake air blasted across my face.
I had experienced cold weather…but then there was lakefront morning weather that had you losing your very breath.
I felt my eyes begin to water, and I clung to Dakota as we made our way down the icy campus.
I could tell they had attempted to salt the sidewalks, but it wasn’t helping very much at all.
My wolf was absolutely loving it, and a tremble nearly ran over my skin as she jolted back and forth in my consciousness, urging me to shift.
Nope. Not right now. I knew she thought she wanted that, but I could practically feel how cold the ground was through my boots.
I didn’t want to imagine how that would feel on my paws.
When we finally reached the cafeteria building, I blinked away the tears the wind caused and smiled up at Tore, who leaned down and kissed my nose as Dakota walked ahead.
It was a sweet gesture that had my face heating.
It was odd having this much positive attention focused on me.
I didn’t want it to end, but it for sure wasn’t something I was used to in the least.
When we finally got up to the cafeteria, Dakota went and got me food, forcing me to sit and relax, as the others did the same.
Of course, he picked out way more than I would have, but when I tried to tell him that, he told me that he was going to eat some of it.
Five minutes into our meal, he’d still yet to touch my plate as I nibbled at the eggs and bacon.
“What do you want to do this weekend?” Dakota asked, pulling the conversation back to before.
“I mean, what is there to do? I usually spend the weekends reading.” Alone.
Alone in my room reading and trying to ignore the loud voices of Gerald’s friends.
The one time I had attempted to leave my room to grab some food, it had taught me exactly what I should expect every time I interacted with them… especially while they drank.
This had been a horrible idea. Not worth it, either, because I couldn’t even reach the fridge, the space being blocked by a bulky man looking down at me.
I couldn’t remember his name, but he was intimidatingly large and smelled like stale cigarettes and beer.
The way he was looking at me, the sickening smirk on his face, had my stomach turning.
“Excuse me, I need to get through,” I said, my voice light and almost lost in the music of the apartment.
I had no idea how many bodies they had crammed into this place, but it was spilling into the hallway and other apartments on this floor.
It was my own fault for not bringing food into my room when I’d known it was going to be like this.
My stomach cramped uncomfortably as a wave of dizziness slammed into me.
“Effie, right?” he rumbled, stepping closer. “The bitten wolf. Gerald’s leech.”
That sounded about right.
My gaze darted to the side nervously. “My name is Effie, yes.”
“A bitten wolf in a fenrir pack. Awfully dangerous,” he mused, his eyes lighting up with repulsive delight.
“Can I get to the fridge?” I asked softly.
“Depends. What do I get out of it?” He chuckled.
“She’s sixteen,” another man called out from a few feet away. “Don’t fuck with her, just let her grab her shit and scurry away.”
“Sixteen is legal in some states,” he called back before stepping up towards me, his large dirty fingers stained with ink, grabbing a strand of my hair. “Come on, Effie, don’t you want to be ridden by an alpha?”
“Ridden?” I choked out. “And an alpha… Like Alpha?”
“I’m just as alpha as he is,” he growled out. “I can show you.”
When his hand closed around my throat, I tried to back up, but the counter caught me as his other hand groped my breast and made me want to scream. To cry. Instead I absolutely froze, and luckily, that had been right when a hard hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me away in a bruising grip.
“What the fuck are you doing out of your room? Get the fuck back, now.”
I nodded and ran from Gerald, knowing I needed to get the heck away from this situation. Once I was locked into my room, I went to bed crying and very hungry.
“Effie?” Tore’s voice was soft as I blinked out of the memory, feeling a shaky breath come out of me. I didn’t realize I was trembling until I tried to focus on his face and found my vision blurry with tears. I tried to snap out of it but was failing horribly.
“Dakota.” Caedmon’s voice was hard and sharp. “You have to chill.”
Oh no. He had seen.
I moved my eyes over to Dakota, who was staring at me with a look that had me feeling horribly sad and guilty. I didn’t want him seeing any of that darkness.
“He’s still alive?” Dakota asked.
“I don’t even know his name,” I murmured, my head pulsing in pain. “What had you asked me again? Caedmon?”
Caedmon stared at me for a moment before seeming to forcefully relax himself, the tension slowly draining as I thanked the Goddess that they didn’t push this memory. Dakota was still completely frozen, but Tore sat back down, his feet capturing mine between them under the table.
Caedmon cleared his throat. “I asked what you read.” His eyes were a lighter green than normal today, despite the tense situation that had occurred, and I found myself selfishly hoping that I had something to do with that.
Especially since we had fallen asleep together on the couch, Dakota stretched out on the chair nearby, his hand reaching out in sleep to meet my own.
“Bunch of stuff,” I admitted softly. “Pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I never got to keep them though. Usually they were borrowed from the small library in our pack lands. I am pretty sure I read almost every book there.”
Caedmon nodded, his thoughts seemingly a million miles away all the sudden.
Dakota made a suggestion, visibly making an effort to calm down. “We could go downtown for ice skating.”
“So many people,” Tore muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
“There is also a hockey game. They are doing a big tournament to excuse why our university never plays against the human teams,” Caedmon offered.
“Why do they need an excuse?” I asked.
“They don’t know about wolf shifters.”
Oh.
“I didn’t know that.” And I was really tired of not knowing stuff.
“Yeah, humans tend to act weird about the wolf stuff.” Tore shook his head.
“Which is why we don’t give a fuck about humans.”
The voice that spoke wasn’t one I recognized, and chills of revulsion went up my spine as I looked up.
Two large men stood at the end of our table, looking amused.
It wasn’t a nice, lighthearted amusement, either—it was one that was not only aimed towards me but had me feeling like I was under attack, like they were an open threat I needed to be wary of.
The oddest part? I recognized them.
Why did I recognize them?