Chapter 12
Effie Harlow
“It’s so crowded!” I called out as Julian led me through the stands of the ice rink, the loud, excited voices of the students around us causing me to smile.
I had never been to anything like this before, and being around so many wolf shifters at once had me feeling exhilarated.
The hockey teams were warming up on the ice, and despite being inside, the rink was cold.
I was glad I’d worn Julian’s oversized SFU hoodie, despite it going down to the middle of my legging-covered thigh—it was perfect for keeping me cozy.
Especially because I had paired it with snow boots and a matching hat.
I actually felt really good about how I looked, and considering how Julian had reacted when he first saw me, I had felt even better.
The man had kissed me so hard I had nearly lost my breath!
“We are facing Durnoth University,” Julian explained, nodding towards the side of the stands painted in red and black. “This is probably the biggest game of the season. They are on the east coast, so we rarely go against any teams of this level.”
As we reached our section of the stands, I smiled to find Dakota, Caedmon, and Tore already sitting, the space around them crowded but not enough that anyone was touching them.
It was clear, compared to the rest of the crowd, that people were trying to keep a healthy distance.
Which was good, because I could feel my wolf begging me to rub my scent over each one of them, and I had a feeling that could be a bit embarrassing.
“Little wolf.” Dakota motioned for me as I broke away from Julian, and I let Dakota pull me onto his lap. When his lips brushed my ear, I made a happy noise. “Do you realize how gorgeous you are? I have no idea how you go about normal life without people on their goddamn knees worshipping you.”
I turned towards him and blushed slightly. “Well, that could be a bit awkward.”
Dakota chuckled. “Awkward but very much deserved.”
When I slid further onto his lap, my eyes flared at realizing how hard he was underneath me, making my heart skip a beat as shivers raced across my skin.
“Dakota, stop it,” Caedmon warned. “We are in an entire stadium of wolves.”
I frowned in confusion as Dakota nipped my shoulder and caused me to make a pleased noise at how open he was with affection. But his words had me realizing what exactly Caedmon had been worried about.
“Alright, only because I don’t want anyone else smelling how fucking amazing it is when you’re turned on.” Dakota flashed a smile as I felt my cheeks deepen in color.
Before I could manage to turn any more red, music began playing, and I realized that the game was starting.
Now, I knew nothing about hockey, but my mates seemed to know a lot, so when Dakota sat me between Caedmon and him, with Julian and Tore on the bench behind me, they took turns explaining things that happened in the first twenty-minute period of time.
Despite not understanding more than it being important that the puck get into the net, I cheered and clapped along with everyone else.
I also, not so casually, tried to touch each one of them in some way, a good compromise since my wolf kept throwing up images in my head of me sitting on their laps and nuzzling against them.
I wasn’t against the idea, but I could feel eyes on us, and I didn’t want to attract any attention to my mates that they weren’t okay with.
By the time of the first intermission, my nose was cold and my face hurt from smiling so much. It didn’t even matter that I could feel us drawing attention, because for the first time since coming to SFU, I felt perfectly and utterly relaxed.
Something told me that this was how life was supposed to be.
So why couldn’t it be? I craved to have easy, fun days like this and get to know my mates without any threats.
That didn’t seem in the cards for me, and when Julian tugged me gently to standing, I got the nagging sense that something was going to happen.
I didn’t know what, but I could feel the premonition crawling across my skin.
“What do you want to eat?”
I looked over the options at the small food stand they had in the arena, the line behind us growing as I felt the subtle pressure to pick something. Julian didn’t seem stressed at all, and honestly it seemed like he didn’t even notice the others waiting to order.
“You choose. You always pick good food.” I offered him a smile as he nodded, seemingly happy with my words. Was it because I said he always picked good food? I mean, that was just factual.
I stepped to the side as he ordered and found myself flushing as I realized just how many people were staring at me.
My eyes almost immediately locked with a group of men at a table nearby, dressed in the opposing team’s colors.
They were staring at me silently, and I felt my breath catch as I froze completely.
The sensation of being hunted and the panic associated with it crawled up my spine, leaving me nearly paralyzed.
There was an odd energy radiating off of them, and instead of feeling any positive or even neutral emotions, I felt…sick. My head spun as my stomach tightened in a horrible cramping sensation that had sweat breaking out on the back of my neck.
When Julian stepped in front of me, breaking their gaze, I felt immediate relief, my knees nearly breaking before my mate wrapped an arm around me tightly.
I was so out of it that I hadn’t even realized he was growling until I looked up to find him examining my expression with concern.
I blinked and winced at the way the lights were suddenly causing my vision to go spotty.
This was horrible.
“We need to get back to the stands,” he murmured, his arms tightening on me before leading me forward, not allowing me to look back at all. I knew it was important to do as he asked, because he didn’t even bother waiting for our order, and Julian never missed an opportunity for us to eat together.
After we’d walked a few feet, Julian pulled me along a dark hallway to the side, isolated from the rest of the crowd. I let out a sound of surprise as he backed me up against the wall, the quiet, dark space making me feel moderately better, as he cupped my jaw and looked over my expression.
“Are you okay, preciosa?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I have no idea what just happened. I turned to find them, that group from the other team, staring at me and got so sick all at once. It was horrible. Was that their magic? Their wolves? I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“Durnoth University is a dangerous place,” he admitted quietly. “More than Silver Falls, and with that comes groups and packs of wolves that aren’t there for the right reasons. Without your official markings from us, you are in a lot of danger…”
Julian hesitated, looking towards the end of the hallway where we could hear the game starting back up. “…So much so that I am regretting us coming to this. I had gotten used to how scared of us everyone at SFU is, but clearly Durnoth thinks they have nothing to worry about.”
“I don’t like that you look nervous,” I whispered before adding, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not your responsibility to not be nervous just because it’s making me nervous.” I nearly groaned at the word vomit that spilled from my mouth.
Julian’s eyes darkened as a low rumble broke from his throat. “I think until I have my mark on your neck, I am always going to be nervous. I don’t want anyone taking you from us.”
My cheeks flushed as I searched his face before asking, “Ever?”
I knew it was a risk asking something like that, but the way he said it with such seriousness made me think that was what he meant… And I loved that.
Julian's gaze dropped to my lips. “Ever, Effie. You know you can’t leave us, right? In the last week, you’ve become everything to us, to our pack, to our fucking future.
Everything. I would love to be a good man and tell you that you have an option to choose to leave us if you weren’t happy…
but that would be bullshit. You’re ours, Effie. Absolutely ours.”
His words had a swirling of emotion cascading through me as I went up on my toes and sealed my lips to his, his throat producing a surprised and really sexy noise that had everything inside of me heating under his touch.
I tried to deepen the kiss, but all too soon he was tilting my head back and kissing along my jaw and down my neck, the sensation of his lips hot against my smooth skin causing goosebumps to break out along my body.
I let out a small whimper of his name when they finally coasted across my bitten mark.
Holy hell.
My core exploded with heat and his magic instantly responded, swarming mine and setting my skin ablaze like a hot ray of sunshine, accompanied by a darkness that I knew was Coffin.
I could feel how wet I was growing, and I found myself letting out a soft moan as his fingers pushed up my sweatshirt and smoothed over my bare waist and ribs.
My nipples tightened under the sensation as Julian let out a deep growl against the sensitive skin of my throat that vibrated through every part of me.
“Fuck, you smell so damn good.” His voice was rough and uneven. “I’ve been wanting to touch you like this, taste you, since I first saw you on that damn train.”
My eyes grew heavy with lust as my fingers ran up his shoulders and my thumb brushed over his own bitten mark, wanting him to feel the same level of desire that I was, the electrifying sensation filling every inch of my body with pleasure.
“Effie,” Julian groaned my name as he stepped further into me and lifted me by the waist, pinning me to the wall with his large body as my legs tightened around his hips.
I jolted, realizing just how hard he was as I rolled my hips against him, the movement causing him to bare his teeth against my throat.