Chapter 3 #2
Honestly, I was surprised Dakota wasn’t the one losing his shit.
He wasn’t exactly the most level-headed, and if anything I would have thought he’d see this as an opportunity to hurt me, especially while I was weak.
I knew he was still angry about me changing dorms, so I wouldn’t have blamed him, especially since I’d also endangered Effie tonight—but instead, he was simply concerned about our mate. Nothing else.
It put me on edge. Then again, everything put me on edge, and I was constantly expecting violence as a reaction to anything I did. That expectation I put on others was just one more fault I found in myself.
When I opened the car door, I realized that Ryder was physically restraining Julian in the back seat, binds of gold and orange magic wrapped around him as he offered me a murderous look.
I could tell that it was at least partly Coffin from the aggression radiating off of him, and when his gaze moved down to Effie, it changed quickly to panic.
“It’s not Julian. It’s Coffin.” Ryder’s explanation confirmed my thoughts.
“He wanted to hunt you down,” Tore added.
“I’m sure he did.” I sighed before placing Effie next to Julian, who relaxed a tad as her head rested comfortably on his thigh. He didn’t say anything to me, but looked up with a venomous glare before refocusing back on Effie. I stepped back and shared a look with Ryder, who looked beyond stressed.
When I moved back out of the car, I looked towards the cave system, knowing I needed to go back. It was the dead of night, mid-shift. I still had an entire twelve hours of this shit. At the same time, the idea of leaving her made my heart hurt.
I rubbed the spot on my hand in thought, deciding to not mention her marking me.
I had no doubt that they would notice it eventually, but there was a part of me that didn’t want to share the moment with them yet.
I just wanted it to be between the two of us…
especially until she woke up and I could make sure she didn’t regret it.
“Come with us,” Dakota said quietly from next to me. “She’s going to be heartbroken if you don’t.”
Would she? I offered him a perplexed look at such a large statement. Dakota shook his head and offered me a sympathetic shoulder squeeze at my clear dense understanding of Effie.
Fuck, of course I wanted to go with them…but I didn’t want to hurt her.
“We could go to my penthouse in the city,” Ryder suggested from the open car. “I have a padded room for training that you can lock yourself in.”
“We need to pay a visit to the Whitepaw Pack as it is.” Tore’s reminder of the pieces of shit that treated Effie bad had my temper flaring dangerously. I breathed through it and nodded, knowing it could work.
“Distance from campus while dealing with the consequences of what occurred tonight may be for the best,” Ryder stated, looking cautious and concerned.
Fuck. He was right. If Dr. Hastain decided to punish us, it would leave her defenseless. Last time she’d at least had Ryder, but this time he’d be punished right alongside us.
“Alright.”
The drive was quiet, everyone seemingly trapped in thought.
The more I thought about what could have happened to Effie if she hadn’t been able to call out to us, the more my fury grew.
I knew that once we bonded to her, marked her, the connection would be even stronger.
The one we had now from the mark on her arm wasn’t one we fully understood, and the lack of knowledge on how it worked made me want to make sure that we were completely connected as soon as possible, in any way possible.
Plus, she had bitten me, and I very much wanted to taste her back, biting down in the soft place along the back of her neck as I slid into her from behind.
“We are going back to the dorms?” I asked in confusion as I realized we were headed towards campus.
“We need to grab some shit for her if we are staying overnight,” Tore explained. I nodded and looked at Dakota from the passenger seat, the silent agreement that the two of us would go inside to get her things passing through the car. Tore and Ryder would stay with Effie and Julian.
Julian, who was still eerily quiet. I had a feeling I would pay for ‘taking’ her, in his mind. Unfortunately, I was finding it hard to be worried about that when her life was potentially in danger.
Getting out of the car, Dakota and I strode towards the foyer of the building and stepped into the elevator that greeted us almost immediately.
“I left bruises on her,” I choked out, feeling anxiety crawl up my spine as I admitted my sin to him. I felt like such a piece of shit, and I knew I couldn’t tell Tore or Ryder my concern…and Julian would probably kill me.
“You hurt her?” Dakota looked at me like I was fucking crazy. “Your wolf put physical marks on her?”
I could tell he didn’t believe me. Dakota was another one convinced that I saw myself as more of a monster than I actually was.
“No,” I hissed. “It wasn’t when I was shifted.”
Dakota examined my face before chuckling in realization.
“Right. Well, before you go raking yourself over hot coals, maybe see how Effie feels about the marks. If you start to pull back and distance yourself because of guilt, she’s going to think that you regret whatever happened between you two.
She’s going to think she did something wrong, and then I will have to kill you because you’ll have hurt her feelings. ”
My eyes widened at his acute analysis. He wasn’t wrong; that was exactly what I was doing. I swiped my ID card as we reached the floor and asked an honest question. “What the hell do I do then?”
He didn’t answer at first as we went to her room.
I grabbed a leather duffle bag I’d bought her, and Dakota grabbed some shit and began to pack before he sighed.
“I don’t fucking know. I mean, I do know a million things I would do.
Maybe get some flowers or make her breakfast…
” He paused before fixing me with a look.
“Use some of that stupid money you have and take her out in the city. She probably doesn’t realize how fun it can be. ”
That was a really good fucking idea. I knew we probably didn’t have time to do most of what I would want to do, especially with going to see her pack, but I could show her how good the city could be. How good life with me could be. What I could give her outside of pleasure…
I knew Effie wasn’t someone that could be bought, and I didn’t want it to come across that way. I just wanted to give her everything.
“Let me grab some stuff real quick,” I murmured, realizing the others had probably already packed their bags before they came to get us from the cave. I went to my room and grabbed a few things before meeting Dakota back at the elevator.
We stepped on, and he continued his advice. “Whatever you do, don’t pull away. Don’t fuck this up.”
Easy for him to say—he wasn’t damaged beyond repair.
“Thanks, Dakota.” My jaw clenched, feeling at odds with this entire situation. He wasn’t wrong, though. It was a natural inclination to pull away at the prospect of being hurt, and I was worried Effie would shatter me with a rejection.
Examining my expression, he nodded. The elevator opened, and we quickened our pace to the car, wanting to get her off this campus as fast as possible. We had no idea what this situation would bring, but if I had to guess, it wouldn’t be good.
I wanted Effie as far away as possible from all of it. I didn’t want her to miss class, but right now her safety was far more important.
The drive to downtown Chicago wasn’t a long one, maybe slightly over an hour, but the entire time, Effie slept on Julian’s lap.
Ryder had removed his restraints at some point during the drive, making sure Julian was holding his sleeping mate so he couldn’t attack me.
I could feel the animosity coming off of him still.
I didn’t want to make it worse and potentially put Effie in harm’s way, so I didn’t say anything at all.
When we finally reached the city, Ryder directed Tore to a parking garage, where we pulled the car into a spot and then began to get out.
Julian shifted Effie into Ryder’s arms as Tore grabbed her bag.
Dakota opened the trunk to get the other bags, and I went to help, forgetting the very real possibility that Julian was going to fucking kill me.
I groaned as I was slammed against the concrete wall of the parking garage.
Julian let out a vicious snarl as my own temper flared, easily dislodging his hold on me. He stepped back and his magic turned dark, infusing the space around him as Coffin spoke through him. “Do not ever take our mate from us again.”
Holding his gaze, I finally nodded once, sharply. It was apparently enough for him, though, because he stormed away, leaving me with one more bodily ache.
This was not turning out to be my night.
Fuck, could I even say that though? Honestly, with the taste of Effie still on my lips, I was the luckiest bastard in the entire state. Maybe the country.
As the others walked towards the elevator, I trailed behind, my attention moving to the sight of the city through the breaks in the cement walls.
I had spent a fair amount of time in Chicago; it was usually the place my father required me to meet him, so it wasn’t exactly filled with the best memories.
Maybe it could be different, though. Maybe this time, with Effie, it could be different.
Deciding to take Dakota’s advice, I pulled out my phone.
There was at least one thing I was good at—spoiling Effie.
Whether she was okay with it or not was a different story.
I knew she found it a bit odd, the compulsive urge to buy her stuff, but she also hadn’t told me to stop.
I wanted to make sure the ground she walked on was fucking perfection, and I had the resources to do that.
I also knew that I had a lifetime of pampering my angel to make up for. No one had taken care of her before, and I wanted to do that more than anything. Pressing the contact number in question, I listened to the ring, hoping that Effie wouldn’t mind just what I planned to do.