Chapter 16 #2
“Effie is very much mine. Now, I highly suggest you leave unless you want me to call campus security on you for harassment,” Ryder snapped out. I finally turned my head and met Amanda’s gaze, her face red and eyes filled with fury.
“You,” she hissed at me. “You are going to regret this.”
Amanda stormed from the room then, leaving me feeling a weird sense of nervousness from her words—but it was nothing compared to the relief I felt at her being gone.
“Kitten.” Ryder gently pulled back and looked over my expression with concern. “Are you okay? I wasn’t joking about security. I can have her escorted off campus.”
“I’m just glad she’s gone.”
He nodded after a moment of scrutinizing my face for truth before looking at the door with concern and then anger. “Did you walk here by yourself?”
I shook my head immediately. “Caedmon is out there—he’s bringing me to classes today. You never came back last night, so I wanted to come and talk to you.”
Ryder gently turned me and sat me down in his chair before striding across the room and leaning out of the office. He said something I couldn’t fully make out, probably to Caedmon, before stepping back in and closing the door. The click of the lock had my center tightening with anticipation.
“You look concerned—why?” Ryder asked, coming to kneel in front of me, holding my gaze as his hands slid up my thighs.
I could tell he wanted to have a serious conversation, so I was doing my very best to not react.
Something that was almost impossible since he was my mate and his touch made my very skin feel like it was on fire.
“Your grandfather is in town,” I explained, “and then you didn’t come back last night… I was worried you were rethinking all of this.”
Realization hit Ryder’s face, and he immediately shook his head. “I didn’t come back because I had to drive my sister to my place in Milwaukee where her mates are meeting her after class. It would’ve looked odd for them to leave all at the same time. I should have called you. I’m sorry, kitten.”
I blushed, loving how serious he seemed to take my concerns and insecurities, addressing them so directly. It also made me a bit nervous because of the intensity being solely focused on me. To deflect slightly I asked, “Is your sister alright?”
“She’s totally fine.” He squeezed my hand with a soft smile before turning more serious.
“As for my grandfather… This does change things a bit. I clearly can’t hide you, so we will just have to face it head-on.
But nothing, absolutely nothing about this changes how I feel, Effie.
I know I need to earn your trust so you won’t doubt me—”
“I didn’t doubt you today,” I said, interrupting before he could get too down on himself. “I was a bit insecure about Amanda, seeing her in your office, but then I thought about everything you’ve said and done, so instead I came into the office and—”
“Scented me,” he said, partly amused but also proud.
I was always embarrassed at the concept of me acting so ‘wolfy,’ because fenrir weren’t normally like that, so I would have been ridiculed before.
But with my mates, I was finding they loved when I did stuff like scenting them.
It was wonderful and it made me feel like I could fully be myself with them.
“Hugged,” I countered. “But maybe scented also.”
Ryder let out a low rumble. “I love the idea of you marking me.”
My wolf nearly let out a yip of excitement at that concept, Ryder’s eyes lighting up as he gripped my chin softly. “Do you like the sound of that, kitten?”
“Yes,” I responded breathlessly, “but I know you said—”
“What I said originally doesn’t apply anymore,” Ryder said, his eyes like dark infernos. “I know you don’t have to believe me yet, but I am all in, whatever that means for us—including you marking me and me marking you.”
I drew in my lip in thought. “What about the ‘not being able to sleep together without getting pregnant’ thing?”
I knew I had just had the conversation with Tore, but I still wasn’t positive how to handle the idea of me getting pregnant.
I tried to imagine how I would feel about it if we weren’t facing so many threats, if it was just my mates and me growing our family…
and I loved it. I loved the concept. I wasn’t in a rush, but the idea of being so interconnected and creating a loving household was extremely appealing to me.
Ryder let out a low growl at my words as he seemed to shake himself. “We will cross that bridge when we get there. We don’t need to rush, Effie.”
“Okay,” I agreed, wanting to mark him but not knowing how to bluntly ask. Luckily—or maybe unluckily—for me, something seemed to occur to him.
“Did Tore and you talk about protection?” he asked, looking concerned.
“No, we forgot.” I nibbled my lip. “But I’m okay with that… I don’t know how to fully describe it because all I can focus on is everything going on around us, but I am okay with what that could mean. With each of you.”
Ryder let out a slow exhale as he examined my face, cracking a smile and shaking his head. “Tore didn’t fucking forget.”
“What?” I asked, confused by the sudden direction of the conversation.
“Tore didn’t forget,” Ryder repeated. “I don’t know him well, but in the time I have, he has always been on top of things. Especially when it comes to your safety.”
“You think he just didn’t bring it up at the moment?” The idea of Tore purposefully continuing, despite knowing the consequences, produced a tightness in my gut. I didn’t like the idea of my mates keeping things from me, especially a decision like that.
“I know I wouldn’t bring it up if it meant an opportunity to tie you to me forever,” Ryder said, looking conflicted about his answer. “I’m not saying it’s right, but if I had to guess, that’s what happened.”
Well, when he put it that way… That changed things.
My skin broke out into shivers as my toes curled.
Would Tore really have done that? Why did I love that concept so much?
I knew why, though… I loved the idea of my mates being even more serious about our relationship and future than we even were now.
I loved the idea of them wanting to do anything to make sure we stayed together, including starting a family.
While it was extremely attractive, so much so I was getting turned on thinking about it, it was also sheltered in the love of our bond.
Ryder let out a low growl. “You like the idea of that, Effie? Of us purposefully not being careful about knocking you up?”
The breath literally whooshed out of me as I nodded, not having the capacity to form a worthy answer.
Ryder’s hand slipped out to grip my jaw as he leaned closer to me, our lips a breath apart.
I could feel natural dominance rolling off him as it lit up my skin, making me wonder how he kept it so under-wraps most of the time.
Then again, hadn’t I felt this magnetic force from the beginning? From the first dream we’d had together.
“What else do you like?” His voice was a soft murmur as I felt my teeth pulse, wanting desperately to mark him.
To bite down on his lip and know that he was marked by me.
Although that wouldn’t be very easy to see…
not that it mattered fully. As I was learning, the signature of our magic shifted and adjusted during the markings.
Still, the idea of him having a prominent display of my affection was something I loved…
Which meant his lip wasn’t the best option.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Where I want to mark you,” I whispered, my cheeks flushing.
“Fuck.” Ryder snatched me up from the chair and placed me on the desk as he stepped between my legs, leaning closer so we were still nearly kissing. “You can mark me anywhere you want, kitten.”
“Anywhere?” I teased, my lighthearted tone belying the heat coursing through my body.
“Anywhere,” he confirmed, far more serious.
My eyes moved down his jaw and along his neck, my gaze on his fast pulse.
I looked back up at him, my wolf surging forward as I leaned towards him, pressing a soft kiss against his neck.
The growl that rattled from him had me growing wetter as his hands slid to grip my butt and pull me firmly against his hard length.
My tongue darted out, wanting to taste his skin, and he let out a low moan.
The sound inspired something in me, spurring me to lunge forward and bury my teeth in his neck. My wolf flooded the space with magic, and Ryder let out a deep, dangerous groan, his grip turning bruising.
This marking was different from the others.
I could feel that unique magic, the one buried deep inside of me, surge straight to the top to meet Ryder’s.
I could feel his animal shift under his skin, and I could feel fire burn in my chest, an unquenchable flame that demanded I connect to my mate completely.
My arm burned with the satisfaction of us marking our fifth mate.
Something shifted inside of me at that moment, leaving me awestruck.
It felt like the world lifted me up for a frozen second in time before it dropped down, allowing me to suspend myself in the air before slowly floating back down.
I struggled to get a breath in as I let go of his neck, feeling exhilaration light up each of my nerves.
This was right.
There was so much to figure out, but this connection? It was perfect.
A knock on the door had both of us freezing. Ryder cursed, looking up at the clock. “That’s Caedmon. You’re going to be late.”
Once again, I found that I really didn’t want to go to class. The idea paled in comparison to spending time with my mates, especially in light of everything going on. Ryder opened the door and let Caedmon in, his eyes moving to Ryder’s neck. He smirked but didn’t comment on it.
“You ready, mon ange?”
“Yes,” I said, sliding off the desk.
“After the event tonight, we’ll talk about what to do next,” Ryder said.
My eyes went wide. “Crap.”
“What?” they both demanded in unison.
“I totally forgot to tell you guys—I had a weird dream last night. Happened in the clinic too, but I forgot. This woman came to me, her name is Mona, and she said I was in danger. She said to only trust my mates but to come to her in this little cottage she showed me the way to. She said it was urgent… We have to go tonight, I think.”
The shock on Ryder’s face, Caedmon’s as well, confirmed that my situation wasn’t normal. But I knew I needed to go meet her—I could feel it. I just had to convince them of that.