Chapter 17 #2
I didn’t worry about Effie, because my sister wouldn’t have steered her wrong.
I nearly shook my head at that, thinking about the dress she had convinced her to wear to the bar.
I mean, Effie looked fucking gorgeous, but I would rather buy out the entire bar for the night than have a bunch of men looking at her perfect curves.
As the others got up and got ready, I was left sitting across from Caedmon.
“Are you going to be okay tonight?” I asked, wanting to know if I needed to keep an eye on him. I hadn’t known him to shift without warning, but intense emotions could change that.
Caedmon met my gaze and considered my question. “Yeah,” he finally said on a sigh. “I’ll be fine. I just don’t want Effie anywhere near my father.”
“I get that. I feel the same about my grandfather.”
“We could just leave tonight,” Caedmon suggested. “We could just pack up the fucking car and get out of here.”
It was a tempting idea. We had the resources and the means to avoid the problem to some extent.
Caedmon continued, “We couldn’t avoid my father or the other families forever, but we could avoid the most prominent threat, which is Hastain.”
“Effie wants to meet the woman she was talking about, but maybe after… I just don’t want to take away this moment from her,” I said, running a hand over my face.
“My understanding is that Effie never expected to even go to school, and to see her so impassioned about something like economics—it makes me want to stay and figure it out.”
Before he could respond, movement in Effie’s door caught my attention.
I looked up to see my beautiful kitten standing there, adjusting the pendant she’d chosen to wear.
The one from her past. The one that didn’t come from here.
It stood out, even against her dress, and my instinct was to tell her not to wear it, but I caught myself.
I never wanted to tell Effie to dull her shine.
The woman was impossible to miss, no matter what she was wearing, and a necklace, one she seemed extremely fond of, wouldn’t change that.
“How do I look?” Effie asked, stepping out of her bedroom and doing a small twirl, a growl catching in my throat at how the skirt of her dress shifted around her legs.
Effie often hid her curves—whether that was on purpose or because she just didn’t like tight clothes, I hadn’t fully figured out.
But tonight, that wasn’t the case. She had chosen from the limited amount of Caedmon’s purchases we’d been able to fit in the dorm.
It was a light blue dress, long-sleeved, with a short skirt that showed off how long her legs were.
The dress itself wasn’t even that damn revealing, but because of how it molded to her shape, I felt like she was practically fucking naked.
I found myself getting hard as a rumble escaped this time, Caedmon not even sparing me a look as he stood and stared at her as well.
“You look exquisite, kitten,” I answered, causing a gorgeous smile to break onto her lips.
“I was a bit worried that I would be uncomfortable, but Aanya suggested wearing kitten heels. I honestly thought she meant heels with little kittens on them, but turns out it just means they’re short.” Effie giggled at herself. “I think they are pretty cute.”
They were cute. They had big blue bows on them and matched the dress perfectly. What wasn’t cute? How sexy her legs looked. How I wanted to kneel in front of her and pull her leg over my shoulder so I could bury my mouth against her hot pussy.
I inhaled sharply, trying to not let my mind go that route. Not right now.
Although that sounded far fucking better than going to this event.
“You look perfect,” Caedmon finally managed, looking even more stressed, if possible. I knew he was probably thinking about all of the attention the outfit would garner. But it wasn’t really about the outfit, it was about Effie. As I mentioned, it was impossible to not notice her.
“Let’s get you a coat.” I walked towards her, those large blue eyes looking up at me with a happiness that I wanted to permanently instill.
I leaned down, cupping her jaw, and kissed her before moving past her and towards her closet.
I could hear her talking to Caedmon, but I was far more vested in finding a way to make sure she stayed warm between the dorms and where the ‘celebration’ was being held.
Finding a dark trench coat, I pulled it off the hanger and looked back to find that she’d followed me into her room. Her eyes were on her backpack, and she took a few notepads out and laid them on the desk.
“I didn’t ask you how class was.” I motioned for her to come stand in front of me, easing the Burberry coat onto her elegant arms. She looked up at me with warmth before a little bit of sadness crept into her gaze.
“Honestly, not very good,” she murmured, turning into me. “I had Mythology and Calculus. Both teachers weren’t happy with—”
“Did they say something?” I growled, feeling suddenly furious at the prospect of an instructor making her feel bad about missing class, especially for circumstances out of her control.
“No. I mean, sort of.” She frowned. “They weren’t upset—they seemed more disappointed—and then they gave me a bunch of stuff to catch up on. The Mythology class seems interesting…”
“What about Calculus?” I asked.
“The actual material doesn’t seem bad, but the professor is a bit odd,” she said, tilting her head. “I got the distinct impression he didn’t like me.”
“Who was it?” I would make sure they never had that attitude towards her again.
“Dr. Dorough.”
Ah, well that made sense. I could easily alleviate her concerns about the situation.
“It’s not you,” I promised. “He’s an asshole. To everyone.”
Unfortunately, there wasn’t even any personal situation that could be blamed—the man had been happily married for several decades now and had a seventh grandchild on the way. He just thought all college students were idiotic. Honestly, he wasn’t completely wrong.
I still didn’t like how he was treating her.
“Really?” she asked with concern. “Why?”
“No big reason, just hates college students.” I chuckled and then offered her a small piece of advice.
“If you want him to lay off—not that you need to worry about that because I can talk to him—but if you want to get on his good side, just ask about his grandkids. I think he keeps a picture of them on his desk.”
“He does!” she said with excitement, but it quickly dimmed. “You know, Ruby is supposed to be in that class with me. I haven’t heard anything from her. I know we aren’t super close friends, but I hope she’s okay.”
“She is,” I promised. “Aanya told me she is still sorting stuff out with the other blood-bonded pack. I would say they would be at the event tonight, but I don’t think they would risk it, especially if she isn’t ready to accept the bond.”
“Okay, good,” Effie breathed out. “I felt selfish because I have been so consumed by everything else. I need to be a better friend.”
Grabbing her jaw, I looked over her stunning face and held her gaze. “You are an amazing friend. Don’t ever believe differently.”
Effie’s eyes grew slightly heavy. “You think I’m a good friend?”
“I think you are perfection in everything you do,” I answered honestly.
A knock on the door frame had both of us looking over to find Caedmon standing there, dressed for the evening. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” Effie nodded, going up on her toes to kiss my cheek before walking towards him.
For just a moment, I fought the very real urge to pull her back to me.
To tell her that we didn’t need to go—but it was already in motion and already happening.
I just really hoped we were ready for what tonight would bring.
No matter what, though, Effie’s safety came first—above anyone and anything.