Chapter 23
Monte
“I call this meeting to order,” Denny said. “And I have a special request from the pledges. Please let them in, Kevin.”
He did as asked. It wasn’t normal for the pledges to attend official meetings unless invited, but that was a rare occurrence.
“Go on. You’ve got this,” Jett told Oscar, giving him a little nudge.
“Hey guys. So, it would appear I have an unusual talent of sorts. I think you all know what I’m talking about.”
His Alpha powers. None of us had ever heard of a tiger shifter having Alpha powers strong enough to command a wolf, but he’d done it to me on more than one occasion now.
“I don’t know if it’s a genetics thing through my mom or if it’s some sort of witch power, but either way, I’d really appreciate it if we kept this between us. I don’t want people finding out about this.”
He looked so vulnerable standing before us. I wanted to protect him.
“The Grand Council is tracking witches and high threats to them like my Aunt Kelsey are being put on a kill list. I know she’s safe and I trust she can protect herself, but my family also has Westin Force fully behind us.
They aren’t dumb enough to go after her.
But they could easily get me here if I’m seen as a threat, and if my family finds out, they’ll force me to drop out of college and move back home.
I don’t want to do that. And I know I’m not officially a brother or anything.
Hell, I’m not even a dog, but I’d like to ask you all to please keep this within the brotherhood. ”
Without hesitation, I stood up.
“Oscar likely saved me on more than one occasion by using his Alpha powers.” The room chuckled, knowing it was true.
“I call on the brothers to invoke the code of silence. While he is not a full brother—yet—we all know as a legacy that he will be as long as he is willing to accept us. And even if he doesn’t, we’ve honored the sanctity of the code for others outside the brotherhood before.
Some of you may be too young to remember Kaitlyn, but our brother Damon called upon the code of brothers to keep her secrets and protect her.
I vote we do the same for Oscar, our brother, now and forever. ”
“Dammit, Monte. He still has to go through his pledge period,” Denny said. “You can’t just tell him he’s already in.”
“Isn’t he though?” Jax asked.
“He is a legacy,” Kellen pointed out.
“That’s not the point. And we aren’t voting him in until at least the end of the semester. That goes for the rest of them too.”
“I say keep them all. I like this class,” Remy said.
“That is not on the agenda,” Denny insisted.
“But this is,” I reminded him. “I call for a vote on the code of brothers.”
“I second it,” Caleb said.
Everyone started talking at once.
“Me, too.”
“I’m in.”
“We’ve got his back.”
“Quiet,” Denny yelled over the noise. “Just raise your hand if you’re against it.”
No one did.
“Okay. You’re all bound by the brotherhood of Delta Omega Gamma to never speak of the skills of our future brother, Oscar Westin. It’s done. We’ll take your secret to the grave.”
The other pledges relaxed and rallied behind him. They were a great group of pledges and already bonded as brothers should be.
“Thanks, guys. This really means a lot to me.”
I knew that Oscar had struggled about rushing our fraternity.
Despite his father and uncles being brothers and paving the way for him to be a legacy where only a major issue could keep him from becoming a D.O.G.
, he hadn’t been too sure about us. His pledge class had encouraged him to give it a try.
From the look of relief on his face, he wasn’t going anywhere.
Being a tiger didn’t matter to us. We accepted those that embraced the brotherhood whether they were a canine of not. Oscar was certainly no exception.
“Thanks everyone,” Troy said.
“We really appreciate it,” Mark added.
“Gotta protect our boy,” Jett said.
Oscar shooed them all out of the room, probably for fear we’d change our minds or something.
I wasn’t sure he fully understood yet what it meant to us to make a brotherhood oath like that.
And he probably didn’t realize that we’d just accepted him into Delta Omega Gamma.
It might not have been official, but every single one of us would fight to the death for that kid. He was now and forever one of us.
The rest of the meeting was boring in comparison, and I counted down the seconds until Denny adjourned us at last.
It was crazy but being away from Zoey for a few hours was driving both me and my wolf nuts.
It was the longest we’d been separated since I was called back to Dean Shannahan’s office two weeks ago for the official ruling from the board.
They had unanimously agreed I could stay.
I was pretty sure I had my Alpha to thank for that.
My mate and I had been inseparable ever since.
The only time we weren’t together was when one of us had class.
I looked down at my watch. She’d had one of those random Saturday test days in English and if I hurried, I would be there just in time for her class to let out.
Without saying anything to the guys, I walked outside and then took off at a full run across campus. Students were already exiting the building when I arrived. Zoey didn’t appear to be among them.
I pushed my way into the room and smiled as I saw her discussing something with Professor Briggs.
“Monte. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked, before grabbing me by the neck and pulling me down so I could kiss her cheek.
Zoey growled.
“I see. So you aren’t here to visit me then?”
“You know I’m always happy to see you. My two favorite gals right here.”
Zoey growled again.
This time I winked at her. She glared back at me unamused.
“I’m going to overlook the growls as I’ve heard the rumors of your mating,” Briggs said.
“Are they really rumors if it’s true?” I asked.
“Touché.”
“So how’s my girl doing this semester?”
I knew Zoey was struggling in the class.
“She’s doing just fine.”
“I am?” she blurted out.
I chuckled. “Heard you are a bit of a slave driver this semester.”
“Stop. You know me.”
“I didn’t say I believed those rumors.”
“Are they really rumors if it’s true?” Zoey muttered under her breath, causing us all to laugh.
We said goodbye to Professor Briggs, and I wrapped my arm around my mate’s shoulder and started to walk out.
“Ms. Rey, you know, this was the most personality I’ve seen from you all semester. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
I looked at Professor Briggs curiously. She just shrugged back at me and walked away, disappearing to the back of the room which I knew led to her office.
“What was that all about?” I asked Zoey.
She shrugged, but I could see it on her face. She knew exactly what Briggs meant. And as we stepped outside the room where a group of students were still standing around, I saw it, and I understood too.
Zoey transformed in front of my eyes.
Gone was my sweet, funny, bold mate, replaced by the plastic version of protection. Her mask was back in place.
I hadn’t seen it in a while. I supposed she was too busy worrying about me and the verdict of my status here to remember to hide from everyone.
It did not sit well with me.
She sensed the change in me, too.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered as soon as we were reasonably out of earshot.
“Nothing,” I said, but even to my ears it sounded cold and off.
When we got to Greek Row, I muttered a goodbye and told her I had things to do. I gave her a quick, chaste kiss and left her standing there at the split. I would head left to the doghouse, and she would go right to Theta.
I was so distracted by my own thoughts and becoming so used to feeling her presence everywhere on campus that I didn’t even notice she followed me until I walked inside, nodded to the pledges hanging out in the common room as I walked through to my bedroom, and I heard them speak to her.
“Hey Zoey,” Troy said.
I whipped around to find her standing there. Her mask was only partially in place as her worried eyes met mine.
I sighed and motioned with my head for her to follow me.
When we got back to my room and were closed in together, Zoey got nervous. It was odd knowing her emotions so thoroughly now, but it also felt so natural most of the time that I didn’t even think about it.
“What’s wrong?” she asked me as she toyed with her nails, unable to look my way.
This was her, the real, vulnerable woman I loved.
That L-word didn’t even freak me out. I loved Zoey with everything in my being, but I wasn’t sure I could live a fake life again. I’d grown up that way and hated it.
“It’s complicated,” I told her honestly.
“Is it something I did?”
“Yes, but not purposefully.”
Her brow furrowed as she studied me now.
“We need to talk about this. It’s not the first time you’ve gone cold and emotionally pulled a one-eighty like that.”
I sighed. “I know. It’s hard to explain.”
“Can you at least try?”
I nodded and patted the bed next to me for her to sit.
“Are you aware that when you’re around other people, especially groups of people, you turn plastic?”
“Plastic? What does that mean?”
“You become fake. You put on this persona for other people. It’s like you’re wearing a plastic mask. You’re you, but you’re not. You’re a little too perfect. You say all the right things. Your body stiffens awkwardly. You are the picture of perfection even when I can feel your underlying nerves.”
“I’m aware. Fake it till you make it and all that shit.”
“I hate it,” I admitted.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“I hate it when you morph into that cold, untouchable person. That’s not you, Zoey.”
“But it is.”
“It’s not. I know the real you. I love the real you, but I don’t know that person you become.”
“You love me?”
“Of course I love you, but that’s not what we’re discussing here.”
She softened and stared at me as if she were mesmerized by what I’d just confessed.
Who could spend more than ten minutes with the real Zoey Rey and not fall in love?
“Sorry, what were we talking about?”
I chuckled and shook my head. For someone so incredibly focused when it came to her image and work, she sure was easy to distract. I hadn’t meant to though. I really felt like this was something important we needed to work through.
“Focus. This is serious.”
“I’m trying. You think I’m fake, cold, untouchable, and plastic. Yet you still love me?”
“Yeah, I do. And I can even sort of get why you act this way, but I still don’t like it.”
She suddenly looked very vulnerable and sort of caved in on herself.
“Tell me what’s going through your mind right now.”
“I’m not worthy of your love. I do put on a mask with people, though I struggle to keep it in place around you.
I’m terrified of people seeing the real me, so I hide.
What if they see me and don’t like me? I have so many flaws, it’s hard to keep them all hidden.
I guess in some ways, that mask is just a layer of protection that ensures no one gets close enough to really see me. ”
“You’re really that self-conscious? Doll, you don’t need to be.”
My hand was on her cheek, caressing it.
“You are beautiful, smart, and funny. You’re the whole package. There’s a reason people are drawn to you. You don’t have to hide.”