Thirteen – Vail
For the first time in my life, I was glad to be wearing four-inch heels. It had very little to do with how fabulous they looked peeking out of the bottom of my long silky dress, and everything to do with explaining the uncontrollable tingling in my legs. Because ever since Reed Marshall had brushed his wet thumbs across my brow, I’d been a trembling mess. And not in the repulsed-by-bodily-fluids kind of way. But because those casual swipes of his fingers had soothed one part of me, and lit a crazy kind of fire in another.
My wolf is an alpha spit whorebag.
Which was all kinds of wrong, I told my wide-eyed reflection as I gave my lips a weak dab of gloss. I looked a bit guiltily at the neat row of pots and tubes Jasmine had left out on my vanity, with little step-by-step instructions on what went where. Before the whole Sharpie attack and breathless dash across campus, I’d had every intention of putting them to use, just preferably with her in the same room in case I screwed up. But when I realized a little hot water and soap wasn’t going to erase Pearl’s awful message, I’d ditched my afternoon classes and locked myself in my room. I’d been too pissed off and ashamed to see any of the girls who knocked at my door, and had secretly hoped they’d all get caught up in the evening’s excitement and forget I existed.
But instead, the freaking alphason had come to check up on me. And even though Reed and I were far from friends, there was no way I could leave him standing out in the lobby. Even if he wasn’t my pack’s heir, there was something about Reed that told me he’d just kick the door in if I tried to dodge him. In one controlled, carefully planned burst. Inflicting minimal damage, but still driving his point home.
And maybe his blank reaction was better than facing my friends, who’d no doubt be hurt on my behalf. Even though I knew he could still read the words under all my scrubbing, he’d sort of shrugged it off. Told me to not take it personally and to treat it like a political game. Which was probably wise advice, since the last thing I needed were more shifter enemies. But instead of thanking him and sending him on his way, I’d brought up the damn licking.
I groaned at my rosy reflection. Maybe I really was still the clueless dud under all the Marshall red. I thought I looked the part – even with the minimal makeup I’d managed to apply in my allotted five minutes. But had I broken some kind of omega code by asking for alpha healing? Jay had never seemed to mind. But then the licking had always been the prelude to something more. I cringed at the idea that Reed thought I was trying to seduce him.
I should have just agreed to use the damn chafing gel. But not even my spit-addicted wolf could get excited about putting that on my head.
I tossed the lip gloss in the little clutch and grabbed my coat. When I opened my door, Reed was talking to two guys who were definitely not students. Dressed in matching black uniforms, they were older, maybe early thirties, with heavy beards. They were standing casually, their arms folded across their chests, but tension rippled off them and I hesitated outside my room. One of them glanced in my direction, and Reed said something sharp. The older guys grimaced and I could feel the pulse of alpha power rolling off Reed even before he turned to flash silver eyes my way.
I didn’t need to be told to hurry up. Even the wobbly heels couldn’t stop me from obeying, and I passed the silent guards with my head down. Reed didn’t touch me as he fell into step, but his alpha power prickled over my sensitized skin like needles. The paths had been cleared of snow, but I used the slick pavers as an excuse to keep my head down until we were nearly at the administration block. He cursed under his breath, and I looked at him in surprise.
The usually unflappable alphason was glaring at the only car in the lot. It was a limousine, I realized, long and black and so glamorous it made my pulse skip. “Is that our ride?” I couldn’t hide my excitement. “I’ve never been in a limousine before.”
The only word I could think of to describe his expression was conflicted. With another curse, he marched over to the rear door and flung it open. My toes were too cold to hang back politely, so I was right on his heels when a female shrieked from inside, “Shut the fucking door! It’s cold!”
I saw a flash of nipple, and a river of long blonde hair, before a naked Callum Sawyer was pushing the girl off his lap and blinking lazily up at us. “Get your own, Reed. This one’s taken. ”
“They’re all taken,” Reed said abruptly. “Put your clothes on, and move over.”
I looked at him in dismay, my excitement now a sour ball in my belly. “We’re riding with them?”
“Jay’s personal army took one whole bus. All the other service cars are taking the overflow.” He scrubbed the back of his neck and muttered something about inconsiderate assholes. I just averted my eyes as Callum and his female tossed their clothes back on. Reed went in first and I forced myself to crawl past them and into the furthest corner. I would have looked out the window if the interior light wasn’t on, flashing my own pale face back at me.
“Who the fuck is that?” The blonde asked Callum, and I realized she was too old to be a student. She was beautiful in a pornstar way, with exaggerated curves and oversized features, and I had to stop myself from shrinking under her scornful stare.
“She’s a Marshall omega, and my date,” Reed said in an ominous voice. “Which means she has more right at this function than you do, Tilly.”
“Now, now, Reed,” Callum said in his bored way. “Tilly is an omega, too. And she lives at the academy. Why shouldn’t I bring her along to keep me company?”
“Because you’re meant to be setting an example for the other wolves. This is about making the omegas feel comfortable with their prospective alphas. Not about you getting your rocks off in a limo with your den mother.”
I expected the blonde to look pissed at that, but she just smiled and massaged Callum’s thigh. She’d wrapped a scrap of gold fabric around her torso, and he’d managed to pull his black leather pants back up over his hips, but his shirt was hanging loose and I was pretty sure they were both going commando. I’d never felt less relaxed in my life, except for maybe during the sniff test, when he’d pressed his erection into my face…
“And how comfortable are you feeling, little omega?” Callum asked me with a sly twitch of his lips. He looked me over slowly, even though my dress had about ten times the fabric of his date’s. “Got a bit of a happy glow about you. Does that mean you’ve patched things up with the big dog? Or are you just excited to finally have a pack to call your own?”
The mockery in his voice stung a little, but I lifted my chin. “Up until about five minutes ago, I was excited about my first limo ride. But it’s not really living up to expectations.”
“Oh, no?”
I shrugged and turned to Reed. “How far is it to the hotel?”
“About forty minutes.”
I tried to hide my shudder, but gave him a nod, and opening my clutch, pulled out my study cards. The blonde sneered at me. “You going to give us a speech, pup?”
“They’re research,” I told her, fully prepared for her derisive snort. She murmured something cutting under her breath to Callum, but Reed was watching me curiously. “Penny gave me a binder on omegas,” I explained. “I didn’t have much to do this afternoon, so I took some notes. I just haven’t really had a chance to let them sink in.”
Something almost soft touched the edge of his hard mouth. I buried myself in the cards while he watched Callum and his date share a bottle of champagne, most of which had to be licked off various body parts. After a long moment he looked down at me with real curiosity. “What do they say?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, then murmured, “Just useful tips.” I glanced at the blonde, then added under my breath, “Like keep your knees together if you forget your underwear.”
He snorted. “Maybe we can make her a copy at the hotel.”
***
Reed’s joke got me through the other thirty-nine excruciating minutes. When we pulled up at the hotel, I was ready to push Callum and his vocal den mother out of the way and sprint for the lobby. How could a grown-ass woman even make those sounds, especially when the most her date had been doing was dragging his fingernails up and down her spine? She’d yowled worse than a barn cat at one point and I must have jumped half a foot. Reed had looked like he was going to toss the champagne bucket over her head, but Callum just watched us all with glittering eyes. When we’d finally pulled to a stop, Reed planted a hand in Callum’s chest, holding him against the seat as he started to climb out. The smaller alpha muttered something about being a jealous dick, and Reed leaned all his weight on his sternum. “Shut your mouth, Sawyer, or I’ll feed you my fist.”
Callum just wheezed and smirked. “Looking a bit hot under the collar there, brother. What happened to that famous Marshall calm? ”
Reed just reached a hand back towards me. “Come on, Vail.”
I shuffled forward, careful not to step on my dress in the cramped space. But as Reed helped me out the door, I felt a warm hand cup my ass cheek. I whirled around, almost falling in my heels as I glared at Callum. “Did you just grope me?”
He shot his thumb at the blonde, who laughed and fluttered her fingers at me. “Guilty, pup. Was just seeing what all the fuss was about.”
“Put a leash on her, Cal,” Reed growled, then we were being whisked inside by a relieved-looking Head Omega. Penny handed Reed a thin folder, then gave me a quick once-over. Her placid gray eyes darkened a little. “You look flushed. Are you okay?”
My hand immediately went to my forehead. “I’m f-fine,” I stammered, hoping like hell Reed’s healing was the lasting kind. “The limo was just stuffy.”
“Lucky you! I floated here on a sea of hairspray and disco tunes. I don’t know why I bother with a playlist.”
I cracked a smile, but we were suddenly in a massive lobby with silk walls and shiny marble floors. Enormous flower arrangements covered every surface, but I stopped dead when I saw the fountain in the middle of the room. Colored lights twinkled under the surface, turning the water into a living rainbow. But it was the ice sculptures dangling overhead that made me catch my breath. They were all wolves in various poses, so lifelike it sent a shiver down my spine. “Wow,” I murmured, “this is like a fairytale.”
Reed just looked at me blankly, but Penny gave a happy smile. “Wait until you see the Grand Ballroom. It’ll knock your socks off.”
A fancy sign pointed us to The Hunter Moon Academy Function, and maybe I wobbled again, because Reed slid his hand around my waist. Penny gave him a knowing look before disappearing through an ornate pair of doors, but I just watched him open-mouthed as he took a corsage box from his pocket. “Before we go in, I want to give you this. It’s a Marshall rose.”
I stared at the rosebud in its bed of baby’s breath. It was beautiful… and romantic. And the last thing I expected Reed to give me. “Um… is this a date, Reed?”
He drilled me with his unfathomable stare. “I asked you to dinner yesterday, and you said you’d prefer to wait for tonight.”
“Oh.” I watched as he took the flowers from the box and fitted the silky band over my wrist. “I just though you meant the dining hall. ”
He lifted a massive shoulder in a shrug. “Treat it like a date if you want. Or you can just think of it as an alpha welcoming his newest pack member.” He threaded my newly crowned wrist through the crook of his arm. “Either way, after tonight, no one’s going to wonder whose pack you belong to.”