Chapter 42
Zane
Evie’s quiet on the drive back to campus. “You okay over there?” I ask, squeezing her hand gently.
She sighs, but it’s her contented sigh. “Yes.” She finally turns my way. “Your family is really great, Zane.”
I want to make a wisecrack, but she seems contemplative tonight. “Yeah, they are.” When she doesn’t say anything more, I push a little. “When do I get to meet your mom?”
She shrugs and then goes back to staring out the window. “I’m not sure.” She doesn’t say anything else, and I wonder what’s going through her head. But the last thing I want to do is push her. So, I turn the radio up a little and just let her be.
“How your parents are; I always wanted that for my mom and dad.” Her words are sad, and I get the feeling she wants to talk this out. I stay quiet, hoping she’ll tell me everything she’s thinking. “Your dad. He's the real deal, isn’t he?”
I glance over at her, but she’s still staring out the window. “Yeah, he is. He loves my mom and would die for her if he had to. Same goes for us kids.”
“That’s really great, Zane.” Her words are soft.
I wait a beat. “I’m sorry you didn’t have that growing up, Evie.”
“It’s okay,” she says quickly.
“No. It’s not.”
She’s quiet after that, and I let her be.
The fact that she seems fragile tonight makes it even harder than usual to let her go for the night.
I walk her inside to her room when we get back to campus.
She looks up at me and smiles, but it’s not the smile I know and love.
This one is tinged with sadness, and it nearly breaks my heart.
“Night, Zane. Thank you for a great night.”
“Night, Evie. Get some sleep.” I brush her cheek with my lips and then force myself to step back. She steps inside and closes the door behind her. I stand beside her door for longer than I want to admit.
“Zane Blackwood?” I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to deal with any fans tonight. “Is Evie okay?” The sound of my mate’s name snaps me out of it, and I turn to see Evie’s friend, Tessa. She’s wearing a campus security uniform.
I frown down at her. “You work security?”
She lifts her head. “I do.” I bite my tongue before I say something stupid, like pointing out the fact that she’s way too small to be doing security. By the scowl on her face, I think she must have been able to read it all over my face. “How did it go with Evie and your family tonight?”
I remember what Evie said about Tessa helping her. “Good. Thanks for helping Evie tonight and for loaning her the dress. She looked amazing.”
Tessa grins. “She did, didn’t she?” Her smile drops, and her eyes narrow at me. “Was your family good to her?”
“They were.”
She studies my face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because you were staring at my friend’s closed door with nothing but regret on your face.
” She crosses her arms over her chest. I think she’s trying to be intimidating, but there is absolutely nothing about this fragile human that is intimidating.
I’m not sure if it’s the light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, her ever-present grin, or her short stature, but she’s the furthest thing from intimidating.
I debate how much to tell her, but I want her to be able to be a friend to Evie tonight. “Evie was quiet on the way home. She asked me about my mom and dad; I think maybe she’s thinking about her parents tonight.” I don’t say anything more than that.
Tessa’s eyes fill with understanding. “Okay. Thanks for telling me.” Her voice softens. “I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Relief fills me. “Thank you, Tessa.”
Her eyes narrow once again. “I’m not doing it for you; I’m doing it for my best friend.” I do my best to keep a straight face because I know she’s trying to come across as scary.
I nod solemnly. “Thanks. Have a good night.”
“Night, Blackwood,” she calls out from behind me.
I jog down the steps to the first floor. Two girls see me coming and zero in on me, but I evade them quickly and head outside. I make my way around the back of the building, not surprised when Reid steps out from the shadows. “How’d it go tonight?” he asks.
I run a hand through my hair. “I’m not sure. It started out well, but I think it might have been too much for her by the end of the night.”
“It will get better,” Reid says.
“How’s it been here?” I ask.
“Quiet.”
“Good.” I face the back of the building, locking eyes on the window that indicates my mate’s room. “I’ve got tonight; you can head back to the house.” I don’t look at Reid as I say the words.
“Zane, you need to sleep. You’ve been here every night for the last two weeks, except the nights you were traveling.”
“Exactly,” I say. “That’s why I’m covering tonight.”
I can feel his eyes on me, but I don’t look at him. “You’re not going to be any good to her if you crash and burn.”
“We don’t need as much sleep,” I remind him.
“You’re right, but you can’t go forever with no sleep. Saturday’s game showed that.”
“You come lecture me after you’ve spent days not able to be near your mate like you want to be and don’t know if she’s safe,” I snap at him and regret it immediately.
He laughs, but it’s cold and doesn’t sound like him. “You have no idea.” His words are so soft, I barely hear them. But before I can ask what he means by them, he walks away. “Let me know if you need me.”
“Reid,” I call out, stopping him. When he turns back, I meet his gaze. “Thank you. I know you’ve done so much for me, for my mate. Thank you. Someday, I’ll do the same thing for you and your mate.”
He smirks at me. “Okay.” And then he’s gone.
I have far too much time on my hands. The hours drag by as I keep watch over Evie’s dorm.
I know what Reid wants. Honestly, if my father found out I was here every single night instead of sleeping, he’d have something to say about it.
But I can’t help it. I need to be here. I take a deep breath and rub my hand over my chest. The ache gets worse every day.
I thought I’d been keeping it at bay, but Reid’s right.
Saturday’s game showed just how much our unfulfilled bond is affecting me.
I can’t sleep at night, not with her far away and not knowing whether she’s safe or not.
This bond that connects me to her is getting tighter, but with her not even aware of it at her end, there’s nothing at the other end of the bond but darkness.
Honestly, I fear it’s starting to make me go mad.
I can’t focus on my classes. I've been terrible in practice, and Saturday’s game was a trainwreck.
The sad thing is I can’t even find it in my heart to care.
All I can feel is this all-consuming bond in my chest. It drives everything I do.
I constantly crave just being in my mate’s presence, and yet, we rarely see each other.
I take a deep breath and wonder if I should have confided in Reid.
I feel like I’m losing my mind. I grit my teeth.
My wolf needs to run, but we haven’t been able to do that either because of needing to be here to make sure Evie is safe.
The light turns off in Evie’s room, and I glance at my phone.
Twelve-thirty. She’ll be tired tomorrow.
I make a mental note to grab her a muffin and a coffee before her first hour class.
I glance at her work schedule, the one she texted me after I asked her for it.
She works tomorrow afternoon and evening.
I do a lap around the building, keeping to the shadows so no one can see me.
When I get to the back again, I glance up at her window again.
I rub my chest, feeling like I’m losing it.
I remind myself it’s only for a time, just until Evie agrees to the bond between us and lets me bite her.
My canines drop at the thought, and I push away those thoughts, even as my wolf pushes against his barriers.
She doesn’t even know about the bond, I remind my wolf.
We have to give her time. But even as I say the words, I wonder if it will be enough time.
I stretch and do another lap around the building and then do some pushups, pullups, and burpees.
I need to do something with this pent-up energy and tension.
Dawn finally breaks, and I take one last glance at my mate’s window before I head over to my truck to head back to the house to shower and get ready for the day.
When I open the door, Quint’s on his way out.
“Whoa, you look terrible.” I don’t even bother with a response, but he won’t let it go.
He closes the door and follows me. “Seriously, Zane. Are you okay?”
“Go bother somebody else.” I pull my shirt over my head as I head towards my room and the waiting shower.
Slate suddenly steps out into the hallway, and Reid comes out from his room.
I take a step around them, but they go shoulder to shoulder, blocking my path.
I raise a brow at them. “Is there a reason you’re blocking me?
” There’s an edge to my voice that is one hundred percent my wolf bleeding through.
“We’re worried about you,” Quint says from behind me.
“There’s nothing to be worried about.” The words are a little harsher than I intended to be.
Slate lifts an eyebrow. “Your game sure showed otherwise.”
I let his comment slide off me. “You watched my game, Slate? How kind of you.” I take another step forward, wanting to get to my room. When neither of them move, I meet both of their gazes. “Move.” I don’t release my alpha power on them, even though I want to.
“Evie looked good last night,” Slate says in a low voice.
My head snaps up, and a growl reverberates through my chest. “What?”
“Evie. She looked good. All that soft skin and that long dark hair. I’ll bet it—”
I don’t let him finish that sentence. I grab him and throw him against the wall.
He lets me hold him there a second before he throws my arm off him.
He spins away, and I whirl after him. He throws open the back door, and I follow him outside.
As soon as we’re outside, he throws a punch, and I easily evade the first one.
The second one, not so much. Fury that he landed a punch on me rushes through me, and I go at him.
All the aggression I’ve been trying to shove down comes roaring out with a vengeance.
Reid joins Slate, and Quint gets in there as well.
I’m not sure how long we go at it, but finally, the fight dies down. I bend over and take a deep breath, noting that while my frustration isn’t gone, at least it’s not riding me as hard right now. “You good?” Reid asks, breathing hard.
I nod, trying to catch my breath. I finally stand up and take them all in. Bruises, busted lips, cracked knuckles...we’re all a mess. Thankfully, our wolf healing will have healed us before we even get to class. I stare hard at Slate. “You did that on purpose.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “Yep.”
I shake my head, knowing I fell right into their trap...hook, line, and sinker. “Thanks, Guys.”
“Anytime,” Quint says with a grin.
I make eye contact with Reid, so he knows I’m grateful. He heads inside, and Quint follows him in. “I didn’t even see Evie last night; I have no idea what she looked like,” Slate says in a low voice. “I just said all that to get you worked up.”
I eye him. His words still make me angry, but I get why he did it. I step close to him. “Just know, if I ever even see you glancing too long at her, you’ll find yourself missing some vital organs.”
Slate nods. “I know. There’s no worry about that from me.”
I put my hand on the shoulder of my future enforcer. “Thanks.” I head inside and get showered and dressed for the day. Reid’s grabbing his bag when I head back out. We walk outside together.
“You doing okay?” he asks quietly.
I shrug. “Better than I was.”
“You’re going to only get worse until you complete the bond.”
He doesn’t say anything I don’t already know. “I know.” He glances over at me as I stop at my truck. “She was terrified that night in the woods. I can’t do that to her again.” I run a hand over my head.
“Why don’t you let her be the judge of what she can and can’t handle. I think she’s stronger than you think.”
His quiet words make me irritated because I know my mate is strong, and I don’t need him to point that out to me. But I can’t shake his words as I stop for coffee and then head to campus.