15. Riley
Riley
My jaw fell open, and for a hot minute I completely forgot about my shoulder or the fact that my wolf was behaving like an unhinged, horny lunatic.
“A drink?” I spluttered. In what universe did this, admittedly sexy, wolf shifter think I’d want to spend time with him? Okay, so perhaps I would like very much to spend time with him. Naked time. But that wasn’t an option. My glamour was good, but not that good.
“Yeah, cute thing. A drink.” Candy-cane wolf sank a perfect white fang into his plush lip and winked. “Followed by…”
“Not happening.” Did he think I was just another slutty wolf shifter, desperate to get my rocks off? “I’m…celibate.”
Not by choice, but still true.
“You’re not lying.” His jaw dropped in confusion. “Why would a cute little wolf like you be celibate? That makes no fucking sense.”
My shoulder throbbed as his grip on my wrist loosened.
Pulling away, I spun on my heel and stormed off.
What an asshole! My sex life was none of his business.
I got he was probably used to every shifter above the age of consent dropping their pants the minute he smiled at them, but I wasn’t about to be the next notch on his belt.
I had strong boundaries and self-esteem! And also no dick.
Honestly, it was just as well I had no dick because under different circumstances…
Nope.
I wasn’t going there, no matter how much my stupid wolf wanted me to.
Shut up, I growled at her. That wolf is bad news. She whined mournfully and buried her nose under her tail. He’s no good for us, I reminded her. We deserve better.
But she refused to listen.
It took the candy-cane wolf all of two seconds to catch up with me.
“Don’t run off!” he huffed. “I said I’d fix your shoulder!”
“And I told you I don’t need your help!”
“And like I said, I can smell a lie a mile away!”
He pressed a hand against my lower back and steered me toward the healer’s office.
“They won’t help,” I scoffed as he gently pushed me inside. “My arm’s still attached.” The asshole ignored me.
“Hey, Bonnie, can you heal my friend?” The wolf smiled flirtatiously at the sour-faced witch slouched in a chair, reading the latest copy of Mage Monthly.
She scowled and then uttered a long-suffering sigh. “This had better not be another sex injury, Mr. Morrone. Principal Hawksley doesn’t pay me enough to extract lost butt plugs.”
I nearly choked on my spit. Goddess save me, I had questions. Like, many questions.
“Aww, Bonnie. That was only one time! And also not my fault!”
Bonnie rolled her eyes and examined me before huffing.
“Shifting will fix that,” she said dismissively before turning her attention to her crappy magazine. The cover photo of Tiberius Vane, the current leader of the Mage Council, looked heavily filtered. Nobody’s teeth were that white. And also, he wasn’t that muscular in real life. What a douche.
“I told you the healers wouldn’t help,” I muttered under my breath.
The stubborn-ass wolf shifter wasn’t budging. “Bonnie. I’m not leaving here until you fix my friend’s shoulder. He can’t shift, so he needs your help. Now get to it before I lose my patience.” I caught the steel in the alpha wolf’s voice, as did the witch.
She glanced up and smirked. “It’ll cost you, Mr. Morrone.”
Candy-cane wolf rolled his eyes. “How many crates this time? Two?”
“Three.”
The wolf laughed. “Damn, Bonnie. That’s some party you’re planning!”
Bonnie shrugged. “Fae wine is a useful blackmail tool, Tobias, as you well know.”
Tobias? Oh my goddess, this flirty, irritating wolf’s name had to be on the list Felix sent me, which made him a person of interest.
The witch stood, distracting me from my internal meltdown. “I’ll need them for this weekend.”
“No problem. Consider it done,” he said with a smirk. “Now heal my friend.”
I wasn’t a fan of witches. The few I’d met, apart from Tamara and the two in Trinity Falls, were in Tiberius Vane’s hype squad. Anyone who thought the Mage Council leader was an upstanding citizen needed a lobotomy, so enough said.
The witch pushed me down into an empty chair, using my useless arm to do so. The pain from the jolt sent black spots shimmering across my vision, and I had to swallow down the vomit that surged up my esophagus.
“A little care wouldn’t go amiss, Bonnie,” Tobias snapped as his friendly mask slipped.
But the witch just rolled her eyes again before placing her hands on my shoulder. I gritted my teeth, anticipating more pain. Instead, heat flowed from her hands into my body, easing the ache enough that I could finally relax.
I slumped back in the chair, exhausted. A larger hand settled on my other shoulder, and when I half opened one eye, I found Tobias staring down at me, his bright green gaze fixed firmly on my mouth.
“That better?” I nodded. Much better.
“All done,” the witch said. “Be more careful next time.” The minute Tobias focused on his phone in response to a message notification, she looked me up and down, a spark of curiosity in her pale eyes. My anxiety spiked to heart-attack levels, but to my relief, she said nothing about the glamour.
“There won’t be a next time,” Tobias assured her once he’d tucked his phone away.
A small snort escaped my lips. I was more than capable of looking after myself, but it was difficult to fight back against a faculty member with an axe to grind. So no doubt I’d sustain more injuries, although hopefully not as bad as this one.
It made me wonder if Bernard the Sadist was why Felix’s cousin had ended up with a serious injury. I’d have to quiz Felix about that. Maybe he could hack Bernard’s socials and out him as a prolific subscriber of kink accounts on OnlyShifters.
“Don’t worry, little dude. I plan on having a word with Bernard, so no need to skip his classes. He won’t be bothering you again.”
Typical male, assuming I couldn’t handle myself.
“I don’t need you to fight my battles.” And besides, he could be the wolf shifter responsible for my sister’s disappearance, which made him my enemy.
And if he was that wolf, he better watch his fucking back.