21. Riley
Riley
This was a mistake. I should have said no to the lion shifter’s offer. Having him pin me to the mat was playing havoc with my hormones, and there was zero chance he hadn’t figured out I was crushing hard on him.
What really worried me, however, aside from all my please-fuck-me-into-the-mat pheromones flooding the gym, was that he might pick up on the disconnect between my masculine appearance and feminine frame.
While the glamour spell did a good job of changing my appearance, it couldn’t completely hide my figure. Binding my breasts prevented unwanted attention, but my hips were wider than a male’s and my ass was rounder.
I danced around, sweat pouring down my face and soaking the chest binder. Unlike the guys I’d sparred with at Cal’s gym, Leone was fast, smart, and lethal. He had effortlessly floored me several times already but thankfully avoided touching me more than necessary.
Fatigue was badly affecting my reaction times. Since arriving at Moonfall, I had neglected my training, and it showed.
The lion jabbed at my ribs, which I dodged, but I realized a fraction of a second too late that the blow was a feint. He swept my legs out from under me, and I hit the mat with a heavy oomph, temporarily winded.
“Not bad, Scott,” Leone commented as he stepped back. “You did better than I expected.” For a hybrid, I added in my head.
I stared up at him, fighting against the compulsion to wrap myself around his muscular frame, and swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly drier than the moon. Was it really necessary to spar while shirtless?
Sweat trickled down his chest, lingering in the ridges of his perfectly defined abs. Each carved muscle was a testament to the many hours he likely spent working out. Or maybe lion shifters were simply born hotter than the sun they worshipped?
My hungry eyes drank in all that delicious golden flesh as if Leone was a glass of ice water in a heatwave.
“Thanks,” I choked out eventually, while praying for divine intervention.
“You’d be more comfortable in shorts and a tee,” the lion advised, pointing to my purple, sweaty face. Yeah, I would, but also…nope.
“I have, um, allergies,” I told him while dragging myself up. “It’s better for me to cover up.” One golden eyebrow arched, and I inwardly cringed.
“Really?” This time, my flushed face had nothing to do with my recent exertion. The sooner I escaped from the lion’s orbit, the better. He wasn’t dumb, sadly. Unlike half the wolf shifters on campus.
The outside door clanged open, sending a blast of cold air sweeping in, which provided some much-needed clarity.
“Thanks for the help,” I blurted out in a rush, praying he’d let me leave before I self-combusted. “Help I didn’t need,” I quietly added under my breath. Which he apparently heard because alpha shifter hearing was freakishly good. Who knew?
“You’re agile and think fast on your feet, Scott, but you need to bulk up a bit to win against the more powerful shifters. Not all of them are as easy to beat as Clawson.”
My wolf, already hyper on lust from being in the presence of the lion shifter, started spinning in crazy circles when she heard footsteps behind us.
“What’s going on here?” a gruff voice asked.
I turned to see the enormous wolf shifter who’d intervened in my scuffle with the idiot wolves in the canteen. I hadn’t crossed paths with him since, but his sex appeal sure hadn’t diminished in that time.
The spike of alpha dominance between him and the lion nearly knocked me off my feet. Damn, the two of them were fucking powerful. Equally matched.
A rogue mental image of the two shifters wrestling, naked, sent a fresh wave of arousal flooding through my system, and to my utter shame, both of them turned to stare at me, their eyes glowing.
“Need food,” I squeaked, fully aware if I didn’t get the fuck away from them, I would out myself as a horny female wolf desperate for alpha cock.
Before either of the two alpha shifters could comment on my unhinged behavior, I sprinted away as fast as my exhausted legs could carry me.
My shower lasted way longer than usual. Mostly because I needed to take the edge off my horniness. By the time I stepped out into my small bedroom, I had very little time before my first class of the day: Modern Relationships and Sex Ed.
Simon waved when he saw me enter the classroom just as the bell rang, still chewing the last bite of my bacon roll.
I crossed the room, narrowly avoiding the outstretched leg of a dickhead wolf shifter attempting to trip me.
“I looked for you in the canteen,” Simon whispered. “Did you sleep in?”
“No, I was training with Leone.” The snake shifter’s eyebrows shot up.
“But he only does that with the third years. And only the top students.”
I shrugged. “He seems worried someone will kill me.”
“That’s…sick.” Poor Simon. He appeared genuinely upset on my behalf.
“Don’t worry, I’m used to people wanting to hurt me,” I quipped. Sadly, that was true. Humans didn’t react well when they discovered a shifter lived among them, and shifters hated me because I was a hybrid. It was lucky I’d met Cal when I did, or I might not have survived my teenage years.
The chatter died down when a tall female feline shifter strode in wearing an extremely tight-fitting dress that hugged her ample curves. Several shifters on the front two rows groaned and fidgeted in their chairs.
My gaze skated over the female’s shiny black hair, red lipstick, and cat eyes. Damn, she was gorgeous. Like, insanely hot.
“Good morning, class,” she purred, resting her curvy ass on her desk and thrusting her large breasts forward. Several more students groaned in appreciation, which she apparently liked because it provoked a satisfied smile. Her feline eyes scanned the room. When she reached me, she paused.
“Ah, I see we have a new student. Name?”
“Riley Scott, miss.”
“Oh yes. The hybrid.” Her sneer told me all I needed to know. Brilliant. One more shifter who despised me for something that was not my fault.
“My name is Miss Raven. Some elements of the class curriculum will not pertain to you, Mr. Scott, because hybrids don’t form mate bonds with full-blooded shifters. For obvious reasons,” she added with a bitchy smirk. The wolf shifters in the class all tittered and nodded their heads in agreement.
What a fucking bitch.
“But I expect the rest of you to pay attention, as one day you may meet your soul-bonded mate or mates, depending on your species.” While half the class muttered excitedly about soul-bonded mates, Miss Raven pulled out a stack of papers from her briefcase.
Then she leaned back against her desk and snapped her fingers.
“Today we will discuss how you can tell if you have met your mate.” A hand shot up. “Yes, Mr. Brisk?”
“Do soul bonds exist? My dad says they’re a myth.”
“Soul bonds are rare, but the goddess is benevolent enough to bless some of us with a soul-bonded mate. We’ll also be discussing regular mate bonds between shifters, especially wolves and felines.
” She waved her hand dismissively. “Lesser shifters like reptiles have their own behaviors that are not relevant to most of us.”
I rolled my eyes at her blatant dismissal of lesser shifters. Honestly, anyone would think from her attitude only the biggest, most powerful shifter species counted.
“Does anyone know what it feels like when you meet your soul-bonded mate?”
Several hands shot up, but Miss Raven pointed to a tiger shifter.
“Yeah. My brother said all he wanted to do was fuck his mate when he met her.”
“That’s correct, even if the delivery could use some work, Mr. Hammond.” The tiger smirked.
“Does that mean you’re my mate, Miss Raven? Because I’d love to fu—”
The teacher slammed her palm down on his desk before leaning in, giving the tiger an excellent view of her cleavage.
“I am your teacher, Mr. Hammond. Such talk is highly inappropriate.” Her eyes flashed as her beast came to the fore. “One more comment like that and I’ll have no choice but to punish you.”
I got the impression that a punishment from Miss Raven was more of a reward, but thought better of saying so.
“When you meet your soul-bonded mate or mates, you will experience an overwhelming desire to seal the bond with them in a sexual way. Felines, bears, and wolves bite their mates as part of the bonding process. This bite, typically on the neck or shoulder, leaves a scar and is a visual sign to others that a shifter has a mate. It doesn’t prevent more mate bonds from being formed, however. ”
“What if I want to fuck a mated female because it’s a full moon and I’m super horny?” a wolf shifter asked.
“A relevant question, Mr. Travis, but a mated female is not receptive to other males unless they are her mates.”
“But can I still fuck her?”
Was this asshole for real?
“Are you seriously asking if you can rape a female who isn’t receptive to your questionable charms?” I called, not bothering to stick my hand in the air.
“It’s not rape if she wants it,” the wolf muttered.
“Mr. Scott is correct,” Miss Raven said with an eye roll.
“As I just explained, a mated female is never receptive to a male who is not her mate, so if you try to have sex with her, it would be a non-consensual interaction. And on that note, please complete the following worksheet on what consent looks like in sexual relationships.”