46. Tank
Tank
“What the fuck was that all about?” the lion shifter hissed as we sat outside the healer’s office. “I could have you expelled for attacking other students!”
He wasn’t wrong. Launching an unprovoked attack on another student was a serious offense, even for me. And to do it in front of a faculty member was…dumb.
Everything had been fine until I caught a whiff of burned sugar on the breeze as we left the forest. One huff later, my wolf woke up and dragged me closer to the dodgeball game.
Nothing made sense at that point. The wolf with the burned sugar scent was female. We’d curled up around her in the forest, listening to her heart thump as she slept.
There were no female students here.
So why did my wolf want me to watch the game?
Just as I was about to leave, I saw two much larger shifters attack the little hybrid. His cry broke the chains on my beast, who surged forward to protect the smaller wolf.
It wasn’t until my beast got closer that I realized it was the hybrid who smelled of burned sugar. Somehow, he was my mate.
I scrubbed my hand through my scalp, unsure of how to answer the lion’s question. I still didn’t fully understand it myself. The hybrid was male yet his wolf was female?
I’d never heard of such a thing before.
Instead of replying, I grunted something unintelligible, hoping the lion shifter fucked off and left me in peace. Once the witch had healed the little hybrid wolf, I’d carry him back to our apartment.
“You could have killed those two idiots,” Leone muttered while gripping the edge of the chair so tightly that the plastic cracked. He ground his teeth as we both stared at the closed door.
The old bitch had kicked us out after Leone placed the little wolf on an examination table. He’d passed out when the lion picked him up, which nearly set my wolf off again.
Leone was right, as much as it pained me to admit it.
I could have killed the two wolves, and the only reason I hadn’t finished the job was because the little wolf needed me.
My enhanced hearing had picked up the awful sucking sound he made each time he inhaled.
By then, I was cognizant enough to recognize an injury that required urgent attention.
I leaned back in the hard chair that was way too small for my ass and stretched my legs out, grateful for the shorts the healer had thrown at me when we arrived.
“Your beast listened to Scott,” Leone commented in a low voice after the silence stretched between us. Unfortunately, he seemed disinclined to leave me alone.
“Scott?”
“Riley Scott, the hybrid shifter.” Oh. I hadn’t known his name. Hadn’t connected him with the female wolf I’d been searching for ever since the forest incident. Although I should have.
In hindsight, it explained why the little wolf had been unaffected by my alpha command that day in the dining hall—true mates were immune.
“Your beast shifted back at his request,” the lion shifter continued. “Care to explain that?”
“No.” He could fuck off if he expected me to reveal what I suspected was true. “Why are you even here anyway? You should go deal with the two assholes that attacked Riley.” I paused before cocking an eyebrow. “Unless you’d like me to?”
Leone ground his teeth. “As much as I’d love to see those two assholes get what they deserve, you know I can’t condone violent retribution against a student.”
My mouth fell open in surprise. I’d expected him to ignore my comment or threaten to report me to Principal Hawksley.
“But what you do off campus is your business,” he added in a voice so low even I struggled to hear him.
I nodded. It was handy that I planned to deal with the bastards at the next full moon party.
The pair of them would regret the day they hurt my mate.