Chapter 31
thirty-one
“Bring up the camera feed,” I tell my hacker over voice chat. Eyes glued to my laptop screen, I wait.
Ashlyn’s little blip hasn’t moved in a few minutes.
I’m proud of her for finishing her final, but it seems she got stuck around center campus for some reason.
My throat tightens with a painful swallow.
I wipe my sweaty palms down my jeans, then jiggle the mouse again, refreshing the browser, and stare until my eyes burn from not blinking.
Still no movement. Watching that little dot on the map isn’t enough. I need motion. Proof she’s okay.
I’m starting to panic if I don’t get visuals of her regularly. Like a strung-out addict, my mouth’s dry and ready for her taste on my tongue again.
Last night’s Beta party footage claws at my brain.
The seductive images of her threading through a ring of nerds like some bright new toy, turning heads she didn’t notice, the sway of her ass in those too-tight jeans.
.. I forgot how quickly my stomach goes cold when I see her with someone else.
Only the phone call to my cousin, Logan, was enough to calm the pounding between my temples.
He swore she’d only spoken to Rowan Greaves.
Already looked up everything about him. And his family. And grandparents. Seems he and his roommate, Julien, had a thing. So he gets to live another day.
Ashlyn walked home right after, a couple of my Theta initiates tailing her from afar.
What’s now being referred to as Zoo Heist had my hands tied all night. Lan, in some cocaine and hallucinogenic-induced delusion, thought it’d be a fantastic idea to liberate a sociopathic neighbor’s exotic pets. Which all ended up on our grounds.
After the peacocks flew to the roof and the camel shit in the kitchen, someone’s Omega girlfriend called the police.
I had to bribe them with another donation to the city to get them to back off, turn a blind eye to the piles of drugs, hordes of underage drinkers, and one dead freshman someone propped up on the sofa (from an overdose, we think).
Instead, I had them focus on helping us get the creatures to rescue sanctuaries.
Animal control is still looking for the tiger.
A freshman thought it’d be entertaining to pour gallons of liquor into the pool and light it on fire. This scared all the prairie dogs away but, as karma would have it, they all ended up in Lan’s room under the bed.
I haven’t had a lick of sleep.
I haven’t done my routine.
It feels as if the poison of chaos has taken over my entire body.
And my mind.
“Can’t from this angle. She’s in the alley. Wait…”
Leaning forward, I make out some movement on one of the campus cameras. “There she is!” With a deep sigh of relief, my chest relaxes as she wanders out between the two buildings. But…
“Who was that fuck who walked the other direction?” I growl, teeth clenched. “Zoom in.”
“I can’t do that, Aiden.”
I rake my hands through my hair. He doesn’t need to. I know who it is. That weird fuck I saw her talking to in the hall that one day…
“I have no patience. Not today—”
“Today?”
“I’m going to kill him and then her.” Reaching for my Glock, I shove the chair back as I stand. “Or the other way around.”
She’s not cheating on me. Not again. I won’t allow it.
I won’t give her the opportunity.
I end the call with my guy and press Ashlyn’s number…
She doesn’t answer.
My coat hits my shoulders the way a decision does—hard, irreversible. I race through the manor, boots slapping the marble of the entryway. When I stuff my hands into my pockets, a hitch trips my steps. A paper cut slices through my fingers from the heavy cardstock invitation folded inside. Fuck!
My engagement party is tonight…
I mean, it’s a good thing. The night I reveal Dean Twinston’s secrets. But I have to make sure Ashlyn doesn’t show up and get the wrong idea. If she obeys me, I can fix all of it.
But the hellkitten doing what she’s told? That’s the biggest gamble I’m taking.
From the lockbox on the wall near the doors, I find Henry’s key to his latest Maserati and send him a text.
Me
Taking your car
Henry
K.
Waitttttt! not my new one? Not the blueberry!!!!
Me
Bye
Henry
I will destroy your bike.
Me
I will destroy your face.
Henry
I’ll tell your fiance about your girlfriend.
Me
She already knows fucker. I’ll tell your NON girlfriend you’re a virgin that jerks off on that one picture of her. You know the one.
By the time I’m in the driver’s seat and punching the start button, the phone screen has dimmed. Then, one last message.
Henry
Concede.
But I’m not a virgin.
Hmm. Well… Points to my little brother. But he does jerk off on that girl’s picture. I’ve seen the aftermath. Fucking disgusting.
Unless…
Me
Cuntlyn doesn’t count
Henry
Yeah she does
Flooring the gas, I peel out down the driveway, watching Ashlyn’s movements across campus. It’s not five minutes until I’m riding rails on every curve. Five minutes after that, I’m flipping the beast into a parking spot behind the student center.
“Whoa! Look at that car! Nice, Mr. President!” A few of the initiates gasp as I alight, locking the doors with a beep.
“It’s Henry’s,” I tell them, lengthening my stride toward the glass door.
The food center is barren. Most students are either packing up for the break or already gone. Even with the solitude of the giant space, Ashlyn is oblivious when I approach, snatch her waist until she screams, then toss her over my shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“What the fuck, asshole!”
When she bucks against me, I swat her tight ass in her jeans until she flops like a rag doll. Even though she’s given in, she runs her mouth the entire stroll toward the freshman dorm.
“Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. That’s all you say. No ‘please’ or ‘Ashlyn, I’m enraptured by you and would be so ever grateful if you’d accompany me.’”
I set her down in front of me, hands gripping her shoulders, trying really hard not to smile. “Ashlyn?”
She crosses her arms in her puffy white jacket with a huff. A bit of hope lines her eyes. “Yes?”
Closing the space between us, I linger for a moment, letting our cold breaths mingle. Long lashes blink at me. The tip of her tongue wets her bottom lip in anticipation. And everything in me begs to take it between my teeth.
I whisper, “Let’s go.” With a little shove on her arm, I aim her toward the freshman women’s dorm. A puff of crystallized air escapes her mouth as she groans through an exasperated sigh. But she moves.
At her door, she hesitates, giving me a weary glance. “I don’t think—”
“Get inside.”
“Okay!” Aggravated, she unlocks her door with her card, then shoves it open.
Fortunately, her roommate, and my brother’s crush, is packing up as if she’s getting ready to leave. Her eyes widen at the sight of me before she scurries to throw the rest of her pile of clothes in a bag.
“Um. Boys aren’t allowed up here,” Athena protests, but her voice is like a mouse’s squeak.
“Good thing I’m a man, then. Need help finishing up?”
She freezes. “No.”
It’s only two seconds before she’s tripping out the door behind us, dragging crates and bags, and multiple coats covering her arms.
Snapping my fingers, I point to Ashlyn’s side. “Get on the bed.”
Gold hair swirls as the hellkitten flips around and faces me. “Go fuck yourself.”
When I reach for her, she’s quick to slap me across the face until my lip stings with the cut from her nails.
All I do is chuckle maniacally, walking her backward while loosening my belt buckle. She’s so fucking cute with how scared she is. With a flourish, I slide the leather strap out from the loops. Her thighs hit the edge of the mattress as I fold it in half and give it a few snaps.
“Get. On. The. Bed.”
She doesn’t move, only lifts her chin in defiance. I snare it with my thumb and forefinger, holding the belt out to the side as a threat.
“Did you talk to that fuck I told you not to, baby girl? Did you speak to him?”
Fire darts behind the glare she gives me. “I’m not following your rules anymore, asshole…with a fiancée.”
“Oh, but you will.”
With a jolt, she attempts to shift her posture away, but I snatch her hair.
A squeal rips from her belly as I swing her around, forcing her onto the bed.
Hand planted on her back, I bend her over it.
Before she can move, I raise the strap and swat the shit out of her ass.
Her calves kick as she wails, hands clawing at her blankets.
“Stop!”
“Quit fighting me, and I will,” I bite out, my waist locked onto her plump ass. When she doesn’t move fast enough, I spank her again. And a third time. “You’re enjoying this too much.” I almost let out another chuckle.
She makes some moaning affirmation, but shimmies up onto the bed, ripping her coat and then thick pink sweater off while holding out a hand as if that will ward me off.
“Stay back. You’ve bruised my butt. What do you want, Cardell?”
Leaning over, I snag her wrists and tie them securely with the leather. I shift her toward the headboard and loop it through one of the thin wooden bars and buckle it. “I want you to stay here until I come back for you tonight.”
“Tonight? You have to be insane! I’m not laying like this until you come back!”
Wicked smile on my face, fist under my chin, I behold my creation. She digs her heels into her bedding, trying to sit up, but can’t. “That’ll do.”
Her eyes widen comically. “I have to pee!”
“So? Wet the bed, I don’t care. But you’ll stay there. And I’ll come back.”
“I’m hungry!” she shouts, indignant.
“I’ll bring you bread. And some Sweet Tarts, my sweets. But only if you’re a good girl.”
Her jaw locks up tight, nostrils flaring. Skin peppered pink that sets her golden hair aflame. “I hate you.”
I graze the tip of her nose with mine. Voice low and rough, I grit out, “I hate you more.”
And with that, I spin toward the hall.
“I hope you die!”
I give her a wave and a smirk. “If I do, you’re seriously going to miss me…”