Page 39 of Untamed

“They’re just not used to you talking to them. It’s going to take a bit for them to warm up to you.”

I practically bite the end of my fucking tongue off.

I know, they were so busy picking on me that they didn’t have time to get to know me. But that’s not what Jonah wants to hear, so what-fucking-ever.

We walk to another group where more hard eyes land on me. People start whispering behind their hands, and it drives a wedge between me and Jonah. Once again, I feel like I’m on my own.

Well, this should be fun.

17

I’ve been in plenty of situations before when I realize I’m the butt of the joke, and this is exactly like that.So help me, Fate.I plaster a damn smile on my face the whole time even though my heart beats like crazy. When the group Jonah is in decides they’re going to go for a swim, he turns to me with narrowed eyes. “You need to chill out.”

He pointedly peers at my hands which are basically squeezing into his huge biceps, and I relax them. “Sorry,” I mumble.

“It’s going fine,” he reassures me.

I swallow, gazing around. No one seems to be paying attention to me at the moment, so maybe it really is me. Since we’re off to ourselves, I tug on my lower lip and stare up at him through my lashes. The boots Mrs. Graves bought me are really working with the height difference, but in actuality, I kind of like that he’s so much bigger and stronger than me. Especially tonight. He makes me feel protected.

“Am I doing okay?” I hate how uncertain my voice sounds, but I put on a brave front anyway. He filters his fingers through my hair, his thumb passing over the shell of my ear.

“Yes, you’re really trying, and I appreciate it.”

The doe-eyed look on his face makes my core heat. Is this party like television? Do couples find rooms and go to town on each other? Can we move on to that experience? Because that sounds like a hell of a lot more fun.

“I’m going to grab us some more sodas. Meet me at the dock?”

I nod. I can get behind a trip to the lake. It’s so beautiful. He leans down and feathers a kiss across my forehead. It’s not the domineering, mind-melting kiss I’ve felt from him before, but my eyelids flutter closed in response like I’m trying to soak it in. In a way, it’s more intimate. Rough kisses are spurred by our natures, but that? That may as well have come from human-Jonah.

His hand trails down my arm, and I open my eyes to find him disappearing through the slider. I take off down the deck and onto the lawn, my lips tugging into a smile. Forty yards of grass extends in front of me until a dock juts out into the lake. A few bodies are already standing there, and as I watch, one dives into the water at the excitement of the cheering crowd.

I won’t be going in the water, but I don’t mind watching the fun. It beats being at Greystone, and honestly, it’s just nice to be with Jonah. Part of me is happy to be staking my claim here. I didn’t want to come, but if he’d gone without me, I would’ve been a jealous bitch.

Don’t ask me about shifter feelings. I don’t understand them myself.

The stars twinkle above my head. A thread of excitement buzzes down my spine as I make my way toward the dock. Footsteps come up behind me, and I relax thinking they’re Jonah’s but tense when the scent is all wrong. I move out of the way, but the shifter falls into step beside me. I peer over and find Rachel, Laura’s best friend. I tamp down my first reaction, and instead, say, “Hey. How’s it going?”

She smiles, but it’s cruel. “Hey, Kinsey. I heard you were coming.”

I don’t know how to respond to that, so I keep my mouth shut and continue on my same path. Jonah will be coming soon, and at least he’ll be a buffer between me and anyone else. He may be blind but he’s also not going to let anyone do anything to me either.

“Us girls are actually heading over here,” she says, steering me down a separate path. She winds her arm with mine like Mia does, but it feels all wrong. Her hold is too tight.

“Oh, but Jonah—”

“Jonah said he’d be coming, too. It’s a better spot to sit and relax. You know?”

My gut instinct tells me this is a bad idea, but I can’t go running to Jonah. He’ll just think I’m not trying. “Sure. Cool.” We keep on the path that threads through a forest of trees. The canopy above us blocks the stars and the moon, but our wolf vision makes us see more than the average person, so we easily traverse the landscape. Remembering Mrs. Graves’ lessons, I ask, “So, are you at Brixton, then?”

“Yes,” she answers, a sliver of ice threading through that one word.

My hackles start to rise, suspicion building between my shoulder blades. “You know,” I start, about to tell her I’m going to wait for Jonah on the main lawn, but she pushes me into a clearing in the woods.

Yellow, beady, wolf eyes stare back at me. I spin, and several human forms surround the clearing in all directions. They move in closer, surrounding me. It’s the same few bitchy girls from Lunar that used to gang up on me, and they’re doing it again now. Here.

Laura chuckles, the sound sinister in the back of her throat. “I can’t believe you went through with it. Coming here was a risk.”

“I’m here with Jonah,” I remind them. “You know, my mate.”

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