Page 31 of Forsaken

Nathan presses his lips together. “I guess you could tell her you were—how do you call it—flicking the bean?”

I glare at him, but he’s not wrong. “Funny. I’ll be downstairs in a few.”

He moves closer, the hair on my arms standing at attention as soon as he’s near enough. “Just another pair of panties I’m going to ruin.”

I push him away. If he doesn’t stop, I’m going to be in a constant state of arousal. I lead him right toward the door of our shared bathroom and close it behind him. His faint chuckle reverberates as he heads to his room to most likely change into his academy uniform. Because I didn’t do it earlier, I plop my luggage on my bed and go through it, searching for unsoiled panties. When I find them, I hurry up and change, saving the full unpacking for later.

I descend the stairs. My four Daybreak counterparts are waiting by the door, and I give them all a smile. “Ready.”

We exit the cabin together while Alice chats happily about the meeting she had with her mate earlier. It sounds like they actually had a good time. You could even call it a date. When we’re almost three-quarters of the way to the Alpha’s house, she turns toward me. “You met with Sean, right? How did it go?”

I shrug. “Not as well as yours.”

The answering frowns I receive is enough to put me on edge. Alice waits like I’m going to go into more detail, but I rarely do that with anyone aside from Nathan. Once you start being the oldest person at the school, you’re almost embarrassed by the fact that you’re still there. Especially when hundreds of other shifters have come and gone.

Robbie speaks up instead. He tells us he didn’t get very far with his mate either. She didn’t even want to see him. “It’s no surprise why we ended up here instead of at our own homes.”

I’m still a bit bitter about that, too.

We look like a band of prep school kids as we approach the annex off the main house. We’re all dressed the same, no doubt intentionally. Just another thing to set us apart from the pack we’re a disgrace to.

Alice doesn’t seem to notice the attention as she waltzes happily through the entryway that leads into the meeting room. People file in after her, each of them whispering in surprise. She’d have to be blind not to feel all of their stares on her. When we finally get inside, she’s sitting with her mate.

The four of us Greystone Academy shifters hover near the back. A trickle of awareness buzzes up my spine, and I search the room. Sure enough, Sean is here, already sitting. He glances over his shoulder at the same time that I find him. He’s wearing virtually the same outfit, though this one isn’t in tatters on the floor. He holds my stare while Nathan leans in. “Should I make him jealous?”

“If you want us both to die,” I squeak, trying my best not to move my lips.

“It would be fun.”

Even though Nathan isn’t even doing anything, Sean flicks his hard gaze to him.

“Perfect,” Nathan purrs.

Sean glances away. A second later, my phone vibrates where I have it tucked away in the top of my skirt. I pull it out, checking the screen. It’s from Sean. I tilt the screen toward Nathan so he can also get a look. Sorry about earlier.

Nathan runs his hand over his mouth, hiding a scoff.

Another text comes in right after. Should we sit together?

A rumble vibrates through Nathan’s chest, making my entire body buzz down to my pinkie toe. He’s definitely acting like I’m his. A wash of aphrodisia showers over me, like I’m bathing in it. It’s nice to feel wanted. Appreciated. Fucking needed.

“Should I?” I ask Nathan. Not because I need his permission, but because I wonder if it will do any good.

“I said any means necessary.”

I take a deep breath and head that way. When I get there, Sean moves over, leaving me the chair next to the aisle. “Thank you,” he says, knee bouncing up and down. “I really am sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have lost control like that.”

It hits me then that he’s said more heartfelt words to me today than he ever has before. Jesus, this guy is infuriating. “Sometimes it’s good to lose control,” I counter. Immediately, my thoughts go to Nathan and me in the bed.

Mating...relationships. They’re not supposed to be this hard. It feels like I have to pull everything from Sean. With Nathan, it’s like seeing everything around me. I don’t even know how I do it, it just happens. But I’d mourn it if I ever didn’t have it.

I turn to find Nathan leading Gayle toward us, and my heart kicks up a few notches. Sean must notice because he leans closer. “What’s wrong?”

Oh, so now you can feel me? I lose the chance at saying that when he peers over his shoulder. His whole body tenses. I get a front-row seat of the emotions rolling off him. Before he has a chance to really spiral, he places a smile on his face, covering everything up.

Nathan and Gayle cross in front of us. I haven’t seen her in the longest time—only little snippets here and there if I happen to be walking down the hall when she and Nathan have a meeting. He and I try to be around for the other during meeting days because you never know how it will end.

Gayle glances down at Sean as she walks past him, and a low growl emanates from my chest. The people in front of us turn, looking me over. I smile at them, and they quickly look away.

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