Page 13 of My Defiant Mate
He just stares at the key like it's a snake. "Jionni…"
"Take it."
For a long moment, he doesn't move. Then, slowly, he reaches out. His fingers brush against mine as he takes the key. The brief touch is electric, a jolt that reminds me of how it felt to have those fingers digging into my skin, tangled in my hair.
"This doesn't mean—" he starts.
"It means exactly what we both know it means," I cut him off, my voice low and certain. "Keep telling yourself this is about rules, Toby. We both know you'll be back."
He doesn't deny it. He can't. His fingers close around the key, hiding it in his fist.
I lean in one last time, my mouth brushing against his ear. "Come to me tonight," I whisper, the words a promise and a command. "We're not done."
Toby
Istare at Jionni's key in my hand. The metal is warm against my palm. Yesterday, I had my life planned out to the minute. Now I can't even sit still in my own room.
My rounds are done. The floor is quiet. Everything in my room is exactly where it should be. My bed is made with perfect hospital corners. My textbooks sit in neat subject piles, sticky notes color-coded exactly how I like them. This is the room of someone who has their life together. Not someone who's about to risk everything for an alpha he just met.
I walk to the mirror, still clutching the key. The marks Jionni left are still a bright, vivid purple. My collar hides them, but that's not what's different. It's my eyes. They look like they've seen something they can't unsee. I touch the bite mark at the base of my neck. It still throbs, a dull, constant pulse that reminds me. Of him.
Jionni.
Just thinking his name makes my stomach clench. My skin feels too tight. I ache in places I didn't even know could ache. The key digs into my palm where I'm gripping it too tight.
This is insane. I have a paper due Thursday. I have a scholarship that depends on me being the perfect RA. I have parents who are counting on me to succeed.
What I don't have is the strength to stay away.
My room has always been my sanctuary, but now it feels like a cage. The silence I used to love is suffocating. The order I've worked so hard to maintain feels empty.
I can't do this anymore. My heart races with equal parts terror and relief as I finally stop fighting.
Before I can second-guess myself, I grab head for the door. The hallway is empty, the overhead lights dimmed for quiet hours. I walk fast, my heart a frantic drum against my ribs.
"Toby? Is that you?"
I freeze, my hand on the stairwell door. I turn.
Braiden Kelly is standing there, holding a bag of chips and a soda. He looks… radiant. His skin glows, and he moves with a new confidence that wasn't there when he was a nervous freshman just a few months ago.
"Oh, hey Braiden," I say, trying to sound casual, like I'm not sneaking off to my alpha's room.
Braiden tilts his head, his eyes narrowing. Then a slow, knowing smile spreads across his face. "You look different. Good different."
My face heats up. "I—that's not—I mean—"
He takes a step closer, and his eyebrows shoot up. "Oh. Oh wow. You found your mate."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie, but it's so pathetic we both know it's bullshit.
Braiden laughs, a warm, genuine sound. "It's okay. I'm not gonna tell anyone." He glances around, then leans in closer. "Is it that guy from 3B? The one with all the tattoos who plays guitar?"
I don't answer, but my burning face gives me away. Braiden's grin widens.
"Knew it," he says, looking proud of himself.
"It's complicated," I say, the understatement of the century.
