Hudson narrowed his eyes as he watched the room, waiting for his mate to show up. They’d been waiting for an hour, not knowing if or when the girls would be there. He was beginning to lose his patience and Artemis was getting anxious wanting to feel their mate close to them.
“Where are they?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Patient, they will be here,” Deak answered as he took a sip from his drink and then placed it on the table.
He was trying to keep control is own wolf and keep calm as he waited for his Vita to walk through the door. Hudson didn’t understand, last he heard they were excited and about to get ready for a girl’s night out. What could have changed?
Marco was getting worried as well. He hadn’t made up with Tabitha and he missed holding her and breathing in her scent. He couldn’t wait any longer. He got up from the table and said, “I’m going outside to make a phone call, I’ll be right back.” Marco turned and headed for the back door where they had an outside deck. There were fewer people out there and the music wasn’t as loud.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled to Tabitha’s name. The phone rang a few times.
“What do you want, Marco?” Tabitha said when she answered.
His wolf purred just hearing the sound of her voice. “I was calling to check in and see where you were,” he replied calmly.
“If you must know, we are having a girls’ night in, no boys allowed.”
He could hear the other girls giggling in the background and smirked at her comment. He loved it when she was feisty.
He turned in and noticed Hudson and Deak making their way toward him when he asked, “So you’re not going dancing at all tonight?”
“wait…How did…ugh, is Deak with you? Damn. his Lycan hearing is good. We decided it was best to stay in and, from the sound of it, it looks like we made the right decision. Have fun, boys.” Tabitha told them before hanging up.
Hudson groaned. “You mean to tell me they’ve been at the dorm this whole time?”
Marco rubbed the back of his neck, not wanting to answer. He was relieved that Tabitha was t home and not getting hit on by other guys. He didn’t know what he would do if he had seen that. “Let’s get out of here,” Marco suggested as he turned and made his way to the exit.
When he got closer to the exit he noticed Ophelia making her way toward them.
Marco turned around and mumbled quickly to Hudson about Ophelia, but he wasn’t quick enough.
“Hey, Hudson, didn’t know you were going to be here. I guess this is my lucky night,” she said as she tried to get closer to him.
Hudson grabbed her wrists before she draped them onto his shoulders and put them at her sides. “It’s over, Ophelia. There’s nothing you can do to take me away from my mate.”
Ophelia narrowed her eyes at Hudson. “Nothing is over until I say it’s over.” Then she lengthened her claws and slashed Hudson across the front of his chest.
Hudson tried to jump back away from her claws, but there were too many people around them to move.
Ophelia laughed. “Explain that to your mate.”
Deak stepped up and placed himself between the tiny, pathetic girl and the little wolf.
Ophelia’s smile faded as she looked up at the tall man in front of her. She took a whiff and her eyes widened as she realized what was in front of her. Deak smiled devilishly as he began to smell her fear. He gently wrapped his hands around her neck and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Be careful, tiny one, or you might just piss off the wrong wolf. This is my one warning to you.” Deak released her and Ophelia ran out of there quickly. As much as Deak annoyed Hudson, he was glad to have Deak as an ally and not an enemy.
Deak turned to look back at both Hudson and Marco. “Let’s go check on our girls, shall we?”
**********
There was a knock on the door.
Gretchen had been listening to her headphones, trying to drown out the rest of the world.
The knocking turned into pounding.
She looked up at the door. Her anxiety started up as her heart pounded fiercely against her chest. She slowly got up and walked over “Who is it?” she asked.
“Open the door and find out,” the voice said.
Gretchen was hesitant at first; if it had been Ophelia, she would have made her presence known. She didn’t know a lot of people so she couldn’t guess who was outside. When she unlocked it and opened the door she was surprised to see a tall leaning in the doorway.
“Cousin, what are you doing here?” she asked, opening the door further to allow him to come in.
“I can’t come and visit my cousin?” he replied as he walked into the room.
Gretchen quickly shut the door behind him and spelled the room. She turned to find her cousin looking at her with deep concern. “What? I like my privacy.” She continued with a shrug.
Her cousin gave her a small smile and opened hug here her a hug. Gretchen sighed as she walked over and allowed herself to be hugged by him.
“I haven’t heard from you in a while and wanted to check in on you. How’s college life treating you?” he asked her.
Gretchen pulled back. She wanted to tell him the truth, that she was having a miserable time under the hand of a petty she-wolf and wished she had picked a school farther away from the coven. But she couldn’t say that, so she did what she did best: plastered a fake smile across her face and lied. “College is great. I’m having a lot of fun here.”
He looked at her for a long time, trying to get a read if she was telling him the truth or not. He had a feeling that she was lying but it didn’t matter to him. “Well, you’re in luck. I’ve decided to move here so that I can be closer to you and might even take a class or two while I’m here.”
Gretchen’s smile faded when she heard this. “Why?”
He lifted his brow at her as if she had challenged him to a duel. “Aren’t you happy? You’ll have family close by and I’ll help you if you run into problems.”
Gretchen’s heart pounded harder in her chest. She didn’t want her cousin to be near the city she didn’t want any of them to be near her. Now she’d be watched even more closely. She smiled at him. “That’s wonderful, Tristan.”
Fighting for my Mate
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)