Amanda didn’t know what she could feel more: the rage that was building inside her or the heat of Hudson’s hand touching her side.
She grabbed the hand that was touching her side, pulled it away from her body, and threw it behind her. She then tried to thrust her elbow into his stomach but missed. She looked up at Calvin and could see the confusion on his face as he looked back and forth between them.
Amanda took a step away from Hudson and closer to Calvin. “Calvin, please ignore him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’m not seeing anyone.”
Calvin looked at her quietly for a moment trying to assess the situation, looking between the two of them, and then gave Amanda a crooked smile and said, “I’ll see you in class.” he then turned and walked away.
Amanda closed her eyes as she took deep breaths, trying to control the anger that was boiling inside her. She was getting tired of Hudson’s games and was ready to put an end to them. She spun around quickly and glared at Hudson, who was standing there with a smirk on his face.
“Why would you do that?” she asked him.
“Because he’s not worth your time.”
“And what, you think you are?”
Hudson didn’t answer.
“So, is this your new thing now? In high school, you made me feel like I was nothing, but now you’re going to play the hero that protects me from all the mean guys?”
His smirk was gone as he squared his eyes on her.
“Yep.”
That was it? That was all he was going to say?
“News flash, Hudson. If anything, I need protection from you.”
Amanda turned to walk away but felt the heat from his hand as he grabbed her arm. His touch sent tingles up and down her body. Why there was a part of her that was enjoying his touch, she would never know.
“Look, all I’m trying to do is be a decent guy. I know what I did in high school and maybe I’m trying to make up for that here. But you don’t know how guys think and what they’re after. You’re right, you’re not that shy skinny girl from high school anymore,” he said as he looked her up and down, drinking her in. his wolf was going crazy seeing his mate dressed in such little clothing.
Amanda pulled her arm out of his grip and rubbed her arm, wishing she had a sweater to cover herself up.
Hudson continued. “You’ve changed and if I’ve noticed, then I guarantee every guy in here is noticing how you look. I’m not going sit by and watch them take advantage of you.”
“Why because you’re the only one that is allowed to do that?”
“No.”
“Then what, Hudson, what is it?” she asked, knowing she was drawing more attention to them than she wanted.
Hudson ran his hand through his hair. He knew he was messing this up. She wasn’t going to forgive him if he kept talking the way he was, but he was having a hard time keeping his head straight and not letting his wolf take over who just wanted to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and walk out of there.
“I don’t want anyone else to be with you.”
There, he admitted it.
“Why?” she begged.
“Because you’re mine,” he yelled.
Amanda let out a gasp. Her emotions were on overload. Nothing he was saying was making sense. How could she be his after he spent the last four years telling her she was beneath him? Not worth his time. Nothing. What had made him change his mind? She could feel the tears threatening to fall, but she pushed them back. She closed her eyes and shook her head. But when she opened them and looked at him, she was seeing red. She walked up to Hudson and slapped him across the face. Her hand stung from the hit, but his face did not move from the quick motion.
She leaned closer and whispered, “I’m not yours, nor will I ever be yours.”
She could see the pain in his eyes when she said those words, but she didn’t care. She looked around and noticed everyone was watching them. For a moment, she felt like she was back in high school, and all the fears came rushing back as they all just stood and stared at her.
Amanda let out a sigh. She turned away from Hudson, and with her head still held high, she walked out of the kitchen and made her way out the front door and down the driveway. She was still fighting when she heard her name being called out from behind her, but she didn’t stop to see who it was.
She felt someone running up behind her.
“Amanda, are you alright? What happened? When I left you, you were talking to some cute guy.” it was Kimmy.
Amanda took in a deep breath and looked at Kimmy before saying, “Hudson, that’s what happened.”
“What did he do?”
“He told Calvin, the guy I was talking to, that I was unavailable, and then proceeded to tell me that I am his and no one else’s.”
“I told you he liked you.”
Amanda shook her head as she ran her hands through her hair.
“No, Kimmy. This is the sick mind game that he likes to play. He’s not going to stop torturing me.”
“I’m sorry the party wasn’t fun. Do you want me to walk back to the dorms with you?”
“No, that’s okay. Go back to the party. I want to walk back alone.”
Kimmy hugged her before heading back to the party.
Amanda started to slowly walk back to the dorms. There were still people out and about, so she didn’t feel completely alone. She shivered and looked around to see if anyone was close to her but couldn’t see anyone that would cause alarm. She started to walk a little faster. She looked behind her and could swear she saw a shadow of something but couldn’t figure out what it was exactly. This made her instincts inside her scream ‘run’!
Amanda started to run, not knowing what exactly she was running from but knowing that she needed to get somewhere safe quickly. When she rounded a corner, she collided with someone almost knocking her down to the ground. She waited to feel the pain of the ground on her backside, but it never came. Instead, she felt the heat of someone’s arms wrapped around her pulling her back up. When she looked up she was surprised and yet also relieved to see that it was Hudson.
“Hudson,” she said as she buried her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around him.
“Hey, what happened?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her. He knew she was scared about something, but his wolf was all too happy having her in their arms.
Amanda released him and started to pull him in the direction that she was running in.
“There’s something out here. Come on, we need to go.”