She had honey-brown hair he wanted to bury his face in. Creamy skin he wanted to kiss
and caress. A body he wanted to get lost in for days on end. Lips he wanted to see
wrapped around his dick as she knelt in submission before him.
A low rumble worked its way up his throat. Mark kicked him in the shin, causing Declan
to grimace in pain. The kick did its job of pulling him from his thoughts, but it
did nothing for the hard-on in his pants.
“Watch it,” Mark whispered harshly. “You can pounce on her after class.”
Declan looked toward Avery again.
Unlikely
. She had yet to look his way again and, even from this distance, he got the “hell-no”
vibe she gave off. Something was really wrong.
For all his research and subsequent planning, he knew there would be no way in hell
he could ignore the fact she was his mate.
Not now.
The woman sat there, in the same class as him, and would be for the foreseeable future.
After his background check, he’d taken the liberty of deciding they could wait to
meet. He would be up in Mischief before she would. He could find a place for them
and get settled in. Then he would find a way to run into her. It shouldn’t be too
difficult since her family ran the only clinic in town.
He cringed as he realized the ramifications of what he had done. It would be too much
to hope she wouldn’t find out about him doing the background check. He’d taken a calculated
risk. Braved playing with the Fates’ timeline and would likely pay for it in the form
of one pissed-off mate.
A grin kicked up the corner of his mouth. He would enjoy cajoling her into a better
mood. He could start with her beautiful face…placing kisses on her eyes, nose, cheeks,
and jaw before claiming her mouth. After she surfaced from his assault on her lips,
dazed and completely under his spell, he would work his way down her body. Kissing,
licking, and nipping every inch of her skin. Run his teeth along the column of her
neck. Laving the spot at the base near her shoulder where he would place his first
mark.
Declan shifted in his seat, trying as best he could to relieve the discomfort in his
pants. If he stood up now, everyone would get an eyeful of how turned on he was and
incorrectly guess it the reason why. He loved the law but not that damn much. He chuckled
and focused on the instructor.
The professor rattled off a bit more information, and Declan hoped Mark got it all.
He would have to hit his friend up later to find out what big projects or assignments
needed to be completed.
Or, I can ask my mate
.
The thought tumbled through his head and, as much as he’d resisted earlier, knowing
Avery was his mate grew on him and pleasantly so. Granted, he still had his ten-year
plan in place, and he hoped he could convince her they could wait before the actual
mating ceremony. He wanted to finish up in River Rock and get settled in Mischief.
It would definitely be easier for both of them since she would be living there as
well. It would all come together with time. They only needed to be patient.
Students began gathering their things, pulling Declan from thoughts of his future.
A quick check found Avery talking to the teacher. Hurriedly, he grabbed his notebook,
hustling to the front, hoping to catch her before she left.
Making it to the bottom of the stairs, Declan ran into a roadblock of giggling girls
surrounding two men. He stopped, frustration overriding him as his mate slipped out
the door without a backward glance.
“Shit!” he exclaimed harshly. “Excuse me,” he grunted, grabbing first one girl in
his path then another and placing them straight into the arms of the men they were
flirting with.
“Thanks, man,” one of them said, a grin lighting up his face.
“Sure,” Declan mumbled. He made his way to Avery’s vacant seat. Inhaling deeply, his
senses reeled as the soft, lingering floral scent enveloped him. He placed his hand
on her chair, and the warmth her body left behind seeped into his skin.
Mate. Mine!
The lion roared.
“Yeah, I hear ya. We have a plan though.”
“Talking to yourself again, Weller.” Mark sauntered up next to him, shaking his head.
“Save it, Stevens. The last thing I want to hear is
I told you so
.” Going out the door and into the hallway, Declan followed Avery’s floral scent.
Weaving between students, he tracked her until he ended up in a courtyard. There,
he lost her trail amongst the garden of flowers and water features.
People lounged all over the area in various stages of undress. A panther appeared
on his right, slowly prowling past him. Flicking its tail to and fro. A spotted leopard,
lounging on a bench, pounced on top of the panther, and the two tore off through the
courtyard chasing each other.
It was a Felidae Sanctum, one of the places feline shifters could go between classes
and hang out, relax, shifted or not. All of the shifters had their own courtyards
where they could be with others of their kind. It cut down on friction between the
various species.
Declan gave a cursory inspection throughout but didn’t see her. Along with the information
in the background check, there had been pictures of her and her family in human and
feline form. He’d scrutinized them enough to know what she would look like in either
form.
Beautiful. Sexy. A soft, golden coat of fur his lion wanted to press up against. Rubbing
the length of his body along and feel her affection in return.
“You go right. I’ll go left. Meet me at the other side.”
Declan knew Mark would be there, backing him up. His partner nodded, heading off in
his assigned direction.
Quickly but thoroughly, Declan searched the garden area until he ended up at the entrance
opposite where he had come in. He didn’t find a sign or scent of Avery anywhere.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t see her. You’re going to have to wait until tomorrow I guess.”
“Yeah, looks that way.” To all outward appearances, Declan hoped he exuded a calm
and unbothered exterior because inside he was a mess. His lion protested, bemoaning
the loss of his mate, blaming the human side for being slow. His human side didn’t
fare any better. To be so close to her and not be able to touch her affected him more
than he imagined it would. He thought he could control the urges finding his mate
invoked. How very wrong he was.
Avery rushed through the Felidae Sanctum as quickly as she could. She had no idea
if her mate would follow her. Didn’t honestly think he would. Just in case though,
she moved her ass through campus, bobbing and weaving between her fellow felines.
She didn’t want him to find her so he could tell her to her face he wasn’t interested.
Talk about humiliating.
Rounding the corner of Gamma Liontari Phi, she ran smack dab into Reese, knocking
both of them back.
At the end of class, Avery had sent a frantic 911 message, telling her friend they
needed to meet. Reese suggested the sorority since it happened to be a midway point
for both of them.
“What’s wrong?” Reese asked, hooking her arm through Avery’s to pull her through the
front door.
“It’s him.” Avery pulled away from Reese, dropped her bag to the floor, and started
pacing the entrance hall. It wasn’t unusual for a sorority member to bring a guest
into the house, but she’d never felt comfortable there. Never wanted to venture farther
into the house unless she absolutely had to. Some of the girls came across as snobby
and downright rude. Thought they were well above the rest of the feline population,
even though they came from the same roots. She didn’t need their crazy shit right
now.
Reese moved to the stairs, sitting down out of Avery’s way. “What’s him?”
“He’s in my first class of the day. I can’t do it. I can’t keep going to class with
him there. It’s humiliating.” She flung her hand out to the side, knocking it into
a vase full of flowers.
Reese jumped up and caught the vase, replacing it carefully on the entryway table.
“Who’s in your first class?”
Avery groaned. “The guy from Chugs. The one whose scent I smelled and my lioness freaking
stood up and noticed. You remember me telling you about it, right? I thought I scented
him, but couldn’t be sure ’cause I never found him, and then I decided it was my mind
playing tricks on me. Well, surprise! Not true,” she said, her voice getting louder
and louder as panic filled her. “My damn mate was in my Law and Ethics class and,
come to find out, isn’t interested in me at all. He spent the morning glaring at me
like it was my fault we were mates.” She spun to face Reese. “I didn’t ask for this
either. I decided over the summer to concentrate on school. To not worry about finding
my mate, and enjoy this last year. You’re right; there’s plenty of time later for
mating, setting up a home, and having babies. I have plans. Plans that don’t involve
a mate who hates me on sight.”
Reese held up her hands in surrender. “Whoa there. I’m not the one with the problem
with you. Besides, how do you know he isn’t interested? Maybe he’s shy and has a hard
time approaching women.”
Avery rolled her eyes.
As if.
“He’s a River Rock cop. I don’t think you can be shy with that kind of job. A lot
of people interaction.”
Reese’s eyes rounded, her mouth making a perfect O. “Oh, he’s one of the guys I texted
about? Which one? The yummy blond with the broad shoulders and tight ass? No—the redhead!
Oh wait. Say it wasn’t the redhead. I adore a gingers and might want to take a bite
out of him. I, of course, won’t if he’s your mate. My God, they were all so cute.
You’re lucky to have any of them.”
“Reese!” Avery couldn’t believe her friend was more interested in which guy and not
the fact he rejected her. “He rejected me. Didn’t try to talk to me. Didn’t go all
caveman on me and drag me out of there. All that shit we were told growing up? It’s
bullshit. He didn’t do any of it. He only glared.”
Reese snapped out of the dazed, lust-filled look on her face. “Oh, Av, honey, I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to get carried away.” Reese picked up Avery’s bag, grabbed keys
off a hook, and pulled her outside. They made their way to the parking lot next to
the sorority and got in Reese’s car. Ten minutes later, they headed up the stairs
of the townhouse, Avery blindly following her friend.
She couldn’t believe it.
Still! Even with time to process what happened.
He didn’t want her. The thought played a continuous loop in her head. She couldn’t
explain his behavior any other way.
When Avery’s younger sister, Marjorie, found her mate at eighteen, it was all the
family could do to keep Kevin from whisking her away before she graduated high school.
Two years older than Marjorie, Kevin couldn’t bear to be apart from her. A couple
of nights of him prowling their front yard in lion form had been enough to convince
her parents he should move in.
Once Marjorie graduated, she and Kevin had their mating ceremony and moved into an
apartment. Even now, two years into their relationship, Kevin couldn’t stand to be
away from her sister for more than a day. He devoted all his time to her when he could,
wanted to be with her day and night. He constantly bought her flowers and other tokens
of his love and affection.
Avery always thought when she found her mate he would treat her the same way. She
assumed he would want to be with her and never leave her side once they were together.
But from the looks of things, she wouldn’t get her dream mating. It pained her to
admit her mate appeared disappointment.
When they reached the third floor, Reese guided Avery to the couch, forcing her to
sit down. “You’re taking the rest of the day off. It’s only the first day. If your
professors are anything like mine, they’ll be talking about expectations and handing
out the syllabus. You can get it tomorrow.”
“I forgot to go to my advisor and change my schedule,” Avery mumbled. Searching her
pockets, she found her phone and scrolled through the numbers. She knew sure she had
her advisor’s number programmed in.
Before she could find it, Reese plucked the device from her fingers. “I’ll take care
of it. Kick off your shoes and shimmy out of those jeans. You need something comfy.”
Standing, numbness flooded her body as did what she’d been told. Reese disappeared
into the bedroom coming out a few seconds later a look of horror on her face. “What
in the hell happened?”
Rushing over, Reese knelt in front of her, poking her leg. Looking down Avery saw
what the fuss was about. There were four puncture wounds on her right thigh, all in
a neatly curved row. The dark, bloody gouges stood out against her white flesh, looking
worse than they felt. “It happened when he walked into class. My lion wanted to go
after him. Wanted me to shift and lure his lion out.”
“Oh, Avery. They look terrible. Stay right there. I’ll get something to clean them
up with.”
“It’s okay, Reese. They don’t hurt.”
“Yeah, well, if you don’t get some wound-care ointment on them, they’ll get infected
and scar.”
Avery shrugged. “I doubt anyone will notice or care. The one person I would get naked
for doesn’t want me, and the possibility of me wanting to strip down for anyone else
is slim to none at this point. Not when I….” Avery gulped and swallowed the lump of
emotion welling in her throat. “Not when I know I’m not good enough for the one person
who is supposed to want me unconditionally and fall in love me.”
Reese threw up her hands. “Okay, I’ve had enough. Here.” She handed Avery a pair of
pink fuzzy bottoms. “Put them on and sit.”
Avery did as she’d been told. Once settled on the couch again, Reese took the other
end.
“I get it. He didn’t react to finding his mate, to finding you, how you always dreamed.
That shit happens. Things don’t go as planned. Maybe something is going on with him.
Maybe
he’s
the one with the problem, not you. You can’t honestly believe all males go caveman
and drag their mates away the second they see them. We’re all different, honey. The
way we look. The way we smell. The way we eat, think, and drink. It isn’t a stretch
of the mind to get to behaving differently when we find our mates. Hell, if mine walked
up to me right now declaring his undying love and devotion, there’s a good chance
I would punch him in the face.”