AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You deserve a mate. Those people are full of bullshit. Every shifter has a mate—even freaks like us. Or in your case, mates.”
Chapter Nine
Karelis
He needed to actually study? Somehow that surprised me, though we had just been in the library, not studying. Casimir spoke confidently and never minced words. I would have bet my fur he was the type who went to class but never had to do extra studying. He simply soaked up the knowledge and then went in and aced the test.
“You haven’t had any more trouble?” he asked as we walked together. He had naturally taken the long way back to the dorms. Not that I minded. I was honestly hoping that he would pull me into one of the dark corners and kiss me again. We’d only shared the one kiss, but my lips missed his all the same.
“No. Probably because you three have been on duty all the time. Though I’m not sure if you’re looking out for me or for June.”
He laced his fingers with mine. I sucked in a breath as tendrils of energy flowed between us. A lot like the electricity that pulsed between Blaze and me, but this was less frantic, calmer and steadier. “Both. But mostly you. We look after June because she’s important to you.”
Well, damn.
“Thank you. It’s your fault, you know.” I was teasing, really, but Cas stopped and tugged on my hand.
“What do you mean? The bullying is our fault?” His platinum eyebrows were drawn together above his perfect nose. He stepped forward and pressed me against the hardness of the concrete bricks behind me.
“I was kidding, Cas. Wait, is it okay if I call you that?” I watched as my breaths came out as puffs of fog, my warmth against the cold night air.
Casimir’s piercing blue eyes met mine and then dipped to my lips. “You can call me whatever you want, sweetheart. Whatever you want. Now, answer my question. You think you getting hassled is our fault?”
I rolled my eyes, trying to make light of the situation. “June said it was because the Three Kings have never paid attention to a female at the academy. They say you three pay no attention to females and that I’m the first one. The rest of the female population are not pleased—that’s putting it lightly.”
“They still call us that? So stupid. I don’t even know how that started. But…they’re right about the rest.”
My heart beat so hard, a drum in my chest, that I was sure he could hear it, and I was about to wake up the rest of the students with the sound. “Why?” I asked.
“No one sparked our interest. I have never looked at a woman twice until you. You, Karelis, I can’t stop myself from looking at you. You draw me in. Pull me closer like a magnet. You’ve got a tether on me and I don’t want to break it.”
He rocked his hips against mine, showing me that he was most definitely interested.
“You barely know me,” I whispered.
“I know. But I want to. I want to know all of you.” Goddess, he had a tone that made it seem like he wasn’t only talking about my personality, and his hardness against my thigh confirmed it.
“I want that, too,” I responded, even with the warning from the Light Kingdom echoing in the back of my mind.
“Good. But, for tonight, let’s get you back to your dorm.”
We continued to walk hand in hand, but soon after, the hairs on the back of my neck rose and goose bumps filled my skin. There was someone following us again. Scratch that. Following me again.
Cas didn’t show any sign that he heard or felt anything so for the most part, I ignored the feeling, though it wasn’t without effort.
Once we got to the stairs that led to my floor, he slowed down. “I’m not ready. I said I wanted to get you back to the dorms but that’s not true at all. You make me lose my clear thinking, Karelis. You’re a menace.”
I laughed and turned. “What time is it?”
He looked at his phone. “We have twelve minutes until curfew.” He cocked his head sideways. “You don’t have a phone?”
I shook my head. “No. Um, where I came from—we weren’t allowed phones.” Not a lie, just a serious generalization of the truth.
“Would you be opposed to having one?” he asked.
“No. But I don’t have the money right now. I can’t get a job or anything.”
He made a humph sound. “If we got you one, would you accept it?”
