“I’m not that hungry,” Kai said as everyone started talking about what had just happened. “I think I’ll head back to the…”
“No, you’ll stay,” Zane snapped. “Our mate needs us to protect her from Demelza’s friends.”
Was he for real? An unladylike snort escaped. “I don’t need protecting. I can protect myself.”
“Really?” Alaric scoffed from behind me. “Given you burned the bear’s cabin down, I’m not so sure about that.” The bastard had the audacity to sneer at me before he sauntered past us with a steaming cup of vanilla latte in his hand.
My temper ignited, and a small flame burst from my fingertip, zapping his ass and scorching a hole in his perfectly pressed pants. Pants that hugged his butt to perfection.
Not that I was looking.
The mage yelped in surprise. Hot coffee spilled down his front, staining his pristine shirt.
“Looks like I can take care of myself just fine.” I scratched my nose with my middle finger while smirking.
Alaric cursed up a storm as Zane laughed before herding me toward the food counters.
“You deserve a reward once classes are over,” he purred in my ear. “Have a think about how many orgasms you’d like while you doze in Professor Dunton’s class.”
I decided not to take Zane’s advice because it would seriously hinder my ability to concentrate, which was already shot to pieces. Thankfully, everyone except Glynda was now giving me a wide berth.
It could have been because they were terrified Zane might hurt them, which he totally would, but thewhywas immaterial. Since news of my new soul-bonds had hit the gossip mill, I’d become a social pariah. Well, more than normal.
The minute I took a seat in the middle row, the wolf shifters sitting nearby moved.
“Do I smell or something?” I whispered to Glynda. A wolf sniggered before his friend elbowed him hard enough to make him yelp.
“No. It’s because Demelza’s spread the word you’ve soul-bonded Kai and Zane as well as Maverick. Witches don’t normally mate shifters or other species, and because of what happened with Zane’s father after his soul-bonded mate died, well…”
“But how did Demelza know?” We only arrived back yesterday, and I sure as hell hadn’t sought her out for a catch-up.
“I don’t know,” Glynda admitted with a shrug, “but I’ll see what I can find out.”
Professor Dunton coughed loudly before sneering at me.
“If you’ve all quite finished gossiping about things I care little about, please open your textbooks and turn to chapter six.”
I reached for the textbook that had just appeared on my desk and did as I was told, only to freeze in surprise when I realized we’d be studying the Vampire Royal Family.
My fingers brushed over the ruby at my throat. Nobody could see it thanks to the invisibility spell. Would there be pictures in the textbook of vampires wearing this exact ruby? Rasmus had hinted the necklace had been passed down through several generations of his family.
“At the end of this semester, each of you will write a ten thousand word report on a topic connected to the Vampire Royals. This report will be fifty percent of your grade for my class.” Loud groans echoed through the room.
“But what’s the point, sir?” a wolf shifter grumbled. “They’re all fucking dead.”
Dunton fixed his beady eyes on the unfortunate wolf. “They might be dead, Rufus, but we can learn from their mistakes, so unless you want me to spell your mouth shut for the rest of the year, I suggest you zip it.”
I skimmed through the chapters while students asked inane questions and Dunton got more irritated by the minute.
The book covered the origins of the vampires, the vampire courts of the Middle Ages, and then speculated on the eventual demise of the vampires.
I grinned to myself when I realized I’d have a first-hand source for my report. All I had to do was ask Rasmus to tell me everything I needed to know.
“Is something amusing, Miss Blackstone?”
“Um…no?”
A wolf shifter leered at me and licked his lips.
