After two days of watching female wolves flirt and get naked every five minutes, Maverick had threatened them all with detention for the rest of the year.
I didn’t much care about the ogling—the bears were all single and seemed happy to show off for the females—but we didn’t want any of the wolves or witches to spy on us. Once the bears left for the night to camp in the forest, they could do whatever the hell they liked.
My pencil snapped in half as I thought about Demelza. The shit she’d said in Dunton’s class still bothered me. Maverick and Zane bothreassured me she knew nothing and was only interested in riling me up, but I was unconvinced.
Demelza was sneaky, malicious, and very motivated in her determination to fuck me over. I had no clue why she hated me so much, but apparently she did.
“She hates you because you have a kick-ass familiar and five powerful mates,” Kenji said with a yawn.
“So she’s jealous?”
“Yes. She craves power, and right now she has very little other than her family’s connection to the Mage Council leadership.”
“But she’s a powerful witch compared to most witches on campus.”
“She’s mediocre at best.”
“How do you know this?”
“I know lots of things.”
I huffed with annoyance and returned to my textbook when he said nothing else. Dunton expected a synopsis of the topic we planned to write about for our vampire paper before Monday, so I’d picked up some textbooks from the library and was busy researching.
I could have asked Rasmus, but that felt like cheating. Still, I kind of regretted my ethical stance when I saw how much material there was. The vampires had a long and bloody history, it seemed, with the first mention ofblood vampyresrecorded in an early account written by one of the original witch covens.
Sadly, that account was mostly a hysterical description of how a poor, innocent witch had her throat ripped out by a blood-sucking monster. Knowing what I did about some of the original covens, I suspected the witch in question may have deserved her fate.
“She did, my queen,” Rasmus confirmed when he glided into the room with a cup of synthetic blood.
“Wouldn’t you rather feed from me?” He hadn’t touched me since we returned from the mer kingdom, and I’d begun to wonder whether he’d gone off me. Had being cursed by the sea witch tainted my blood or something?
Rasmus put his cup down and moved behind my chair. His coppery scent washed over me as he leaned in and pressed his nose to the curve of my neck where a thick vein throbbed.
“Of course, my sweet, but until we know whether you are with child, I’ll abstain.”
My heart jolted in my chest, and the amulet resting between my breasts warmed as my magic sparked in my veins. Stars, I hoped not. Being pregnant was not on my to-do list.
“You’re not,”Kenji grumbled from his pile of blankets.“I’d know if you were.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me this earlier?”
“You didn’t ask me.”
“Oh my goddess, Kenji! I’ve had nightmares all week about birthing a feral bear cub!”No lie. I’d woken up screaming this morning, thoroughly traumatized after dreaming my bear cub demon baby chomped me from the inside out.RIP vagina.
“So dramatic.”I silently fumed as my familiar stretched, yawned, and then vanished.
“Kenji says I’m not pregnant,” I mumbled.
“He does?” Razor-sharp fangs scraped my neck, triggering a full-body shiver. “How disappointing.”
“Wait…what?” That wasn’t the response I expected. I thought he’d be delighted not to have a baby on the way. Goddess, what if the baby could teleport? It would be a complete nightmare trying to corral a baby that vanished every time it had a tantrum.
“I am possibly the last of my kind,” he said, lifting me from the hard wooden chair and carrying me over to the lumpy sofa in front of the fireplace. “I would like a child to continue my bloodline.”
“But I thought vampires rarely sired offspring?” At least according to the minimal amount I’d read this afternoon.
“This is true, but the idea of you pregnant with my child pleases me, my queen.” He gazed up at me with hooded eyes as he parted my legs. His hair had grown thicker since we arrived back on campus, and although he’d tied it back with a leather thong, some strands escaped.
