Page 54 of Plug and Claim

“You could,” Susie said, “but it wouldn’t change what you are.”

“And what is that, exactly?” she asked, even though she already knew. She’d heard it whispered in the corridors, but the worst was when one of Poplarin’s alpha wolves who’d lined up to have sex with her yesterday had yelled it after her in the corridor: Kira the vampire’s whore.

The memory of the insult made her wince.

No one cared that she was still a virgin. A bitter part of her thought her socks should at least have red and white stripes, like a fucking candy cane.

“Fucker,” she shrieked out loud, making Susie jump. “I’m going to fucking kill Nathaniel!”

“Be careful around him,” Susie said, eyes wide with alarm. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Yes, I do,” Kira said, covering her face with her hands. “I know about the wolves he killed—Haley and Ana. He fed on them, then dumped their bodies somewhere no one would find them.”

And he killed and mounted the royal family, she thought, but didn’t feel like admitting to Susie that she’d gone to his office against her advice.

“He did more than that,” Susie said, her voice full of concern. “Kira, you need to prepare yourself—and you need to be careful. Without a pack, there’s no one who can stop him except you.”

Kira frowned. “What are you on about?”

“I’m talking about Haley, and Ana. You weren’t here, you didn’t see. Nathaniel didn’t just feed on them. They were his…well, I don’t know how to say this gently. They were his sex slaves.”

Kira’s eyes widened. Chelsea had said Nathaniel made the wolves sleep in his room, but she hadn’t fully considered the implications. “As in…?”

“He made them wear collars to class. Humiliated them. And he had…intercourse with them.”

“Whatever he did has to be pretty fucked up if you’re using words like ‘intercourse’,” Kira scoffed.

“He did things to them—unnatural things. And I’m worried because I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”

Kira sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I just need to figure a way out of this mess."

They sat quietly under the tree, watching the pigeons wander the nearby courtyard.

Kira eventually broke the silence. “Thanks for being here for me, Susie.”

Susie nodded solemnly. “Anytime. Hopefully, Nathaniel will leave you alone now that he’s fed on you.”

Kira chewed on that.

Leave me alone?

She doubted Nathaniel would leave her alone.

Maybe I won’t leave him alone, either.

An idea flickered to life, a way to stop him. It might not improve her status, but it would stop him fucking up her life any further.

Kira sprang to her feet.

“Where are you going?” Susie called, hurrying after her.

“The potions classroom,” she said, jaw set.

“But…potions class will be over by now.”

Kira smiled.

Good.