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I managed to pick up the chair that had crashed to the floor when I’d stood up, and I barked, “Back to your worksheets.” I took a few deep breaths in an effort to calm myself but it had the opposite effect as her scent saturated my lungs. Luckily, everyone was focused on their worksheet and by the time the bell rang, I had regained control.
Jess lingered after the bell rang, leaving me conflicted. I wanted her to trust me, to want to be around me, but she was testing my control in a way it had never been tested.
She dropped her worksheet on the pile, meeting my gaze with a bright smile. “I thought you had better control,” she commented and my hand shot out, grabbing her wrist in an ironclad hold, and she froze.
“You think it’s funny?” I questioned throatily as I came up behind her, my front to her back. “Do you have any concept of how much control I’m exerting right now?” Each word was precise as I kept a careful inch between our bodies, only allowing myself the touch of her wrist.
“I….,” She paused, inhaling sharply, but then didn’t say anything.
“What?” I persisted, shaking her wrist lightly, but still she didn’t speak. The door opened and I realized her, stepping back to a more appropriate distance.
“It was a joke,” she finally said, dropping her eyes. “A poor one.” I moved behind the desk, needing a barrier between us as students filed into the room, some of them eyeing us curiously. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you were anything like them.”
I nodded, accepting her apology, and she darted from the room. I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering what the hell had just happened. She’d zoned out on me, her heart rate accelerating, and only when I’d released her had she snapped out of it.
Heat shot through me once again and like a string she’d tugged on, I burst out of the classroom, the door slamming back against the wall as I stalked toward her. Her fingers froze against her neck as she stared at me for a second, then darted down the hall, her feet slapping against the linoleum.
She came to a stop at the door of her next class as I squeezed the base of my skull, fighting the urge to give chase. She glanced back at me and I spared a second of admiration for her foolhardy bravery. Twisting on my heel, I stomped back to the last class of the day, ready for it to be over.
When the final bell rang, the assistant principal called me to his office for a meeting. I groaned, wondering if the day could get any worse.
“Jess needs a ride,” Anna piped through the Pack link. I closed my eyes, knowing it just had.
“I have detention,” Caleb mentioned and I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Dom? I can take the path home later.”
“I have a meeting with the principal,” I grumbled, determined to keep it short. “Anna, can you take her? Straight to the motel,” I added sternly.
“Of course,” she said chirpily, excitement brimming over the link. “It’ll be fiiiiine,” she drawled, sensing my agitation. “Your guy is watching the motel, right?”
My unease increased at the reminder that Trent had left that morning. “No,” I said sharply. “He isn’t, not today. Stay alert, Anna.” I debated ignoring the principal’s request since it was Friday, and no doubt some bullshit power play.
“I’ll stay with her until you get there,” she promised. “It’ll give us a chance to have girl talk.” She sounded almost heady at the idea and I had to remind myself Anna was a capable wolf, able to defend herself if necessary. “Please, Dom,” her quiet plea sealed the decision.
“Fine, but you let me know if anything is out of the ordinary, okay?”
“Absolutely.”
“What’s girl talk?” Caleb asked and I shook my head.
“You don’t want to know,” I assured him. “And why do you have detention?”
***
“Everything okay?” I sent Anna the message as I met Caleb in the hall.
“Perfect,” she replied happily. “Girl talk!”
“Okay, Caleb and I are stuck giving a mandatory demonstration for the principal,” I reported, not hiding my aggravation at the assistant principal’s latest stunt. He had decided to hold the entire football team to ‘make sure we were prepared’ for the upcoming game with High Valley. “Call if you need us.”
Once we’d changed, we scrabbled together a mock scrimmage with me pinch hitting for a linebacker who was out sick. “The line looks nervous,” Caleb joked mentally, eying the pasty expressions of the opposing team.
“Answer your phone,” Anna’s voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent that had me stopping mid play to jog over to my duffel bag. I ignored the baffled expressions of my players, grabbing the ringing phone and barking, “What’s wrong?”
