AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We should get back to your dorm, see what the others think about it,” I say.
“You have to go back to your dorm,” Juliet says as we start back down the path. “If they’re sending teachers and extra staff to lock everyone down, they’ll be looking for you.”
I curse beneath my breath, knowing she’s right. “I fucking hate it there.”
She slips her fingers through the crook of my arm. “I know. But it isn’t for much longer. Once you’re in, you can request a move to the older student dorm.”
I glance down at her. “I can. But upperclassmen with families have first priority. I’ll only have a chance if they have a spare room left over. Unless you want to get engaged. It could be a fake engagement,” I hurry to add. “Just to get us set up in a sweet apartment with our own private bathroom and kitchen and no loud parties in the basement to disturb our beauty sleep.”
She meets my gaze in the moonlight, her voice husky as she says, “Yeah, I’m sure we’d be great at faking it. We wouldn’t end up sleeping in the same bed or fucking like bunnies or anything.”
“I fuck like a wolf, not a bunny,” I say, but the joke falls flat.
It’s not a night for jokes.
But it is a night for a hope, a truth Juliet proves as she says, “I’ll think about it. I do hate sharing a shower with twenty-five people, only half of whom care about not leaving the drain clogged with hair.”
I point to my head. “Not a problem with a guy with a buzz cut. Just one of the many qualities that would make me an incredible fake fiancé.”
She stops at the turn off to her dorm, which is just visible through the trees, surprising me by pushing up on tiptoe to press a soft kiss to my lips. “Be careful and watch your back on the way to your dorm. Just in case I’m wrong and there is a crazed killer on the loose.”
“Will do,” I say. “Text me later? Let me know what Catherine and Layla think about your theory?”
She nods. “I will. And thank you again. For earlier. That was one of the best experiences of my life. I can’t wait to take my wings out again.”
“My pleasure,” I say, cupping her face in my hand. “Truly. I was so happy to be there and share it with you. You’re a smoking hot bird. Literally and figuratively.”
She leans into my touch with fondness as she whispers, “Pervert. You’re hot for a bird.”
“I’ll seek professional help at my earliest convenience.”
“You do that,” she says, pressing a kiss to my palm before stepping away. “And don’t you ever die or disappear on me, okay? That’s not part of this relationship, my friend. Not ever.”
“I promise,” I say, praying it’s one I can keep. Both because I’d prefer to stay alive and because I don’t ever want to leave Juliet alone. Honestly, I just want to hole up in a little cabin with her somewhere off the grid and make love to her for a couple dozen years. The harder I fall for the woman she’s become, the less I seem to care about getting revenge on Hammer or reclaiming the throne he stole.
Yes, I miss my pack, but I could be happy if it were just the two of us. I just want to be with my girl, somewhere it’s safe to let our guard down and stop fighting.
Stop fighting the bad guys and the injustice and, most importantly, stop fighting this pull we both feel. There was love in her kiss tonight. She can call me “friend” all she wants, but we both know there’s so much more between us now.
I turn that palm kiss over and over in my mind, letting it warm me as I head into the Lupine dorm, where there’s a distinct lack of sobriety in the face of a classmate’s murder.
There are more teachers and counselors present on each floor, but the usual crowd is still shouting at the televisions in the rec room, more interested in whether their baseball team is going to win than grieving the loss of Diana or fearing the person who killed her is still on the loose. The giggly girls in the triple down the hall from my room are still giggling, the younger guys are still arguing about who gets to pick the eight o’clock movie, and the showers are already full when I pop my head in to check.
The only nod to increased safety that I can see is a note from my floor’s counselor on my door, asking me to make sure my window is closed and locked from the inside tonight.
I’m heading over to do just that when my phone buzzes.
I pull it out to see a text from Juliet—She’s alive! She left a note for Layla and me in our secret hiding place in the dorm! It’s a long story, but basically, she has a two-week window to be herself again. If she can find the woman who cursed her and get her to call off the black magic before midnight on the fourteenth day, she’ll get to come back to school next year as a wolf shifter.
Thumbs moving fast, I reply—That’s such a relief! I’m so glad she’s okay. But why didn’t she tell the staff what happened? Is there some reason she wants everyone to think she’s dead? Her family’s going to be devastated.
Unfortunately, yes,Juliet shoots back.If she doesn’t break the curse…it’s over. Now that she shed her owl body, she can’t go back into it again.
I send Juliet a succinct,Fuck.
She sends back,Agreed.That’s why she asked me and Layla to keep this a secret from everyone but our group. She figures it will be easier to let her family think the worst. Just in case. She doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of hope for breaking the curse in that short amount of time.
Understandable,I reply. But not the best way to start a quest.
