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“You thought I wouldn’t notice the mate mark on her neck.” Mandy nodded at my bite mark peeking out from Ceci’s shirt. “Your dad is never going to approve of some little”—she paused, her nose curling in contempt—“humanas Luna. Alpha chose me, he told me quite plainly. I think he told you too, didn’t he? At the Stallions’ game? Or has this little slut fucked your brains out completely?”
Sitting down by Ceci, pressing into her side, I cupped her crown, gently massaging her hair, furious at the way Mandy was talking about her. “Mandy, you’re a hateful, jealous omega if you have to stoop so low to get what you want. You need to cut this drama shit out. I pity anyone who ends up with you as a mate.”
“What? Fuck you! You’re not all tha—”
My wolf growled deeply, the sound rumbling from my throat, forming a semi-snarl as it escaped through my gritted teeth. “Stop. Or I’ll forget I’m a gentleman, and I’ll pull my alpha powers out too. Don’t test me.”
Mandy was seething, but stayed quiet.
“I’ve already told my dad. I don’t want to be Beta.” I tried to reason with Mandy, to get her to see I wasn’t who she wanted anyway. “I don’t want to be the type of shifter he is. I want to be one like my friend Aaron.”
“But—”
I growled again, my stare making clear her mouth was to stay closed. “And my dad can like it or lump it, but my future is with Ceci and my new friends.” I leaned forward and kissed Ceci’s forehead. She wrapped her arms around me.
I stood to see Mandy scowling.
“I hope I’ve made myself clear. Now you can leave.” I gestured to the exit.
Mandy turned, but said from the side of her mouth, “It’s a public gym and a free class. I can watch if I want to.” With that, she went to the opposite end of the bleachers and sat there, her face painted in hatred and misery. I’d almost have felt sorry for her, if she wasn’t so goddamn annoying.
Ceci stroked my hand and nodded at the students, who had gone through their practices several times. They were glancing over, waiting for further instruction from me. “You should get back to your class. It’s okay. Reccared and Timon are here. Go do your thing.”
I went back to teaching, showing the students how to escape from various head locks and choke holds. More and more students ended up spilling through the doors. Mostly girls, some clearly half breed and another human too. No doubt encouraged to take part because of Jack 2. The girls were showing up late, throughout class time, making things a bit complicated, but it didn’t feel right turning them away, not when the city was in the grip of such fear.
Overwhelmed by the enthusiastic attendance and engrossed in teaching the defense techniques, I only realized after around half an hour that Ceci, Reccared and Timon had left the gym. Mandy was still there though. Her scowl had shifted into a smug smile.
Any time Mandy looked that satisfied, trouble wasn’t far behind. I called a class break and walked over to her. “What’s so funny? Where did they go?”
She pulled out my phone from under her hip, smirking. I’d left it in my jacket pocket, on the coat rails by the door. She’d fucking fished it out. I snatched it from her hand. “Don’t you ever touch my phone, you spiteful bitch.”
Even worse, the phone was open to my texts. There was a message from Osric and a few minutes later, one from Ceci. After another few minutes, Osric had sent a second message—this time a group one to me and Aaron. Then finally, there was one from Xander.
Snickering, Mandy replied. “One Zero Four Six. You really should be more careful when using your passcode. I have a habit of noticing these things, you know. I’d make a much better mate than your human.”
I snarled at her. “Shut up.” I needed to focus and read these messages.
Her voice was sickly sweet as I stared at my phone. “Wasn’t hard to convince her to run off. Especially when I used my own alpha powers on her. I’ve been practicing you know?”
“What!?” I growled, reading. The first message, from Osric, was simple enough.
Urgent, need your help. Meet at the corner of Hayes and First downtown.
The second message, from Ceci, set my nerves on edge, especially with Mandy’s mention of using alpha powers to influence Ceci’s reaction to it.
Mandy showed me Osric’s text. I’m worried about him. I’m taking Reccared and Timon downtown. Meet us there as soon as you can.
The third message, from Osric to Aaron and I—that had clearly come in after Ceci had left—was simple again.
Meet back at penthouse instead or call me.
The last, from Xander, had my wolf clawing within me, desperate to find Ceci. To protect our mate.
Aaron just told us Ceci’s with you this afternoon. Bring her back home asap. Whatever you do, keep her away from downtown.
I called Ceci, Reccared and Timon, but no one picked up. I frantically typed out a reply to Xander, cancelled class and raced downtown.
Osric
