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“Show me you swallowed.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Could have fooled me, locking yourself in the bathroom like that.”
He lifted my chin, ignoring my grip that bit down on his arm as I tried to shove him away. His lips were so close to mine I could feel their warmth. The mint on his breath tangled with his scent. “Open up, Gem, or I’ll go searching myself.”
With difficulty, I shoved down my growlandmy humiliation, doing what he asked and fighting the urge to kick him. He was so fucking smug, too.
I refused to eat breakfasteven when it hurt not to. No one had ever cooked for me before, and he made me sit next to him with an empty plate while he enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t accept his stupid breakfast though; it felt like a betrayal. I told myself my mates would have done better. Flynn would have made me an even bigger breakfast—I’d seen the way he’d looked at me across the ball. I clutched onto that flicker of hope, that Flynn knew who I was, deep down, even without my scent.
When he finished eating, he shoved the still empty notepad toward me. I grabbed the pen viciously and scribbled one thing onto it, having spent the last few minutes coming up with a perfectly bitter response. His expression hardened as he read my words. He ripped the note off and tucked it into his pocket. “As you wish, Gem.”
His eyes flashed with the same impatience I’d seen last night. Instead of reaching for me though, he got to his feet and crossed to the main bathroom. He tugged the door open, flared his aura, and ripped the lock from it. My lips parted in shock but I didn’t even make it half a step toward him before it was done.
Fuckhim.
The only fucking place in here I could find privacy.
Gone.
“Alright.” His smile was icy as he turned back to me. “Ready to go?”
Dusk led me across the grounds to the central academy building. His arm draped over my shoulder so all errant stares from students knew that he’d claimed me. Umbra hadsaid he was busy with another school thing even though I’d seen the schedule and he was supposed to be coming.
Officially, classes didn’t start until next week, but today were introduction lectures. It was the Academy introduction this morning, and our specialty introduction this afternoon. The Kingsman pack had selected Arkology as their primary specialty (which I would never admit my excitement about), so that was where we were heading. Arkology, broadly, was the study of Alpha-Omega dynamics. I had enrolled to find my mates, but I—like my mates—had chosen as many Arkology classes as possible. It was, I’d learned when looking up the class plans, a true passion of mine, stirring faint memories. I’d taken our shared interest as a sign, so it irritated me that the Kingsman pack shared that interest too.
Still, tucked in my satchel was a scone I’d managed to pinch when he wasn’t looking. Just in case I got hungry andnotbecause it looked like he’d made them from scratch for me.
“What’s the second rule?” I asked as he led us up the auditorium steps to the back. It had been bugging me—though, so had the thought of the nest waiting for me. I wasn’t going to take it, butifI had to for whatever reason, I needed to know.
“The rules are for you, remember,” he said. “Show me you can follow the first, and maybe I’ll let you in on the second.”
I pursed my lips as Dusk stopped in front of a booth at the back. It was a strange setup. There were rows of seats for students leading down to the central podium for the lecturer. But at the top were booths lit with low lights. All of them, I realised, were reserved for the high level packs.
A booth reserved for us, overlooking the whole auditorium?
“What are you thinking?” he asked, watching my expression as he slid into the booth. I realised I was staring around bitterly, my nose creased. “Too pretentious for you?”
I didn’t answer, seating myself beside him while maintaining as much space from him as I could.
He was right, though. I stared down at the other students, all filtering into the rows of seats below.Thatwas normal—not this elitist shit.
I frowned, considering that, letting the frustration drift in. It was like I could feel the stiffness of those chairs after sitting for too long.
A thick book balanced on one knee as notes were frantically scrawled in a notebook.
It was right…
Comfortable…
The feeling of Dusk’s touch on my waist blitzed the flicker of a memory away, and I was too shocked to argue as he pulled me closer.
“I want you to behave like you’re mine,” he told me.
I didn’t answer, mind still racing, trying to claw back anything of that feeling. Memories were precious and so rare… But it was long gone in the undercurrent of my fragmented past.
