Forsaken by E. M. Moore
23
Kinsey, myself, and Sean are ushered into the room with Nathan while Jonah speaks to Alpha Richard’s security team.
“What’s going on?” Sean asks.
Nathan, on full alert, body vibrating from anger, glares at Sean. “Oh, you didn’t hear? Earlier, a speaker almost fell on Mia and Kinsey. Now, the cabin burns down.”
Sean gasps, tracking his gaze to me. “I had no idea.” I’d once been all about those eyes, but I don’t trust them now. His pupils seem to move like slithering snakes.
“Yeah, odd that you weren’t around,” Nathan growls, letting everyone in the room know exactly what he thinks.
“Dude,” Sean scoffs. “I get that the academy isn’t the best, but you don’t have to get pissed at me.”
Nathan flies out of the chair, pinning Sean to the wall with his arm. “You piece of shit.”
I spring into action, yanking at the borrowed shirt Nathan’s wearing, the back proudly displaying alpha security insignia.
Sean doesn’t just sit back and take Nathan’s advances though. He bares his elongated teeth. “Whatever you’re mad about, take it up with Gayle.”
“Okay,” Kinsey says, hovering with a pinched brow.
Nathan moves in closer, a dangerous spark in his eyes. “You probably see her more than me. It’s why you tried to sever the bond, isn’t it?”
Sean’s gaze flicks to me, complete betrayal searing through his eyes. What? Like I wasn’t going to say anything?
“Yeah, I know,” Nathan seethes. “How’s your heel feeling?” The smirk he gives Sean teases my lips upward into a smile, but the undercurrent of panic about shit coming to a head right here, right now, in the security wing, flips my stomach, acid sloshing against the sides.
Footsteps sound in the hallway, and Nathan finally steps back from Sean. They both stand there, eyeing one another as if they’d happily tear the other’s head off.
Jonah clears his throat. “Due to the circumstances, the security team thinks it would be best if Mia stayed here tonight.”
“Oh, no,” Sean replies smoothly, peering past Jonah to the Daybreak personnel. “I’d rather have her with me. You know how it can get, being mates and all.”
The two security guys accompanying Jonah glance at one another. Before they have a chance to talk, a cry comes from the waiting room. “Nathan? Nathan?”
My blood runs cold. Gayle’s blond hair bobs into view. She pushes past the burly security—including Jonah—and runs toward Nathan, flinging herself onto him. I nearly lunge at her, but Kinsey grabs my hand, centering me a little. However, my fingers still turn to claws in her grip.
This bitch better get off my man.
Nathan lets her hang there without reciprocating the gesture. She stays that way far too long for someone who’s not getting anything in return. I look away, attempting to help myself because the longer I look, the more I feel my wolf scratching inside me, pawing her way out. I grit my teeth, bearing down on my jaw to keep her inside.
My stare flicks to Sean, who’s also glaring at the scene. His shoulders are bunched, expression mildly irritated before smoothing out and turning his eyes to me. He walks over. Dread pumps through me with each step. When he’s at my side, he threads his fingers through mine, and I swallow the bile threatening to come up. Leaning over, he whispers, “I should’ve known it was Nathan who ran me out of the woods. I have your phone, Mia. The constant texts with him probably wouldn’t look good if they got out. Let’s play nice for everyone, don’t you think?”
I snatch my hand out of his grip. “No, I don’t think, asshole.”
“Play nice,” he growls again, baring his teeth like he’s attempting to pull alpha over me. It doesn’t work.
I stand my ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
A knock sounds on the wall next to the open door. It’s getting crowded in the small room. We all look as Lydia Greystone makes an appearance. My heart flip flops. She scowls at Kinsey, who gives it right back to her. The rest of us, though, give her space as she walks in. Peering around the room, her gaze catches on Nathan and me. She’s never at the academy, but she must have some knowledge of who we are because she picks us out like we’re long-lost enemies. “My students. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I refrain from rolling my eyes. Kinsey’s jaw snaps shut, and I swear I hear a warning growl in the back of her throat. Kind of ballsy if you ask me, since Lydia is high in the Lunar pack. I don’t blame her for her reaction, though. Lydia tried to kick Kinsey out of the academy.
“You both must be exhausted. And here are your mates here to save the day. Excellent.”
Sean threads his fingers through mine again. No matter how much I want to tear my grip away, I can’t. Not with Lydia’s stare on me.
“We’ve had such a terrible field trip back home, haven’t we? First, Robert running away and his subsequent punishment before banning.” Her words echo in my ears. Punishment.Banning. We weren’t told about that. “Now this,” she continues. “We can only hope that Ms. Wells pulls through.”
“It’s worse than that, Lydia,” Jonah grunts. “Someone is trying to kill your student, Miss Adams.”
Lydia flicks her stare to me, eyes shuddered. I can’t tell if it’s because she doesn’t believe him or it’s for some other reason I’m not privy to. “Evidence?”
“Earlier, she and my mate were under the concert speaker and it fell.”
“Not an accident,” Nathan growls.
One of the Daybreak guards finally speaks up. “The fasteners were found to be cut.”
“And now the fire,” Jonah offers, like he’s trying to lead her to the conclusion she should plainly see.
“Not just a tragedy?” Lydia narrows her gaze, as if she’s trying to call Jonah out.
“Evidence of accelerant was found at the scene.”
Lydia turns her nose up. “You would think Daybreak Pack would’ve been better prepared while they host the Winter Solstice party this year. My students were supposed to be guests of yours.”
“We’re not guests,” I counter. “We’re a part of Daybreak Pack, and I’m sure they’re doing as best they can under the strain and pressure of hosting.”
I never thought I would be backing up my pack like this again, but I’d take them over Lydia Greystone, whose hideous family thought up the Rejected Mate Academy. Maybe the original founder never envisioned someone staying as long as me, but that means new rules need to be made.
“If that’s the case, I’m sure your security team will do its best to figure out who’s responsible for these heinous acts.”
“They’ve agreed to let Mia stay here for protection,” Jonah states. “It’s the best course of action.”
“I disagree,” Sean remarks, squeezing my fingers until they hurt. “I want her with me.”
I don’t look at Nathan. I don’t trust myself. We all know Sean is full of shit. Instead, I watch Jonah as he formulates his thoughts. “I disagree. She—”
“Who better to have her than her mate? I’d protect her with my life.”
Under usual circumstances, he’d be right. I glance at Kinsey. Her shoulders are thrown back as if she’s not backing down either.
“I agree,” Lydia finally says. “Mia and Nathan are in my charge, and I accept their mates’ hospitality.”
My stomach clenches. She turns and exits, leaving no room for argument.
The security guys step back, gesturing toward the exit. Sean pulls me along behind him, his fierce grip meant to be nothing but a romantic gesture. However, for me, I see it as a claiming. I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do with me when we get there, but he better know that I’m not going down without a fight.
“I know if we were back in Lunar,” Jonah offers, “we’d put a guard on his house, at least. Just in case anything happens. We take life threats seriously.”
The Daybreak guards sigh as if they’re slowly losing their patience with him, but they agree to send us back with a guard. Relief floods through me. Sean won’t be able to kill me under their noses, will he? I can at least make enough noise to draw attention to what’s going on.
Kinsey rushes to hug me goodbye. “We’ll figure this out,” she whispers in my ear. “Stay safe.”
Again, I don’t even chance a look at Nathan as I’m led out of the security wing. The last thing we need is to show evidence of our true feelings. Especially right here in front of Lydia and alpha security.
Sean leads me down the cement steps and to the parking lot on the side of the alpha’s mansion. Opening the passenger door, he grins. “Look at that, me being all gentlemanly.”
“Didn’t know you had it in you.”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know.”
“Ditto,” I growl back as I sit and swing my legs inside.
He closes the door a little too hard, and from the corner of my eye, I see the silhouette of my sweet, jealous Nathan stalking toward a small, white car that must be Gayle’s. At least I know he can handle himself with her.
If all these people would disappear, I’d run away with Nathan right this second. I’d take our chances with Feral. Hell, I wouldn’t even care if we died a week later, packless. At least we’d have each other.
Alarm rings through me, causing my arms to sprout goosebumps. I pinpoint its origin as coming from my wolf. Mentally, I soothe her worries. I’m only ruminating on the impossible. Robbie was punished and cast out—something we hadn’t even been told, though it makes sense. With the other packs in town, Daybreak would’ve wanted to deal with the Robbie’s situation as soon as it happened and not have it linger. He had two strikes against him. One, he tried to run away, and two, he was rejected. A second-class citizen.
The SUV thrums to life underneath me, and it’s like a signal to start a race. I don’t know how Sean is going to play this, but I know I’m smarter than him. I’m better than him.
“Answer me this,” I voice as Sean takes a left out of the alpha’s compound.
“I’d rather not,” he deadpans.
I shrug. “I would rather not be left at Greystone forever, but we can’t always get what we want, can we? Oh, except for you.” I let my words sink in before I move on to my original thought. “Why do you hate me so much that you’d want to kill me?”
Sean peers over, the dark shadows from the early morning sun casting his face in a black hole of nothingness. “It isn’t really you. It’s the loss of control, Mia. When I figure out how to get rid of this, I’ll have taken back my own life.”
“We could’ve been something,” I tell him. “You wouldn’t give it a chance, so we’ll never know, but we could’ve been something.”
“I thought about that a couple of times,” Sean admits. “But I don’t want my life chosen for me. I choose my own.”
I shake my head. “Didn’t it ever occur to the two of you that you may not get paired together?”
Sean laughs. “It may have started with her, but it’s not about Gayle anymore, Mia. She drank the Kool-Aid. She wants Nathan more than anything right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not already trying to hop on his dick.”
I suck in a breath, my fingers curling into my thigh. “You’re not together?”
“We were. For a long time. After you,” he says, peeking at me like I’m going to give him a reaction. “We pushed the boundaries. We fucked like rabbits. It made me stronger, but Gayle went into a depression. Of course, I wouldn’t let her accept Nathan because I still wanted my plaything, and she still wanted my dick, so….” He shrugs. “Eventually, fate caught up to her. It took her long enough, but she’s most definitely on Team Nathan now.” The hard clip in his voice tells me he’s bitter about this, even though he’s trying to smooth it over like he’s not. ‘That’s why I took desperate measures. I’m not about to be anyone’s bitch.”
“But your wolf,” I throw back at him.
He growls. He seems frayed around the edges, able to cover it up well enough, but alone, he’s a frantic ball of energy. Even while he’s driving, his free foot jumps up and down. His fingers keep playing over the steering wheel.
“Has it been hard for you since he came out to see me?” I ask, voice husky. “Do you hear him in your head?”
“Shut up.”
“Does he claw at your insides?”
He slams on the brakes. “I said shut up!”
My body whips forward, and I grab the dash for support. My heart beats like a bear on steroids as I peer over at a man who seems to be slowly losing it. He cracks his neck and starts the vehicle again. While he drives, I make myself small, thinking about the next steps. Sean won’t let me run. I’m supposed to be in his care, not that that’s worth anything. If anything he’s trying to do the exact opposite.
Eventually, we arrive at his house. I turn around in the seat, frantically searching for the guard who’s been assigned to me. He might be my only hope.
“Get your ass in the house. I’m sure your precious guard will be here. Not that you need it. Oh, I forgot.” He throws his door open, slams it, and stomps around to my side of the car before yanking the door open and grabbing me. “This is the way to do it, right?” He pushes me forward, and I trip, falling to my knees. He huffs, tugs me to my feet, and wraps his fingers around my upper arm, all while forcefully leading me into the house. “I can be chivalrous, Mate.”
There’s such a disconnect between the Sean talking right now and the wolf who met me the first day I got here. I wonder if all the rumors are true about disassociating yourself from your shifter side. You end up being hollow and dark—a mere shell of the person you’re supposed to be.
If he is suffering from that, who knows what he’s planning.
