Fall Semester (Omega Wolf Academy Book 2) Read online

  Dimitri scoffed. “You can’t be serious! You of all people should know how much hate the world still holds for anyone the slightest bit different. You’re from the far south, for Old Ones’ sake! You’ve told us countless times how close minded the wolves are in your area. How the fuck do you think they’d react to a quadruple couple, living in sin or whatever the fuck they’d call it?”

  Chase surged to his feet, riled by Dimitri’s fury. “Just because some backwards assholes don’t accept fate and choice, doesn’t mean we have to live in fear of being discovered. Do you really want to live your life in secret? We found our mate, Dimitri! We should be celebrating this miracle but all you want to do is hide.”

  “And what will you do when they pull us apart? When they come to study us like animals?” Dimitri roared, straining forward until his nose was a mere inch away from Chase’s. “How will you protect our mate then?”

  Lucian strode forward, hand outstretched. He pushed between them, shoving them back with a sound of frustration. “Back off, the both of you,” he grunted. “If you’d both just pull your heads out of your asses, you’d realize you’re not at odds. We all want to protect what we have here, we all want to keep Lexi safe, but this…” he waved his hand between them. “This isn’t going to accomplish that. Dimitri.” Lucian turned. “I know you’re not ready, but we’re a group now, and we have to make decisions together.” He reached out a hand slowly and laid it on Dimitri’s shoulder. “Dr. Daniels already knows about us. If the black SUVs and government agents were coming, they’d be here by now.” Lucian grinned hopefully.

  Dimitri stared at him for a long moment then shrugged his hand off. “This isn’t a fucking game,” he growled, backing away from his friends, away from me.

  I stepped forward, pushing past Lucian and Chase to stand in front of my volatile mate. “We know that, just like we know there’s something more going on with you, Dimitri. I saw you talking on the phone the other day to someone back in Russia. I know you’ve been upset, and it hurts to see you so torn up. Please.” I blinked back tears. “Just talk to me or to them.” I waved my hand towards my other men. “Just let someone in.”

  Dimitri's jaw clenched, and I watched him swallow visibly. Hope curled in my stomach, that he’d cave, and we’d be able to talk it through. Then his hands clenched into fists and the hope was replaced with lead.

  His mouth opened and closed several times, as if he were searching for the right thing to say, then it snapped shut and his lips lifted in a sneer that seared my soul. Before I could reach out and stop him, Dimitri turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

  Silence, except for the sound of my ragged breaths, spread to fill the space Dimitri had left behind. I turned slowly, feeling fragile, and looked up at my stunned mates.

  “He’s not okay. Something is very wrong. If he won’t talk to me, then maybe he’ll talk to you guys.” I turned my head and squeezed my eyes shut, feeling powerless against Dimitri’s anger. “Go,” I whispered. “Don’t let him be alone.”

  They moved forward with reluctance written all over their gorgeous faces. I sighed as their lips pressed on either side of my head, and held onto hope as they went after Dimitri, leaving me alone and heartbroken. I swayed, suddenly lightheaded, and moved like a zombie to sit on the edge of my bed.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think but my mind was racing too fast. I needed to slow it down. I grabbed a pillow and the remote, hoping something on one of my streaming services would calm me the fuck down.

  ♀♀♀

  Fifteen minutes later, I clicked the tv off and tossed the remote onto my bedside table. I was too distracted to get any solace from binging shows. Nerves crackled like electricity beneath my skin. I needed to move, I needed to pace, I needed to run.

  I glanced out my window and took note of the setting sun. The campus buzzed with students, all ready and anxious to work off the stress of the week with a few drinks, or dancing. A flash of memory, of Chase holding me in his arms as we swayed to music, letting the rhythm build, like foreplay, until we were about to combust. I swallowed against the painful knot in my throat and wished that, instead of being filled with anxiety for my mate, I was being held by strong arms beneath twinkling lights.

  "Ugh!" I groaned, pulling at my clothes until I stood naked before my wardrobe. "This isn't helping," I muttered, reaching for a sports bra. A run would help. I got dressed as quickly as possible, going for a pair of capris instead of running shorts, since the temperature had dropped a few degrees over the last few days. I had just tightened the laces on my sneakers, when a quiet knock at my door had hope fluttering once more in my chest.

  I rushed forward and pulled the door open without checking the peep hole, then bit back a sigh when I saw Alyssa standing on the other side. I turned my head away to hide the deep disappointment that dragged at my heart and berated myself for thinking it could have been any of my guys. They didn't knock quietly. They barged in and insinuated themselves into my life until I couldn't possibly imagine life without them.

  "You look upset," Alyssa said, taking a step into the room behind me. "Did something happen?"

  I laughed. I tried to hold it back, but there was too much emotion bubbling inside me to stop the flood from leaking out. I needed someone to talk to, someone who would listen and understand, but that person didn't exist right now. I couldn't explain to Alyssa why Dimitri was so upset without laying our entire situation bare, which would probably only piss him off even more. He was afraid that if we told anyone of our unique mate situation, we would be opening ourselves up to pain and danger. I was afraid that if we told no one, that if I had to keep everything I felt bottled up inside forever, I would explode. Neither option was great, but I'd lived locked up for most of my life and absolutely refused to live like that anymore.

  The funny thing was, Alyssa, of all people, would understand that perfectly. But I couldn't tell her, not yet, not until my mates and I figured out our next move. We were a group now, and there were more than just my feelings and neuroses to take into account.

  Of course, that left me brimming with overwhelming emotions, none of which I could purge.

  "It's nothing," I lied, forcing a smile. "Just a little argument with Dimitri." I took several deep breaths, letting the oxygen flow through my body and out again, as if it could wash away the tension.

  Alyssa eyed me skeptically for a moment, then nodded, accepting what I said at face value, even though her shrewd eyes saw that I wasn't fine, that it wasn't nothing. I appreciated her respecting my boundaries.

  She moved into my room and flopped down in my reading chair, pulling her legs up and settling in for what looked like chit chat hour. Apparently, respecting my boundaries and noticing that I was about to go for a run were two very different abilities. I took a deep breath, toed off my sneakers, and went to my mini fridge to grab us each a bottle of Pepsi.

  "Are any of your professors complete assholes?" Alyssa blurted a moment later. She accepted the Pepsi with a smile and a murmured, "thank you," then sighed dramatically and popped the top. "Because my history prof is a total dick."

  It wasn't as vigorous as a run, but it was distracting, so I accepted that my plans had been altered and settled onto the bed to bitch and complain about university life.

  "I've been really lucky so far," I said, thinking about the professors I'd had. "But my focus is art, so maybe they're more chill than other profs. Who do you have for history?"

  Alyssa made a disgusted sound and rolled her eyes. "Dr. Fauci." She guzzled her Pepsi.

  I made a face. "I've heard of him. Rumors, anyway. He doesn't have the best reputation on campus.”

  Alyssa's eyes went wide. "Really? Why do they keep him, then? He literally yells at students in class for not having the answers he expects, but he expects everyone to answer whatever he asks when he points at them with his long, gnarly, weird finger." She lifted a finger into the air and pointed it menacingly.

  I frowned. "Does
he dock your marks?"

  Alyssa shook her head. "No. He just makes you feel like an idiot for not having a complete thesis worthy answer."

  Annoyance skittered up my spine. "So, it doesn't affect your grades. Why don't you just sit in the back of the class?"

  "Because everyone wants to sit in the back of the class, and, anyway, it doesn't help. He picks on everyone. It's like he has a vendetta against his students." She made another face then finished off her Pepsi, still muttering under her breath.

  I stared at her in complete wonder. We’d spent our lives in captivity, terrified and abused, and she was complaining about a bossy professor? Disgust roiled in my gut.

  It was good, I tried to convince myself. Good that Alyssa could be so shallow now. Old Ones knew she hadn’t been able to be a normal girl before. She deserved the chance to just be a regular, complaining, annoying girl.

  I tried to stop my lip from curling but lost the battle.

  Alyssa noticed and went silent instantly. The look of comfortable bitching slipped from her face and was replaced with an expression I knew all too well. One I’d worn on my face too many times. Alyssa watched me with unease stealing the light from her eyes.

  “I’m s-s-sorry,” Alyssa stammered, climbing to her feet. She kept her gaze low, just like we’d been taught to growing up. “I’m interrupting your evening.” She raised her gaze and finally took in my outfit. “You were going for a walk. Sorry,” she apologized again. She pressed a palm against her forehead as she moved to escape the room.

  I cursed beneath my breath.

  Words of apology leaped to my lips and stopped there. “You’re not a child anymore, Alyssa,” I heard myself say in a tone so pissy, I wondered if it belonged to me. “You need to learn to stand up for yourself because no one else will. Old Ones,” I hissed, urged on by my own bubbling emotions, my own frustrations that seemed to grow with each moment. “If you’re too frightened to speak up for yourself here, then you might as well go home and wait until you grow a pair to come back.”

  I raked a hand through my hair, hating the way I was acting but unable to stop the vitriol spewing from my mouth. “I have my own problems,” my voice boomed louder. “I’m not your babysitter. I’m not your keeper.” The last words echoed off the walls of my room.

  Alyssa staggered towards the door, physically shrinking away from me. But, instead of drawing out my sympathy, all I could feel was anger. She was too weak to be here. She couldn’t handle it. Why was it my job to take care of her when I could barely take care of myself? Every dark thought I’d had since walking through the doors of Omega Wolf Academy bombarded me again, driving all rational thought out, leaving only raw anger behind.

  I stared at her, seeing the pain I’d caused but somehow unable to take it back. Alyssa’s eyes filled with tears that she valiantly blinked back. She took a deep breath then pulled the door open and rushed out.

  I slammed it shut behind her, then turned, pressed my back against the wood, and slid to the floor.

  Chapter 13

  I cried myself to sleep, then woke feeling miserable. One look in the mirror and I decided today would be an inside day. My eyes looked half dead, kind of flat and empty. I sighed, pulled off my pajamas and forced myself to take a shower in an effort to pick myself up.

  It didn’t work, so I made myself a giant cup of coffee and climbed back into bed to sip and snuggle beneath warm blankets. It didn’t fix everything that was wrong with my life, but it helped chase away the fatigue at least.

  With a clearer head, I could see that things weren’t really that bad. I’d chided Alyssa for overreacting to a minor inconvenience and, here I was, doing exactly the same. Dimitri was a grumpy ass, I would have to just accept that about him.

  The things I’d said to Alyssa weighed heavily on my heart. She’d come at the wrong time, sure, but I’d been a complete bitch to her. We’d been building our relationship, getting to know one another, and I’d slapped her back out of frustration with my mates. It hadn’t been fair to her, and I needed to find a way to fix it.

  But I was too exhausted and miserable to deal with that right away, so I turned on my tv and started the next episode of Supernatural. Drooling over Dean was an activity I was well versed in and could do without feeling guilt of any kind.

  After a few episodes, I forced myself to get out of bed and work on some assignments that were due the coming week. The gentle strokes of graphite across the page soothed my churned-up emotions and settled my soul. I finished a still life and began idly sketching a rough image of Dimitri’s face as I’d last seen it.

  He was gorgeous, I thought, tracing the sharp lines of his jaw across the page; gorgeous and volatile. I wasn’t sure yet how I felt about his mercurial moods, sometimes they excited me, sometimes they scared me a little. Most of the time, they just pissed me off.

  He was different with Chase and Lucian, I mused, moving from my Russian to my playboy. I sketched the outline of Chase’s face, his eyes, his full lips, then carefully began to draw his hair. Old Ones, I loved his hair. The way it glinted gold in the light and fell forward into his eyes when he concentrated on something. My stomach fluttered at the thought of my fingers running through that hair.

  Quick strokes finished Chase’s form. Caught up in the project, in the beauty of my men, I leaned forward and started drawing Lucian.

  His eyes were what had drawn me in first. The kindness in them, the intelligence and presence of them. I lovingly drew his shoulders, the length and breadth of them, then cut down, shaping that deep vee that made my core pulse with heat.

  A predator lurked beneath those kind eyes, I knew. My skin flushed in memory, tingling as I recalled what his hands could do.

  My head began to spin with desire as I let myself remember all the things their hands, and mouths, had done to me.

  “Ugh…” I moaned, jumping up from my desk. I shook my body, trying to ease the jitters that filled me. Maybe sequestering myself in my room all day hadn’t been a good idea.

  I scented them before I heard the knock. My head cleared instantly, and I rushed forward to pull open the door, revealing Lucian on the other side with one hand raised and the other looped around Dimitri’s waist.

  “Old Ones!” I exclaimed, reaching for my Russian. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  Dimitri grinned widely and the smell of vodka wafted from his beautiful lips, easing my panic. “Not so much hurt, as drunk. You want a drink, gorgeous?” He raised a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag.

  I shook my head and sighed, slightly amused by his goofy inebriated grin. It was hard to be upset with him when he looked this adorable.

  “Are you all drunk, then?” I asked, looking from Dimitri to Lucian and Chase. Lucian had a bit of a glassy reflection to his eyes, so I wasn’t surprised when he just chuckled and leaned forward to kiss me. “Lush,” I muttered against his lips, making him grin.

  “When in Rome,” he murmured, depositing Dimitri into my reading chair with a heave.

  It was good they were having fun, I told myself, looking from one to the other, seeing the laughter in their eyes. It was good they’d spent the night drinking, maybe talking, because the darkness that had been ever present in Dimitri’s eyes the last few weeks was gone, replaced by alcoholic revelry. It was good he was smiling.

  Then why the fuck did I feel such a weight in my chest that they’d left me behind?

  “I see you boys had fun last night,” I said, keeping my tone as even as possible, despite the jealousy trying to eat my insides. Just because they were my mates, didn’t mean they had to live for me, I reminded my inner green-eyed monster. They had a bond all their own and had been connected even before we’d met. I loved that about them.

  My lip came perilously close to quivering before I stopped it.

  “We brought you some,” Chase announced, much too loud for the small space. I turned to eye him and realized he was drunk, too. They were all drunk.

  “Fuck it,” I mutter
ed, reaching for the bottle of vodka he held out. “It certainly can’t make this day any worse.” I tipped the bottle up and drank deep, letting the liquid burn away my resentment.

  “You’re going to need to take a few more nips like that if you want to catch up, darling,” Chase drawled, moving close to nuzzle my neck with his nose. He inhaled deeply and moaned. “Old Ones, you smell like Heaven.”

  Pleasure flushed through me, chasing away the final dregs of sadness. I laughed and shoved my randy mate away. “You’re trashed and I’m a lady. I can’t possibly take advantage of your inebriated state.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him, holding back amusement at his surprised reaction.

  “Well then,” Chase replied slowly, as if working through the problem in his mind before speaking. “I suppose the only thing we can do is get you as drunk as we are, then no one can take advantage of anyone else.” He nodded, confident in his words of wisdom.

  “Sounds like a solid plan,” I said, nodding back sagely. I lifted the bottle again, relaxed my throat, and drank until there was nothing left but applause and an overwhelming head rush. “Now,” I said, handing the empty bottle back to Chase. “What else do you have to drink?”

  ♀♀♀

  “Wonder Woman or Buffy?” Lucian leaned forward, eyes intently locked on mine, as he questioned the very fabric of my personal code.

  I scoffed. “Buffy, duh! Of course it’s Buffy.” I reached out to pat his shoulder. “It’s always Buffy. No more silly questions.”

  Lucian shook his head and flopped back on the bed. “I suppose we should probably watch the show, then, so we aren’t lost when you rhapsodize.”

  My heart leaped. “Yes!” I cheered, throwing my hands into the air. “Let’s start now.” I started searching the bed for the remote. “Where is it?”

  “My family is in trouble,” Dimitri said quietly, barely audibly.

  All sound in the room stopped dead. Even my heart skipped a beat as I registered his words. We all turned to look at him as one.