Fall Semester (Omega Wolf Academy Book 2) Read online

  My eyes fluttered closed as sleepiness wrapped me in its warm embrace. I struggled to stay away, to revive myself enough to give my men the same ecstasy they’d given me. My hand felt like lead as I lifted it to touch Chase’s chest.

  “Shhh,” he whispered, lifting my hand to his lips. “You’re exhausted. Sleep now.”

  “We have our whole lives,” Dimitri murmured, pressing a kiss to my lips that made me sigh and turn into him.

  I felt them move around me, fitting themselves to my body, sliding their arms across to touch some part of me, and smiled as I slipped into slumber and dreams that made my body ache.

  Chapter 4

  They were gone when I woke to the smell of bacon, coffee, and eggs. Off to early classes and didn’t want to wake you after such a long night, the note, which I read several times, said. Beside the note and breakfast in bed, I’d discovered three freshly cut roses, one from each of them, and had set off to start my day in a complete daze.

  I was so bleary eyed that I was nearly late for my first course. I slipped into English 2700 as the professor turned on the computer. I blinked and scanned the large room for an empty seat.

  “Lexi!” A voice called out. “Sit here.”

  I blinked in surprise at Cam, who almost looked like a completely different person than he had a few short weeks ago. His big dark eyes were highlighted with flawless makeup that was a bit extreme for 10:00 a.m. on a Friday, but nevertheless was stunning, especially with his flowing gold kimono and black cigarette pants. I was so struck by his couture that all my nerves floated away.

  I took the seat beside him, noticing familiar faces from the English society room. “Hey,” I greeted them, grinning at Dina and Greg. “I didn’t realize you guys were registering for this course.” I eyed Cam again and shook my head. “You look fabulous, by the way. I have no idea how you pulled all this together. I barely had the energy to shower and put on pants.” A blush bloomed on my cheeks when I thought about why.

  “Girl, don’t even.” Cam waved a hand towards my jeans and tank top. “If I looked half as gorgeous as you au natural, I’d live in yoga pants and tanks every day.” He tapped a navy-blue painted nail against his lips, reconsidering. “No, probably not. I love clothes and makeup too much. So, where did you disappear off to last term? It’s like you vanished. I considered calling in the police.”

  The prof stood and turned to address the class, cutting off my response, thankfully. I whispered, “I’ll tell you later,” and turned to face the front of class.

  The professor was an older woman, who, besides the alternating streaks of blue and pink in her silver hair, looked distinguished. She scanned the room, mumbling under her breath. Taking a head count, I realized.

  “I’m Dr. Virginia West and I’ll be your guide through the perils and wonders of Middle Earth, English 2700.” She grinned, and her face transformed with light and laughter. “If you’re in this class, I have to assume you’re as much of an epic literature geek as I am, which will make us fast friends. If you have no love for high fantasy, I simply ask, what the hell are you doing here?” She scanned the room again, looking for confused faces, then clapped her hands together gleefully. “Fantastic! Let’s get to it then, shall we?”

  “Who among you read the books before watching the movies?” She asked casually, as if our answers were meaningless. I raised my hand, knowing my personal position on book versus movie and pretty sure she’d carry a similar one. I’d read the books many times over the years, when books were my only form of escape. I’d let my mind wander with Merry and Pippin, fought alongside Aragorn, and had laughed at Tom Bombadil.

  Dr. West grinned. “Excellent. Most of you aren’t idiots.” She pointed at a guy sitting halfway down the row closest to the door. “You, sir, are an idiot. But I’ll forgive you your folly since you’re here to learn.”

  The guy, who’d turned white as a ghost at the accusation, smiled appreciatively. “Thank you and if it helps, I’m sincerely sorry for my idiocy.”

  Dr. West nodded sagely. “It does help, a little.” She laughed and turned to pick up a well-worn copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. “Let’s begin.”

  By the end of class, I’d fallen in love with Dr. West and decided this was going to be one of my favorite courses, which was saying a lot. I gathered my stuff and ran over my schedule for the day in my mind, before turning to Cam and the others with nerves pumping like pistons.

  “Hey, my next class isn’t for a few hours. Do you guys want to go grab a cup of coffee or something?” My stomach flipped dramatically.

  Cam pursed his lips for a moment then nodded. “I think I have an hour, but I’m not sure. Let me check. I barely had a thing to eat this morning, it took so long to do my face. I could die for some bacon and eggs. Oh, maybe an omelet.”

  “I could use a cup of coffee,” Greg said with a grin. He held a to-go cup of coffee in his hand and had, I just realized, been holding a cup every single time I’d seen him.

  “It’s what keeps him alive,” Dina snarked. “His blood was caffeinated at birth. I’m in, but the omelet idea is what caught my attention. Wonder if they have any hollandaise sauce.”

  “I’m in, too!” Cam announced, sliding his phone into some secret pocket I couldn’t quite make out in his slim lined pants. “Oh, yes,” he said, nodding at Dina. “Eggs Benny smothered in hollandaise.”

  My stomach rumbled, eliciting a laugh from the group. It felt so good and normal. I felt normal.

  I wondered what they’d think of my multiple mate situation.

  By the time our food and Greg’s coffee arrived at our table in the eatery we’d decided on, since they specialized in breakfast foods, I was fairly certain they wouldn’t blink twice at my admission of uniqueness. They were all unique in some way, which was why I enjoyed being around them so much. They owned their otherness, flaunted it in Cam’s case, and it looked good on them. The boldest thing I’d ever done was dye my hair pink, and I was smart enough to know that was more another layer of armor against the unknown than an act of rebellion and ownership.

  “Have you guys seen the itinerary for next weekend?” Dina asked with a grimace and a shake of her head as I demolished my second breakfast of the day. “The English mixer and campus run are booked back to back. Who’s in charge of planning around here, anyway? A monkey?” She made a disgusted sound and took a bite of her omelette.

  Cam snickered and glanced at me. “Dina is a lazy soul who prefers to space out her activities to one a weekend, less she exhaust herself and have no more time for reading.”

  “Hey!” Dina threw a corner of toast at him, then shrugged, accepting his criticism. “I like reading. That’s not a crime, is it?”

  “Not at all, Bitchy the vampire slayer,” Cam retorted. “There’s not a lot going on this weekend. You can double up your reading time now in preparation for next weekend.”

  Dina nodded thoughtfully, seeming to accept his proposal, then turned back to her breakfast with renewed vigor.

  Cam laughed. “So,” he said, turning to grin at me. “Please tell me you’re attending our little soiree. You’re one of the gang now.”

  “What soiree?” I asked, frowning. I wasn’t much into parties so hadn’t paid much attention to the social calendar but a night out with friends sounded like fun.

  “The English society mixer,” Cam explained. “We host three or four a year, and they’re a blast. You get to see your professors in a whole new light when they’re sauced.”

  I thought of Dr. West and knew she’d be entertaining after a few drinks. “When and where?”

  Cam grinned. “Yay! It’s here in the English building. There’s a graduate students’ lounge on the fifth floor that we use for events. Friday, 8:00 p.m., and feel free to bring a date.”

  I paused with a bite of egg halfway to my mouth. A date. I could bring a date, but which date? All of them? One of them? If I brought one, would the others be jealous? If I brought all three, would we stick out like a s
ore thumb and cause a scene?

  I bit off the piece of egg and chewed thoughtfully. Who would even be interested in attending an English mixer? Lucian, probably. He seemed the most introspective.

  I frowned and quickly picked up my cup of coffee to hide the reaction. I knew Lucian liked to read, but what about the others? Chase came off as a southern playboy, but I knew that was just one part of who he was. Maybe he’d enjoy meeting my friends. He was certainly social enough.

  But, what about Dimitri? His brooding nature and dark eyes couldn’t hide his keen intelligence. I bet he was a reader, and Cam would be absolutely delighted to meet him. He’d probably see him as a Byronic hero which, now that I thought of it, he kind of was.

  A ball of lead formed in my stomach and pulled me down, depleting my happiness and the already fading buzz of orgasm. I didn’t know my soul mates at all.

  The closest I’d gotten to a real conversation with any of them was during the limited time I’d spent with Lucian. But even that had only skimmed the surface and that was before I’d shown them who I really was.

  Before they’d accepted me for me.

  And now we were knee deep in sexual chemistry that had my mind spinning whenever they were within ten feet of me. I understood the physical part of our relationship, but I didn’t want to be ruled by it.

  Dimitri had whispered that we had a lifetime together just as I’d been falling asleep and his words had stuck in my mind. He was right, we did have a lifetime together, but did I really want to start that life together with raw physicality rather than real connections?

  Fate ruled our lives, I accepted that, but I wouldn’t let it control my relationships.

  “And Jared, remember him?” Dina asked with a laugh. “He climbed out the window of the men’s bathroom onto the roof of the building and stripped off all his clothes. It took campus security hours to lure him back through the window.” She dissolved into deep throated chuckles and shook her head. “Old Ones, we’ve had some amazing parties. Sometimes I think it would be better to just stay here and start another degree after graduation. You’re lucky, Lexi.”

  I snapped back into the conversation that I’d been vaguely keeping track of and tried to remember what Dina had been talking about. Graduation. A party on the roof. I blinked and tilted my head slightly. “How so?” I asked, hoping none of them had noticed my mental disappearance.

  Dina shrugged. “You’re just starting out. You have years before you’ll be forced to decide the next step of your life. Here, you can just explore whatever interests you and find yourself without all the pressure of being an ‘adult.’” She shuddered dramatically at the thought.

  I chewed my lip and thought it over. Out there, in the real world, we’d have decisions to make far beyond those we were dealing with now. Where would we live? Would we be open about our mate relationship? How would the world treat us?

  But those were problems for another day, I decided, taking a bite of my last piece of toast. Today’s problem was how to explain to my three mates that I wanted to slow things down and date them when we’d all but had an orgy already and we were all desperate for more.

  ♀♀♀

  I texted them to meet me at Chase’s room, knowing the scent of sex had permeated my room to the detriment of any serious conversation. I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to sleep there tonight and wondered how long it would take to air out.

  They’d respect my decision and follow my lead, I was almost one hundred percent sure of that, but, just in case, I brought food and dessert to lessen the blow.

  I kicked the door because my hands were full and peered out from behind four pizza boxes with a huge confectioner’s box poised on top when Chase opened the door. “Pizza’s here,” I called out from behind the mountain of food.

  “Here,” Chase said, grabbing the boxes from my arms. “Let me take those.” He flashed a devastating grin my way, as I wiped hair that had blown across my face out of my eyes. “Hey, gorgeous.”

  I couldn’t stop the blush that spread like wildfire across my cheeks and knew I’d have to work at convincing myself as well as them that this was the right move.

  Arms caught me as I stepped into the room and swung me around, so my back pressed against the wall next to the door. I laughed at the bold move then let the laughter die in my throat when Dimitri’s intense gaze caught mine and held. He grazed a knuckle over my lips, so softly I sighed. Keeping his dark eyes locked on mine, which made my stomach flutter in a delightful way, he lowered his face and claimed me with a kiss.

  Instantly, I forgot everything I’d decided and melted into him. My arms lifted to encircle his neck, and I rose onto my toes to get closer. The taste of him was decadent. It made me want more.

  My brain buzzed with pheromones, newly stirred and extremely potent. A shudder of anticipation ran through my body despite my determination to stay sane.

  I pushed away from my tempter, resting a hand on his chest to physically put distance between us, and gulped in breaths that only filled my lungs with desire tainted air. Slowly, I blew out a deep breath and backed up until I was standing in front of the bathroom door, across from my three mates, who were watching me with the glinting eyes of predators.

  “Hold it,” I said, lifting my hands to keep them back and calm them down. “As much as I hate to say this, I think we need to put our raging hormones aside for a moment and figure out a few things.”

  Audible groans echoed throughout the room. Dimitri plopped down into Chase’s reading chair with a huff as Lucian ran a hand over his jaw and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. Chase, being Chase, went straight to his mini-fridge and pulled out four bottles of beer, then handed them out with a sigh. “Might as well settle in. She brought pizza and dessert to bribe us. This night isn’t going in the direction we’d imagined.”

  I bit back a grin and shook my head at their long faces. “Oh, calm your tits,” I admonished, shooting them a saucy look. “One night of no group sex isn’t going to kill you.” Instantly, my cheeks turned hot and tingly. I swallowed. “Speaking of group sex.” Might as well dive straight into the thick of it.

  “Before last night, which was mind blowing, by the way,” I assured them with an embarrassed smile. “I’d only dreamed of being with you guys, in that way.” I pulled out Chase’s computer chair and sat as they watched me with wary expressions. “Taboo dreams, the kind I’d maybe write about in my diary but never confess even to a girlfriend.” The confession spilled from my lips as nerves raced up and down my spine.

  Chase’s grin helped set me at ease.

  “Then it just happened, and it was more than I ever thought possible. And now.” I swallowed again and pressed my hands against my flaming cheeks. Might as well confess all, I thought. “Now I can’t stop thinking about being with all of you again. In every way.”

  The air thickened with arousal.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head and batting my hand through the air as if I could chase away the pheromones. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stir the pot.” I sighed and swiveled the chair back and forth, trying to find the right words to explain what I was thinking. “I realized today that I don’t know you guys. Not really. Not in the way mates should know each other and, yes,” I added, gesturing towards Dimitri, who’d opened his beautiful mouth to retort. “I know that we have a lifetime to get to know one another, but we also have a lifetime to have Earth shattering sex.”

  Lucian and Chase turned to glare at Dimitri who glared back and muttered, “I didn’t say anything,” followed by something in Russian.

  “Don’t blame him.” I reached for the top box of pizza and opened it, knowing the pizza would help my cause. I balanced a piece on a napkin because I hadn’t thought to bring paper plates and took a bite of the tip while they began scarfing down entire slices in seconds. I watched them, amused, and entertained by their voracious hunger, and felt myself blush again at the thought of the other kind of hunger. Old Ones, would I ever stop blushing? I was mated t
o three insanely hot wolves. I’d be pink cheeked all the time if I didn’t get used to this.

  Lucian finished a piece and took a long drink from his beer then cleared his throat. “As much as I hate to say it, because, you know… sex.” He shrugged as if that were a given and we all nodded. “I think slowing down might be a good thing for us.” He dodged a pillow and punched Dimitri.

  I stared down at the pizza on my lap for a moment before looking at each of them in turn, letting them see how much this meant to me. “I want more than just sex. I want all of you. All of each of you.”

  Dimitri sighed and nodded. “Okay,” he said, offering a smile that was half way convincing. “What are you thinking?” He arched an eyebrow. “Group dates? Individual dates?”

  My heart lifted at his acceptance. “How about a bit of both?”

  Chase rubbed his chin thoughtfully and finally nodded. “You need to be romanced,” he said, getting a now familiar spark in his eye.

  Lucian’s and Dimitri’s heads pivoted, and they opened their mouths to speak, but before they could say a word, Chase jumped up and yelled, “Dibs!”

  I sat back and lifted the slice of pizza to my lips as my mates abandoned their food and fell on one another with wrestling moves and shouts that proved they were more brothers than best friends. I watched them, a happy smile lifting my lips as they fought for the first date with me, and wondered if I, or anyone else in the world, had the right to be this impossibly happy.

  A feeling of dread, pulled by the rush of joy in my soul, tainted the moment, spilling doubts into my mind that had no place in my life anymore. The past was over. I was free now, and safe.

  I pushed the dark dregs down, determined to ignore them completely, and reached for another slice of pizza.

  Chapter 5

  It felt weird sleeping alone, but I figured it was probably for the best since half-awake me wasn’t logical and had zero impulse control. The guys had grinned when I’d confessed that, so I’d chased them out before they convinced me to change my mind. They were horrible influences, and I loved it.