Chapter 28: Chapter 28

EVERLEE

“Remember that time we got all the kids together and howled at the full moon in the middle of the courtyard?”

Harlan snorted. “Alpha Allaire was so pissed we woke everyone up.”

I licked my ice cream cone I took from the cafeteria. “Yeah, Dad needs his rest or he’s a total monster. It’s a good thing Mom’s a light sleeper. I used to sneak into their bed before I realized you’d let me in yours.”

Harlan shoved his shoulder into mine. “You were so scared of the dark. I almost pranked you so many times, but I felt bad for it.”

“It’s a good thing. I would have never forgiven you. I’m still afraid of the dark.”

Harlan wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. I knew he was hiding something from me. I didn’t feel like it was something huge, but I thought that it was dealing with the feeling I got from him the night before.

I wanted to be patient and let him come to me.

It was harder than it looked.

“Your wolf is strong. You’re a hybrid and you’re afraid of the dark, Everlee? That’s crazy.”

I took another lick of my ice cream and glanced up at the moon. Dad always told me the moon would guide me if I got lost at night. I prayed that didn’t happen.

We closed in on the dorm room, and the shadows of the trees hovered over us like an umbrella. A shiver of nerves raced down me.

I stepped onto the first step of the dorm room. It was after hours so the RA wouldn’t allow any boyfriends up. I turned to face Harlan. “Thank you for walking me.”

He smiled. “After your confession of being afraid of the dark, I’d be a real jackass to let you walk alone.”

“Very true,” I said, taking another lick.

Harlan stilled, and his mouth parted. “You better stop licking that ice cream like that before I do something I shouldn’t.”

~Do it,~ my wolf pleaded.

I couldn’t even be pissed at her. It was the perfect timing. We were alone. It was dark. Harlan took a step upward as I backtracked up the steps. Taking another daunting lick, I watched his eyes flash red.

Grabbing my wrist, he brought the ice cream cone to my mouth and smeared it against my bottom lip. He backed me against the dorm room entrance and licked every inch of the cream from my mouth.

My thighs quaked at the feeling of his dominance.

“Again,” I whispered.

Harlan chuckled and didn’t stop me when I slid the ice cream along my neck and angled myself for him.

“Damn,” he whispered, against the shell of my ear. “That ice cream almost smells as good as you do.”

The dorm room porch light came on, indicating it was past 8:30 p.m.

Neither of us stirred. The light gave me the pleasure of seeing the lust in Harlan’s eyes. Slowly he leaned in and licked the cream from my neck.

The embarrassing moan that left me formed a vibration in Harlan’s chest. The pressure between my legs grew so much that I didn’t care about my dessert. I tossed it off the side of the porch and tangled my fingers into his hair.

Harlan hoisted me up to his hips. The hard outline of his dick pressed into the V of my jeans. His ability to erase all the hard times we had for the past two days soothed me.

Nipping a path up my neck, he pressed one of my arms above my head, and pressed me harder against his hips. My eyes rolled back in my head and another moan slipped from me.

This time when I looked down at him his eyes weren’t the lycan red.

They were soulless black.

I gasped, and he let me down from the door. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Your eyes,” I said, pointing at his face. “They turned black.”

Harlan blinked a few times until they were back to his usual shade of brown. “I’m sure it was the lighting, Everlee.”

“Yeah,” I said, not believing it. “I’m sorry. It just startled me.”

Harlan smiled softly. “It’s fine. I need to get going anyway. It’s late, and I have a quiz tomorrow I haven’t studied for.”

He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Get inside.”

I turned and opened the door, feeling him staring at the back of my head as I slipped inside. Once the doors shut, I exhaled into the front lobby.

The RA sat at her desk, both feet propped up watching a small TV on the corner of her office. I waved at her on my way to the elevator.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I expected to see a text from Bryiar, but it was Rage.

~“You make it to your dorm room?”~

I smiled. “~Yes. Going up now. I need to tell you something.”~

The elevator let me off on my floor. I slipped down the hallway, pulled out my keys and let myself inside.

Bryiar’s side was empty with a small note on the pillow. “Going for a run. Be back by 9.”

I kicked off my shoes and untied my hair. The bathroom caddy in the corner was full of my soap and shampoo. I grabbed a washcloth and towel and headed down the hallway.

My phone vibrated again.

“~What do you need to tell me? That you want me to sneak over?”~

I chuckled. The RA would sniff out an alpha in a heartbeat.

“~No, but don’t tempt me, Alpha. I’m going home this weekend. I just wanted you to know.”~

The bathroom door felt heavy underneath my palms. I hated disappointing Rage, especially after how he stood up to his father for me.

“~I’ll miss you. Any particular reason~?”

I nibbled on my lip, opened a shower curtain, and leaned against the wall.

~I thought it would be nice to see my family. This week has been stressful, and I’m also wanting to speak to my dad about Harlan. Something isn’t right. I need his advice. He raised him.~

I knew talking to Rage about Harlan was weird. But I also wanted to be honest with him. My phone buzzed against the small shelf in the shower.

~Promise me you’ll be careful around him. Trust your gut. It’ll never steer you wrong.~

~I promise.~

I slipped my phone back onto the shelf and started my shower. The weight of the day fell to my feet. My wolf began to wind down, eager to get home so we could run wild on the pack lands.

The excitement about going home began to dwindle as my mind wandered to leaving Rage. It wasn’t fair to Harlan, but the wedge between us felt never-ending. How could I break that separation when I felt he was hiding things from me?

And why was there a part of me that wished he would push me away for good?

***

Bryiar’s scream woke me the next morning.

This wasn’t her normal screaming because she had a zit come up overnight. This deathly, gut-wrenching scream rolled my stomach.

She stood in the hallway, our dorm room door cracked open and her bathroom caddy spilled along the floor. She stared at something on our door, but I couldn’t see through the slit.

I opened the door, her wide blue eyes unmoving.

The animal taped to our door was dead. For a moment, I thought it was a cat, but then I realized it was a hind leg…or a wolf.

Vomit climbed my throat as girls gathered around our door. Bryiar looked over at me. “What the hell is that?”

My heart hammered like a drumline in my chest.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Someone go get the RA. We need the chancellor, too.”

The silent threat hung on the door, mocking me. My mind raced with people that could have done this. There was that girl from Rage’s pack, but I doubted she would go against him after he humiliated her.

Erick was a possibility.

I nibbled on the side of my nail, feeling scared and hurt when I hear some of the girls whispering in the hallway. Rage’s scent filled my nose. Their gaze moved toward our door as he filled the space.

He looked like a knight to me.

There to save the day.

His too-blue gaze looked down at the wolf leg and then back to me. Walking inside, he bent down and wrapped his arms around me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Bryiar found it this morning. There were too many people here to catch a good scent. I—I have no idea who did this.”

Rage palmed my shoulder and slid his hand down to my wrist. “It could be the lycans,” he whispered.

Bryiar looked up from her bed where she sat shakily. “Right, because why would a wolf put ~that~ on the door?”

Rage turned his back to Bryiar and looked down at me. “Are you sure going home this weekend is a good idea?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “But I need to speak to my dad face-to-face.”

Rage nodded, though I knew he didn’t think it was a good idea. Several she-wolves began to leave the hallway, while looking over their shoulders.

Harlan stepped into the doorway moments later.

He looked like a wreck. There were dark circles underneath each eye, and his clothes were wrinkled. He looked down at the leg, and into the room. I noticed his unease as he stepped inside.

“The RA went to get the chancellor,” I said to no one.

Harlan’s gaze moved to Rage’s hand on mine. The darkness in his eyes flamed but he shook it away.

“Who do you think did it?” Harlan asked, clearing his throat.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “Do you have any ideas?”

Harlan’s gaze snapped to mine. The irritation lingered in the snarl on his mouth. “Are you saying I did this? Don’t act shy now because your alpha boyfriend is here.”

His words sliced through me like fire. Rage stepped forward and moved me behind him. “Don’t start any shit and there won’t be any,” Rage said. “How could you talk to her like that when you’re trying to win your mate? What the hell is wrong with you? She asked you a simple question.”

Something on Harlan’s face snapped.

He stepped forward, and the familiar darkness swirled in his eyes. Rage’s back tensed. He saw it too. Bryiar shot up and put her hand on each of their chests. “Stop it. I can hear the chancellor coming.”

Harlan’s dark gaze shifted toward mine over Rage’s shoulder. When he blinked the darkness vanished and I stared at the boy I grew up with.

The chancellor stopped in our doorway, judging the situation and the two boys in our room. “You both need to leave. I’d like to speak to the girls alone.”

Rage immediately obeyed his orders.

He kissed my forehead, stepped around Harlan, and disappeared down the hallway. Harlan lingered, his fingers tightening into fists at his sides with disobedience on his face.

The chancellor’s brows lifted. “~Now~, Harlan.”

He reluctantly left the room, and the chill went with it.

“This is a new one,” he mumbled under his breath. He picked up the leg and examined it. “It looks like it’s been bitten off. That’s not a clean cut.”

Bryiar gasped sharply under her breath. “What does that mean? Someone bit it off and taped it to our door? Why?”

He sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I’m going to have someone come by and put in cameras on each floor. This is disgusting.”

“It feels like a threat,” Bryiar said. “I don’t feel safe.”

He frowned. “We’ll triple the guards patrolling. I’ll have someone stake out by the building. Don’t worry. Werewolf University is very safe.”

I tried to keep my eye roll to myself.

My mother and father were proof that Werewolf U wasn’t invincible. “Thank you, Chancellor,” I said.

He took the specimen with him and shut the door behind him.

Bryiar gaped at me. “What is wrong with Harlan?”

A sad feeling swelled in my chest. “I don’t know. I’m hoping Dad can help me this weekend. That’s not the boy I know.”