Chapter 7: Chapter 7

EVERLEE

My fingertips tapped rhythmically against my thigh, and my pulse drowned my hearing until all I could hear was the rushing of my own blood in my ears. I bit my lower lip, fighting the urge to cry and scream at the same time.

~Look at him,~ my wolf begged.

I felt Rage’s gaze on me everywhere. It lit me on fire from the outside in and left me a pile of ash in my seat. But I wouldn’t look at him. Harlan was my mate, I’d already accepted him, wanted him, grew up with him.

Mom must have sensed my unease, so she reached over and wrapped her hand around my own. When I looked at her, she smiled softly, and tapped my thigh. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

I shook my head. “~No~. I’m not.”

The leather of the chancellor’s chair pulled when he sat down and rubbed his forehead. “Well, this is new,” he said. “I’ve only been here a few years, but this is ~definitely~ new. Two mates. ~Whew~.” His chuckle made me want to vomit.

Nothing about this was funny.

When I looked at him, his smile faltered, and he leaned forward to brace his elbows against his desk. “I’m not sure how to go about this. It’s pretty obvious that the two wolves—,”

“Lycan,” Harlan corrected. “I’m a lycan.”

“Right,” he said. “The two ~boys~,” he corrected, “are going to have a hard time not killing one another. They’re both seniors, and neither of them can afford to miss classes being so close to graduation.”

Mom cleared her throat. “Maybe Everlee can stay back a year or something, until she can make a decision.”

~A decision. What was there to decide? ~

Anger boiled inside of me. I’d waited years to attend the university, and now it’s being taken away, because the goddess ~blessed~ me with two mates. I didn’t want two mates. I just wanted Harlan.

I stood up, snatching my hand from mom’s. “I’ll go ahead and end the debate now. I choose Harlan. My wolf.”

Rage stood up so quickly the hair on my neck stood on end, and his chair flew backward, hitting the opposite wall. His gaze blazed an icy-blue color that made my toes curl in my shoes. “~You take that back~,” he demanded. “I’ve said two words to you, and you’ve already chosen the lycan? You may have grown up with him, but you won’t toss me to the side without getting to know me. I deserve a chance, just as he had. I’m in line to be the alpha king. I deserve some respect from you.”

I ground my teeth so hard the sound vibrated in my ears.

“Hey. ~Hey~,” Dad said. “Listen, he’s right—”

“Dad!” I shouted.

Harlan’s fingers tightened into fists on the arms of the chair, and he chuckled humorlessly to himself. “I should have known,” he said. “Picking the wolf over me. After all these years.”

“No,” Mom said, turning to face Harlan. “We love you. We will always love you, but he is right. The goddess blessed her with two mates, and she needs to weigh them evenly. It’s obvious neither of you are the ~sharing~ kind, not that I’m encouraging that. It’s too messy, so Everlee needs to pick wisely. She can’t without getting to know him.”

A glisten of a tear gathered in the corner of Harlan’s eye, but it disappeared just as quickly. He didn’t agree, but turned his head away from us, away from me, and I felt my stomach drop to my butt.

The alpha king stood slowly, calmly and turned to look at me. “Everlee,” he said gently. “I’m Alpha Hunt. It’s a pleasure to meet you. This is not going to be easy for anyone. Especially since you have ties to Harlan already. I do insist you give Rage a proper chance. Maybe we can agree for you to spend some time with him—alone—soon.”

~Alone.~ My wolf begged for it, while my mind mentally vomited at the idea. I could feel Harlan’s hurt, and Rage’s excitement. I turned my head away from him to hide my tears and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m going to Harlan’s apartment tonight. We already planned it.”

Dad frowned, but didn’t disagree when I said it. I needed to talk to Harlan.

“May I suggest that you don’t do anything hasty just yet?” he asked. “No marking until you’ve made your decision?”

Harlan braced his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his palms. I wanted to console him, to tell him everything would be okay, but I couldn’t. My wolf was attracted to Rage and wanted that time alone. I didn’t know what that meant.

I lowered my head to him, out of respect, and the fear I would start crying if I made eye contact for too long.

Chancellor Peters clapped his palms together and rubbed them. “I think we have a plan. Can I trust all of you not to cause a riot on campus? That was one heated fight out there. Professor Blakely thought he was going to have to break it up until Everlee intervened.”

I had to intervene. I couldn’t let them beat the hell out of one another over me. If it came down to it, I would reject them both to have peace.

“Thank you for your time,” Dad said. “There won’t be any more fights on campus,” he said, giving Harlan a sharp look. “We’ll see ourselves out. Thank you, Chancellor.”

Dad walked out of the office, leaving Mom to usher Harlan and I outside. I felt Rage behind me, his wolf curious, needing me, and I screwed my eyes shut, reaching out for Harlan’s hand.

He took it, squeezing tightly, but didn’t look over at me as I longed for. Once we made it outside of the chancellor’s building, I took a deep breath and swallowed the hard lump of fear in my throat.

Dad stopped on the sidewalk, turning to face the two of us, and then Alpha Hunt and Rage. Rage’s gaze pulled at me, and unable to help it, I glanced over at him. His icy blue eyes were deep, and a small dimple dented his cheek when he smirked.

Rage was attractive. ~Really~ attractive.

Strong. His deltoids were large, and his biceps flexed when he caught me looking at them. I dropped my gaze to the sidewalk, and prayed this was one bad dream.

“Do we ~seriously~ think we can keep these two from killing one another?” Alpha Hunt asked.

Dad laughed. “Not in a million years.”

Mom rubbed her arms, and Dad immediately wrapped his arm around her. “Maybe Everlee should come home.”

“Please,” I begged. “I don’t want to come home. I’ve been waiting years to come here. I don’t want to sit out.”

Harlan squeezed my hand reassuringly, but it only made me sad. I didn’t want to miss this.

Mom frowned. “We didn’t think something like this would happen, Ever. We can’t torture the two boys like this.”

“I won’t fight him,” Rage said.

Everyone turned to look at him, but his gaze settled on me. “I promise not to fight Harlan if you give me a chance like you promised. A real chance.”

~A real chance.~

How could I promise something like that?

I dropped my gaze, and he reached forward, lifting my chin with two fingers. I felt Harlan stiffen beside me, his hand tightening on mine, but Rage didn’t budge. “I’m not that kind of alpha. You don’t have to look away. You’re my equal, and I’m going to prove it to you.”

~Oh, crap…~

***

Harlan shut his apartment door behind him, locked it, and reached for me. Four fingers curled over the back of my neck, and he brought my forehead to his. “Dear God, we were so close to forever,” he whispered against my mouth.

My wolf relaxed into his touch, and I fought the urge to call her every bad name in the book. She was behind all of this madness. I could have said no to Rage. I could have walked away. It’s her, that pushed me. Bullied me into liking him. Wanting him. Feeling anything toward him.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said, wrapping my hand around his wrist, closing my eyes and wishing it all away. “I’m so sorry.”

He scoffed and tore away, turning his back to me, he bent down and braced his palm against his knees. “None of this is your fault, Everlee. None of it. It sucks, but it’s not your fault. The goddess, for whatever reason, wants you to choose. I don’t know what that means yet.”

It meant hell for everyone. No matter what choice I made, someone would end up getting hurt. “I choose you, Harlan,” I said softly, trailing my fingertips along his spine. “I don’t even know this guy.”

He turned and caught my wrist, his dark brown eyes deep with longing and regret. “Most people don’t know their mate before they realize they’re mates. You can’t choose me for that reason, because we know each other, Ever. You have to choose me because you love me more, and you don’t know him yet. So you can’t say it.”

Harlan watched my throat as I swallowed. I felt every emotion known to humankind storm my insides and spun me in circles. Stepping forward, Harlan pressed his mouth against mine, sending everything inside of me out into a vulnerable place.

And he took it all.

The tears mixed into our kiss, the aggressive way I gripped his shoulders, and drown in the taste of his mouth. All of it felt overwhelming. He picked me up by the back of my thighs, and carried me toward his bed, sitting me down on his lap, never removing his lips from mine.

His rough fingertips tangled in my hair, while the other hand palmed the globe of my ass. I broke away from our kiss, feeling myself needing more from him that either of us could give at the moment. “I don’t know how to do this, Harlan. I can’t go be alone with this person, after doing this with you. I feel so dirty.”

Harlan pulled back and rubbed the pad of his thumb against my bottom lip. “You’re not dirty, Ever. I’ll never think less of you for exploring another path, even if it doesn’t lead to me. As badly as it hurts my wolf, and I wish we could just run away together, and say screw everyone, it’s not fair.

I don’t like him, ~at all~, but he deserves a chance at his mate just as much as I do.”

I frowned at the logic Harlan was spewing out at me. “I don’t want logical Harlan, right now,” I said.

He smirked. “Okay, fair enough,” he said, placing me on the bed, he separated my thighs with his body, kissing a slow path up my neck, he stopped at my ear. “Screw Rage Hunt. If he touches you, I’ll kill ‘em.”

I smiled and a soft laugh escaped me. “Much better.”

My heart still ached, even with Harlan driving my hormones into a tornado of pleasure, I didn’t think tomorrow would be any better.