Tasting 186

186–Focus!

Nora:

I had been in tears ever since I left the school holding hands with Lord Atwood. Though Brody and

Lord Atwood had defended me in there, I could still sense tension in their body language.

“Do you mind if I drop her off and spend some time with her before letting her attend classes?”

Brody asked Lord Atwood, who nodded and calmly made his way towards the exit. Watching him

walk away with his head down only made me hate myself more and more.

Why did I let those two fool me so easily? Couldn’t I have confirmed with Brody first? But how could

I have? Everything was happening so quickly that I wasn’t given a chance to defend myself.

“Nora!” Now that it was just the two of us, Brody straightened his back. and called my name. We

were sitting in the school courtyard now.

“I swear, April told me she had shown you some things and now you’ve blocked me,” I quickly

started explaining, feeling irritated with the kind of games those two were playing with me.

“I understand, and I believe you. It’s just that you need to learn not to react to everything so

impulsively. Look what happened today. Lord Atwood is old and he’s already dealing with a lot of

grief. He can’t tolerate all these things,” he was right.

I had been acting so nonchalantly, always causing him to receive complaints about me.

“As for the issues with April and Natalya, I will warn April to stay

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away from you. She won’t dare to speak to you or against you ever again,” he seemed so angry

when promising me that she wouldn’t be allowed around me again.

“I upset you and Lord Atwood today, didn’t I?” I poured out, slowly sighing.

“Not really. I was more proud of you than upset when I found out you hit her. Sometimes, we have

to take extreme measures to stop the bullies. But be aware of their schemes,” he held my hand,

rubbing it between his warm palms and smiling at me.

“Thank you,” I said with a bright smile on my lips.

“I’m always here for you, Nora,” he uttered sweetly. “Oh, and by the way, I got that apartment I’ve

been talking about. Whenever you’re free, I’ll show it to you. Right now, I’m waiting for the furniture

to be delivered.” That was indeed good news.

If he stayed under their roof, they would not stop him from getting riled up against me in one way or

another.

“How long do you plan to stay here in this pack? I’m worried once you leave, life will become so

hard for me.”

Brody was actually not a bad option to have as a mate. He had shown on many occasions that he

could be trusted, and today, how he went against his cousin and took care of the whole matter

really helped me see him in a positive light. In a light that one sees their potential mate

1. in.

“Just a few more months, why? Do you want me gone already?” he joked. When I didn’t laugh, he

held my hand and then gently lifted my chin, compelling me to raise my head.

106–Focus!

“Hey, I will not leave you alone. Don’t worry!” he reassured jokingly. “Now go back and attend those

classes. I’ll keep an eye out on April and even have a word with her,” he promised, helping me up

and walking me all the way back into the school.

As we walked through the hallway, everybody noticed that he was there for me and was really

overprotective of me.

“Go inside,” he stopped near my class and let go of my hand. I noticed many she–wolves ogling at

him, but he never looked away from me.

I hadn’t seen him look twice, or even once, at someone else. Every time I glanced his way, he

would be looking at me with a cute smile on his lips that compelled me to smile back at him.

The classes were really boring. I couldn’t get the whole mess from the morning out of my head. The

teachers also called me out multiple times for not paying attention. I just couldn’t forget how sad

Lord Atwood looked. The principal also made sure to guilt–trip him a lot for letting me into his life

and dealing with all the messes I was creating

now.

After classes were over, I rushed out to avoid seeing those who had made my life miserable.

Natalya and April did walk past me, but they didn’t seem as happy as they had been in the morning.

April, in particular, looked more upset. She had a huge bruise on her cheek, a blow to her ego, and

hadn’t even managed to make me look bad. She must be furious.

However, the moment I took a step outside the school, I remembered that Ryker was supposed to

come pick me up today. So, the misery was not over yet.

His bike arrived, and he took off his helmet, his eyes shining but not fixed on me. I started walking

towards him, but April rushed past me.

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186–Focus!

He didn’t get off the bike and hugged her back when she tightly wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I’ve been missing you so much,” she mumbled, rocking her body against his.

He glanced at me and replied, “Me too.”

As she broke the hug and he focused on her face, a frown crept onto his forehead. “What happened

to you? Did somebody hit you?”

The possessiveness was evident on his face, but not directed towards me this time. He gently

pressed his finger against her cheek, and she grimaced.

“Ask your sister,” she pouted, running her finger up and down alongside his black jacket’s zipper.

He looked back at me, his eyes widened, a shocked expression on his face.

“She called me bad names too. The principal called your father, and he looked so defeated when he

left.”

I was seething with anger the way she was delivering the story to Ryker, who was eating it up and

getting angrier with every word she said.