There’s laughter from the back. I’m not sure if it is aimed at me, or if they think it is funny that Kirin managed to talk himself out of what I am sure was supposed to be easy and inevitable sex.
I might be feeling some kind of mate bond, but that doesn’t make me a brainless idiot, and it doesn’t mean I don’t needrespect. I sit back in my seat and I fold my arms over my chest and I abstain from eye contact with Kirin in any way.
If these men think they can abduct me simply because I’m horny and a wolf, they’ve got another think coming. I’m smart. People forget about that because I’m young and female, and to some men, my being young and female is more relevant to their interests than anything else.
Kirin doesn’t say anything, so I do.
“You’re an asshole,” I add. “I don’t like you. Actually, I don’t think I like any of you. So as soon as I get out of this van, I’ll be going back to the academy, and I’ll be telling them exactly what’s happened here.”
“Oh, you’ll tell on us?” Kirin smirks. “How terrifying. You’ll tell your stuffy old tutors that some big mean men came and took you from your bed and fingered you in a van while you begged for their dicks?”
“I might leave the last part out,” I snark back.
The corner of his lip twists in what might be a smile, but is probably a smirk.
“Tell Instructor Furkas hi from me, in that case,” he says.
“You went to the academy?” I can’t keep the scandal out of my tone.
“I did. We all did, at various times. I’m a more recent grad. Einar is old enough to be one of the useless instructors.”
“Then why aren’t you in the King’s Guard? Oh. I know. You failed.”
A heavy silence descends on the van with that last question and jibe. Have I insulted them? Good. I hope so. I hope their egos are absolutely burning with misery.
“You can pull over here and let me out,” I say. “I think we’re done here.”
Kirin laughs at me. “We just abducted you, you little…” He restrains himself from calling me stupid or something worse. “We’re not going to let you go.”
“Well, you’re not going to be able to keep me,” I say. “I’m very good at getting out of places where I don’t want to be.”
“That’s enough.” Einar’s voice rings out with authority from the rear. “You two can stop bickering. Darcy, there is a lot for you to learn, and you may as well stop making assumptions now. Kirin, don’t antagonize her. You were no better when we got you.”
“You got kidnapped too? Did you get fingered as well?” I throw the verbal barbs at Kirin with more than a little viciousness. I see them hit, and watch his face redden with annoyance.
“No, I didn’t get fingered,” he shoots back. “That’s for slutty little… Ow!”
Rafe just hit him hard over the back of the head.
“Don’t talk to our mate that way.”
“I’m driving! Do you want us to all die? Don’t fucking hit me!”
Kirin is clearly the youngest and lowest ranked of their number. Makes sense he’s trying to make me even lower and pick on me. It’s textbook stupid boy stuff. I’ve seen it happen in the academy literally hundreds of times. I have no intention of allowingmyself to be the bottom of any pecking order. Well, not anymore than I already am at the academy.
When it became apparent that I was never going to be treated like the other guys, I forged my own path. I don’t stay where I’m low ranked. And for that, and several other reasons, I’m not going to stay with these guys. For a few minutes there I let my hormones get the better of me. They seem to know about female wolf shifters, how we bond with mates. I don’t want them using that knowledge to manipulate me. I also don’t want to end up under their control. Einar, especially, seems like he doesn’t tolerate anybody stepping out of line in his world. But all I have ever done is step out.
We head up and out of the city. Eclipse is bordered on one side by the river, and the other side is mountainous. The academy likes to run tramps and hikes and things up there, but I bet that’s not why we’re headed up.
There are cave systems in the hills. They’re dangerous, and we’ve never been allowed in them. Some say they’re haunted. Others say that they have a tendency to collapse. Still others say wild things live in there. I say living in a city is preferable to living in a literal hole in the ground, so that’s kept me out of them.
I love running through the city, and I love climbing buildings and escaping Nile drones, but hiking? Hiking can fuck all the way off. It’s just an unpleasantly long walk with no payoff at the end. No cargo. No salvage. Just sweat and boredom.
We wind up a main road, then onto a side road, then into a dirt track and finally we just pull into some bushes, like we’ve given up on the concept of driving.
Kirin stops the van and we all get out. There’s nothing but night, which is slowly giving way to dawn, and forest. The last thing on earth I want to do is go into those trees. I know that seems strange. A lot of shifters absolutely love the woods. My wilds are urban, though. The notion of having to pad around in mud and dirt to go sleep somewhere with maybe slightly less mud and dirt does not appeal.
“It’s a bit of a…”
