Knox was starting to become a bright light in my very anxious life. I was going back to classes now at the University and having his presence every morning made me feel calm. The first time he had picked me up from school, his idea- not mine, Rafe had a fit. Tracey told me he stewed in the woods for hours. Apparently, Knox hadn’t been the one sent on babysitting duty, it was Mav. Which didn’t make sense as he had been in trouble for going against Alpha orders before. I wasn’t sure what was happening behind the scenes with all of them but it was giving me a headache.
I clenched and unclenched my hands as I walked to my last class of the day. My wolf hardly cared about coming out to see what was happening in the real world unless we were going for a run, but even that didn’t seem to excite her like it did on the full moon. Which was a good thing, it meant I could go back to school and live a normal life. Or as normal as I could get it while having a wolf living inside of my mind and body.
When I slid into my seat at the back of the room, I smelled it again. That wrongness in the air. My hackles rose as I looked around me. Everyone was faced forward getting ready for the lecture but I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place. Nalia rose to the surface in my mind and a growl tried to rumble through my chest. I swallowed it back and clutched my shaking hands under my desk. I wiggled my fingers as fur rolled across the tops of my hands. My lips trembled as I exhaled.
This was very bad. When I finally looked up, the hair on the back of my neck stood up to attention. The feeling of being watched was overwhelming. I folded my hands together and looked beside me. The boy sitting there couldn’t have been my age. He looked young, like too young to be in college. His facial hair was spotty on his face and his limbs looked too long for his body shape. But those weren’t the things that kept my attention on him. It was the way his head cocked toward mine, in a predatory manner. When his eyes met mine, they shifted to gold.
The professor had entered the room and was getting set up on the floor. The projector clicked on. I inched to the edge of my seat but Nalia kept me from bolting.
Do not run. He likes the scent of fear. He’s baiting you.
I swallowed hard and pulled my phone in front of me. This professor was more strict about cellphone usage but thankfully, with the projector on, he wouldn’t see me back in the corner. I sent out a quick text to Knox. His reply was lighting fast. I was actually surprised he didn’t jump into the room to interrupt the lecture.
Do not engage. He could just be a rogue reacting to the smell of your pheromones. We have no war with the rogues as long as they stay away from pack lands. I will be waiting in the hall for you.
That eased some of my worries, but not all of it. The rogue seated close to me kept his eyes on me the entire lecture and didn’t even take notes. How the professor didn’t jump down his throat was beyond me. He was usually quick to catch those things. He hated students that didn’t pay attention or take notes. I knew better than the rest, I had been caught on my first day in his class, not paying attention. The tongue lashing in front of the rest of the students was humiliating and reminded me of high school. None of my other professors cared at all about what we did, except cheating.
When the professor announced dismissal I was careful to push my chair in slowly and walk carefully out of the room. I hated giving the wolf my back and Nalia practically shouted in my mind about it, but the human world was oblivious to wolves. I couldn’t face off with the gangly boy in the middle of the room. I would have to turn my back on him to at least get him away from the humans. They wouldn’t be safe if the rogue went off the walls crazy. Most of them were insane because they didn’t have an Alpha to pledge to.Is that what I would become?
Knox was leaning against the white cinderblock walls when I came out of the room. His dark red hair was a mess around his head and his navy eyes were now bright gold. Knox wrinkled his nose in disgust. “You need to shower. You smell like him.”
“How?” I lifted my arm to sniff myself and sure enough, I did. I fought back a gag.
Knox snarled as he placed his hand on my lower back and led me out of the school. I didn’t miss the appreciative glances thrown his way as he slipped his sunglasses over his nose. I also didn’t miss the sneers as they watched his hand on my lower back. The gangly rogue that had been beside me in the classroom was now gone. He hadn’t emerged behind me. He had disappeared.
“I think he rubbed his scent all over your chair. He’s baiting us but I can’t figure out why.” Knox ran his hand down his face. I felt the pebbling of fur ripple across my arms again. He stiffened beside me as he felt it. “You need to keep your wolf in check, Jade.”
“I’m trying,” My voice came out in a growling mess. Knox bristled as he opened my car door for me then slipped into the driver seat.
He flipped the AC on to full blast and I felt my wolf relax. Nalia wasn’t happy but she wouldn’t force a shift in the car, at least not right now. My shoulders relaxed as I leaned back in my seat.
“When was the last time you had some fun?” Knox’s voice took on a different tone and it was like the last hour hadn’t happened. He seemed to be more relaxed as he wove through the traffic to get us home. When he missed the exit for the pack lands, I was confused.
I wrinkled my eyebrows as I tried to not think of the night Carden tried to claim me. “It’s been a hot second.”
Knox cocked his head toward me and mischief twisted his lips. “I think you need to get out of the house, Jade. All of this stress isn’t good for your wolf and neither is all of this rogue mess. She is going to lash out and I would hate for it to happen in the grocery store.”
I wanted to deny what he was saying but Nalia was eerily silent. She was agreeing with him, without openly agreeing with him. I sighed. “I’m not going to another party if that’s what you have planned.”
Me and parties no longer mixed. Even though I really wanted them to be normal to me again, they never would. I would never be able to enjoy the party lifestyle that I had been so used to, the lifestyle that I had loved at one point. Knox shook his head as he pulled into my driveway. This time my parents were watching.
My phone rang after exactly a minute. “Hello?”
Much to my surprise, it was my mother on the other end. “Is someone visiting the house? I haven’t seen that car before.”
My lips pinched together to keep myself from laughing. “Yes, I’ve been carpooling to and from school with one of my friends.”
“That isn’t Tracey’s car,” My dad’s voice was slightly stern. Knox leaned against the door and an easy grin spread across his lips. I shoved my door open, not giving him the opportunity for him to get out and get my door for me. That was thelastthing my parents needed to see. It would only egg them on. I unlocked the door and Knox followed behind me with a slow swagger. He knew they were watching and he was going to put on a show. I gritted my teeth together as I shook my head at him. The audacity.
“No,” I dragged the word out slightly. There was nothing to feel guilty over… except I had to lie to them again and it wasn’t anything scandalous. “It isn’t Tracey’s car.”
“You brought a boy into the house,” My mom actually whispered this like she knew Knox had super hearing or something. He grinned across the kitchen at me.
“Yes, I did.” I didn’t know how I was going to play this out. “We aren’t seeing each other in case you’re wondering.”
My dad grumbled something I couldn’t hear. My mom didn’t sound as chipper as before when she finally turned back to the phone. “Well, that’s disappointing.”
I choked on the water I had been sipping on. I didn’t think it was possible, but Knox’s grin only continued to grow bigger. Lord help me. I let out an exasperated sound. “What does that mean?”
