Chapter Fifty-Two

By the time Adrian’s alarm on his phone goes off, my eyes feel heavy and crusty from my lack of sleep. I managed to sleep for three hours of the night, which is substantially less than what I’m used to, but I manage to peel myself away from the warmth of the bedsheets and stumble to my feet. Luckily, I think there are only two classes today, so as long as I can manage to stay awake until then, I’ll be fine. Adrian sits on the edge of the bed for a moment in silence, his disheveled hair making him look impossibly cute. If only I looked so good just waking up, especially this morning. He mumbles his good morning greeting with a stretch and a yawn, his eyes unfocused as he stares at the door.

Before he has a chance to wake up any more and notices how haggard I must look, I try to smooth my hair out a bit and wipe the crust from my eyes. In the bathroom, I splash some water onto my face and scrub it with some gentle cleanser, hoping that it does something to help my skin look less dull today. It doesn’t, so I dig through the contents of the middle drawer of the vanity and pull out a pack of undereye masks, smoothing over the bags beneath my eyes. These have never failed me, so once I let them sit for ten minutes and get a triple shot espresso in me, I’ll be fine. I brush my teeth at lighting speed before Adrian comes to the bathroom door, cracking it open curiously.

“What are you doing up so early?” He asks, squinting at me through the mirror. He runs a hand through his hair and yawns again, reaching for his own toothbrush as I spit into the sink and wipe my mouth on a towel.

“What do you mean? We have to go to school today,” I remind him, confused by his question. “What time is it, anyway?” I didn’t think to check my phone before jumping out of bed, assuming that his alarm was set for a specific time intentionally. It’s true that he usually does wake up before me, but that’s only now occurring to my sleep-deprived brain.

Adrian squirts some paste onto his brush and sticks it into his mouth, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he brushes. “I wake up early to make you breakfast. It’s only seven,” He mumbles around a mouthful of foaming toothpaste before he leans over the sink to rinse his mouth out.

I stare at him as he replaces his toothbrush and wipes his mouth, my brain working double-times to process human speech today. “Oh,” I say dumbly, moving around him to grab a hair tie to pull my hair away from my face. “Well, I’m up now. Let me help with breakfast this time.”

The invigorating mint must have woken him up a bit more, because this time his eyes are more alert as he gives me a once-over, noting the patches over my under eyes. “Are you sure? You can sleep for another hour,” He offers, reaching to poke one of the patches curiously.

I swipe his hand away and readjust it over my eyebags before he can see them. “It’s okay, I’m already up,” I say, hoping that I sound more awake than I feel. My mind is racing too much now to fall back asleep anyway, and one extra hour probably won’t help me too much. I’d nearly forgotten what it was that kept me up so late, but now that I’m alert enough to remember, there’s no way I can focus on anything else.

Adrian watches me for another beat, eyes narrowed incredulity. “If you say so. I slept like a baby after last night,” He says, leaning over to whisper into my ear. “You’re incredible. I’ll meet you downstairs?” He waits for my nod before pressing a kiss to my cheek and exiting the bathroom, heading down to the kitchen.

I sigh, watching him go before turning back to the mirror to finish my skincare for the morning. My face needs some serious help, so once the eye mask is finished, I apply an extremely hydrating face mask and allow it to sit while I search for an outfit for the day. On my way to the closet, I spare a glance out the balcony window to check how cold it looks outside. The snow remains as tall and perfect as last night, so I assume it’s equally as cold as yesterday. I sigh again exasperatedly, exaggerating my distaste for the extreme cold of Montana. I miss Florida weather, where I can wear whatever I want. I miss my crop tops and skirts.

To reflect my mood for the day, I decide on an all-black outfit with some dark jeans, a turtleneck, and ebony leather boots. I add some gold jewelry and a black belt with matching gold accents to break up the monotony of the outfit, pulling my hair into a chic low-bun, tied with a black silk scrunchy. I’ll add an off-white trench coat later before we leave for the day to make me feel a little more elegant and a little less grunge.

The whole time that I’m piecing together my clothes, my brain is running over the scraps of information I gathered from Serene last night. Jasper’s family has a curse that causes them to slowly lose their minds, but it only affects the members that are direct descendants of the original Wolf that was cursed. How or why it was done to his bloodline is still a mystery, and Serene doesn’t know if something so powerful can be lifted by anyone other than the one who cast it. That’s assuming that they’re even still alive. That’s why I need to make an excuse to go see the Dean today.

The facial treatments helped with my skin immensely, so I now look less dead inside than I feel. I apply some very simple makeup with neutral colors for my eyes and head downstairs, still wearing my slippers. Despite my offer to help him with the morning meal this time, Adrian is already frying up some pancakes and eggs at the stove. My coffee is waiting for me on the island as usual, which I snatch up savagely and gobble down, despite the scalding temperature.

Adrian casts me a concerned look over his tattooed shoulder as he pours a pancake into the hot pan. “You cleaned up well,” He says light-heartedly. He, on the other hand, didn’t have to clean up at all. Even bare-chested in his boxer shorts, he’s rocking his messy hair and sleepy grin. Even his voice sounds good in the morning. I wish I was born a man sometimes.

I give him a withering look over the rim of my glass, grateful to feel the caffeine kick in already. Apparently, he went a read my mind again, because the espresso tastes very strong; about three times as strong as usual. Exactly what I was thinking of. As he turns his back to attend to the cakes and eggs, I narrow my eyes at his back, trying to suppress my butterflies as his muscles ripple at the movement of turning the food. Tattoos look way too good on his body. I’ve had plenty of male models and popular guys take their passes at me, but none of them have looked as good as Adrian. Maybe it’s just because my soul is bonded to him as his Mate, but something flutters in my chest at the realization that he’s all mine.

“Can you read my mind?” I blurt the question and silence myself again by drinking a mouthful of the too-hot espresso. What if he says yes? Then I’ll know for a fact that my plan to get rid of him for a little while to talk to the Dean with Serene is useless. He probably already knows that something is off, just judging by how keen his senses are.

Adrian glances at me with a humorous look as he plates the last of the food onto our plates. “Why do you ask?” He teases, putting the hot pans back on the stove to cool down. “Are you worried I’ll hear all your dirty thoughts about me?”

I suck my teeth at his insinuation that I think about him naked, which I’ll never admit is true. “Oh please, don’t make me laugh,” I say, hoping that my tone is free from embarrassment. “I’m just curious. Sometimes Werewolves can read minds or communicate telepathically in my shows, so I just wanted to know if that’s true,” I recover nicely.

Adrian raises an eyebrow with a miffed expression as he carries the plates over to the island, setting one in front of me as he goes to retrieve something from the fridge. “Not all of them can,” He mumbles, seeming mildly offended. He grabs some maple syrup and some leftover fruit from yesterday to bring back to the island with him. “Only Alphas can communicate with their pack. Occasionally, I can link with the minds of other species too, but that’s uncommon. Now, eat your food sleepy head. I don’t want all that caffeine to reach your empty stomach.”