67.

-HER-

“I liked your hair before,” I tell him when he’s done trimming. This makes him frown at me, “Why didn’t you stop me when I was trimming then?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug before adding, “Maybe I like seeing you trim your own hair more,” He grins before approaching me. We end up cuddling and talking.

“You don’t have to go tomorrow,” He groans.

“I wish I could stay,” I tell him. His eyes instantly blaze with determination before he suggests, “Then stay. No one would mind here,”

“But my family wants to see me,” I poke his nose. He pouts but I can genuinely say that he is not very pleased about me leaving his pack tomorrow. I am neither but it would definitely take us some time to reach the part where I can move in.

“When will you visit next?” He asks me.

“It’s your turn to visit me,” I tell him. He contemplates for sometime before asking, “Do they know about me yet?” I know that he is going to be disappointing at my answer but he certainly knows that my dad is strict. I don’t know how he’d react to Jake.

“No,” My answer didn’t surprise him. He tries to hide it but I am too careful to not miss that look of disappointment on his face which lasted for a fraction of second. We talk some more until it’s time for dinner.

Over dinner, his family almost persuades me to not leave tomorrow but the thoughts of submitting the assignment, on which I have worked hard, helps me stay firm on my decision.

“I want to show you something,” He tells me after we’re back from dinner.

“What is it?” I ask him, noticing the change in his behaviour. “You’ll see,” He assures me before he disappears in his study. Meanwhile, I am sitting on his bed, waiting for him.

He is back after a couple of moments. Our eyes lock as soon as he steps back into the bedroom. He doesn’t break the eye contact as he walks over to me.

“I think you’d recognize this,” He states, holding a torn piece of fabric that once belonged to the dress I wore to the fresher’s party. My eyes widen at it before I look back at him.

“Where did you get it?” I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“I was there that day,” I don’t miss the heaviness in his voice. The ire in his eyes is unmistakable, “I wish I had met you earlier, Cybele,” He bushes his fingertips on my cheekbone gently before promising, “She’ll not get away with it,”

After that, we finally go to bed. We’re silent for the most part but now and then we’d talk. As the night aged, our voices turned into whispers and all the lingered on our lips were promises for tomorrow.

~

It’s Monday and no one seems to be in a good mood today. Davis gets yelled at by his father in the morning for not doing something properly while Jake seems grumpy and extra possessive. A frown decorates his face when he sees me packing.

He snatches my bad and storms downstairs angrily when it’s time for me to leave.

“You should’ve hidden her things. She’d have stayed longer then,” I catch Brooke hatching a plan with Jake but after I make it clear to them that I really need to go, they give up. No one looks happy over breakfast as well.

“We had so much fun with you. Please visit us often,” June says as she hugs me. “You definitely should’ve hidden her things. This works all the time,” I hear Jake’s father tell Brooke behind my back. We end up having a laugh before finally leaving.

“So, you’ll be dropping me off to class, right?” I ask Jake as he drives us out of the pack. He slightly shakes his head before informing, “I’ll be staying there. Have some stuff to get done,” I don’t miss the dark tone in his voice.

Is he going to do something to Holly? I chose to not talk about it now for the sake of not spoiling the moment. The drive back to the college is very dreadful. The closer we got to the place, the deeper Jake’s frown got.

When we finally reach there, he lets me go after kissing me as if we’ll never see each other again. Lisa is already there. Sidonia dropped her early on the way to his classes.

“How did you tell your family about Sid?” I ask her while we wait for classes to begin.

“I first told them that I have a boyfriend and then I took him home,” She shrugs as if it was that easy for her. Her answer surprises me right away.

“Er… how did they react to him having the ability to turn into a wolf?” I ask next. At this, she bursts out laughing before finally breaking it to me, “No one in my family knows about that, yes, except Ivy. That bitch has to know everything,” She rolls her eyes.

“Are you okay with that? I mean your family not knowing?” She shrugs in response to my question.

“I don’t think that would be necessary but it completely depends on you and your family,” She tells me.

“How did they react when they met, Sid?”

“He made everyone like him right away. I mean how could anyone hate him?” She grins playfully while I nod, submerging deeper into my thoughts.

Holly and her minions chose this moment to enter the class. Our eyes instantly lock before she shoots me a mean look and looks away. Shortly after the professor arrives as well and soon, we are told to submit our term papers.

I wait patiently as the professor calls the roll numbers and checks the topic before taking the assignment away. This is the only time we’ll be submitting hard copies. After this, hopefully, everything would be online.

I notice how Holly glances at me with a smug look on her face before looking away. She is called first by the professor. After her, it’s my turn. There’s a sly smile lingering on her lips on her way back to her seat.

I press my lips in a thin line before I take my assignments and go to the professor. She confirms my roll number before asking me about my topic. When I tell her about it, she gives me a pointed look from the top of her glass frame and informs, “The previous student has done that already,”

I am proven right by her words. I knew Holly would do my topic and submit it before me so that mine could be cancelled.

“That’s okay,” I tell her before I hand her the term paper which Holly was supposed to do earlier. She looks at it before giving me an approving nod. When I walk back to my seat, Holly looks taken by surprise. She shares a confused look with her friends before giving me her signature man look.

I’ve had the upper hand this time.

**
Read the full book and some exclusive bonus scenes only on patreon.com/Benita_16**