Page 7 of Alpha’s Hated Mate (Shifters of Clarion)

“ S o, what happened ?” Yarra asks as we change into sweats for Lycan Defense class. She’s been bothering me all week about that party, and I’m just trying to forget about it.

“I told you, nothing happened,” I lie. Again. She’s probably asked me once every day since that night. Goddess, she won’t let up on me.

She rolls her eyes as she ties her electric-purple hair up into a ponytail. “Saffron, there’s no reason to be embarrassed about getting kicked out, okay?”

I glare at her. “What?”

She pauses, and her brow wrinkles a little. “Nadia’s been bitching about it to anyone who would listen. She’s really pissed about you showing up to the Bash.”

I scoff. “Good.”

Her frown deepens. “So you’re not embarrassed?”

“Have you met me?” I pull my t-shirt over my head. Usually, I’d put on the sweatshirt, too, but I’ve been running hot since . . . well, since that night. I think Aydan might’ve broken me a little.

“Okay,” Yarra says, “then what’s going on? You haven’t said a thing about going to that party. I thought for sure you’d call me gloating.”

“That’s because nothing happened,” I insist. “Yarra, I went, had a little punch, then I got escorted out. End of story.”

She’s looking at me with these narrowed eyes. “Come on, Saffron. I know something happened.”

I close my locker and give her a quick smile. “Nadia’s all wound up, and I didn’t even get to do anything. That’s the long and short of it, okay?”

She’s about to say something, but her eyes drift over my shoulder and her face reddens. She looks away, down toward the floor. I look over my shoulder to see a couple of the larger Howler House wolves in various states of nudity.

I snort a laugh at Yarra. “What is it you used to say? ‘You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.’ How many times do I have to say it, now?”

She gives me a sour look as we make our way out of the locker room. “I’m never going to get used to it. I swear. You know, Chad and I are supposed to spend some time back home over the holidays? His mother wants to show me the city where our pack is. Chad says that people just run through the woods naked . Like it’s no big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal.” I continue laughing. What a rip-off to have been born with Outer Land values! “It’s just tits and ass, pussies and cocks. No one cares. Except when you end up destroying your favorite sweater because you have to change in a hurry for some stupid reason.”

She shakes her head as we walk out into the gym. “Somebody ought to invent a way for wolves to stay clothed after they change.”

I start to say something in response, but it flies right out of my head when I notice him. Standing by the door, looking as out of place as ever even in uniform, is Aydan Vaultmore. There’s something about the way he wears his black dress shirt and how his slacks hang on him that looks different somehow. I see wolves all over this campus in the same getup every day. Yet when he walks in, it’s almost like an event.

The second I see him, he sees me. We both look away quickly.

“What the hell is he doing here?” I say to Yarra. She goes to look over my shoulder, and I grab her arm. “Don’t look .”

“How am I supposed to know who you’re talking about if I don’t look?”

“Okay, but don’t make it obvious.”

She sighs, then drops her wristband by my foot. As she kneels to pick it up, she shoots a glance over by the door. When she stands back up, she’s smiling. “The man of the hour. You know half the school has been drooling over him? You should hear some of the girls in my Dynamics class. They all think they have a chance at being his Luna. He’ll have his pick when he’s ready to mate.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s really disturbing, Yarra.”

She shrugs. “Makes sense, though, right? He’s a new Alpha of a pack that I hear is pretty influential. A damned good-looking one, too.”

“He’s also Nadia Vaultmore’s brother. Don’t forget that.”

Yarra smirks at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two say boo to one another, and you already have some kind of problem with him? Just because his sister is Nadia? That’s not very tolerant of you.”

I don’t really have a response to that, and that’s fine. The professor just walked into the room. Class is about to start.

Our Defense teacher, Professor Kayne, is a muscular wolf with short black hair, a beard, and hairy shoulders. He has the look of a wolf that just stays mid-change most of the time, even though he’s in human form. His nails are a little too long and shiny, his large hands are rough and calloused, and even though I’m sure he’s not sporting fangs, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was.

“Morning class. Let’s circle up.” His big, booming voice bounces off the high walls and spurs us into motion. As we fall into place, I glance behind me to see Aydan still standing by the door. Wonder what that’s all about?

“Today, we’re covering a little hand-to-hand combat,” Professor Kayne says. “Some of you will leave Moonhelm to be the Alphas, Lunas, or the top defenders of your pack. And some of you will just live your lives as part of the wheels that turn within Clarion. Whichever way you go, knowing how to defend yourself against an attacker of any kind could mean the difference between life and extinction.”

Life and extinction . Professor Kayne certainly has a flair for the dramatic.

“I know that many of you are well equipped to spar in your wolf forms, but this world and the one beyond has more than just wolves in it. You need to know how to defend yourselves as humans. That’s where we’re starting today.” He glances over at Aydan, who is still standing by the door. “Now, you may have noticed we have an observer today. Mr. Vaultmore has had extensive combat training in his pack and has agreed to assist. Please give him the proper amount of respect that you would also give me.”

Everyone else is looking back at Aydan. Not me. I’m ignoring him and his scent.

“Let’s pair up. Male/female.” He claps his hands to get us moving.

I glance at Yarra, and my shoulders slump a little. She’s usually my partner since no one else ever wants to spar with me. Immediately, one of the Howler wolves, Sam Orman, chooses her. He just so happens to be this giant, hairy beast of a wolf, and every time I’ve seen him he’s always howling loudly with his buddies in random places around campus. Yarra walks off with him while everybody else pairs up . . . and now I’m acutely aware of the odd number of wolves in the room.

Spineless cowards. All these big tough wolves, and they’re all so scared I might lose control or something. Whenever this happens, I usually end up sitting things out or being the one that the professor demonstrates a thing on. I’m getting tired of playing the test dummy.

I go to sit down on the side when Professor Kayne says, “Hold on, Ms. Kamaria.”

I stop and turn to him, expecting him to call me to the center of the circle to practice. Instead, he turns to Aydan and asks, “I know you’re just here to observe, but would you mind? We have an odd number, and Ms. Kamaria needs a partner.”

Aydan’s eyes ask the same question I’m thinking. Why don’t you do it? He doesn’t say it, though. He just rolls up his sleeves and walks toward the circle. “Of course, Professor,” he says.

He stands next to me, and I’m drowning in his scent. The warmth coming off his body seeps into me, and I can already feel my thighs getting moist.

“Maybe you should change,” he says. “Might make it easier on you.”

I scoff. “That’s not the assignment. Plus, I’m sure you don’t want to mess up that expensive shirt.”

“There’s nothing you’ve got that I can’t handle,” he says, his voice low enough just for me to hear it.

Asshole.

Professor Kayne goes, “All right, students. I want a good five minutes to show me what you’ve got. Go.”

We all step to our own corners of the gym. I glance over my shoulder at Yarra, who’s looking back at me with her big blue eyes. Sam’s pretty big, but she’s tough. I’m not so worried about her. Me, however . . .

Aydan stands in front of me with his arms folded. “You can have the first shot.”

“Don’t do me any favors,” I say to him. Fuck, he smells so good. Right now, it’s less like rainwater and more like a waterfall. It’s so distracting.

“I’d rather take a defensive position. I don’t want to hurt—”

I don’t give him a chance to finish. I drop to the floor and sweep his legs in one motion. Caught off guard, he collapses, his back hitting the wood. He winces as I get to my feet.

“First rule of combat,” I say. “Always be ready.”

He smirks a little, then sits up. “Okay.”

I walk over to him to help him to his feet. The second he grabs my arm, he yanks me forward and rolls on top of me. He pins me down and leans into me, his breath in my face.

“Never let your guard down,” he growls.

I headbutt him in the mouth. He reels back from the blow, releasing me, and I’m on him. I punch him across the face, hard. He tumbles to the side, and I roll to my feet. I don’t give him a chance to recover. I kick at him, aiming for his chest. He shifts out of the way, and I stomp the ground next to him. He recoils quickly, striking the back of my knee with his elbow.

I stumble forward, but I catch myself long enough for him to get to his feet. His blue and green eyes are wild, bearing down on me. A line of blood trickles out of the corner of his mouth where I head-butted him.

He pauses to wipe the blood away. “You’re tough.”

“When you spend your life fighting, you learn how to hold your own,” I say. “Not that you’d know anything about that.”

I come at him, swinging with a backhand, a forearm, an elbow. He blocks every single one before grabbing my face with one palm and pushing me away. I fall backward and land on my ass.

Rage clouds my vision, and I leap at him, my claws and fangs out, the urge to rip him apart taking over. My roar echoes off the walls as I swing for his face. He leans out of the way and grabs my arm, wrapping me up and enclosing me in a bear hug. His chest against my back, his breath on my neck, his arms pinning mine to my chest.

I struggle, growling and kicking. He holds me firm and says in that same low tone he had when I was in the middle of my climax, “Calm down.”

It’s like cold air pours into my lungs, and I gasp. My body starts to shiver all over as the rage drains from my body.

“You can’t defeat your enemy if you lose your head.” The sound of his voice is like sex and honey drifting on the heat of his breath. Without thinking, I lean my head back against him, and it’s like I’ve sunk down into a warm bath.

And then he releases me. I stumble, my knees threatening to buckle. As my senses return to me, I notice that everyone else has stopped and is now watching us. The looks on their faces . . . is that surprise? Maybe some disgust?

Fuck . Embarrassment wells up inside me, and all I want to do is crawl into a hole and die.

“Very good de-escalation, Mr. Vaultmore,” Professor Kayne says. I can’t look up and I can’t look at Aydan. I look down at the floor.

“Let’s move on.”

Aydan walks up to me, and I step away, my hands shaking.

“I need . . . I need to sit this one out.” I say it loud enough for the professor to hear.

He walks up to me and asks, “You injured, Ms. Kamaria?”

I nod. “Got the wind knocked out of me.”

He studies me for a moment, and I know he’s not going to let me out of it. Aydan says, “She should probably sit out the rest of the class. I think she might’ve gone a little too hard.”

I can’t read the professor’s face. I feel like Aydan and I were caught necking on my grandparent’s couch and now we’re trying to cover ourselves.

“Fine,” he said. “Hit the showers, Kamaria.”

I turn and walk away without looking back.