Page 23 of Alpha’s One-Night Stand (Shifters of Clarion #3)

I didn’t sleep all night. I stand under the warm water of my shower, letting it run over my hair and my body in soft, massaging waves. I’m going to go check on Saffron this morning. Last night was . . . a lot.

Chad coming after her was uncalled for, and it’s made me rethink a lot of things. This new world that I’ve been introduced to might be different from mine, but I would think that common decency would still exist. He’s clearly not the man I thought he was.

Or wolf. Dammit. That part of this is the hardest. I can feel him even though he’s not here. And I bet if I turn my nose to the air outside, I can pick up his scent. I might not have been able to commune with my lycan, but it seems like it’s there, nonetheless.

When I close my eyes, thoughts of him invade my brain. The warm feel of his hands on my body almost seems real. The water sends a sweet sting through my body when it hits the rapidly healing wound on my shoulder and the scratches on my hips and ass, reminding me of his ability to penetrate me in more ways than one. Fuck, how can I feel like this when he was such an asshole?

I get out of the shower and start getting dressed, still with Chad on my mind. He said that we were fated to be together. Is that what this feeling is? Am I supposed to want to be with him even when he’s being a complete jerk? Jeez, what a rip-off.

I set that thought aside as I pull on a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt, then put my hair up into two braids to keep it out of my face. I hope Saffron’s up by now.

I make my way to her room. No one’s out and about right now, but I do hear voices talking and music coming from some of the dorm rooms. It’s almost like a normal day, except there’s a crazy sorcerer in the woods, who also happens to be Cole. God, I’m such an idiot for not seeing that sooner.

I knock on Saffron’s door, and a few seconds later, she opens it. She’s dressed, but her long red hair is damp. She looks me over and smiles a little as she runs a brush over her hair.

“Hey,” she says, letting me in.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

She chuckles. “I’m great. Just waiting around for my sentence like a good little prisoner.”

I sigh as she sits down at her desk, putting down the brush and picking up a hair tie. “Last night was rough,” I say. “I’m sorry Chad tore into you like that. He was really out of line.”

Her brow furrows a little. She doesn’t say anything to that. She just puts up her hair.

“You want to hear something fucked?” I tell her as I sit down. “The guy in the woods? I know him.”

She pauses then finishes tying her hair. “What do you mean you ‘know him’?”

I can feel my face starting to flush. Embarrassment. I can’t believe that’s the emotion I’m feeling right now. “His name is Cole. He was supposed to be helping me find my mom.”

Her frown deepens. “So what you’re telling me, Yarra, is that you know that son of a bitch, and you didn’t tell anyone?”

“I didn’t know he was a . . . whatever he is. God, it’s such a long story.” I run my hand over my hair for a moment. I don’t know how to tell it all. “He pretended to be a private detective. My mom’s been missing for ten years, and I found out she went here, and—” I take a deep breath. There’s so much to say.

Saffron looks away for a moment, then barks a short laugh. “You know, I had a foster mom tell me once that having all the information will always put you ahead of the game. It’s so ironic that I’m only just now getting that.”

I tilt my head, and her smile fades a little. “I was hiding something from the dean,” she says. “So don’t be mad at Chad. He was too perceptive, and I had to lie on the spot, and I really suck at lying when I’ve only got a split second to prepare.”

My heart thumps hard against my chest. “What are you hiding?”

“Your friend? The magic detective? He’s something other than a magic user.”

“What? How could you know—”

“Because he smells like a Scarlet,” she says. “I know there’s no way he can be, but I know Red Blood when I smell it.”

“You can smell it? Why can’t anyone else?”

She shrugs. “Must be a part of our whole stealth thing, maybe? Scarlets can sniff out other Scarlets.”

I sit in silence, the wheels turning in my brain. “So, then, Scarlet wolves can do magic?”

“Not as far as I know, but . . . maybe? Not a lot is known about Scarlets. Mostly because nobody cares to find out. Nobody even knows how we’re born. Most people think we’re some kind of genetic mutation.”

My stomach lurches, and I bite my lip. I don’t want to ask, but I have to. “Could he be a hybrid?”

“I’ve never known a Scarlet to be a hybrid, but I guess anything is possible.”

I’m floored. One more piece to a puzzle that I feel like I’m close to solving. Although there are so many pieces still yet to be found.

“Also,” she says with a deep sigh, “This guy? He’s going to kill Chad . . . unless the silver wolf comes.”

I don’t say anything for a moment, absorbing the shock of that news. Finally, my mind switches to problem-solving mode and I ask, “What silver wolf?”

She shrugs. “All I know is that, unless it shows up, he’s dead.”

“What the hell does that even mean! Maybe the dean will come and save him? He’s got silver hair. Maybe his fur is silver, too?”

A knock at the door interrupts the conversation. Saffron gets up to answer it, saying, “Whatever that guy is, he needs to be stopped before . . . Oh.”

She opens the door, and Chad’s on the other side. He pushes past her and comes in, looking around the room like he’s expecting someone to be in here.

“Hey!” Saffron yells. “What’s your problem?”

“Sorry,” he says shortly. “We need to leave. Now.”

Saffron and I exchange a quick glance. “Why?” I ask. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain on the way back to my place. You’re both in danger.”

I stand up, and Saffron’s face slides into a scowl. “Wait. What’s going on?”

“No time. Let’s go.”

We start to leave, but Saffron stops suddenly. I turn to urge her on, but she’s stiff as a board, her arms at her side and her knees locked straight. She looks at us, terror in her eyes.

“Saffron?!”

Her eyes go white, and the expression on her face changes. She’s smiling darkly at us.

“Hello, Chad…Yarra.”

Her voice isn’t hers. I recognize it immediately. “Oh, my God. It’s Cole.”

“Bingo,” he says through Saffron’s voice. She turns her eyes to Chad. “I have a message from Dean Fowler . . . and your mother. It’s time to come to the Table. We have some . . . family business to discuss.”

My heart is pumping ice-cold blood through my veins. Chad’s reaction is the direct opposite, and I can feel an animal rage coming off him in waves. “Let her go, you monster!”

“Come to the Table.” Saffron’s eyes roll back to me, her white gaze staring holes through my body. “Your little doggy knows the way.”

Saffron’s eyes flutter shut, and her body relaxes. She stumbles forward but catches herself before she falls. “What the hell happened?”

Chad shakes his head. “He has Mother . . . and the dean. I’ve gotta help them.”

He goes to leave, but I grab his arm. “I’m coming with you.”

“No.”

“He has my Nana, too, Chad. I am coming with you.” I raise my voice, and a vibration rushes through me. What was that?

Chad regards me for a moment, then says, “Saffron, you might as well come, too, then.”

“Like that was a question.” She rushed over to the door and grabbed her jacket off the hook. “Let’s go.”