Page 38 of Entwined
“That’s funny.” I step forward, dodging away from Vaelor’s grasping hands and sidestepping around Connor. They don’t say a word, but their worry blooms bright in me, and my marks start throbbing in time with my pulse. I try to rub the unfamiliar sensation away, focusing on Selena.
“What do you mean, someone like me? Do you mean because I don’t have a wolf like you?” I blink innocently. “Or do you mean because I don’t have to stalk someone to get their attention?”
“Oh, you bitch?—”
“Tell me, Selena,” I interrupt. “Did you enjoy watching them fuck me? I can still feel them, you know”—I drop my voice into a shameless whisper—“inside me. Dripping from me. They spentthreedays satisfying my heat, filling me up with their cum. Did you watch the entire time, wishing it was you?”
By the red faces and averted stares, every single person heard me. But at this moment, I couldn’t care less. I might be fucking pissed at Connor and Vaelor, but they are already in my blood, and that makes themmine.
And today, this bitch is going to finally understand that.
There’s a low rumble behind me. When Iturn to look, Connor’s fixed his attention on me, his wolf staring out through his eyes. A muscle jumps wildly in his tight jaw, and he clenches his hands into fist, barely holding onto his control.
His desire slams into my chest like a semitruck, stealing my breath, but I don’t let it distract me. “Look,” I tell Selena, full of amusement. “He’s not done, either. He’ll never be done with me. But you?” I flick her a disinterested glance. “He can’t even be bothered to remember your name. You’re just the crazy whore who contaminated his bed.”
If I’d blinked, I would’ve missed it. She was standing several feet away from me, shaking with rage. In the next breath, she’s suddenly lunging, shifting mid-motion into a dark brown wolf, jaws gaping as she aims for my throat. The girl at her side tries to grab her, but there’s no stopping a fully grown shifter once they’re moving.
My eyes widen, but familiar tendrils of ice wrap around my body, roughly yanking me back. I collide into Vaelor’s chest, his arms looping around me just as a massive tawny wolf collides with the female, sending her sailing through the air with a yelp.
“Connor…?” I murmur, staring wide-eyed at the wolf, his fur a striking blend of yellow, brown, and gray.
The brown wolf gets to her feet, turning on the new threat with a snarl. There’s a huge discrepancy in size between them, but Selena is enraged enough that she doesn’t hesitate to dive for Connor, snapping her jaws around his foreleg.
“Connor!” I cry out, feeling the echo of his pain as if teeth have clamped aroundmyleg. I shove at Vaelor’s hold on me, physical and invisible restraints. But he doesn’t seem to notice, watching with interest as the bigger wolfknocks Selena away right before he tears a chunk out of her side.
Selena’s friend scrambles back, crying out in fear as the wolves churn the damp grass to mud under their claws, the growls filling the air, along with the scent of copper as their strikes land. No one tries to stop them, all of them knowing better than to interfere in a shifter fight.
Vaelor leans down, resting his chin on my shoulder. His amusement curls through me like smoke. “Did you do that on purpose, Princess?”
I purse my lips. “You’re going to have be more specific.” I can’t tear my eyes away from the battle, fear lurching through me every time Selena sinks her teeth in. She’s fast, but Connor’s big, his range wider. And every time she gets close, he lands another bite, slowly wearing her down.
Vaelor hums, doubt mingling with humor. “He’s gonna make you pay for it, you know.”
“Pay for what?” I demand harshly, gesturing at the wolves. “I didn’t do anything! She’s the one who attacked me!”
“You deliberately provoked her into it, and you know it,” Vaelor murmurs, nipping my earlobe sharply. “You put yourself in danger, and he’s not gonna be quick to forget that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
connor
The female wolf stumbles back, her sides heaving with her exertion, her dark fur matted with blood where my wolf has clawed and bitten her. Her head dips low as she swings around, searching for an escape.
My tongue lolls out of my mouth, having the time of my fucking life putting this she-bitch in her place. She’s outmatched here, but it’s too late for her.
She challenged me when she went after my fated—and claimed—mate. It was bad enough when she attacked Felicity last week. Regret fills me, knowing I should’ve put her down there and then. But I was distracted and worried at the extent of Felicity’s injuries, too quickly dismissing this bitch as no real threat. I should’ve realized from her actions back then that she wasn’t going to act like any other shifter.
But today, I’ll rectify that mistake.
When I’m done with her, she won’t ever think of coming after my mate again.No fucking prisoners.
The shifters gathered around us look uneasy,their fear filling up my nose, inflaming my agitation. It’s easy to see that not one of them will step in and risk my wrath falling on their heads.
I might not be part of the shifter community, not when they’ll never accept Vaelor as part of me, but it doesn’t make me weak—something this female wolf seems to have forgotten.
Arguably, I’m the strongest wolf currently on campus. It’s probably why she fixated on me the way she did, as well as knowing the kind of power my family holds in the political world.
I know of her family, and a mating with me would be a step up in the world for them. She could have acted under her family’s guidance, or on her own, but either way…that ambition is going to cost the bitch more than she ever could have bargained for.