Page 22 of Heroes & Hitmen (Windy City Wolfpack #1)

Miley

My professor’s monotone voice drones from the front of the lecture hall, echoing off the ugly acoustic panels lining the walls.

Normally, I’d be hanging on his every word, taking thorough notes to ensure I pass all my exams with flying colors and maintain my perfect grade point average.

Today, not a single neuron is firing in the direction of broadcast journalism, and my new ‘mate’ is to blame.

I can smell him all over me. Ares’ addictive scent is still clinging to my clothes, my skin, and I can’t tell who it’s messing with more–me or my wolf.

Either way, it’s impossible to concentrate when every inhale results in my mind rudely conjuring up the image of him naked in the shower, dick in hand, eyes on me.

God .

I try to smother the memory and focus on my laptop screen for what feels like the hundredth time, but then my phone vibrates in my bag and everyone in a five-seat radius tosses glares in my direction, as if I’m intentionally interrupting the lecture.

I choose to ignore the sound; pretend it didn’t even happen– but then of course it vibrates again .

Just my luck.

Ignoring my classmates’ judgmental stares, I lean over and paw through my bag with all the subtlety of a racoon digging through a trash can, fishing out my phone and swiping open the screen.

Unknown

None of these assholes on campus have been sniffing around what’s mine, have they?

That skirt you’re wearing today should be illegal.

The number isn’t saved to my contacts, but there’s no question in my mind as to who sent the messages. Paranoia rises and I do a quick scan of the room, eyes flitting over the rows of co-eds, but Ares isn’t among them. Exhaling a shallow breath, I return my gaze to my phone and type out a reply.

Not yours.

Short, sweet, and to the point.

After hitting send, I switch the damn thing off so it won’t vibrate anymore and slip it back into my bag, intent on focusing on the lecture.

Settling my hands over the keyboard of my laptop, I glance toward the professor right as he flips his binder closed and steps away from the podium, giving rise to the rumble of chatter and the shuffle of my classmates packing up around me.

Guess our class has been dismissed.

Great.

The open document on my laptop screen has a whole three sentences of notes typed in, which is pretty dismal considering I’ve been sitting here for the past two hours.

I’ll have to try to get ahold of one of my classmates’ notes to study from.

I might’ve managed to make it to this class on time, but my brain was clearly marked absent today.

I collect my things and follow the crowd of students exiting the lecture hall, stepping out of the building into the warm sunlight. I only make it two steps down the path before my inner wolf perks up, alerting me to the presence of my new roommate.

Snapping my head to the left, I find Ares leaning up against the side of the building like he owns the place, hands pocketed, one ankle crossed over the other. His eyes meet mine instantly, lips curving into a lazy grin as he pushes off from the building and starts in my direction.

I turn away and keep walking down the path, pretending as if I haven’t seen him. Like I have a chance of sneaking by.

He’s on me in five seconds flat .

“Do you really still have to stalk me if we live together?” I grumble, flickering him a sideways glance.

His dark eyes catch mine as he matches my stride. “Just checking in on my mate,” he replies with a wink. “Gotta make sure none of these college boys try to hit on you now that we’re officially an item. Bad for my ego.”

“Pretty sure your ego is indestructible,” I snort, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the path and whirling on him. “How’d you get my number, anyways?”

Jordan joked that she gave it to him, but after his first surprise text the other day, she swore up and down that she never actually did.

The corner of his mouth lifts in a smug smirk. “My sister’s best friend is a computer nerd,” he says. “Called in a favor.”

Of course he did.

“Charming,” I mutter.

He flashes me a grin. “Isn’t it?”

I frown back at him, folding my arms. “No, that’s next level stalking.”

“I stalk because I care,” he replies, pressing a hand to his heart.

“Or because you’re a psychopath.”

His dark eyes flicker with something wicked. “But I’m your psychopath,” he amends, winking again.

I open my mouth to fire off a cutting retort, but then he thrusts something toward my chest, catching me off guard. My gaze drops to the small white box in his hands bearing the familiar logo of the cupcake place around the corner and my witty comeback never makes it past my lips.

“What’s this?” I ask breathily, even though I know damn well what it is.

“You didn’t eat breakfast,” he replies with a shrug. “Figured you’d be cranky without your morning dose of sugar.”

“Manipulation by dessert,” I murmur, glancing back up at him. “Solid play.”

“I thought so,” he replies smugly as he hands over the goods.

I hate that he knows me so well already– and that my love for cupcakes outweighs my desire to win whatever argument we were just having. Flipping open the box, I survey the contents. Two cupcakes: German chocolate and red velvet. Solid choices .

“You’ve got an hour before your next class, right?” Ares asks, cocking a brow.

I narrow my eyes on him. “What’s your angle?”

He smiles back at me. “No angle. Just doting on my mate. Consider it another one of the perks of our new arrangement, babe.”

“There are perks?” I snort sarcastically.

He leans in, dropping his voice low. “Are you really gonna keep pretending you’re not enjoying the morning eye candy?”

My cheeks instantly heat. There’s no point in trying to deny it, so I don’t– I just turn away and take off down the path, as if I can outrun the embarrassment of being called out, yet again.

I really need to work on my poker face.

Ares catches up in a few long strides, pointing out an empty park bench beneath a big maple tree at the edge of the quad. “Wanna sit, dig into those cupcakes?” he asks, not missing a beat.

“Fine,” I grit out.

Only because he brought cupcakes.

We make our way over to the bench and I slide my messenger bag off my shoulder, dropping it on the seat and sinking down beside it. Settling the cupcake box on my lap, I try not to drool when I flip open the lid to scope out the sugary goodness inside.

“So, which one do you want?” Ares drawls as he plops down next to me, scooching in close and tossing an arm over my shoulders.

“What are you doing?” I grumble irritably, trying to shrug his arm away.

“Just showing the world how happy and in love we are,” he murmurs as he pulls me in even closer, the warmth of his body bleeding into mine.

Ah , so that’s what this is about.

In the privacy of our apartment, I can rebuff his advances all I want, but out in public, we’ve got a story to sell. One that Alpha has spun into a spectacle for the entire pack.

I glance out over the quad, suddenly all too aware of the curious stares aimed our way. Members of my pack who hardly looked my way before, suddenly far too interested in my life.

“There’s a fork in there, too,” Ares remarks, nudging me with his thigh. “Still think it’s a weird way to eat cupcakes, but also kinda cute since it’s you. ”

I shake off the prickly feeling of being watched, looking down into the cupcake box again and spotting the little plastic fork. Dammit, he just scored another point.

“It’s not weird, it’s civilized,” I say defensively, reaching inside to claim the red velvet cupcake.

I pass the box over to him, but he doesn’t help himself to the German chocolate, instead shifting the box onto the bench beside him and watching me intently as I peel back the wrapper and carve off a bite with the fork.

“So, wanna talk about the plan?” he asks, eyes glued to my mouth.

“Does that mean you’ve got one?” I reply absently between bites.

“Well, that depends.”

“On?”

“What you want.”

I stop chewing, eyes darting his way. I hate questions that I don’t know the answer to.

“The way I see it, we’ve got three options here,” Ares sighs, leaning back and kicking up an ankle to rest on his opposite knee. “The first, and my personal favorite, is that we lean into this whole thing, fall madly in love, and mate for real.”

I snort a laugh, nearly choking on my cupcake. “Hard pass. Option two?”

“We leave the city,” he replies.

“Didn’t Alpha already shut down your request to whisk me away to Colorado?” I question, cocking my head.

“Well yeah, but we could always go on the run, Bonnie and Clyde style,” he answers, wagging his brows.

“And then someone from home would have to take your place, which you said wasn’t an option,” I point out.

“Right,” he sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Forgot about that part.”

I carve off another bite of cupcake, pretending not to notice how intensely he watches as I bring the fork to my lips. “What’s option three?”

His eyes ping back up to mine, the spark in them dimming. “We get you out, and I stay behind.”

I blink back at him as the words sink in, then shake my head. “If I disappear, Alpha comes after you,” I warn. “Maybe even your whole family. ”

“Not if I play the part of the jilted lover, heartbroken that his daughter ran out on me,” Ares counters. “Might even let me out of my contract early to make up for it.”

I roll my eyes and stuff another bite of cupcake into my mouth, savoring the sweetness on my tongue. “Even if he did believe you, there’s still a flaw in your plan,” I mumble.

His brow lifts. “What’s that?”

I swallow, the dessert suddenly tasting bitter on the way down. “If I ran, where would I go?”