Page 30 of Just One Bite

Chapter Twenty-Three

Olivia

A boy with brown hair sits on a swing surrounded by moon nightingales.

This place is familiar, with my feet fitting each outline in the worn path through the flowers. I’ve been here before. My feet created this pathway.

I don’t see his face, but he’s waiting for me. I know that. He’s always waiting for me.

There are too many things going on in my brain.

I’m staring at a diagram of a fully transformed werewolf in my textbook.

I’ve seen pictures before, but this book is so detailed I can’t tear my eyes away.

Standing on its hind legs, its yellow eyes stare through the paper.

With coal-colored fur, giant claws, and large teeth peeking through the snarl on its lips.

I imagine Parker’s Were form, and the images of my dream flutter through my mind.

The book is filled with things I’ve not learned.

It explains the different effects of various moon phases, and there’s the mention of heterochromia over the years.

I flip through the pages, skimming ahead while the professor lays out our next assignment.

Mates. The word catches my attention, and I stop.

It’s only three pages and mostly about history and reproduction.

Linked Mates: a bond since birth.

My skin flushes as I read on: Linked mate pairs have been observed throughout the centuries and appear in clusters as the result of a catalyst. One mated pair will spawn many others in this rare phenomenon.

The bell tolls, snapping my gaze from my textbook.

It hums through the walls and echoes into the stone ceiling.

Gathering my materials, I fight the heaviness that’s weaved its way between my ribs.

Darien’s words flicker in my mind like the lit flames of the oil lamps on the walls.

Tugging at the collar of my uniform, I pull out my phone.

Parker’s the first message at the top:

Parker: Hi, pretty.

I’m stopping by right after practice.

Let’s do something fun tonight.

A few minutes later.

Parker: You’re either ignoring me or paying too much attention in class.

I like it when hot girls ignore me.

But you won’t be doing that tonight ;)

About thirty minutes later he sent another.

Parker: Zant’s asking me to ask you if Octavia ever mentions him.

Emma’s is after that.

Em: I hate it here. Someone in the culinary club took my panna cotta out of the fridge and left it on the counter all night.

The conversation I’d had with my sisters is still in the front of my mind, though disaster is at my door.

Literally—someone wrote Liar over my locker in the dance studio.

It doesn’t bother me much, or at least it bothers me the least between my sisters, so I try not to complain.

There’s nothing that can be done about it, so it’s useless to worry about.

They don’t understand that we just need to wait it out, and mentioning anything related to that gets me an eyeroll.

The night after the post was the worst. I sat across from Emma who clutched her legs to her chest while she shivered on my bed. The hearth in my room had a rolling fire going all night long.

“I want to go home,” Emma had said.

“Who cares what these people think?”

“I do!”

Emma turned to Eva, who had barely spoken a word since the post went live.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? I thought you’d be the first to want to leave.”

Eva shook her head. “I don’t want to go back to Groveshire. I just don’t understand why we’re being targeted. Everyone in my hall has turned on me. They think I’m either the cheat or the thief. I don’t think they even know why. Doesn’t matter. This blog is all they listen to.”

“ The blog is meaningless. We can’t go home.

We can’t let them win ,” I’d said, but it took all night to convince Emma to stay.

She had to return the notebook, which she said she’d only taken as a dare to get back at Dacre—the council asshat who deserves to stub his toe every morning; her words, not mine.

Emma leaned in and looped our pinkies. “I promise, though, I just wanted to see the legacy recipes. Yes, I was peer pressured to steal, but for me, it came from a good place.”

I don’t think I was the one she was trying to convince.

Whether Emma stole the notebook for recipes doesn’t matter when it’s clear my inner circle has a target on its back. Over the last few days, icy stares from the Weres on the council have turned into an inferno of pure disdain.

Luckily, Gavin’s pack protection has held up, and I’m reminded of that when I see Eva barreling toward me with a Were trailing behind her.

He’s tall and lingers for a few seconds before moving out of view.

They aren’t bodyguards or anything, but I notice a lot of them from a distance.

They must scent for us and linger enough to ensure their duty to Gavin is fulfilled.

We’ve all had dinner in the dining hall a few times, and to say it was awkward is being generous.

It’s the way they eye Parker that I don’t like.

Like he’s a foreign agent and they’re awaiting the moment he turns on them.

There’s no way Parker doesn’t see it or feel it, but his big wide smile never leaves his face when he’s around them.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Can it wait? I need to talk to Parker.”

“No. Come on.”

She grabs my forearm as our steps echo on the mosaic stone tile that lines the halls, and I let her guide me through the castle till we reach the observatory.

Without a word, we climb the spiral staircase in the cramped corridor, and I glance at the painted mural lining the walls.

There are star-shaped windows carved into the stone that let in the sun.

We don’t stop until it’s just us alone with the treetops and the baby-blue sky.

“I didn’t cheat.”

She says it like an oath.

“Okay? I didn’t think you did. ”

“I didn’t cheat but … I can see how someone might think I did.” It’s only then I notice Eva isn’t wearing her pink lip gloss or bow in her unkempt hair. “Ugh! I didn’t want to say this, but it’s eating me alive not to tell anyone. Jared and I broke up.”

“Oh.”

When she mentioned cheating, I’d assumed academics.

“Yeah, we broke up and then I might have … slept with someone that same night. But I’m telling you we were broken up, but whoever made this whole smear campaign obviously doesn’t know that. Or they do and are just trying to make me look bad.”

Her words are like viscous honey in my brain.

“Wait. Who did you sleep with?”

She shakes her head like it’s unimportant. “Just a man in my hall. We were just friends, I swear. We still are … It was just one night.”

“What happened with Jared?”

“He proposed.”

“Then you broke up with him?”

“Don’t judge me.”

“I’m not, I just … I thought you’d want to be married.”

“I thought so too, and then he asked me and I … said no. I’m not sure who was more shocked, me or him.”

“Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

She’s not crying. Not even a sniffle. There are missed lunches or sales that have prompted more tears. Maybe she’s in shock.

“I don’t know yet.”

I contemplate what her admission means. Did the person who made that blog post know that?

How would they know Eva slept with someone in the first place?

It could be anyone in this school, but I have two werewolf council members at the top of my shit list. But that might be too obvious even for them, and that doesn’t explain Parker’s council nomination.

I need to talk to Parker, but it will need to wait till after ballet. Focus, Olivia.

Ballet is why I’m here.

Ballet is the only thing that matters.

“Olivia – Giselle.”

There must be a mistake.

I settled on Willis as a role I could be happy with at the very least. I hadn’t let myself think of Giselle as a possibility. I’d blocked the dream from my brain, knowing it was unlikely, to save myself the despair of not receiving it.

There’s a dissatisfied echo in the ballet studio.

“Do you know the ballet?” Theo, one of the male dancers, asks from next to me. He’s the only one who will talk to me today, aside from Octavia.

Do I know it? I’ve practiced that exact variation in my room since before I was on pointe. I know the variation. I could literally do it with my eyes closed. Giselle is my favorite ballet, and the role of Giselle is the lead.

“Yes,” I say. I want to scream. I want to cheer, to tell someone. My sisters come to mind first, but I can’t tell them while the world is ending. But I’m going to burst from happiness.

I listen to the rest of the character assignments. There are two casts, one for years three and four, and another for years one and two. Fia squeals when they announce her as a lead role as an upperclassman.

My head is down as I tape my feet, and I nearly knock over Octavia as she scrambles to tidy up the room.

“Oh, Olivia, I wanted to let you know I had them clean up your locker. All of that stuff will clear up soon. I don’t ever believe half the stuff on there.”

“Thank you. I’m not used to all of this. So many people seem to know who I am here.”

“Well, get used to that. The dance world is already abuzz with the performance news. Congratulations on the lead. You might just be the youngest first-year to take that spot.”

That means all of Vviveren will know and see my name in the papers.

I don’t thaw from the shock of it till Parker saunters through the door with wet hair and sweats—not school uniform appropriate—and leans down to kiss me .

Fake kisses are supposed to be quick, but the seconds tick by as I kiss him back. We’re both enjoying this. I know it. He knows it. Only, neither of us have spoken a word about it. We’re just moving around each other like planets in a natural cadence.

“Someone’s happy.”

“I got Giselle. It’s the lead.”

He picks me up and twirls me around. “Ah, I'm so fucking proud. I don’t know who that is. But let’s celebrate so you can tell me. We can go tell your sisters—”

“No. Not right now. We need to talk first.”

I wait till everyone has funneled out of the studio, and gently wave at Octavia as she winks and closes the door behind her.

“Breaking up with me?” He smiles, pushing closer, and I walk backward until my shoulders hit the mirror. The magnetism of him hits me again, and I have to take a breath to focus.

“We do need to set ground rules.”

“Like?”

“Like maybe we shouldn’t kiss in here unless …”

“Unless there’s a reason? It feels so good to kiss you.” He leans forward till his lips rest near my forehead. “If you need more reasons, I’ve got plenty.”

I have to work hard to draw myself out of the rhythm of him against me. I know why we shouldn’t. The nagging thoughts I’ve tried to push out are back at the forefront of my mind.

“What do you know about mates?”

His brow lowers. “Like werewolf mates?”

I nod.

“Werewolves take mates by marking them with a bite …” His thumb grazes my neck. “Once that person accepts the bond, then they’re mated. Anyone can be marked as a mate. Vampires and humans included.”

“So it’s all by choice? There’s not more than that?”

“Yeah, it’s voluntary. I mean there are linked mates, but—”

“What’s that?”

“Werewolves can be linked. They don’t choose it, and they pretty much always end up together.”

My heartbeat is in my ears. “And what’s that like? Are there … dreams or an ything?”

He flashes his canine teeth in a smirk. “Are you still having dreams about me?”

I straighten my spine, ignoring his question. “You don’t dream?”

“It’s rare I remember a dream.”

Those blue eyes pan over my face till they’re fixed on my lips. It’s as if he’s seconds from letting go and placing his lips on my neck. “Are you afraid we’re linked mates? Is that why your heart is beating so fast?”

“I don’t know. I was curious.”

“You don’t need to worry. You’re human and I’m half vampire. All linked mates have been full-blooded werewolves.”

I let out a relieved breath. Darien was messing with me, just trying to get in my head. I don’t know why I entertained anything he said.

“Too much commitment for you?” Parker’s tone is playful.

“I don’t think I’d be a good mate.”

“It’s funny you say that because I was just about to ask you something.” His fingers rub over that spot on my neck again, and he leans in to kiss me and run his teeth over my skin.

“Let me mark you.”

Heat gathers and sinks like a stone in my stomach.

“I don’t want anyone to think about touching you. I need all of you all to myself. And the mark is just for display. You don’t need to accept. They fade over time.”

“What about when this arrangement is over? What then?” I say.

He leans back to deliver his next line, with his eyes locked on mine.

“I’ll propose to you by then.”

That draws a trickling of laughter from my lips. He’s got to be joking.

“And you’re certain I’ll say yes. I have no plans to be married.”

“Oh, I’m sure. All your commitment issues don’t scare me.”

After a few more seconds, the weight of his gaze leaves me, and he retreats. I don’t scare him. There’s relief in those words. I’m not sure if he’s being serious or if I want him to be.

I’ll wait to tell him about what I learned from Eva. The electricity of the excitement is still lingering, and all I want to do is dance.

“I want to stay here and practice the variation. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll go get us some food and come back and watch. Sound good? ”

I hesitate for a moment.

“You want to spend your night watching me dance? Don’t you have more important places to be?”

“This is at the top of my important list.” He grins from ear to ear. “I think my girlfriend is overdue for a date.”

Girlfriend. My heart flutters. There’s no one here to watch that admission.

Once Parker is gone, he takes all my confusing thoughts with him.

Then it’s just me and Giselle.