Page 23 of Legacy Wolf: Semester One (Legacy Wolf #1)

PHELAN

I slammed the door closed and locked it before slumping onto the floor, my back resting against the door. Putting my head on my knees, I asked myself the question that had been running through my head since the day I fucked Rawling in the athletics hall.

“Why was I doing this?” I had to stop.

I listed all the reasons why fucking the omega was wrong.

I was young, only nineteen. So was he. We had our whole lives ahead of us, though my prospects were better than his, at least in the eyes of the shifter community. While it shouldn’t matter to our careers and love lives, latents were viewed as different by people who had a beast inside them.

I thought back to when I was a kid, before I “met” my beast. Was that how it was for Rawling and Jack?

No way because I was certain I’d meet my wolf as soon as I hit adolescence and I was surrounded by my own family “pack.” From my understanding, Rawling was brought up by his late godfather. Poor guy, he had a rough start to life.

But where was I with my list? Right, Reason 2 why I shouldn’t be fucking Rawling. An image of his gorgeous ass covered in slick appeared in my head and distracted me.

“No,” I yelled and hoped the guys who shared our bathroom didn’t come in and ask what the fuck was wrong with me. Rawling. Rawling. That was my problem. I buried my face in my hands and returned to my mental list. What was Number 2? Ummm… did I have one?

Shit! That damned omega had gotten into my head and was fucking with my thoughts, twenty-four hours a day. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and race into the bathroom to rub one out, memories of him in here with me.

And yet I kept him a secret. From everyone.

Even Atticus. He loathed Rawling, not just because he was latent but the omega bettered my friend at archery.

No one had ever done that. And Rawling was gorgeous to look at.

Atticus was used to being the guy everyone drooled over—and they still did.

I couldn’t see it because I’d known Atticus for years, our families were friends, but omegas went ga-ga for him and his long hair that he flipped over his shoulder, knowing all eyes were on him.

It worked on Jack ‘cause the pair fucked like bunnies. I shouldn’t say that. It was a human expression, but I had childhood friends who were rabbit shifters, and as far as I knew, they fucked no more or less than anyone else when they reached their late teens.

Thinking of Atticus had me fuming. He’d done some fucked-up mean stuff since he’d been at Sombertooth, but he’d tried some shit with Rawling, and it backfired on him and Phoenix House lost points.

Mrs. Adilla never told us exactly what it was.

The whole thing was supposed to be hush hush, but Sombertooth loved gossip, and the story changed with every telling

Everyone was pissed with him, but he shrugged it off and went on being the same old Atticus.

The one who slept with Jack and didn’t care who knew it.

Jack was also latent, but she scented of bear.

The aroma circled her and hovered around her as though her beast was protecting her from people’s opinions.

But Rawling’s beast was so deeply buried, he just scented latent.

Weird that no one had ever asked him about it.

Or maybe they had and not shared the deets with me.

His godfather had attended Sombertooth. His photo adorned the college walls as both an archer and a prominent member of Phoenix House.

But he wasn’t a blood relative, so him being a wolf shifter had no bearing on Rawling’s hidden beast.

My thoughts were tumbling over one another. Where was I? Oh yes, Atticus. The alpha who fucked who he wanted, when he wanted. Nah, I did not want to imagine my friend and Jack.

Rawling. Much better thinking of his cock in my mouth or him astride me heaving himself up and falling onto my dick. My length hardened as I recalled the copious amounts of slick he produced, allowing my length to glide into his hole.

“Go away,” I hissed, this time in a lower voice than earlier. “You’re doing a number on my head, Rawling. Get away.”

The door opposite ours closed, and I leaped up and put my eye to the peephole.

Nothing. What in the hell was wrong with me?

I was acting like a prepubescent pup, thinking of cocks and holes.

Specifically one hole. He’d shoved his fingers in me once.

I’d been a finger-fucking virgin, and turned out, I loved it.

He knew what I liked and he gave it to me.

I lay on the bed, a pillow over my face, doing my best to think of anything besides Rawling naked and begging me for my cock.

This wasn’t a first for me; sleeping with omegas and telling them not to tell anyone.

It never seemed to bother them. They understood it was just sex.

But I sensed it hurt Rawling. He never questioned me, and I never heard any gossip about us, though I wondered if he’d told Jack ‘cause she’d been giving me weird looks lately.

But I wasn’t fine with our arrangement. Yeah, I didn’t want Rawling’s and my names on everyone’s lips, but I hated injuring him emotionally.

Pain , my wolf interjected.

Great, now my wolf was amplifying how I was hurting Rawling. Wanna shift? I asked. Maybe that would get the omega out of my head, because my behavior was close to what humans referred to as stalkerish.

During the day, I’d deliberately go out of my way to stroll past Rawling’s classroom, hoping the door would be open and I’d catch a glimpse of him.

And when we were in the same classroom, I sat at the back and stared at his head.

Sometimes he must have guessed what I was doing ‘cause he’d half turn and his cheeks would pinken.

That was almost as much of a turn-on as him being naked.

Worst of all, the omega invaded my dreams. No matter where I was. On a beach, in my childhood bedroom, in the woods having taken my fur. He was there.

Shift .

Yes, I’m heading out now .

After a quick glance at Rawling’s closed door, I galloped down the stairs and outside, not stopping until I reached the forest. Flinging my clothes off, I was so eager to give my beast his fur that I forgot my briefs and they shredded as my wolf took over.

It was just at dusk and my beast scented other shifters in the woods, not far from us, but he wasn’t in the mood to play with other wolves or bears and definitely not squirrels. Instead, he ran, bounding over broken fences humans had built decades ago.

While he wasn’t intent on hunting, he would later, once he had exhausted his excess energy.

The same energy that flowed from me and was a result of my frustration with Rawling.

Both of us needed that gone so I could return to my room and sleep until morning, without the omega interrupting my dreams.

My beast, while a strong wolf, had never run as hard and as fast, and when he finally stopped for breath, we were miles from Sombertooth.

I doubted we were still on the college land.

He drank from a fast-flowing river I’d never seen before catching deer scent.

Lying in wait, I withdrew, letting him catch and kill without any interference from me.

When he’d had his fill, he padded through the woods back the way we’d come, but dawn was breaking when the spires of Phoenix House appeared through the trees.

My clothes, including the ruined underwear, were where I’d tossed them, and I took my skin, desperate to shower and remove the smell of moss, soil, and deer flesh from my body.

If anything would rid my head of Rawling, the raw fragrance of freshly killed venison would do it.

But as I trudged back to my room, Jack and Rawling appeared on the stairs, them coming down, me going the other way. There wasn’t enough room to pass, someone had to move.

“You’re up early,” Jack said as she furrowed her brow at me.

“Been running.” My gaze was fixed on Rawling, whose mouth gaped. I was covered in dirt and dried sweat. I must have stunk, and Rawling was freshly showered. I could smell the fruity shampoo he used and the ends of his hair were damp.

“Morning,” he mumbled, his eyes not meeting mine. They were aimed much lower at my crotch.

We stood facing one another, each of us mirroring the other’s movement as we edged left and then right, both of us trying to pass and yet not touch.

But that was a lie. I did want to brush over him, and I had no idea what was in his head.

Maybe he wanted his body to graze mine, though probably not, as I was so filthy.

“You have a leaf in your hair.” He snuck past, his minty breath billowing over me. I stood staring at the pair as they dashed off to who knew where.

Damn!