Page 68 of Twisted Ties

I sigh. God, I don’t like it either. Every fiber of my body wants us to be together. But I need to understand who I am and I need space to do that.

He strokes his thumb over my cheekbone. It’s rougher, more calloused than Stone’s – the thought of the professor’s touch on my skin making my heart beat even faster.

It’s so confusing, all of this. I have a fated mate. A fated mate I am damn hot for. So damn hot I’d get down on my hands and knees right here on the path for him if he asked. And yet, minutes ago my body was shaking with anticipation, hoping the professor would kiss me.

I am one hell of a bitch.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, sensing my unease through the bond.

“I’m just keen to get back to my room to check if Pip and Winnie are okay.”

He examines my face. Does he believe me?

I don’t know but he kisses me nonetheless, a kiss which contains as much tenderness as his tone. I’m not used to such tenderness from him. From anyone but Pip.

“Be careful,” he says as I pull away, my head and my heart even more confused.

“Me? How about you? You’re meant to be going on a mission to the West, not staying here with me. The Chancellor–”

“It’ll be fine,” he says stiffly, but I don’t believe him. I don’t think the Chancellor is a man who takes kindly to disobedience. “You don’t need to worry about me. You need to concentrate on keeping yourself safe.”

“You think Stone was wrong? You think that werebeast was meant for me?”

“I don’t know but either way be careful, Rhi, and if you need me–”

“I’ll be fine,” I say, striding away before I change my mind and beg him to take me home with him.

I try not to think of him or Stone as I walk into the dorm, the werebeast and his words entering my head instead. Was it really just a coincidence that it was me it attacked? Because my life has been full of coincidences like that and I’m not so sure I believe in them anymore.

The room is dark when I return and find Pip curled up on the end of Winnie’s bed, both sleeping peacefully like there isn’t some deranged beast on the loose.

Winnie stirs as I undress.

She yawns. “Jeez, have you been in the library all this time?”

“Uh huh,” I say, wondering if I’m doing the right thing lying to Winnie like this. Probably not. I resign myself to come clean.

“Wow, it must have been a really good book. You missed out on all the fun down here.”

She yawns and rolls over, promptly falling back into sleep.

I guess I’ll have to tell her in the morning.

I climb up on my bed and try to ignore the gnawing hook in my belly. It’s impossible, the sensation only growing worse the longer I lie there. My thoughts become entangled. The werebeast, Stone, the man in black, Tristan. That nagging feeling that everyone knows more than me. Especially Stone and Azlan.

It’s then I remember those books in Stone’s room. The missing books. The books on fated mates. I’d barely had time to flick through them before Stone had returned to hisoffice, but I could see the pages he’d marked and the notes he’d made.

Why the hell would Stone be studying up on fated mates? For Azlan? For himself?

Azlan knew about the bond long before me. Has Stone known that long too? And what the hell was he looking for in the pages of those books?

I decide I’m fed up with secrets. There were so many questions I should have asked my aunt while she was alive. I’m not making that mistake again.

If this is more than a crush with Stone, I need to know. I need to understand what it can mean.

I throw back the covers, and in the dark pull on my jeans and a hoodie.

Outside, the dark and the silence are even more oppressive, the forest still quiet. I half expect the werebeast to jump out at me from the shadows again.