Page 15 of Twilight of Embers
Frank and Jason eyed us warily. When neither of us lunged, Jason smacked Knox on the shoulder. “Don’t let Coach catch you fighting. He’ll bench you for sure.”
“I know,” Knox muttered.
I grimaced. Bench him? Who the hell cared?
Knox stayed still until Jason and Frank rounded the corner. Then he stalked toward me. “If you ever call Hayden a piece of ass again, I will do a hell of a lot more than punch you.”
My back teeth ground together. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me is that she’s our mate,” he snarled.
Everything in me locked. Blood roared in my ears as everything went cold. So damn cold it was a miracle I didn’t fracture on the spot.
“You’re wrong.” My voice didn’t sound like my own, foreign and far away.
Knox’s jaw worked back and forth. “I know what a mating bond feels like, East. We’ve heard about it all our lives. I felt it. That zap of electricity. The extreme possessiveness.”
Sweat gathered along my spine. “You just think you felt it. You want it so damn bad you’re imagining it.”
Knox’s eyes flashed gold. “I’m not a moron. I know what I felt. And that means I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. Even if that means from you.”
There it was. The line in the sand. Finding a mate changed everything. And not always for the better. Sometimes finding a mate meant having your whole world ripped out from under you.
8
HAYDEN
The plastic bags full to the brim with books cut into my palms. But the hint of pain didn’t distract me from the annoyance still bubbling down deep. Knox’s twin was an asshole.
His instant hatred of me didn’t make any sense. I’d never even met him before. Yet, he was acting as if I’d stolen his favorite teddy bear.
My lips curved at the thought of the massive guy cuddling a stuffed animal.
Something inside me shifted, a warmth filtering through. I shoved it down. There were no warm and fuzzies when it came to Mr. Grumpy Cat. It didn’t matter that he was gorgeous, and I had a burning urge to pull the tie from that man bun. To know what it felt like to run my fingers through his hair.
My steps faltered, and I squeezed my eyes closed. “Nope. Nope. Nope.”
I was not going to be a dumb girl. I’d made that move once in high school, believing the sweet lies of a boy who only wanted one thing. After he’d gotten it, I’d been dropped like the piece of trash he actually thought I was.
Not happening again.
I forced my eyes open and took a deep breath. My fingers had lost feeling somewhere between the student center and my dorm. Shit.
Picking up my pace, I moved in the direction of Ridge Hall. Getting all my books had taken hours. Even though I’d gotten to the bookstore early, there were already quite a few students with the same idea, and only two staff members were working. But I’d finally gotten everything I needed and secured a study desk in the library. Given my roommate’s interest in partying, I had a feeling that I’d be spending quite a lot of time within the library’s walls.
I didn’t mind it. The library had always been a safe haven for me. And this one was stunning, just like the rest of the campus.
As I reached my dorm, a guy barreled out of the front door.
“Wait,” I called. “Can you hold it?”
He paused, his eyes roaming over me. “Sure thing, beautiful. What’s the password?”
I rolled my eyes. “The password is I’ll bean you with these books if you stare at my ass.”
He barked out a laugh. “Might be worth it.”
I just shook my head as I passed. College was definitely different. A sense of pride swept over me as I headed up the stairs. Hadn’t today been normal? Aside from Grumpy Cat, that was.
