Page 106 of Bite Me

I care about Dacre, and the thought of sharing a night together before he runs off to get married isn’t a scenario I’m interested in.

“Can I ask . . . Are you safe? Is your scent-match someone you trust, or . . .”

I must look horrified because she looks as if she’s got a trigger finger ready to pounce into action. For that, I’m thankful.

“It’s nothing like that. I do trust him . . . It’s just that I’m processing this. I feel as if I’ve been told I’m pregnant or something.”

“Are you on any form of birth control?”

“No . . .”

“Unless you’d like to get pregnant, I’d suggest letting me give you some to take home with the potion. It’s 100 percent effective and works instantly, so you should be covered however you choose to deal with your symptoms.”

“Okay . . . When will it subside?”

“Without any male intervention, it will likely last a week. You can come shelter here in the nurse’s station if at any time, you feel your medicine isn’t helping enough.”

After I’ve received all my things from the office, I pull up the collar of Zant’s emerald-green Solexxa jacket to hide my face as I exit through the door. He let me borrow it so I could get around campus without being seen.

My phone is filled with nothing but notifications. I scrolled through the forum for a few minutes, and it’s scathing. It’s all rumors about Dacre and me and how I got into the culinary club. So many things that I care very deeply about, but that I can’t care about while I feel like this. In fact, the only thing I’d like to do is find Dacre. Every few seconds, that’s what my mind automatically goes back to.

From what I know about heat for Weres, this isn’t comparable. That’s agonizing. That said, this is more than a little annoying. A seven on a scale of ten, and sometimes, it even goes down if I do something with my hands.

Zant is there waiting for me in the waiting room, along with my sister.

“So?” They stand when they see me. We gather by the fireplace.

I nod. “Yeah, you were right. Will you walk me to my room?”

We navigate out of the castle with ease, considering the nurse’s station is close to the entrance. My sister leaves us, partly because she has an exam, and partly because her walking next to me garners more attention. At least with Zant’s jacket covering my scent and most of my hair hidden, I’m easily disguisable.

Every step of the walk is torture. He helps me by letting me hold on to his arm.

“Can you be honest with me?” I ask as we near my room.

“Of course.”

“If you think Dacre is a total red flag and the worst person ever, you should tell me now.”

“You care about my opinion?”

“Yeah. I know you’ll tell me the truth to keep me safe, even if I don’t want to hear it.”

Though I just met Zant last semester, him being Parker’s best friend means we spend a lot of time together. Almost as if we’re all inductees in Parker’s pack. He’s also spent the most time with Dacre, since they’re both on the council.

“He can be a dick, but . . . I see the good in him, too. I’ve seen him change a lot since he started hanging out with you.”

“He’s engaged.”

“I heard. But there’s not a lot of love in contractual arrangements. I did see him today, and he looked . . . worried. He was looking for you, and he looked as if he wanted to kill me when I told him I didn’t know.”

“Really?”

“I think you know what you want to do, and the good thing is that you have a good support system if things don’t go as planned. Besides, Dacre didn’t give me the impression he was thinking about anyone else but you. There’s still time for him to pull out of the engagement.”

Our little unconventional pack of sorts isn’t so bad.

“Thank you.”