Page 79 of Daughter of Garnet

I turn back around and glare at him. "Maybe?"

He shrugs. "Maybe."

"Nothing is going on with us, Viv." I take a step away from her brother to be by her side.

Ray crosses his arms over his chest. "Would it matter if there was?"

I wrap my arm around Viv's and yank her down one of the aisles into two empty seats. Ray comes to follow us, and I reach out my hand to stop him.

"No. Girl time. Go elsewhere."

He rolls his eyes but listens, settling one row back and a couple of seats over. Not far enough, but at least he can't butt into our conversation from there.

Viv still looks at me warily. "Are you sure there's nothing going on?"

"We hung out on Friday night with Cliff, that's all. I think your brother feels guilty about the way he treated me and is trying to make up for it."

"I don't know, Zoe, I've never seen him act like this before."

Before I can respond, Warren comes in, hair stringy and eyes shadowed. He looks rough.

"Was he at the party on Friday?"

Viv looks up to see what I'm talking about and winces. "He was. He was trashed and stumbling. Still looks drunk now."

Those vivid blue eyes lock with mine and widen. He stumbles across the hall and points at me. "I know your secret."

"What secret?"

I ignore Viv and jump to my feet. Warren doesn't move away from me as I grab him by the arm and haul him out of the lecture hall.

CHAPTER 38

Zoe

Warren is silent as I shove him into a supply closet outside of the hall.

"What is wrong with you?" I hiss. "Are you drunk?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! You had sharp teeth like some sort of monster!"

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I do not. Look at my mouth. My teeth are as blunt and normal as yours."

He scoffs and tries to push around me but stumbles, barely catching himself on a rack. "I know what I saw."

"Let's get you out of here, Warren. You need some coffee or something. We'll sober you up and then talk."

I expect him to push back, but he doesn't, letting me take his hand and lead him to the dining hall. It's mostly empty now, with only a few stragglers who started their day late sprinkled around the large space. I grab him some coffee and a pastry. He bites into the flaky confection as soon as I place it in front of him.

"I've been wanting to talk to you about how we left things. I think we both said and did some things we didn't mean."

The memory of Warren's hands on me, the way he felt like I owed him my body, hasn't left me. I'm not trying to make excuses for him, but it was so wildly out of character for him that I can't believe it's who he is.

It has to be the Omega effect, right?

Except my necklace is supposed to conceal my Omega status. Is it possible that Warren is so in tune with my natural state of being that he's noticed the small changes since the ceremony?

"Why didn't you tell me, Zoe?" His mouth is full, but I can understand him fine. "You're my best friend."