Page 11 of Make Me

Sure, that’s the only reason you intervened, a little voice taunted inside her head. It had nothing to do with her lioness bristling in rage that her mates had been disrespected in that way.

They are not our mates, she told her lioness sternly. All she got from the cat was a snarl. Clearly, she and her cat were not on the same page. Lovely.

At the front of the crowd, Holly began speaking. Behind her, her mates fanned out protectively, keeping one eye on Holly and one eye on the crowd. She thought about the conversation she and Holly had before the party. She had tried to grill Holly on her mates to prevent Holly from grilling Bethany about hers. Witches often overlooked intermixed matings if the pair was powerful, but Holly’s dad could be a real piece of work. She hoped it would work out for her friend, though.

Cody stepped up on her left and she was sandwiched between the men. She shoved away thoughts from her lioness about how else she would like to be sandwiched. Down, girl. She glanced quickly at each of them. What had happened with Alonzo? She hadn’t heard all of it, but she’d heard Alonzo warning them away from her. And what was Cody doing taunting Alonzo? He was acting like a mate, not a friend with benefits.

By some cruel twist of fate, Bethany’s cat had insisted Cody was her mate, but she wasn’t his. Male wolves were super possessive, and if she actually was his mate, he would have claimed her by now. Instead, he had treated her totally normally since her eighteenth birthday. Her cat pined after him, and after meeting Zack, pined after the wizard as well. The pull had gotten more uncomfortable over the years, which is why Bethany had given in to the friends-with-benefits situation. But maybe she needed to rethink that situation. Especially if her lioness acted like this in group settings.

If anyone had been looking closely, they probably could have seen her cat flash in her eyes, and that would have raised questions. Tensions were already strained enough between the pack and pride. If her lioness started acting like they were her mates publicly, she could put their lives at risk from the pack and pride members, and she couldn’t do that.

The restlessness of the crowd brought her attention back to the present moment. Shifter tempers ran high, and with two different groups this size, tempers were already running hotter, as Alonzo proved. Someone shouted a question about what would happen to Roland and Vanya, and the pot started boiling over. Bethany stepped in front of Zack instinctively and ignored her lioness’s purr. She would protect any of her friends like this.

Up front, she could see the tightness around Holly’s eyes as she started working her Empath magic, trying to cool off tempers. Her mates stepped in front of Holly, which riled up some of the shifters at the front of the crowd more. Her mom and Alpha Bryson stepped forward and shifted just as a few of them lunged. Holly wavered on her feet, face pale. Fuck.

“Watch Zack,” she threw over her shoulder at Cody.

She darted through the crowd, using a dominant snarl to clear herself a path. She reached Holly’s side and took her elbow gently. “This way,” she murmured in Holly’s ear.

Holly squeezed her eyes tight and let Bethany lead her away from the crowd and into the trees. Holly didn’t talk about her Empath magic much, but Bethany knew it hurt her to use. She found Holly a private spot and stepped away, knowing she would want to be alone. Someone was coming through the trees, and Bethany relaxed when she saw it was Synora.

“Take care of her,” she murmured as she left Holly in Synora’s capable hands.

The violence was contained by the time she got back to the clearing, and she relaxed when she spotted Cody and Zack standing on the other side of the clearing, unharmed.

“Bethany,” Sadara’s voice came from her right. Two of the pack Deltas were hauling a struggling man between them towards the pride’s dungeons.

“Alpha.” Bethany used her formal title in the crowd. “What can I do?”

“Prepare to leave tonight,” Sadara said, a frown on her face. “Time is of the essence if there were any sympathizers in the crowd that might alert some of your escaped prisoners.”

Bethany nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell the others.” She turned and headed towards Cody and Zack.

“Bethany,” Sadara said again. Bethany turned back. “Be careful.”

That was the closest Sadara was ever going to be to showing concern. “I will.”

Bethany headed towards Cody and Zack. She ignored the way her lioness purred as she approached the men. Her cat should have learned by now. It simply wasn’t possible for more with everything stacked against them. The events of tonight proved that. The pack and pride could barely get along during a celebration.

She sighed heavily, and Zack frowned at her. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would be standing here with the two of them when she escaped to the Academy two years ago, but here they were. And now they had a job to do.

CHAPTER SIX

BETHANY

Beginning of first semester

Year 1, Semester 1.

The sun beat down on her as Bethany crossed the courtyard of the Academy. Her mom had dropped her off a few hours ago and, unlike the other parents, departed as soon as Bethany’s bags were in the room. She had never been a particularly warm person, but Bethany had expected a little bit more emotion as her only daughter was dropped off for the next year at the Academy. It was the longest time Bethany would ever spend away from the pride, and even if cats weren’t touchy-feely, shifters were social creatures.

Restlessness set in, and she unpacked, stowing the few boxes she had brought under the bed as soon as she was done. The Academy provided uniforms, so she hadn’t brought too many clothes, just the school supplies from the list the Academy sent and a few knickknacks from home. She touched the necklace that lay hidden under her shirt. A pang of longing speared through her, but she shoved it away. The distance away from him was going to be good.

Unable to stare at the stone walls anymore, she grabbed her key and headed out to explore. The courtyard was large and open, with a few large shady trees dotting the expansive grass area. She wove between the other excited students and their families, nodding at the few she had met over the years as Alpha Heir. The Academy prided itself on educating the best and brightest of the Realm. The education here was top-notch, but the networking was even more so. That had been all her mom talked about on the way here: how Bethany could secure the pride’s position in the Realm with her presence at the Academy.

Leaving the bustles of the four dormitory buildings behind, she checked out the class buildings, wrinkling her nose slightly at the smell of old paper and spilled ink. She wasn’t the best student. Her brain moved too fast, and she often got bored in lectures. The Academy was known to be strict, so maybe she could find someone to study with quickly.

She turned the corner and slammed into someone.

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