Page 24 of Make Me

“Do I need to kick someone’s ass?” he asked.

Bethany smacked him. “Not everything is solved by beating it up.”

“Some things are,” Cody shot back. “And besides, it’s Claire. She’s the sweetest person we know. In this case, someone probably does need to be beaten up.”

“Thanks, Cody,” Claire broke in. “But no one needs to be beaten up.”

“Well, maybe not tonight,” Holly disagreed. “Tonight we need to stuff our faces with this delicious food and have a girl’s only night.”

“So, it’s a boy I need to beat up?” Cody was persistent.

“Tomorrow.” Holly was firm. “Thank you, Cody.” Her eyes begged him to drop it, and his wolf huffed but he backed down.

“Okay, I’m going to go bother Zack at the dining hall. Let us know if you need anything.”

Holly nodded and took the boxes from him before shutting the door behind her. Cody stood outside the door for a few moments longer. Every instinct was screaming at him to stay, but he forced himself to turn and walk away. Bethany and Holly, and even Claire, were capable of handling themselves. Whatever it was, they would figure it out. But he would be here if they couldn’t, and he could enlist more help.

Zack looked up as Cody approached their table in the dining hall. He frowned when he saw Cody was alone. “Where are the girls?”

“What? Am I not enough for you?” Cody teased him and took pleasure when the wizard’s cheeks reddened.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Zack rolled his eyes at Cody, but there was a smile on his face.

Cody knew he had a goofy grin on his face as he stared back at the handsome wizard. Zack had really come out of his shell since their first year here, and their playful flirtation when they were alone was always the highlight of Cody’s day.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ll recover,” Cody teased.

“Maybe I can help with that later,” Zack murmured as he took a sip from his cup. “But only after you tell me what’s going on. I can sense that your wolf is riled up.”

Cody’s eyebrows shot up briefly before he controlled his face. Usually only other shifters could sense anything about another shifter’s animal. Cody’s thoughts flashed back to Nita and Calen. Could Nita sense Calen’s animal?

Cody looked around the dining hall. They sat in the back corner, but he still didn’t want to add any fuel to the gossip mill. “I don’t know what happened, but Holly asked Bethany to grab them food from the dining hall, and when I helped her carry it back, Holly answered the door with Claire who looked like she had been crying.”

Zack’s silver eyes brightened as his magic rose, and a frown played at his perfect lips. “Vivienne?”

Cody shrugged, eyes scanning the dining hall. “It’s possible. Claire wouldn’t answer when I—” His eyes caught on the Stonemont Triad’s table. The three usually larger-than-life men were sitting around the table like someone had just kicked their puppy. Their shoulders were slumped, and it looked like Malcolm was just picking at his food. Cody knew the dragon could eat enough for three full-grown shifter men.

Zack’s eyes followed his gaze, and he hummed softly. Cody looked at him, but instead of shock, an amused look danced in his eyes as his lips quirked up slightly.

Cody nudged his leg under the table. “What? What do you know?”

“Remember the other week when Bethany had that pride event, and you went home with her?”

Cody nodded and nudged Zack’s leg again to keep him talking. This time, though, he didn’t pull his leg away, and Zack swallowed softly before explaining how Desmond had joined them for dinner and how he’d walked Claire home.

“You think she’s his soul flame?” Cody stumbled over the term that the witches used for their mates.

“I think she might be all of theirs,” Zack whispered, his words barely loud enough for Cody to hear.

Cody snapped his head around to look at the Stonemont Triad again. “All of them?” he whispered.

If it were just Desmond, he could understand, as he was also a witch, but Malcolm and Everett weren’t the same species. He thought about earlier with Calen and Nita. He couldn’t see the Stonemont Triad allowing anyone to disrespect Claire, but would they be able to change the Realm’s minds about intermixed matings? They might be the only ones who could.

Zack shrugged. “I could be wrong.”

But Cody doubted that he was. Zack was not only brilliant when it came to academics, but he also had one of the best tactical minds Cody had ever met.

“Then why is she upset?” Cody wondered out loud. His wolf growled in his head. “If they hurt her, I’ll kill them.”

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