Page 14 of Starlight Mates

“You’re a wolf, right?” she questions, and I nod. “I thought so, I could sense that about you even if your Nexus is shy and hides.”Shyis a new word for my Nexus, but I’ll take it overterrifyingor just plain old screaming. “I’m a bear, like my mate. He is all brown and fluffy, yet I got stuck looking more like a polar bear but greyer.”

I grin. “Bears are cute, though.”

She laughs with me as we finally get out of the classroom and down the staircase to the middle floor. “Should we go back to our room?”

“I can’t. Rhodes offered to take me shopping. I don’t have anything much, but he sorted out an early payment for working with him somewhere.”

She frowns. “What about your family’s estate? I mean, it still stands there, and you must be super rich… It’s yours now by our rights, as you’re the youngest survivor of the Autumn family, so why not just ask for it?”

My heart plummets. I don’t deserve that, and setting foot in my father’s family home when I was the one who destroyed everything…no. I’m a monster and I know my place. “Yeah, I know, but I want a fresh start. Not ghosts.”

She comes with me to the entrance hall. “Lost family wouldn’t be ghosts but silent supporters. If you change your mind?—”

“I won’t,” I answer quickly.

She searches my eyes and leaves it. “Where are you meeting Rhodes, then?”

“I don’t know exactly where?—”

“Because you’re not.” Onyx sneaks up on me like the very ghosts we have been talking about. I barely even sensed him, which is a little concerning.

I end up snapping at him. “What are you doing here?”

His jaw tightens visibly, and I wince. He is wearing dark jeans, a white polo shirt, and a watch that looks like it costs the same as a house. “Hello to you too.” He looks to my right. “Ann Donovan? You look like your father, so I’m taking a guess.”

“Yes, but I go by Annie, and frankly, that is not a nice thing to say. He is old and more wrinkled than our fifteen-year-old cat.” She huffs. “Nice to meet you, Onyx. I’ll leave you two to the awkwardness.”

She runs off like the wind is chasing her, and Onyx crosses his arms. “So…you’re making friends, and youcanbe nice to people. That’s good to know. I thought your only expression was a frown and you could only call me filthy names.”

I keep that frown he mentioned on my face. “She’s my roommate and I’m not a completely horrible person. I can make friends. I’m nicer to people who don’t lock me in rooms.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He groans, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, can we start over? I would appreciate if you stopped tapping the rune all night to keep me awake and frowning at me like I’m your enemy when I’m not. I do not judge or hate you, but we are in a delicate position and linked together whether you rejected me or not. I have accepted, even if I…” He pauses and shakes his head. “I have made my Nexus accept you do not want the bond the Gods gave us, but living like this is already tiring.”

Onyx waits for my answer, and the sensible section of my brain tells me to run. Tells me that being his friend or whatever he is offering is a really fucking stupid idea, but my heart? My Nexus? Gods…we want to be close to him. I already know it won’t last. He will always end up hating me. “Friends.”

He smiles at me, and my knees instantly feel weak. He is jaw droppingly gorgeous when he smiles. “Why didn’t you say dreamwalking was your power? You were marked as having no powers when you were younger?” I frown and he adds, “Finn told me. He was grumbling about his lack of sleep, and I knew you were awake too, thanks to the rune headache you like to give me.”

“Telltale.” I wrinkle my nose and I don’t say anything else about my power. “Where is Rhodes anyway?”

“He had an emergency at the pet shelter he works at. I’m sure he’ll tell you about it or show you when you join him, but I’m taking you shopping.”

“No offence, but I don’t want to go with you. You don’t come across as a guy who likes to shop or follow me about.” I clear my throat when he stares at me a bit too intensely for a friend. “I can wait for Rhodes to have more spare time.”

I go to walk away, but he catches my elbow. Every inch of skin that touches is burning, not in a bad way, but a burn that spreads across my body and makes everything tighten. “I will follow you, Gwen.” He steps an inch closer and closes his eyes, sucking in a deep breath. “I can hear your wolf, you know, sometimes. When I touch you, it’s like your Nexus is screaming for me, and fuck, I want to kiss you just to be close. To taste what is mine. Can you hear my Nexus?”

For a moment, I let myself close my eyes, to feel that link between us that has never died, only diminished when I broke us. When I rejected him. I never let myself wonder what it would have been like to accept them all, to be normal enough to ever have let that happen. I all but claw my elbow from his. “No,” I bite out.

He rocks back, looking jarred, but quickly slips on a mask of indifference. Good. I need to do the same even if it hurts. “I’ll take you and pretend to be Rhodes. I don’t have the pretty blond hair, but I can copy his awful jokes.” He makes jokes. I don’t know them at all, even if it feels like we have known each other forever. When I don’t answer him, he continues. “I promised him. I don’t like breaking promises. Ever, Gwen. That means we are shopping even if I have to pick your clothes.”

I wince, just imagining what he might choose. “Alright, but make a promise you’re not going to be a total dick this entire trip.”

He smirks, his eyes almost flashing like a star. “Deal. My car’s outside.”

Onyx leads me to the door, and I try not to laugh. “Let me guess, you own an expensive sports car? Mum and dad pay for it all?”

“Do you know about my family, then?” he counters, raising an eyebrow.

“Actually, no. It was a guess. Out of all five of you, you seem to wear the most expensive designer shit clothing, and you’re polished in a way only money gives you.” We step out to the front of the castle, at the top of a dozen wide stone steps that are the same colour as the castle. Right at the bottom is a very expensive sports car. I’ve got no idea what the name of it is. It’s clearly electric, posh and a shiny black.

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