Page 41 of Blood on the Ice

“Babe, if I see my parents outside of media coverage more than once a year, it’s because one of them landed in rehab again. That’s the way it’s always been. I wasn’t joking when I said Nana raised me.”

The sadness in his brilliant blue eyes makes my heart hurt, and I step closer, wrapping my arms around his waist. Laying my head on his chest, I murmur softly, “I’m sorry, Lucas. My parents aren’t perfect, but they would never abandon me. They stayed away from the trial because I asked them to, not because they believed I was wrong.”

A rumble under my cheek starts up, and I close my eyes when he hugs me tightly. For a few moments. I lose focus on the busyhustling around me and just soak in the feel of someone who is connected to me on a level I’ve never felt before. We don’t know everything about one another yet, but the zing of the mate bond lets me know it’s going to be okay once we do.

“Isn’t this interesting? And I’d heard you were a frigid bitch. How surprised Magnus would be—that is, if you hadn’tmurdered him in cold blood.”

confrontations & confessions

The woman in front of me looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place where I’ve seen her before. However, my bear doesn’t like her insulting Morgana at all, and before I can stop it, a low, threatening growl echoes out of my chest. The woman simply lifts a perfectly sculpted brow at me, not moving an inch, and I let the animal flash in my eyes.

“Oh, aren’t youadorable,” she says in a syrupy sweet voice. “A bold young suitor, it seems.”

Is this chick nuts? Provoking a chief-level bear of any kind isn’t bright, but it’s especially dumb in a human environment.

Morgana steps forward, looking at the woman curiously. It’s obvious she has no idea who this is other than one of her ex’s fan club. Her spine stiffens and the air of authority she exudes when she’s in the Dean’s office fills the surrounding space. “I’m sorry; we haven’t met. You seem to know me, though, so perhaps you should introduce yourself.”

Snap. Forcing her to initiate the polite exchange is a boss move in the South.

Shaking her thick sable mane, the woman tilts her chin up combatively. “He told me your manners were suspect. Now I see why.”

A surge of power slides over me, and I see Des’s head poke out from behind Morgana’s raven waves. It surprises me—the amount of control she must have to hide that kind of raw energy from her supe sides is impressive as fuck. And she’s using a form of dominant push as she glares at the rude bitch, but I didn’t think either of her species were hierarchy animals.

“Since Magnus didn’t feel the need to ever speak of you, I suppose you’ll have to live with being inconsequential. That is… unless you were a dirty little secret, in which case I’m unconcerned with your feelings.” Morgana crosses her arms over her chest, seeming larger with every word, though I know that can’t be true.

My mate is a force to be reckoned with.

The nasty laugh the woman emits is grating and I watch quietly, knowing this is an alpha female battle that I have absolutely no place in. No matter how shitty she acts, my mate has to come out on top if she wants this twit to spread the rumors around that she won’t put up with their childish, mean girl shit.

“I knew you were sleeping around on him, too. He swore you were too uptight and frigid, but no woman stays faithful to a man she barely sees for years. Magnus should have ditched your cheating ass and chosen me.”

I snort; I can’t help it. A man who cheats on one woman won’t stay faithful to another. That’s like lightning striking more than once in one spot—she’d have better luck buying a lottery ticket from the humans.

“Stay in your own lane, cub. No one invited the children’s table to the grown up chat.”

That’s it.

I lift my head, holding my tired as fuck body up with the regal bearing I’ve been taught by my Nana since childhood. My eyes ice over with the power of my bear and I give her a cruel smile. “Wolfenbergs don’t require invitations. We are the main event.”

Her eyes widen as I name drop Nana and it’s like her entire body wilts. “Wolfenbergs? You?”

“Such a shame the masses don’t wait until they have all the information before they shoot their mouths off. It reveals breeding and, of course, that tells one everything they need to know.” I smirk and place a hand on Morgana’s arm, gritting my teeth as her energy zings into me. “Who are you? She asked you a question, and it’s rude to ignore it.”

“My name is Lailani Bergstrom,” she blurts without thinking.

Hmmm. Not an influential family that I know of, though I can quiz Nana.

But Morgana’s eyes narrow and she growls softly. “You reported him missing in Egypt.” Her eyes rake over the woman again, this time with disgust. “The transcripts said you were an archaeological assistant. I doubt you could dig up a conch shell, much less an artifact. Of fucking course.”

Hurt wafts off my mate in waves, but her face doesn’t show an ounce of that emotion. Her countenance is all hard lines and anger, though it’s likely directed at her ex and herself. This chick is simply an idiot who believed whatever garbage the ex-Dean was spewing and followed him like a groupie on the school’s dime. Morgana seems to realize Magnus was probably doing the same on almost every trip he took and that’s smacking her in the face like a brick.

“You should probably make a note about vetting future assistants and consultants for off-campus travel in all departments, babe. I’m sure Magnus had his little birds everywhere. That will save the university a pretty penny,” I offer, hoping to give her an option for revenge that isn’t murdering this woman.

Shaking her head, Morgana pauses, then looks back at me with much clearer eyes. “You’re right, Lucas. I’ll have Channing write a proposal for vetting auxiliary staff for any travel in the future—from academics to sports. I have the feeling my ex’s habit of trotting his floozies around the world with him isn’t unusual at State U. The rot always starts at the roots, you know.”

Lailani gives us both a look that wavers between bravado and fear. She knows she’s fucked up now and has no idea how to walk it back. When she continues staring, I roll my eyes and wave a hand at her. “Be gone. You’ll be dealt with later. I’m sure your conduct broke a metric asston of university policies—Morgana is the Dean, after all. Open hostility and venom create a hostile work environment, you know.”

When she finally stalks off in a huff, I lean on the cart. “Shit. I thought that was going to go sideways in the middle of the store, M. Is that what happens when someone really crosses your lines?”

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