Page 185 of Caelum

He’d called herGenny.

I hid my grimace behind my water bottle and took a deep sip. I didn’t break eye contact, though, didn’t pull my glance from hers. It was a dominant move. Like the big cats in the documentaries Nestor watched, or the wolves, I supposed. She was pissed that Stefan was with me and not out at the bonfire kissing her lipstick off.

When she sashayed over, it didn’t come as that big of a surprise. With each step, her gaze remained fixed on mine, to the point where I wondered if this was even about Stefan or about being top dog. I knew their Pack wasthe top of their class, and after that, Frazer’s came next. I had two ‘important’ Packs chilling out with me, and she had none.

Me, a nobody, a freak from a cult who was ignored by most because of her ‘anger management’ issues, sat with seven of the hottest guys in her year, while Genny was hanging around with some other girls.

“Stefan, come dance with me,” she demanded, her voice a whine that grated on me.

Behind her, like they’d decided to move in tandem, another girl,Becky, appeared. I’d seen her that night at the other party. In Dre’s arms. Dancing with him.Kissinghim.

My blood surged at the memory, and oh boy, my souls didn’t like that.

I’d had to bypass my Succubus lesson with Stefan because of the impromptu bonfire. After a day of ‘learning’ with kids that were four years younger than me, I hadn’t been looking forward to it. Had relished the prospect of chilling out with the guys, but now?

The way Genny was acting?

How Becky had appeared out of nowhere?

It made me wonder if this bonfire had been orchestrated on purpose.

Whoa. My Succubus was getting paranoid, but it seemed like out of nowhere, a group of girls surged around us like the waves on the shore.

Seven of them.

One for each ofmymen.

Had they noticed the way they’d been hanging out with me? Didn’t they appreciate the competition?

My mouth curled in a sneer, and rather than leap forward, throw myself into a fight with them, I sank back into the cushioned sleeping bag that Stefan had tucked around my shoulders. Because though Caelum was hot during the day, it grew chilly at night, especially beside the heavy surf. Sure, my front was warm from the fire, but my back was frozen without the blanket.

Still, now the Succubus had been triggered, my core temperature surged. I felt overheated with her hoveringin wait, but I didn’t say anything. I had no reason to.

Yet.

“If I wanted to dance, Genny, trust me, I’d be dancing,” Stefan stated, his tone dismissive as he flicked his attention away from her as easily as if she were a fly dancing around his hands. He turned back to Samuel and I heard them talk about something called the Miami Dolphins next.

I’d seen enough of the horrendousness that was organized sports to know that was a football team.

Cue shudder.

“Dre!” Becky mumbled next. “Come and warm me up, baby.”

The others were loaded with a welter of invitations, but only two interested me.

The one Becky proffered Dre, and a girl I didn’t know all that well, Sarita, who invited Samuel to party with her.

God, I wanted to stare at them both. Wanted to see both men’s reactions, but instead, I curved my top lip in a sneer and stared at Genny again. Her eyes flickered with rage, and that wasn’t just a play of light. The bonfire had nothing to do with it.

“Nah. I’m not in the mood,” Samuel said, his tone blunt enough to make Sarita blanch as he started discussing Josh Rosen’s QB stats.

We were all speaking the same language,tongues, but yikes, when they started discussing football stats? They might as well have been talking Mandarin.

My jaw clenched as Dre took the longest to reply. How I didn’t flick a look at him, study him for potential responses, I wasn’t sure. My control since I’d left the compound had flown the coop faster than a bird being chased by a fox, so I had no idea how I was keeping it together.

Each moment he didn’t reply had my Succubus making demands that made me wish I could split myself in two. One side would glower at Genny, who was the instigator of this mission to take my men away from me, and the other would study Dre to see what he’d do.

When he just said, “Beat it, Becky,” I wasn’t sure who was more surprised: me, Becky, or the men around me.

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