Page 32 of Wolf Mate

Nothinghappened.

My blood didn’t jolt.

Theonetime I wanted it to thrum to life,thiswas what I got?

Nada.

Zilch.

Not even a fucking twinge.

Maybe Fate was real and laughing her ass off, the bitch.

I opened my eyes, unsure of what I’d see, but it wasn’t the breeze ruffling the tree limbs like nothing strange was happening.

Seriously, what thehellwas wrong with me?

Slade laughed, and I snapped my head in his direction.

“If looks could kill, I’d be a dead man right now.” His irises twinkled with mirth.

My limbs grew heavy. Slade waslaughingat me. That burned, especially after he’d been a decent friend to me for all of a day, but you know, that was more than I’d had before.

Nowmy blood jolted.

His face soured. “Wait. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

I placed a hand on my hip. “Oh, and you thought I’d be happy with you making fun of me?”

“No.” He lifted both hands. “That wasn’t what I was doing. You were being adorable, and it made me laugh.”

Did he think that would make me feel better? I’d heard guys were dumb, but I hadn’t expected it to be so blatant. “So you’re happy that I’m struggling?” The jolt upgraded to the fizz, and for once, I wasn’t stressed about letting it go. It was just us out there, and he was a warlock and understood what was happening.

“I’m sorry.” He dropped his hands. “I’m not happy that you’re struggling, and I’m not laughing at you. I just think you’re really pretty, and I’m clearly letting it affect my judgment. I’d never want to make you feel less than worthy.”

Some of my anger thawed, effectively easing my blood. “I’m just supersensitive about being laughed at and insulted, so I may have overreacted a tad.” I wouldn’t apologize for it. If he’d lived my life, he would understand the baggage I carried. “And I’m frustrated. I’ve never had issues with it before.”

“I’m not surprised. Summoning your magic is different from when your magic takes control.”

I rocked back on my heels and crossed my arms. “You didn’t think to warn me of that?”

He shrugged and put his hands into his jeans pockets. “In my defense, we have different magic. From what I read, your magic is called similarly to coven magic. My magic isn’t like that. “

“What do you mean?” I clenched my hands, my nails biting into my palms. He was sharing what he’d learned, but I wished he would’ve told me more this morning. He might be holding things back, and I didn’t like the idea of him controlling what and when I learned things. However, I didn’t want to piss him off and screw myself out of learning as much as I could, especially since he wouldn’t share where the library was.

“I’m not sure yet, but yours is more about vibrations, like most coven members use, except for the small amount that use elemental magic too.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That’swhy I didn’t say anything earlier. I don’t fully know, but I do have an inkling of whichBook of Twilightto read next. A priestess might have been in a relationship with an arcane-born.”

That was interesting, especially since Slade and I were forming a bond. “What sort of relationship?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Just something this priestess wrote about near the end of her book. I plan on going back to the library and reading his book tonight, but I wanted to take you out here so you could practice controlling your magic.”

“I’m so sorry.” I hated that I’d exposed the supernatural world the way I had. I’d promised not to the night before, and not even a full day later, I’d nearly made my desk fall apart. If the professor hadn’t been a vampire, I could only imagine who would’ve gotten hurt trying to mitigate the damage I’d caused. A shiver ran down my spine, and my blood jolted once more.

“It’s not your fault,” he said, taking my hand in his and squeezing. “You have these superstrong powers, and you were raised by humans who know nothing about this world. Of course you’re going to have these issues.”

My eyes stung, and my vision blurred. I’d never had anyone who understood me before. And he was attractive, which would be an added bonus if I’d felt anything beyond friendship for him.

But I didn’t because of an unattainable guy who was a jackass, and who also wasn’t, depending on how the stars aligned.

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