Page 74 of Wolf Mate

Oh God, no.

Then his eyes cooled back to their icy shade as he took the spot next to me and faced Slade. He growled, “What did I say about fucking looking at her?”

Knowing I was dangerously close to combusting, I stepped closer to Raffe. The moment my arm brushed his, the fizz calmed to a nonthreatening level.

Slade crossed his arms and frowned. “If she doesn’t want to talk to me,shedoesn’t have to.”

“Then why are you waiting for her outside the women’s apartments?” Raffe rasped, radiating power.

Adam and Keith looked at each other quickly before stepping up behind Raffe, presenting a united front.

“None of your damn business.” Slade tilted his head back and squared his shoulders. “I have nothing to say toyou. Onlyher.”

“Then I suggest you get your ass moving.” Raffe stepped forward, edging in front of me. “Because she texted me about what you were up to.”

Slade flinched and focused back on me. “Fine. Forget what I told you.” The corner of his mouth tilted upward.

Jackass. He knew he had power over me, and I resented it. I wondered if this was retaliation for me rejecting him or if it was because of Raffe’s involvement. Slade hadn’t acted like this before.

Worse, I was about to do what he wanted. “Can we talk later?” Slade would refuse to talk to me with Raffe here, and Raffe would refuse to leave, knowing Slade had been waiting for me.

Raffe’s head snapped in my direction, and he narrowed his eyes. I could hear his unspoken question—what the fuck?—and I deserved it.

“Are you talking to me?” Slade pointed at himself and blinked several times.

He wanted me to reinforce that I’d meant him, and I regretted that I’d fallen for his tactic. But I could either snub the one person who could give me answers and help me with my magicorbend my pride to get the answers I desperately needed.That didn’t mean I would play the entire game with him. “Don’t be a jerk. I think you’ve been enough of one the past two days.”

His face creased, which would normally scream guilt, but his emotions didn’t change. This had to be an act, and I couldn’t call him out on it. My ability to read emotions was something I hadn’t shared with anyone, and I planned to keep it to myself. “You’re right. We can talk about it in microbiology.”

In other words, when Raffe wasn’t around. But it wasn’t like I could say no. We’d be seeing each other in an hour and a half.

Raffe growled, not even attempting to hide the animal within since there weren’t any humans around …well, other thanme. From the way his body vibrated, I feared he would shift if Slade didn’t leave.

“Fine.” I wanted him to leavenow. “See you then.”

He winked at me, and I could read that Raffe was about to snap. As he walked off, I placed my hand on Raffe’s forearm, knowing I needed skin-to-skin contact with him.

Slade whistled as he strolled toward the student center like he didn’t have a care in the world, Raffe watching him the entire way.

Once Slade was across the road and heading between the Evergreen and Howling buildings, Keith snapped, “Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

“I have the same question.” Raffe turned to me and arched a brow. “What do you mean you’re going to talk tohimlater? It looks like I’ll be attending micro-fucking-biology with you now.”

Unable to stop, I snorted. I didn’t understand why, but Raffe’s protectiveness made me happy. “That will be hard to do when you aren’t on the roster.”

“Uh … why does it fucking matter if he talks to her?” Keith’s face twisted in disgust as he looked at me. “She talks to him all the time. I’m all for him locking her down so there’s one less thing for us to worry about. The witches can have that burden.”

In the blink of an eye, Raffe had pivoted on Keith and shoved him in the chest. Keith stumbled back several feet but righted himself before he could fall over.

“Whoa, Raffe.” Adam stepped between them, his attention flicking between Raffe and me. “What thehell? He’s just pissy because you woke him up by slamming your door and busting out of the apartment without explaining what was wrong.”

“I didn’t ask either of you to come,” Raffe snarled. “And if you talk about her that way again, I will kick your ass. Do you understand me?”

Even though Ilovedthe way Raffe was acting, I didn’t want to come between him and his friends. I scurried next to him and touched his arm. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“It’snotokay,” Raffe bit, but his tone softened when he talked to me. “You aren’t Slade’s. And no one talks about you that way. I’m done trying to force you to hole up and not have a life.”

“What?” Keith’s jaw dropped. “Please tell me this is a joke. Not even two nights ago, your father—theking—almost blew a fuse just because she was at the football game! Now you’re telling her she’s free to go wherever she likes?”

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