Page 11 of The First Year Continued
“Anyway, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to share the rest of this, but let me tell you where I spent my morning.”
Chapter Seven
Odin
“Take a walk with me?” I enfolded Roxy’s hand in mine and gave it a tug.
She looked conflicted. I hated that for her. “I don’t know.”
Sol and Evander exchanged a glance.
“It’s okay.” Evander reached out and touched her shoulder. It was strange. Them touching her never bothered me. Now, the thought of another male touching her made my wolf want to growl, but my friends? Nothing. They would never hurt her.
My friends would never hurt my mate.
“What if something happens?” she asked, tearing up. It broke my heart.
“Do you feel out of control?” I asked. “Are you in pain or anything?”
She shook her head.
“Then I trust you. Come on.” The word mate was on my tongue, but I dared not speak it. We weren’t allowed to mate or have a mate at the academy. It was forbidden. Their reasons were stupid and cruel, but while I didn’t care about getting in trouble myself, I cared about her getting in trouble. I cared about her above myself.
“Okay.”
There were some students and staff up ahead, so I released her hand. There were no rules about hand-holding, but I didn’t want to bring any more attention to Roxy other than the attention she already got.
All the males looked at her. She was stunning. I didn’t blame them. The females were upset at her. They made comments inpassing and right to our faces about how we’d never spent time around females before.
What they didn’t know was that I would never spend time around a female again, none but her.
Maybe Desi if she was around. She was a good friend to my mate.
“Are you okay?” I asked when we rounded a corner and were finally in a private-ish spot. We sat on a concrete bench. She sat close to me. So close, our thighs were touching.
“I don’t know.” Roxy shrugged and tucked some errant hair behind her ear. The evening was getting chilly. The seasons were changing. I could smell autumn creeping in. The leaves were ready to turn. The trees settling in for the time of rest.
Roxy shuddered as a wind blew through the alcove we’d found. Instinctively, I put my arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “If you’re cold, we can go inside.”
“No. I like it here. It’s quiet and…unless you don’t want to be alone with me. It’s getting dark.”
The oranges and pinks of the sun setting could be seen over the trees, but that was the only indication of sunset. I hoped that one day, I could take Roxy somewhere where we could see the sunset. Watch it together. Be at peace. Right now, that dream felt unattainable.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I whispered in her ear.
“I gave you every reason to be.”
“Did you want to bite me? Did you wish for it and make it happen? Were you conscious of that choice?” I asked, already knowing the answer. My mate wouldn’t ever hurt me on purpose. She was out of her mind. Something about her bites affected her in a way our bites hadn’t.
“Of course not. I would never hurt you. It’s all a blur. It was like someone else was in my body. I wasn’t in control of myself. I’m scared every minute it will happen again.”
“It won’t. And if it does, we’ll deal with it.”
My wolf howled inside me as Roxy leaned her head on my shoulder. “Thank you. You three could’ve turned me in but you didn’t.”
“We care about you, Roxy. All of us do. But me the most.”
She giggled and I wallowed in the sound. We had very few moments of happiness in this place and since the wars, so every laugh was precious. Every smile. “Of course you the most.”
