Page 6 of Just One Bite
I tackle him again, and we fight until the tree cracks and sags a few inches lower.
“Truce,” we say at the same time.
Noxx House has housed more people on the council than any other house. Zant says it’s a sign. He thinks everything is a sign. His mom is really intuitive and into that stuff.
“I’m just saying it could solve just about every one of your problems this year.”
The air’s filled with all sorts of smells, but my eyesight improves in the dark, making the girl from the hallway easy to find again. She’s getting closer, only a few feet away. Both the wolf and the vampire in me like watching her from above in the shadow of the treetop.
“It’s too much pressure,” I say before my attention is completely elsewhere.
“And Captain Owens can’t handle pressure?”
“That’s different. I’m good at sports. It comes naturally.”
The last thing I need is to draw more attention to myself and make trouble for Gavin. No matter where I am, assholes seem to follow. One reason I joined Gavin’s pack was to lay low and stay out of trouble. Other alphas might considerit humiliating to submit in another alpha’s pack, but I call it vacation. No one bothers me or asks me about the future. Why must I alwaysdoand be something?
It leaves me open to focus on being a good captain and getting onto a pro team. What more do I need?
“You’re anaturalleader.” He taps me. “It’s in your blood, I hear.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Zant continues talking about all the things in my blood and the fact he believes in me. Blah, blah, blah, but I tune out his caring words like I normally do and find the girl from the hallway again. They haven’t made much progress. Mostly, her sisters prevent her from moving more than a few inches at a time before they scream and use her as a human shield.
I need to know her name.
“Are you even paying attention?” Zant hits me on the shoulder, then follows my line of sight to the girls. “Fine, you closed-off bastard.”
“She’s got the eye thing,” I say.
“Like Cane.” He finishes the part of the sentence I don’t want to say.
Different-colored eyes are usually associated with old werewolf bloodlines. She smells human though, so it must be distant.
“Do you know her name?” I ask.
“Uh, no, I skimmed the list. Let’s go say hi. See if we can get her name. Ten bucks says I’ll get her to tell me first.”
I smile and tug my mask over my face. “Deal.”
The girls scream as we drop from the trees and cut off their path while the dirt plumes around us.
The girl from the hallway doesn’t though. Her eyes instantly shoot to me, and I have to stop myself from getting closer. Her heart stutters as I tilt my head and observe her. There in the buzzing lights lining the path, I take in her full image. The dark-brown hair that flows past her shoulders, and her bright eyes, uniquely beautiful, but it’s her lips I halt on—soft and pale pink.
“Hi, ladies.” Zant saunters closer to them. “Welcome to Doxlothia. Are we having fun?”
His mask is on and pieces of his black hair are curled next to his ears as he stands in front of her. Something foreign twists in my stomach and zips up my spine. I don’t want him near her. Zant’s a natural with women. I guess I am too,but I’ve never wanted to keep one from him.Weird reaction, but okay.
“No. I don’t get this,” the little blonde one with pink-tipped hair says.
“The haunted maze is a cherished tradition passed down from the inception of this school. It symbolizes the founders and their journey to finding this spot for Doxlothia in the mountains. Now we just scare newcomers.”
“Seems cruel,” the taller blonde says from behind the others.
I said the same thing last year. If I ever do make council, that’s got to be one of the first things to change.
Zant moves closer, but the girl from the hallway keeps her eyes on me. It makes my skin itch—in a good way. My inner wolf rushes forward, and I step toward her till there’s only a foot or two between us.Closer.
