Page 17 of Tainted Wings

“What happened to you today?”

“Well, let's start with my asshole stepbrother and his friends who shut off my alarm so I was late getting up. They were supposed to bring me to school, but they left without me, leaving me to fly to school. I totally forgot in my haste to get to school on time, I was in a skirt, and ended up flashing the whole school grounds my panties.”

“What a bunch of jackasses,” he snarls.

“I agree with you on that.” I laugh. “And then to top it off, their crazy fiancées cornered me before leaving because apparently they think I’m out to steal their men,” I scoff, rolling my eyes.

“I swear, they are all crazy here.” He shakes his head.

“Facts.” I look over at him, and we share a grin. Butterflies erupt in my belly as I bite my lower lip, making him grin wider.

When we get to the main gate, Zed’s whole body tenses. “Are you okay?” I ask Zed as I watch his face darken as he looks between the steel bars at the big mansion.

“You live here?” he growls, not sounding happy about it.

“Yeah,” I say slowly, wondering why he seems so upset with where I live. “My mom is married to Michael.”

His eyes snap to mine, and his face clouds over with something dark. “I gotta go,” he says abruptly, dropping my bag before turning away from me.

“Zed.” I try to stop him, concerned with his sudden change in mood, but his wings pop out. He lifts off the ground, shooting into the sky, heading back the way we came. I stand there, watching as his stunning raven black wings disappear from sight.

What the Hell was that all about?

There’s a feeling of loss settling in the pit of my stomach.

Also, he left before I could even get his contact information.Awesome. I’m mated with a complete stranger who just took off without a word, and I have no way of contacting him.

What a great start we're off to.