Page 15 of Conner's Luna

"I know," I reply.

"Conner..." he shakes his head, his head bowing. I watch his back, waiting for him to finish whatever thought is brewing in his head and praying he doesn't order me to stay home after the semester ends.

"How long have you known Bailey?" he asks instead.

Surprised, I reply, "I really only spoke to her twice." I don't mention the stalking.

"So, over a couple of weeks?"

"Just this past week," I respond reluctantly.

Dad nods, then claps me on the shoulder. "Give your brother back his phone and apologize to your mother." He stands and walks toward the door. "Now, Conner."

I sigh and stand. I hate being ordered around. I'm twenty-three years old! But I'm glad for the reprieve from Dad's constant belittling of Lydia, so I don't argue.

I hesitate at the top of the stairs. It typically hurts my stomach a little more to go down a set of stairs, but we knocked my wolf out this weekend, and listening to Bailey's voice makes my pain disappear. As I walk down with my tail tucked between my legs to talk to Mom, nothing hurts.

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5 - Childhood

Conner

I want to kill someone. Not a new feeling, but this gut-wrenching pain brings out the worst in my wolf. He is clawing to go rip that little prick to shreds. I can feel him scoring his black claws down my stomach, each scrape sending a fresh wave of agony.

Dad warned me of this. Females suffer worse if they are being cheated on, but we have it pretty bad, too. My wolf is urging me to go Claim my female, holding him back causes this agony. Our wolves just can't handle the rules of humans. He is wild, and his instincts are all that drives him.

Last night the prick and my mate were fucking, too. Damnit, it makes me hate her, just a little, my own mate. She has to know what this does to me.

I see the light of the door open and curse. A week ago, I had to chase off a pair of sophomores trying to get busy in my lovely storage room. I don't need any speculation about why the alphason of ClearHowl hides in a fucking closet.

"Conner? Is that you?"

Bailey. Her voice of liquid sex washes over me and my wolf starts whining like a drug addict looking for his fix. He wants comfort, and this chick can bring it to me.

"Come here, Bailey," I mutter.

She edges closer, almost tripping over a stack of mildewing Petri dishes with some unidentifiable light brown substance caked on their sides. I'm definitely telling Uncle Alex to stop funding State.

Bailey edges closer and I can see that her face is still pale from her recent bout with the flu. Shit, are all of the chemicals in here going to make her sick again? What if this is how she suffers from the mate bond abuse? It takes a human for-fucking-ever to recover from every-damn-thing, what if-

A fresh wave of searing pain cuts off my own thoughts. I double over, gritting my teeth to ride out the pain.

A soft, cool hand slides over my stomach. Fingers splayed open wide, her touch is tentative, but a wave of ice washes over the pain, dulling it immediately.

My hands are gripping my hair. She slides to the floor, and I collapse my head into her lap. She smells sweet, comforting, like... hell, I don't know, but I like it. My wolf does too, his attention captured by her touch, he stops clawing at my insides. She starts to talk, and he settles down.

"I got an internship,finally. I was worried that I may lose my scholarship if I didn't get any volunteer hours in."

"Work-study," I grunt.

"No. I was told they were all full. I guess freshmen don't get work-study often?" she asks, doubt in her voice.

She should feel skeptical. Some of those work-study programs suck, like cold-calling alumni for donations, but that's why there's always more of those jobs for freshmen.

"Clubs?" I rasp out. I mouth her pants leg with my teeth and hope she doesn't notice. It's starkly embarrassing, something teething pups do for comfort. I think I'd rather piss myself, but ithelps.

She snorts indelicately. "Also, a big-fat 'no.' Well, a bunch of 'no’s' if you're going to get specific. And I asked to volunteer at the hospital and wasn't accepted there, either... As avolunteer!" Her frustration rings in her voice.

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