Chapter 3

“Leila is a new student,” Dylan explained.

We were in the main office, sitting side by side across from the principal’s desk. The principal had been frowning since the moment we walked into his office, his eyes mostly on Dylan.

“I’m aware, Mr. Thomas,” the principal said.

“We are only here to pick up her schedule.”

Dylan was sitting confidently in his chair, and he reached over to take my hand, which was on my lap. It was so inappropriate, considering what had landed us in the office in the first place.

“Dylan,” I whispered, trying to pull my hand from his but he wouldn’t let go.

“Was that before or after you two were caught in the girl’s restroom?”

I blushed at his words, and looked down at my lap. I wasn’t sure if the principal could hear it, but Dylan was growling, lowly, but still audibly.

“You’re making my girlfriend feel uncomfortable. We’re leaving,” Dylan announced, getting up from his chair and pulling me up with him.

“We’re not done here,” the principal said, sounding mad, and getting up from his chair as well.

“I’m done,” Dylan snapped, and I could swear the principal took a step back. He was mad, sure, but he was afraid of Dylan.

“We need to discuss what happened this morning, Dylan.”

“Is Leila getting her schedule or not? We have to go, it’s late,” Dylan said, digging out his phone from his pocket like if he was suddenly in such a hurry.

“Dylan, you and Leila were caught in the girl’s restroom together. Would you care to explain that, right now?”

“No,” Dylan flatly replied, before walking away with me in tow.

The principal was just staring at us go. He was glaring, but he didn’t stop us or call us back.

Dylan stopped with the receptionist, asked for my schedule, and we walked out of the office five minutes later.

“Dylan,” I said, pulling on his hand to make him stop walking.

“What? Is something on the schedule wrong?” he asked, taking it from my hand.

I hadn’t even looked at the paper. I was still stunned with what had happened. I didn’t want to be dramatic, but what had happened was a big deal. “Are we gonna get in trouble? The principal was really mad. I think you freaked him out.”

Dylan chuckled, and cupped my cheeks. “We’re fine. The principal is a jackass, but he has no control in this school. Don’t worry.”

“You were kind of rude with him.”

Dylan nodded and shrugged.

“Dylan…” I sighed.

“You should put these on though. I think some of the teachers are going to tell you that the dress is too short and they’ll just end up sending you to the office again,” Dylan said, matter-of-factly.

I’d been too worried about getting in trouble that I had not noticed he was still carrying the bag with the tights in his hands.

“You think?” I asked. I was more worried about how upset the principal had looked before we left in his office. I didn’t want him to start hating me or something. It was bothering me.

“I’m sure. Come on, let’s go,” he said, pulling on my hand to drag me towards the girls bathroom, again.

I expected for Dylan to walk me over to class. We ended up in the second floor of the building, which was completely abandoned.

“I think the Art classes are the only ones up here. They’re in another hallway,” Dylan said. The second floor was so different from the first, I felt like we were in another building. It was poorly lit, lonely, and for some reason, it felt cold.

“It’s creepy up here,” I said.

“Humans rarely come to this side of the floor,” he commented.

I nodded, and followed along after him. As soon as Dylan had me inside one of the classrooms, his hands were on my waist and he was sitting me over one of the desks.

“Shouldn’t we be getting to class…?” I asked.

Dylan was looking down at my lips. One of his hands had slid down to my thigh, while the other was still on my waist. He was touching me, sure, but also keeping me in place.

“We’ll go in a while,” he whispered, nuzzling his nose against my cheek.

The bell for second period rang in that moment and I jumped in surprised. Dylan smiled at me. With how easily we had skipped first period, I didn’t think he cared too much.

He ignored the bell, and leaned down to press his lips against mine. His lips were soft, his kiss slow at first. His hand was softly massaging my thigh over my tights, which I was betting he was now annoyed by.

I had my hands on his shoulders, holding on to him. He pushed me closer to his chest, and his arm on my waist tightened. The only experience I had of kissing came from him, but I felt like I was already sensing what he liked.

It didn’t take an expert to know that he was a good kisser. I enjoyed the experience, a little more than I probably I should’ve, especially because of where we were and where we were supposed to be.

His lips were urgent, and his tongue had already found its way into my mouth. I touched my tongue to his tentatively, and Dylan groaned against my mouth. He really liked that. His hand on my thigh slid up a little higher.

I wasn’t sure when it was that I started kissing him with as much hunger as he was kissing me. Tasting him, biting his lips, and teasing him—not only did it feel good, but it felt powerful. I was in Dylan’s arms, sure. He was so strong, embracing me, keeping me warm and safe.

I enjoyed the kiss as much as he did. And I felt turned on all over. I was experiencing things I had only felt the other time we’d kissed. That didn’t stop me from noticing little moments between us.

Every time I pulled back, Dylan’s body followed me. He would tighten his hold on me, and kiss me harder. When I started trailing kisses down his jaw, and tilted my head to the side, Dylan distracted himself kissing my neck, while rubbing himself between my legs. He liked being there, apparently.

When I brought my lips back to his, Dylan continued kissing me without skipping a beat. He dominated the kiss. His lips were soft, but demanding. I could feel his canines poking out with how excited he was. But every time I shifted or moved away, Dylan molded himself to me and followed me.

In a weird way, it was empowering. He wanted more. He didn’t want me to stop. He took charge, but only of whatever I offered him. I felt, for once, like I had the control.

By the time I made it to class, we were already in third period. Dylan walked me to the door, and then proceeded to press me to the wall and kiss me like if we weren’t already late to class. He was acting like if we hadn’t spent over an hour making out in the second floor.

I was hoping that it wasn’t too obvious. Dylan’s lips had looked red, and a bit swollen. I imagined mine wouldn’t look any different.

His arms were over my waist, and he practically had me glued to the wall, his body pressed completely against mine.

The same lady, who I had found out was Vice Principal Harris, cleared her throat. When Dylan pulled away from me this time, he just seemed annoyed.

“Again?” he asked, speaking up before she did.

“Is this your class, Leila?” she asked, ignoring Dylan.

I nodded and stayed quiet. It was embarrassing to be caught in the same situation by the same person, only hours after we’d been sent to the office.

“Go inside,” she said, nodding towards the door.

I swallowed audibly, more out of nerves, and nodded. Dylan pulled me back and pecked my lips, before opening the door for me to walk in.

I was looking between him and Vice Principal Harris nervously. Dylan didn’t seem to care. He nodded at the man who I assumed was my teacher, and motioned for me to walk into class. My teacher just nodded at Dylan.  He didn’t get after me for being late.

“I’ll see you after class, baby,” Dylan said to me, kissing my lips again.

Everything just got more awkward and embarrassing after Dylan walked out of the room and left me standing in front of the class. My third period teacher stood up from behind his desk and walked over to me.

“New student?” he asked, reaching out for my schedule.

I nodded in reply. “I’m Leila,” I mumbled.

We were in math, which was the only thing I knew for sure. When I chanced a glance at the students, it was not surprising to find them all staring at me.

After showing him my schedule, and doing an embarrassing introduction where my teacher was the only one who spoke, I was finally able to go and sit down. On my way to find my seat, everyone’s eyes were on me.

“Mind your own business!” a guy snapped. Suddenly, I knew where to go sit. There was an empty seat beside him, and I hurriedly made my way over to him.

Just like that, they stopped staring, for the most part. The classroom was still quiet, and the teacher had hardly said anything, but at least they weren’t looking at me anymore.

“Thanks for that,” I mumbled at the guy sitting next to me. He had been looking down at his book. From how filled up the sheet in front of him was, I assumed he’d actually been doing the work.

“No problem,” he said, smiling. “I’m Eric, by the way,” he introduced himself, nodding at me.

“Leila,” I replied, smiling at him.

“I know, you’re the Alpha’s mate,” he said under his breath. I was surprised that he was from Midnight Moon, although I really shouldn’t have been.

He had the build of a Wolf, he had the appearance of a Wolf, and it had taken me a moment to realize that he had the scent of a Wolf. He was a good looking guy, with soft features, and a friendly face.

He lowered his head and nodded at me. It was a sign of respect. I returned the nod, although I felt strange. In my pack, I had gotten those same looks. I was the daughter of the Beta. But now it felt different. I felt different. Being an Alpha’s mate, especially to a pack like Midnight Moon, was such a huge responsibility.

“They all listened to you,” I whispered at Eric.

The low voice we were using, I didn’t really think any of the humans could hear us. They were all working on some handout, with their textbooks open. The teacher was distracted reading a magazine. I still caught a few people in the class turning to look at me once in a while, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. Some of the other students—they were shifters too. I could smell them.

“It’s a Wolf thing. Humans around here more or less keep away, at least the smart ones,” Eric replied under his breath. When he chuckled—that, they heard. They all turned to look at him.

One glare from him and they were all turning away. “They hear rumors,” he shrugged, like if that should’ve explained everything.

I didn’t do anything for what was left of the period. The teacher gave me the handout without the book. Eric was sharing his book with me, so we pushed our desks together and ended up talking quietly until the period was over.

“So you’re the new Luna?” a girl asked as soon as the bell rang.

A little crowd started to form around our desks, making it easier for them to circle us in because we had pushed them together.

“Hey,” I said, giving them a small wave. I didn’t think the shakiness was too obvious in my voice. They looked excited—they were all smiling brightly or nervously. But all in all, they looked nice.

“These are all people from the pack,” Eric told me. “That’s Vanessa, Rita, Alyssa, Cassie, and Amber. Those two are Scott and Rick.”

I tried to remember their names, but I ended up forgetting every single one of them as soon as Eric spoke them.

“Hey, Luna,” most of them whispered.

It was strange. They were all smiling so much, and looking so happy. I didn’t know what to say. When I nodded, they bowed.

Technically, I wasn’t their Luna yet. Dylan hadn’t made it official, and I didn’t want to start hearing the title just yet. I wasn’t prepared for it. My Wolf and I—we were barely settling with the idea that we had found our mate.

“You’re not marked,” one of the girls suddenly said, her eyes focusing on my neck. “Why hasn’t the Alpha claimed you?”

“Shut up, Amber. That’s none of your business,” one of the boys said.

“You shut up, Scott! I’m just asking a question,” Amber snapped.

“Move out of the way,” Eric said, sounding annoyed and shoving them when they wouldn’t move.

Amber and Scott had started a small argument while the rest of them were still looking at me. “We’re all going to be late if we don’t get moving,” he warned them.

That got them walking. They were still following after us, but keeping a distance and quietly talking amongst themselves. I was a Wolf, so of course I had enhanced hearing. I caught every word they said. They were all arguing and wondering why Dylan hadn’t claimed me.

“Everyone in the pack is curious about you. You haven’t been presented to the pack but we all know our Alpha found his mate,” Eric tried to explain in a low voice. There were humans around, so I had expected as much.

As soon as we walked out of the room, I saw Dylan was there waiting for me. He had been leaning against the wall, facing my classroom, with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You took your time,” he said, playfully.

“Right,” I replied.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nope,” I said, trying to sidestep him.

“You look mad.”

He walked up to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I kept my eyes straight ahead, looking at his chest. I wanted to walk away, but he had me trapped.

“Leila,” Dylan called, cupping my cheek and forcing me to turn my face up at him. “Baby, look at me.”

I wasn’t sure we were at the ‘baby’ phase yet, but it seemed like Dylan didn’t care. It was the second time he had used that pet name. I found myself wondering why I was even surprised. Dylan had been ready to have a sleep over the same night we met, and he had wanted for me to move in with him.

“What?”

“You’re mad?”

“I’m not mad.”

“Why do you look like you’re mad? Did someone do something to you?” Dylan asked, looking around with angry eyes, trying to find the culprit.

I rolled my eyes at him. When I turned away from him to look elsewhere, what I saw threw me off. Every single person—student, shifter, and teacher—was staring at us.

If I hadn’t been a Wolf with enhanced senses to distinguish a shifter from a human, I would’ve still been able to separate the two.

The teachers looked confused. The Wolves were all smiling and grinning, like if they were looking at their royalty have a moment or something. It was almost creepy.

Something like that would not have been acceptable back in my pack. A nod or bowing would’ve been okay. Stopping what you were doing just to smile happily at the Alpha—it would’ve probably annoyed Alpha Jackson to no end. The humans, on the other hand, all looked like they were witnessing a miracle. They all looked shocked.

“Why is everyone staring?” I asked quietly.

Dylan hadn’t even noticed. When he looked around, he did what Eric had done in class. Dylan just glared around the hall, and people slowly started going on their way.

“Let’s go.” He took my hand and started dragging me away. People were still walking slowly. All they wanted to do, it seemed, was stare at us. Dylan pulled me up in front of him. He was literally shoving people out of the way if they didn’t move when he and I passed by.

I could hear what they were whispering about—it was a new thing for Dylan to be seen in public with a girl. A girl he hadn’t just dumped after sex. Hearing those same words from different people and in different ways made me feel weak. My Wolf did not like it one bit. She was furious, and I just felt betrayed.

It was easier for Dylan to drag me along. I wasn’t even fighting him.

I expected for Dylan to walk me to my next class. He didn’t. He continued walking until we made it out of the school. Then he stopped and dropped my hand.

“I don’t like that dress. It shows too much,” Dylan said, looking down at my legs, which were already covered with the black tights.

“What?” He had caught me off guard with his words. I was expecting for him to explain what the people had been murmuring about his sexual life.

“I’ll take you home and you can change into something else.”

“Jean shorts? That’s all I have,” I stated, crossing my arms over my chest. He was so worked up, like if the people had been staring at us because of me.

“Fuck! That is how you usually dress around other guys?”

His tone and the way he looked at me disapprovingly, oh did it remind me of another Alpha. But Dylan wasn’t my Alpha.

I walked away from him. Well, I tried to walk away from him. I barely made it to the door before Dylan grabbed my waist and stopped me.

“Let me go,” I told him, trying to wriggle out of his hold. He tightened both of his arms around my waist and pressed me to his chest. “They were staring because of you. Don’t think I didn’t hear what they were saying!” I snapped.

Dylan loosened his hold, but he didn’t release me. “The girls were gossiping. The guys were staring.”

“They were all staring!”

“The guys were staring at you, checking you out. I know what I saw,” Dylan growled.

Apparently, we were in a messed up circle of jealousy.

“Whatever,” I told him, putting my hands over his and trying to get them off me.

“Leila,” he said.

“How do you think I feel after hearing all those humans whispering about you and other girls? You’re not even trying to explain! You’re acting like if they were staring because of me!” I snapped at him.

For most of my life, I had been oppressed. I had been scared. I had been nervous. I had been ordered around by my father and Alpha Jackson. I had witnessed so many things, and I’d had to keep my mouth shut. But I had never felt insecure about myself.

I knew exactly what I was, what I had, and how I looked. It was something now in the background that I barely acknowledged, but that didn’t mean I didn’t notice looks of appreciation.

In my pack, something like that hardly ever occurred because everyone knew better than to anger my father. But when I was out and about, I could hear what people said.

A lot of why my father kept a tight leash was because he liked control, and he didn’t like anyone trying to get too close. Wolves knew the rules, humans didn’t. Every time I went into the human town or city, there was unwanted attention that my father didn’t approve of—from boys, guys, and men, despite my age.

I was scared of many things, mainly because of my father and Alpha Jackson. But I was not insecure—not of my Wolf, not of my strength, and especially not over my looks. Feeling insecure or inadequate with my looks—it was new to me. I didn’t like it.

“Are you trying to distract me?”

“Are you trying to distract me?” I retorted, throwing back at him the same question.

“I had sex, so what?” Dylan growled, not even sounding remorseful with the horrible tone he was using.

His eyes had grown dark, but at least no other changes in his form were noticeable. I saw that his claws were barely making an appearance, but he clenched his fists, hiding them.

“I wear short dresses, so what?” I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for his comeback. Dylan was glaring at me.

I honestly could not believe we were having that argument. We had just met the day before, and now we were at each other’s throats. It was unbelievable.

“I don’t like it,” Dylan snapped.

“I put on the stupid tights that you bought!”

“I can see through them,” Dylan replied.

“But I’m wearing a dress. It’s not like you can see anything that you shouldn’t!”

The bell had come and gone. Dylan had ignored it, and he hadn’t really given me much of a choice but to stick around.

“Well I don’t like it.”

“My Alpha and my father are the meanest, strictest people I know. They didn’t tell me how to dress, and they never looked down on me for choosing what I like. Right now you are looking worse than the worst people I know,” I told him, shaking my head.

When I walked away, Dylan didn’t stop me. He actually looked shocked, for the first time. I only got a few steps in before he was tugging on my hand to stop me.

“What do you mean? Why did you say that about Jackson and Saul?”

I felt only partly guilty that he seemed worried. Another part of me was mad with myself for getting angry at him and sharing things that I shouldn’t have. I didn’t want him to start looking into my pack. I knew how my father was, but that didn’t mean I wanted for Dylan to hate him or anything like that.

“I don’t know. I’m upset. We’re late to class, again,” I told him, shaking my head.

“Explain,” Dylan insisted.

“I don’t owe you anything, Dylan.”

It crossed my mind that I wouldn’t have gotten away with nearly half of the things Dylan had let go, if he had been Alpha Jackson. I didn’t even know where I got the courage to stand up to Dylan. Even if I was angry, my Wolf felt comfortable with him. She knew he wouldn’t hurt us. So far, other than his erratic jealousy, he hadn’t been too bad. He had definitely not been nearly as bad as Alpha Jackson could be on his good days.

“I want to know about Staten. If you answer my questions, I won’t think something bad is going on in the pack. I know Jackson, Leila. I know how he is. He isn’t an easy man to get along with.”

“Alpha Jackson is a good man,” I said. It had been difficult to get the words out of my lips.

“Sure about that?” Dylan asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Alpha Jackson never cheated on his Luna,” I retorted.

It was definitely a good way to get off the subject of my pack. I also wanted for Dylan to tell explain himself, what the humans had been saying about him. Dylan narrowed his eyes at me, and growled. “I haven’t cheated on you. I’m not cheating on you.”

“But you’ve been with girls—a lot of them?”

Dylan was frowning. “I didn’t cheat on you. What happened before you came along doesn’t matter anymore. The past is the past. What’s important is what we have now.”

That was a good save on his part. He thought that not having a girlfriend was enough excuse for what the humans were talking about. He was right, in way. He hadn’t really cheated on me. I was just hurt because it was something that was going to stick with me. He hadn’t waited to find me.

“That is such a cop out answer, it makes me want to slap you,” I told him, shaking my head.

“I have never even had a girlfriend before you.”

“You haven’t asked me to be your girlfriend,” I reminded him.

“You’re mine,” he growled, taking me in his arms.

He was looking down at me with possessive eyes. It was so easy to rile him up.

“I guess you’re right. I’m yours now,” I said, in a soft voice, and shrugged.

Dylan was furious. “You are my mine. You are my mate. From here on out no one touches you or looks at you in a way that I don’t like. That is what they were doing, all those assholes in there,” he said, nodding towards the school.

“I’m not arguing with you. I’m yours. What happened before we found each other doesn’t matter anymore,” I said, looking at him as if all was well. I casually patted his chest, and pushed him lightly. “We should get to class now.”

“Okay…” Dylan slowly agreed. But he didn’t look satisfied. “I saw how protective Rainen was of you,” Dylan continued.

“I know. He exaggerates sometimes,” I told him, smiling.

I had him following along while I made my way back into campus.

“But you’re mine,” Dylan continued.

He was pulling on my hand, trying to get me to stop. But he wasn’t forcing me to stop walking. I was casually walking down the empty hallway, with Dylan following. He was frowning.

“I know,” I nodded.

“You’re only ever going to be mine, right?” he asked.

Finally he made us stop. He moved me until I was standing directly in front of him. His hands were on either side of my neck, forcing me to look up at him. It was a position I was growing used to. He liked having my full attention when we talked.

“I guess,” I said.

Dylan growled at my words, and I could see his canines making an appearance.

“Don’t fuck with me like this, Leila.”

“I’m not doing anything, Dylan. We’re mates, okay, I get it.”

“You’ve only ever been mine, right? You’re really young, and you already said that Saul was really overprotective. I mean, it’s obvious you’ve only ever been mine… right?” he asked, looking down at me, trying to sound so sure of himself, but obviously feeling far from calm.

“Dylan, the past is the past,” I told him, throwing back his words. “What’s important is what we have now.”

Clearly, Dylan did not enjoy hearing his words from my lips. He growled loudly, before proceeding to shift into his gigantic black Wolf, in the middle of the school hallway.

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