Chapter Twenty

Celina

Every fiber of my being is on fire. What is this man doing to my body? Emotionally, I’m still withdrawn from him, but chemically I can’t stay away from him. Kissing him in the hall was not part of my plan. It’s infuriating that his scent and eyes make me lose all control and my impulses take over. I’ve never felt what he makes me feel when he touches me, and I don’t know how to fix that. Maybe he truly is my mate, but I still don’t feel that bond. Maybe I broke part of it when I killed his brother. Maybe I’m just emotionally protecting myself from that hurt again. Maybe Rajin is just Mara’s mate, and Chris isn’t mine. There have been documented cases of that, but only once a millennium does that happen.

Getting away from Chris and that small little smug smile, I go get my laptop out of my school bag, plug in headphones, and curl on the bean bag to watch a YouTube video on what today’s lesson was. It helps me to do this with this class. I don’t understand my professor’s way of teaching, but I can understand the basics. This way I can relearn it and understand it better.

I can feel my wolf stirring and pacing; feeling uncomfortable. It’s distracting but I’m happy she’s at least moving. She’s been so lethargic since I last woke. I thought it was because of the Wolfsbane, but that doesn’t appear to be it. The only effect from it, that I’m still feeling, is just feeling slightly weaker. It’s weird not feeling my full strength.

A hand touches my shoulder, making me turn my head and pull out my headphones. Chris kneels and smiles at me. He’s always smiling at me, so maybe he feels the bond. Why is this bugging me so much?

He looks at what I’m watching. “Didn’t you do that class today?”

I nod and look back at the screen. “My teacher talks to the board when he’s teaching, so I don’t understand anything he tells us. I usually YouTube the lesson when I get home to understand it better.”

He purses his lips as he thinks about that. I immediately want to put my mouth on his when he does, but I force myself to remain calm. What happened in the hall was a fluke. All I have to do is avoid seeing him naked…and apparently not think about him being naked. I squeeze my legs tighter together, while he watches with a small bit of amusement.

“Well, it’s about dinner time. Do you want anything in particular?”

I shake my head, just realizing it’s raining. “I’m easy. Whatever you three want is fine with me.”

“Well, Ruben is thinking about getting some burgers and buying us a bed we can share. That’ll leave you alone with at least one of us. Is that okay with you?”

I nod. “Why don’t one of you use the study? I have two weeks left of school, so I don’t think I’ll be using it. I’ll just lock the connecting door to the study, so it’s fine.”

I watch him tense slightly, taking that in. “I’ll have Ruben pick up two beds then. What is your schedule tomorrow?”

I think about it. “No classes tomorrow.”

He grins, “In that case, do you want to get coffee with me, and help me pick out some bedding?”

Blood immediately pools to my cheeks while I give him a small smile, “Sure.” I feel my wolf start wagging her tail while she tries to push closer to Rajin. That’s when I realize something. She’s more active when I’m close to Chris and, in turn, Rajin.

I look him up and down and give him a questioning look. “Can I just try something with you?”

He smirks, “Are you wanting a repeat of earlier?”

My eyes betray me at that moment, and land right where his crotch is. I can still make out the bulge of it, even though he’s squatting. I force myself to look him in the eyes as I stand. “No. Will you please lie down on the beanbag?”

Unsure of what I’m up to, he stares up at me to see if I am being serious. I motion to the bag once more and give him the cutest pleading look that I can manage. Hesitantly, he gets up and lies down on the bag. Once he’s comfortable, I grab the blanket and my laptop and curl up next to him.

He stiffens in surprise as I flip my laptop into a tablet before putting his arm around me. “Don’t read too much into this,” I warn him as my wolf settles down. Finally, I can focus more on the lesson. “Being close to your beast calms my wolf. Now I can focus on studying.”

He chuckles, “Happy to be of service.”

I go back to studying while he scrolls through his phone. We paused my study session for dinner, then I resumed the lesson. Eventually, he took a nap while I learned how to calculate and factor in extreme elemental components in my design.

I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep until the smell of my automatic coffee maker woke me. When I lift my head, I find my laptop dead and Chris still asleep. I internally groan as I get up. This has to count as leading him on. I don’t even know the man’s favorite color, and I already jumped him like a horny teenager and fell asleep with him. I really need to figure out what is going on with me.

Regrettably, I grab my laptop charger and go sit at the kitchen counter. I make myself a hot cup of coffee, refill the coffee maker, and go change into a pair of jeans and a red tank top. After brushing my hair and leaving it down, I plug in my laptop and put in my headphones, going back to my lesson. I truly hate the Council at this very moment. Who in their right mind schedules finals right after spring break? A group of sociopaths, that’s who. They just love to annoy the living fuck out of me.

Several hours later, and after being interrupted multiple times later, I close my laptop. I’m mentally exhausted and I’m about to walk to the Council and kick each and every one of them in the shin.

A loud buzz sounds at my intercom, startling me for a second. All three boys are sitting on the couch watching TV, so it’s not one of them. I think I know who this is. I walk over and press the intercom button, then speak in a light breezy tone. “If this is Declan, you can go to hell.”

“Celina please let me up,” Declan begs. “We can work this out.”

“I’m not letting you mark me. Go find another mate,” I snarl, about ready to shoot him with a tranquilizer dart and ship him off to Madagascar.

“Celina, I’m begging you.”

“Declan, if you don’t leave me alone, I will order the Council to restrain you from me.” My threat is empty. I tried once and it failed miserably. No one wanted to risk pissing off the Grand Chancellor. I’m more than glad to do it, but they’d go after my family as traitors against the Council. That means a death sentence for every one of them.

“Let me up, Celina.”

“Do the words no mean nothing to you,” I demand; pinching my nose. “If not, here is a more vulgar form of it: Fuck off Declan.”

“Celina-”

“I’m calling your mother,” I cut him off. So far, she’s been the only one to support me in this. Everyone else thinks he’s just a love-sick pup who will eventually get over our breakup. He proposed before we even said I love you. A breakup was in order and so far, he’s still in that relationship and I’m not.

“Celina, please,” he asks, his voice more desperate than anything.

“You have five seconds to get out of here before I call security and your mother,” I warn. “Get this through your head. No!”

“Celina,”

“Fred,” I yell into the intercom, calling for the doorman. I put the intercom on do not disturb and walk away. I glare at Xander, “You just had to introduce us.”

He puts his hand up, but still watches the game on the TV “I did not get crazy guy from him when we met.”

“Someone find him a mate please,” I sigh as I go straight to my room. I pull out a textbook and start studying my statistics and analysis textbook. I have that course after tomorrow so I might as well catch up.

A knock comes at my door at that point, making me look up. “Come in,” I call, setting the book down on my bed.

Chris gives me a timid smile as he opens the door to my turquoise room. He looks around, surprised by my room. My room has three walls painted a turquoise blue and one wall is a glass window with white curtains drawn over it. I have a round white bed in the center of my room with a white lace canopy over it that connects to the ceiling. I have an entire wall dedicated to books about werewolf history, battle strategy, contracts, treaty declarations, wars, and so on. There is a TV mounted to my wall across from me and a couple of sofa chairs near the bookshelves.

“See something you like,” I ask him, watching him look around the room.

He steps in with two cups of coffee in his hand and goes to hand me both of them. He goes straight to my bathroom while I give him a curious look. “Celina, can you come here for a moment?” Chris calls.

I roll my eyes as I get up and set the cups on the willow dresser next to my bed. I step into my mirrored bathroom. It’s always creeped me out and I usually opt to use the guest bathroom. I’ve never liked the idea of being able to see myself shower. What’s even weirder is the shower is in the middle of the room in a clear glass wall booth. There is nowhere to hide.

He motions to my clear glass sink. “Did you notice this?”

I cock my head, trying to see what he’s motioning to. “That whoever designed this place is obsessed with windows and mirrors?”

“No, this,” He picks up my soap dispenser and hands it to me.

I turn over the turquoise little glass dispenser, trying to see what’s wrong with it. “The pump is silver?”

He smacks his forehead. “I forget silver impacts your sense of smell.” He takes it from me and opens it.

I wince at the strong scent of Wolfsbane and flinch away from it. “How did that get there?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like that they got in here.” Chris pushes past me to share his findings with the others, while I feel panic go through me.

“No, don’t,” I beg, grabbing his arm to stop him. “Please,” I say as I pull him to turn him around. “If you do that, the Council will force me to go back. I’m so close to finishing school that it wouldn’t be fair.”

I widen my eyes as I plead with him; trying to calm my panic. “I’ve worked too hard for the stupid council to take it away from me.”

“Celina, they got into your room,” Chris tries to reason with me. “This isn’t safe.”

“Please,” I beg again. “They might have bribed the cleaning lady. You don’t know if they successfully got in here. Chris, I need to finish this. If I don’t, the Council will own me for the rest of my life.”

He looks at my anxiety-ridden self with a measured stare, “You don’t know if they didn’t just waltz in here. You can’t be left alone here. It’s not safe.”

“It’s less than two weeks,” I pout, trying to make him melt. I can’t force him to submit since he’s half my mate, so I actually have to reason with him. “I’ll even switch rooms with you. I’ll go anywhere with you. Just don’t tell the Council.”

He raises his eyebrow. “Alright, what degree are you going for?”

“What-what do you mean?” I stutter.

“You’re acting like I’m going to throw you in a dungeon, and I’ve never seen you even flinch because of the Council.”

I groan. Why the hell is this man cute and smart? “I’m getting a degree in architectural engineering and business management, with a minor in interior design.”

He gives me a surprised look. “How did you, of all people, manage to get past the Council one of the few degrees that they have to allow international travel with? I can’t even do that.”

I fold my arms. “They think my degree is just in interior design.”

He chuckles. “Oh, you’re so dead when they find out.” He rubs his face. “Fine, but you can’t be out of my sight. Wherever you go, I go. That includes classes and bedtime.”

I stiffen as I try to force the heart-pounding panic out of my eyes. It’s less than two weeks Cel. “Deal, but I get to put a body pillow between us.”

He smirks. “I was just going to take the couch, but I’ll take that deal, sweetheart.”