Page 103 of Wolf Unseen

“Ronald McDonald?” I scowled. That one had been a popular insult growing up. Human kids were vile at times.

He huffed out a laugh. “No. A student I know.”

Part of me wanted to reveal my secrets because he was my soul-bonded mate, the male the goddess had gifted me. The only male in the realm who couldn’t hurt me. Not physically, at least.

The reference texts I’d read on mate bonds between shifters were mostly word salad, more focused on the romance aspect rather than the science, but one oft-repeated claim was mated shifters wouldn’t hurt one another.

I found that hard to believe, but prayed it was true.

“I have to go,” I told him, although the thought of leaving him made me want to punch something. Stupid mate bond. How was I supposed to get through the next week when all the texts I’d read said mated shifters typically spent that time fucking each other senseless?

“I’ll take you back to Moonrise Academy. It’s too dangerous to be out in the forest.”

I nodded glumly, not knowing what else to do. I supposed I’d have to go with him to Moonrise Academy, pretend to head to my dorm there, and then circle back while praying I met no more feral shifters intent in murdering my ass.

Since I had no clothes, I shifted for the trip back. My wolf trotted down the trail, back the way we’d come. Tate’s wolf followed her, his nose glued to her tail. Naturally, she was in seventh heaven, yipping with excitement each time she heard a rustling in the undergrowth. All she wanted to do was play with the big, black wolf.

Tate’s wolf acted all giddy too. He kept nipping her flanks, encouraging her to run faster so he could chase her. If I hadn’t been inwardly panicking, I’d have thought it was cute. Almost as cute as Tank’s wolf following me like a lost puppy a few hours previously.

When we reached the gate that led back into Moonrise Academy, Tate shifted back. My wolf didn’t protest when I begged her to stick around. It was safer for us if I stayed as my animal because then I wouldn’t have to answer any difficult questions.

“Go,” Tate said, pointing toward the dorm buildings still cloaked in shadow. The sky had lightened from an inky black to mauve, but the campus was silent and dark.

“I’ll come and find you later.” How he intended to do that was a mystery to me. All he had was my first name, and since I wasn’t actually a student at Moonrise, he’d be shit out of luck when he came back.

I hated that I cared, but it was for the best. Tate and I were doomed for multiple reasons, and if I stayed away from him, the bond would eventually wither and die. At least I hoped so. I didn’t actually know what would happen if I left him and returned to the US. Hopefully nothing too awful.

Maybe in time he would bond with some other lucky female. One more suited to the life of an alpha’s mate.

The Montes alpha watched silently as I nudged the gate open and trotted toward the dorms. Each step I took away from my mate made the bond tether ache, but I gritted my teeth and continued.

My wolf pined for her mate, and every few feet, she tried to turn around and go to him. We can’t, I told her. Not until we know he’s not the one behind Lorna’s disappearance.

She whined in distress but thankfully listened to me for once. If she’d turned tail and run back to Tate, I’d have been powerless to stop her.

Once I reached the nearest dorm, I ducked around the corner and hid behind a shrub. The bond tether throbbed in my chest. Had he gone? I couldn’t tell from here, but I presumed so.

I hung around for a while, watching the sky lighten through the trees until eventually I shook myself and trotted back to the gate. There was no sign of Tate or his wolf, so I followed the path back toward Moonfall Academy. Now that it was almost dawn, I had a better idea of which direction to head in, and it didn’t take long to reach the place where I’d dropped my bag.

I’d destroyed the dress when I shifted, but it didn’t matter because I needed to switch back to my male alter ego before returning to campus. With a sigh, I shifted back and tugged on my clothes.

Tate’s cum still coated my thighs, and I desperately needed a shower, but I forced myself not to think about the alpha wolf. Compartmentalize, I told myself. Tate will hurt you if you don’t let him go.

My mother was nobody’s idea of a parental role model, but the one lesson she’d drilled into me through her terrible decision-making was that males were bad news and could not be trusted. Ever.

I had no intention of making the same mistakes my mother had made.

It was time to become Riley Scott again, the hybrid male wolf shifter everyone loved to hate. I tugged the pendant off and shivered as the glamour sank into my bones once more. Then I pulled my hood up and jogged back toward Moonfall Academy.

65

Tate

My wolf howled mournfully, devastated that we couldn’t stay with Mae, but until I made an official announcement that she was my soul-bonded mate, I couldn’t remain on campus with her. Or bring her to Moonfall Academy to hang out.

The rules stated soul-bonded mates could be together on their respective campuses, but only if both parties filled out forms with the principals of both academies.

I’d also have to inform my father, which I wasn’t looking forward to. But that was tomorrow’s problem. Right now, I needed to know my mate was safe. So instead of leaving for Moonfall Academy, I stuck around, watching as she trotted back to the dorms, still in wolf form, presumably to avoid talking to me.