Werewolf University Book 2
Автор
Brittany Carter
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Chapter 1
Book 2: Torn Between Mates
EVERLEE
“Look at that donk.”
I swirled around, my ebony hair spinning a tornado around me, my fingers numb from curling them over the edge of my balcony, while the autumn breeze chilled my flushed skin.
My best friend, Bryiar, wiggled her blonde brows up and down, looking over the edge of the balcony where I watched him. Bryiar may have been blonde, but she wasn’t a fool. I hated myself for being so obvious, but the pull I felt for him was uncharacteristically strong.
Like those biceps…
Stop it.
“Don’t call it that.”
I gave Bryiar a look as she made a semicircle around me to the other side and wedged her elbow on the edge. “That dirty-blond hair, and those deep-brown eyes,” she whispered. “The way he looks at you when no one else is looking…”
“He doesn’t look at me,” I hissed, turning my back to the ledge of the balcony.
She followed my motion and folded her arms over her chest. “He’s looking now,” she said.
I glanced over my shoulder to see him jogging off into the distance, not paying me any attention. “You suck,” I said, ramming my elbow into her ribs.
She howled with laughter and followed me into my room. “You’re just so obvious, Ever. I love you, girl, but you need to seriously man up and tell the boy how you feel. It’s getting a bit pathetic,” she said, hopping onto my bed, shuffling through one of my magazines with her feet in the air.
I sat down at my vanity mirror and stared back at myself. It was unrealistic to go after Harlan. Especially with my eighteenth birthday around the corner and college starting in a week. However, my body craved him, and I wasn’t sure why.
Could he be my mate?
The thought formed shivers along my skin, and made my thighs clutch in anticipation. Harlan was three years older than me and in his last year at Werewolf University, while I was starting my first. Although he wasn’t a werewolf, Dad, since he’d been raised in a werewolf/lycan pack, had pulled some strings to get him in.
Like my father when he started his senior year, Harlan hadn’t found his mate yet. “I can smell your excitement, Everlee. Calm your tits, sister. I’d hate to have to go get the water hose.”
I chunked a makeup brush at her head and laughed when she dodged it. “I’m tired of you interrupting my daydreams and harassing me. Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”
Bryiar swung her feet to the floor and walked over. “I meant to tell you that your mother wants to speak with you. She’s downstairs waiting on you in her room.”
“Now you tell me,” I mumbled, opening the large wooden door of my room. The smell of food wafted up the stairs and stirred the hunger inside my stomach. Bryiar followed me to the foyer and disappeared into the kitchen, while I made my way to my parents’ room.
My parents ruled the kingdom, which was a hybrid kingdom of my father’s pack and the lycan kingdom that had reigned there before them. My mother, being mixed blood, had taken over when she overtook the lycan king.
Harlan’s father.
Which made him full lycan and me a hybrid.
We’d been raised in the same castle, down the hallway from each other like siblings. Yet things made a one-eighty for me recently. Harlan didn’t feel like my brother anymore. Any sibling emotion vanished weeks ago.
My mother’s scent warmed me when I opened her door and found her sitting on her bed with a wooden box full of notes.
She looked up from her lap with a smile on her face. Her dark hair was twisted into an updo, and she wore casual jeans and a T-shirt with bare feet. For being the queen, she didn’t dress like a queen.
However, Mother wasn’t raised in a pack and hadn’t had any knowledge of the supernatural. So her roots stemmed from a normal human life. I liked that about her. She wasn’t uppity, but down to earth. “Bryiar said you needed me?” I asked.
She motioned toward the door. “Shut the door, love. I want to talk to you.”
I shut the door with my foot and walked over. Their canopy bed was whimsical, and the beige furniture complemented the gray decor mother loved so much.
I sat in front of her, eyeing the letters splayed out between us. She glanced up and grinned. “This is how I found out I was attending Werewolf University,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “To say I was pissed is an understatement. I didn’t want to leave…” She trailed off, leaving half of her sentence to my imagination. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, shoving the box out of the way, cupping my face. “I’m thankful I’m here to see you enjoy this experience. You’re going to learn how to run in a pack, which depends on your position. If it’s a luna. Warrior. Nurse. I’ll be happy as long as you are.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Mama.”
She lowered her hands to mine and squeezed tightly. “I have an awesome surprise for you, Everlee. You’re turning eighteen this weekend, and I want to throw you one last shindig before you go. Maybe your mate will reveal himself.”
I chuckled. “Or at the alpha party? Following in your footsteps.”
She grinned. “Your father and I went through the ringer. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to you.”
“You’re right. I don’t want all that drama. When is the party?”
Mama stood up and gathered her letters into her box before putting them underneath the bed. “Friday night. I bought you a dress. We’ll convert the dining hall into a party spot for all the pack. It’s all planned,” she said, smiling. “Now, dinner is ready. I’ll be there in just a bit. Go fix you a plate.”
I found myself floating on air on the way to the kitchen. An eighteenth birthday party. Dancing. Music. Food. A cake. My mother knew how to throw a party. I rounded the corner of the hallway and ran smack into someone’s chest.
The smell… I’d never forget it. It rooted itself so deep inside of me, imprinted my soul, and I’d know it anywhere. It was more than that “boy” smell that girls fawned over. It was freshly cut grass and the promise of rain.
Strong hands wrapped around my biceps, steadying me with such ease that it sent a flood of adrenaline down my spine. My gaze swept from those worn combat boots, up his torn jeans, and to a solid gray shirt.
Harlan’s dark gaze met mine, and I felt a wave of warmth surge through me. He smirked, his famous lazy one, and steadied me on my feet. “Always in a hurry, Everlee.”
The memories of us growing up together, running the woods and hills, raced in my thoughts. He’d been like a brother to me, and now those large biceps and plush lips did more to me than ever before.
Harlan tilted his head to the side, studying me as if he could see right through me. I prayed he couldn’t detect the thoughts playing bumper cars in my mind.
“Sorry, I, uh—”
I tried to sidestep him, but he blocked me, placing his arm in my way. “Do we need to talk?” he asked, his voice gravely and deep. It caused goosebumps to form along my arms.
Do we?
There were so many things I wanted—needed—to say to him, but I couldn’t imagine how. We’d grown up together. It was the only way I knew how to talk myself down. Bryiar was ridiculous. I couldn’t tell him how I felt.
“Why are you nervous?” he asked.
I scoffed, trying to play it off, tapping his chest playfully. “I’m not nervous. Just hungry.”
He didn’t buy it. The narrowed slits for eyes and the way he slid his tongue across his teeth showed me. Harlan searched my face for what seemed like forever until the kitchen door swung open, and my dad walked out.
Dad looked at us annoyingly. “Hello. Sometime today? I’m starving.”
Harlan lowered his arm, keeping his gaze on me for far too long, before jabbing my dad in the stomach. “Too slow, old man.”
Dad caught him in a chokehold and dragged him into the dining hall. I let out the breath I’d been holding and closed my eyes. The sound of chatter and laughter spilled from the swinging kitchen door as I pushed through it. I made my way past the island and into the dining area where everyone sat around the table eating.
Bryiar waved me over toward an empty seat beside her, which happened to be inconspicuously across the way from Harlan. I kept Bryiar’s attention turned toward college starting in a few days, while we ate. It was easy since we’d both been waiting for the moment to attend the university since birth.
Dad abruptly stood when my mother walked into the room, and I felt my heart swell for them. He reached for her hand and kissed her cheek when she made it to her seat. “Savannah has an announcement,” Dad said.
Mom beamed, winking at me. She cleared her throat. “In honor of Everlee’s eighteenth birthday, we’re going to host a birthday and farewell party for the wolves leaving to attend Werewolf U this Friday.”
Babble erupted over the room, and I felt everyone’s excitement. My gaze landed on Harlan, whose hard eyes were turned toward mine. I tried my best to hide my stupid girlish blush, but I wasn’t sure it worked.
“It’ll be fancy, so dress up and plan to have fun!” Mom said. “I’m having someone cater the event, so let’s wait until after they leave to do any shifting. I don’t want anyone to have a heart attack. I personally know how easy it is for a human to faint when they encounter someone shifting into a huge wolf.”
Bryiar laughed and shoved her elbow into my rib. “Maybe you can declare your unfailing love for—”
“Stop it,” I whispered, pinching her thigh underneath the table.
She pinched me back, and I slammed the heel of my foot against her toe, making her howl. “Girls,” Mom said, giving us both the eye. “Harlan has agreed to take the wolves attending Werewolf U for a tour this Sunday. I want you both to be there. You’re going to have the time of your lives.”
My eyes involuntarily shifted toward Harlan, who sat back against his chair, his gaze settled over mine, the tips of his fingers tapping against the table between us. “Okay,” I said softly, avoiding his gaze again.
Mom caught my stare, and I prayed she couldn’t see through me as I figured she could. Everyone knew falling for a boy before being mated was stupid. Foolish. It wasn’t in anyone’s best interest.
But I couldn’t push past the ache in my chest or the need to taste his mouth.
“Who is ready for dessert?” my dad shouted, completely oblivious that my insides felt like a racetrack, and there was something unspoken between Harlan and me that felt uncontrollable.
Maybe Bryiar was right, I should tell Harlan.
