Chapter 4. Distant Enemies

Ainsley

He looks angry. Just like he did back in the classroom.

A shiver rolls up my spine, causing me to wrap my jacket tighter around my body. Though out of self-comfort or fear, I’m not too sure. I’ve never had anyone look at me that way, with eyes that seem to burn with hatred.

Why?

What did I do?

I realize this isn’t an ideal situation—for a professor’s fated mate to be one of his students—but it isn’t like I had a choice in the matter, either. All I wanted was to start a new life here at NGU. Not to find my fated mate.

They’re so rare already. Why in the world would I ever expect to come to my dream university and run into him?

“Um—”

He cuts me off. “How did you get in here?”

The tone in his voice sends another shiver down my spine. It’s deep, rusty almost, his consonants pronounced perfectly in the way only a practiced literary expert would possess. The same way my grandmother used to sound whenever she read to me before bed.

The bond that’s wrapped itself tightly around my heart squeezes gently, a soft and subtle prompt that my fated mate is near.

Feeling the bond awakening, having all of these rushes of emotions hit me all at once, has been worse than getting hit by a freight train. I’ve never felt more disoriented in my life or more lost and confused, yet at home, all in the same breath.

A whirlwind that won’t stop spinning, converging everything in its path until I’m fully consumed.

Leaving that classroom had been the second hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. The first being leaving my grandmother behind. I had no idea where my sudden push of willpower had come from in that classroom, but I’d taken it the second I could and run as far and as fast from the classroom as my legs could carry me.

Only to run into what felt like a physical barrier blocking me from going any further than the quad. My feet had stopped moving, my body frozen in place, and my heart seared with pain like no other. My bond, so new and fresh, so raw and untouched, had screamed at me to turn back.

And that’s exactly what I’d done.

Concealing myself and my scent from anyone picking up on it had felt like second nature. I’d been doing it all my life to keep my father from catching me sneaking into town or over to my grandmother’s when I’d been banished to the mansion for screwing up again. I’d gotten good at keeping a low profile, masking myself so I became invisible to everyone around me.

This time had been no different.

Liam, my mate. I’d found his office by accident, wandering through the halls in order to find someplace to hide and lay low while I figured out what in the goddess’s name had happened. Stumbling upon his scent and his name on a plaque on the door had been all my body had needed to try the handle and sneak in once I found it unlocked.

And now here I am, sitting on my mate’s couch and staring into his very angry eyes.

“I asked you a question,” he snaps.

Swallowing, I say, “It was unlocked.”

His hand flexes over the handle, a tick in his jaw working minutely while he stares me down.

This must be overwhelming for him, too. After all, who could’ve ever predicted this in a million years? Perhaps he’s upset because he already has a lover, or he’s worried about his career being put in jeopardy now that I’m here.

The thing about fated mates is that it’s a link that can never be broken or ignored. Even if we wanted things to be different, they can’t. Usually, this is a happy occasion, one to be celebrated with one or both packs of the two parties coming together.

Maybe he’s already been promised to another and this has completely derailed his plans—I’m not really sure. Any of those scenarios would certainly justify his reaction to all of this.

Me, on the other hand? I’m glad to not be so alone in the world. With no family or pack behind me, I’m all on my own. In this scary world of humans, so new to me and so vastly wide, to have someone else fated to be with me is quite comforting.

Even if it isn’t either of our choices.

A rather selfish way to look at things, sure, but one I feel nonetheless.

“I’m sorry,” I say, wringing my fingers together in my lap. “I know I should’ve stayed outside to wait for you, but I was worried about getting caught.”

“You need to go,” is all he says to me before stepping back from the door and giving me a wide berth.

My heart sinks. “But… don’t we need to talk?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” His brows crease together as if confused.

I’m struck by the frigid tone.

Did he not feel the bond awaken within him, too? It certainly seemed like he had back in the classroom, but perhaps he’d only been shocked to see another shifter attending a human university. While something like that isn’t unheard of, it’s certainly rare.

Can I be the only one feeling this?

That thought sickens me.

The goddess wouldn’t be so cruel. Surely, she’d have mercy on me and not let this bond be one-sided.

“Do you not feel this?” I ask.

“Get. Out.”

“But I’m—”

“I know exactly who you are. Get out before I tear your throat out. You’re lucky I haven’t done so already.”

My eyes widen.

Fear is a powerful thing. It forces me to get off of the couch and grab my things, keeping my head down and remaining as unthreatening as possible while passing by him. His scent wafts off of him in waves, crashing into me and causing my eyes to water.

There is no comfort there, no warmth that emits from him that tells me he cares at all about this bond. It’s only bitter anger.

What did I do?

The walk back to my dorm is a blur, and I’m surprised I even remember the route, having only walked it once before this with Iris. And that the invisible wall doesn’t stop me again. Thankfully, the room was empty when I arrived, giving me a much-needed break from forcing a smile on my face in order to keep my roommate from growing suspicious as to why I left class two minutes after our professor arrived.

I don’t even know how I’m going to explain any of that to her, let alone make it seem like I’m okay after being clearly rejected by my mate.

My backpack slips from my shoulders as I head for my bed, clattering to the floor in a heap along with my shoes that I quickly kick off before face-planting right into my pillow. Three hours into my life here on campus and I’ve already messed up.

Who in the world could’ve ever predicted that?

I’m not sure when exhaustion finally takes me and pulls me down into its warm embrace, nor do I know what brings on the sudden desire that thrums through my system.

“Ainsley,” a voice says from behind me, familiar.

Hands graze down my bare arms, dragging slowly and enticing a soft moan from my lips. A mouth meets the curve of my neck, teeth nipping at my skin to leave a mark there for me to admire in the mirror later.

“I can’t believe I found you,” he tells me.

Me either, I want to say, but my lips are too busy parting to let out a soft gasp as one of his hands travels down to reach between my thighs.

He spreads me apart, touching me in places I’ve never been touched before. My body leans back into him, the hard lines of him pressing against me until I’m all-consumed.

“Say my name,” he says.

“Liam,” I chant in my head. “My mate.”

His chuckle sends a shiver racing up my spine—so much different than the ones I’d felt inside of his office.

His fingers spear into me, thrusting in and out of me until my legs threaten to buckle. I come undone under his touch, under his attention, pleading with him not to let me go. I want to stay like this forever. As mates should be.

Just as I feel the waves of pleasure crash over me, something loud snaps me away, my dream fading away.

And just like that, I’m right back where I started.