Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve

Axel

The nerve of Cash, his wolf mumbled. After he said he didn't go after other dude's girls.

Axel didn't put anything past Cash. He had one of those personalities that Axel felt a snake would have. Claire continued to eat her food, taking a few bites and glancing up at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked.

"Nothing else to look at," Axel mumbled, sliding his plate across the table. "You eat like an old woman."

She eyed him. "Excuse me for not inhaling my food. You're supposed to eat slowly because you get fuller faster and don't overeat."

Axel rolled his eyes and braced his forearms against the table. "Right, because you need to watch your weight and everything."

"Is that sarcasm? I don't need to watch my weight because I eat slow," she said, taking a slow bite.

Axel sighed and dug his vibrating phone from his pocket. His mother had only called seventeen times since he started school the week before. He knew him finding his mate was important, but dang, how many times did he need to lie to her before she took it as the truth?

He felt guilty enough.

"What. Is. This?"

Axel glanced up from his phone to see Cat standing beside their table. A bright pink eyebrow lifted toward her hairline,

"Hey, Cat—"

"Don’t you 'hey Cat' me," she said. "Can we talk in private, please?" she asked, giving Axel a side look. "It's very important."

Claire looked confused but stood up and followed her toward the salad bar where she made her plate. Axel could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation from across the room.

"Hi!" someone said from his left. "My name is Jenny. I'm with the debate team."

Axel glared at her perky smile, and she didn't seem to gather his need for her to leave. "I'm not interested," he said, craning his neck to see Claire and Cat having an intense conversation.

"—please come," he heard Cat say.

"I understand your reluctance," Jenny said. "The debate team seems dorky or boring, but it's really fun!" she said, shuffling through her clipboard full of papers.

"—I just can't," Claire said.

"I'm on the debate team, and we have so much fun. We get to travel all over the state, and we practice every single day—"

"I'm not interested," he said, again looking over her shoulder at Cat and Claire both laughing.

"Just give it a chance," Jenny pleaded, waving a paper in front of his face, blocking his view.

"Oh. My. God," he said, snatching the paper, causing several students to look over. "I don't want to be on the debate team!"

Jenny popped her hip to the side and snatched the paper from his hand. "Well, you didn't have to be mean about it. A simple no would have sufficed."

Axel stared daggers at her while she marched away from his table. Cat and Claire both walked back over, and Cat gave him a disappointed look. "I guess he doesn't just bully you, Claire. Don't feel special."

"I wasn't bullying her. She was shoving the debate team down my throat."

Cat pursed her lips. "Right. Well, against my better judgement, I have to leave for class. If I hear about you being mean to my friend, during her lack of better judgement, I will kill you," she said, sliding her finger across her throat in the universal motion for death.

He watched her walk away, glancing back over her shoulder as if he was actually scared of her. "I like your friend," Axel said sarcastically.

Claire grabbed the remains of her plate and walked toward the trash to toss it. Axel followed behind her, feeling like a lost puppy and ignoring the chuckles from the table of football players—his teammates.

He most likely looked whipped. Following around the girl that tossed a drink into his face, but he didn't have time to care with a rogue lycan terrorizing their campus. In fact, he didn't understand why the university hadn't reached out to the students as a whole about the attacks. Weren't they afraid? They should be.

Claire dug her phone from her pocket and answered.

"Hey, Dad. I know. Sorry. Yes, I've heard about the attacks. Of course, I'm not walking the grounds alone at nighttime," she said, biting the corner of her nail.

He'd noticed she did that while nervous.

"No. I don't need mace. I'm never alone. Believe me," she mumbled. "But I need to go. I can't wait to see Aunt Demetria Sunday. She wants to come here? Why?"

Claire huffed. "Okay, Dad. I have homework to do before the game tonight. Of course, I'm going. I told you I was branching out this year. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Love you, too. Bye."

"Geesh," she said, shoving her phone back into her pocket. "My dad is on Dad Mode today."

"He's just worried about you, which you should be, too."

"Are you afraid your mad werewolf skills won't live up to protecting me, Axel?"

"No, I'm afraid you're going to be by yourself eventually, and I won't be there to protect you."

Claire stopped and grabbed his elbow. "Why does that scare you?"

Axel opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He wanted to tell her the truth, but how could he after everything he did to her growing up. She may have forgiven him, but she hadn't forgot. He bit his bottom lip, and her gaze lowered to watch the movement.

"I-I don't want to see you hurt again. You had enough of that at my expense."

Claire stared at him with her big eyes for several seconds before continuing down the sidewalk toward her vehicle. "You said you needed to study?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"On a Friday night?"

"Yes," she said. "I have to work tomorrow, and Sunday I'm going to see my Aunt."

Axel glanced around the busy campus. "I have to go to the fieldhouse and stay until it's game time. Will you be okay?"

"I'll stay on campus. Cat is going to go to the game with me. You don't have to worry. Studying, dinner, and then game."

Axel stared at her so long she lost eye contact. "Are you sure that's it?"

"Why would you ask that?" she countered a question with a question.

"Because my debate recruiter only let me hear some of your conversation with Cat. Did she talk you into skipping the game?"

Claire kicked the sidewalk. "No," she said softly.

Axel reached over without thinking and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She stared at him and took a reluctant step back. Axel's heart sank into his stomach. "I can't keep you safe if you run off with her to that party."

Claire's face turned bright red. "I do want to go," she said, glancing up at him with bright eyes. "Can't you come with me?"

Axel felt a tingle in his chest that he didn't like.

Don't be an ass, his wolf said. Take her to the party.

"I don't think it's a good idea," he mumbled.

He knew it wasn't a good idea. First, he knew being out after dark would only increase their chances of another attack. Second, he didn't want to run into Cash with Claire. He seemed to have it out for him, and he knew controlling his wolf would be impossible if Cash stepped out of line.

Claire twirled the end of a blonde curl around her finger. "Why? We don't have to stay long or anything—"

"It's not a good idea to be out at night like this, Claire—"

"Please," she whispered.

Axel's heart skipped a few beats at her voice, and his fingers curled into a fist. The sound of her plea warmed his stomach. "Why is it so important to go?" he asked.

Her green gaze lifted to his. "Because I've never been to one before."

And he knew exactly why. He'd ostracized her, made her afraid to come out in fear of what he would do to her.

One party won't hurt, his wolf said. Take her to the party, Axel.

Axel cleared his throat. "I—if you wait on me after the game, I'll take you. Don't go with Cat. Make up some excuse why you can't go with her."

"She'll see me there with you. She thinks you're holding me against my will," she chuckled, "and because I can't tell her the truth, I told her you had a crush on me and that you're trying to make up for it."

That wasn't too far off.

Axel hauled the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder. "Whatever works," he said, scratching the back of his neck. Let me get you to the library so you can study."

Claire started toward the library but stopped and wrapped her arms around him. Sparks of electricity thundered down his veins and set him on fire. Claire jumped back, her eyes wide with shock.

He wasn't sure how a bond effected a human, but she obviously felt something. "Um … thank you for the party, and as crazy as it sounds, thank you for protecting me. Then and now."

"Don't thank me yet," he said, his dark eyes meeting hers. "Let's get through this party alive, first."