Chapter 12 FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
MERRIELYNN.
The darkness around me had been suffocating.
I gasped for air, my heart racing like a wild animal.
Another nightmare.
Another night drenched in sweat.
As the days passed, the nightmares grew more intense, haunting me almost every night.
I didn’t understand why they were resurfacing all of a sudden. My hand lifted then, tracing the raised scar along the back of my neck.
Was it the stress of school?
Thankfully, Emorie had always been there to offer support, even though she didn’t fully understand what had been going on with me.
Looking out the window, I saw it was already morning, so I pushed the thought aside and got ready for school, trying to shake off the lingering fear.
As I walked through the academic building, curious glances followed me. What were they all looking at?
I tried not to look back, keeping my head low as I headed to my locker. There was no way these stares were because of the assembly incident with the strippers. It had been weeks already.
Approaching my locker, I froze at the sight of blood dripping from the metal.
At that moment, I felt a wave of panic and confusion hit me.
My heart raced as I stared at the blood, dread and disbelief flooding my mind. Those curious glances felt even more intense then, making me feel exposed and vulnerable. I was overwhelmed, desperate to figure out what was going on. With trembling fingers, I dialed the combination. The metallic click seemed louder than usual, echoing through the hallway.
As I pulled the door open, blood dripped from the metal, pooling on the floor.
A collective gasp rose from the surrounding students, and I screamed, jumping back at the sight of the dead rabbit that fell out of my locker.
“What the…?” someone whispered.
“Ew,” I heard a girl say.
“That’s it!” I snapped, anger coursing through my veins. I had enough of Cormac and his stupid pranks. I took out a blood-soaked textbook, slammed my locker shut, and marched off, determined to confront the son of a bitch.
Enough was enough! I would tell him to leave me the hell alone!
Marching around the school, other students looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I didn’t care. Cormac had been pushing my buttons, and I wasn’t going to stop until I said what I needed to say to him.
I finally found him in the remodeled science lab, hanging out with Valtor and two other friends. I burst into the lab, my chest heaving with anger, and my nostrils flaring.
His calm demeanor only fueled my fury.
“What in the goddess's name is wrong with you?” I yelled at him as I slammed the bloodied book on the table in front of him.
His hands remained folded across his chest, and his gaze didn’t stray away from mine for even a moment.
“Haven’t you done enough to make my life here miserable? Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
Those words tumbled out before I could stop myself, and I hoped he would say something so I wouldn’t just stand there, looking stupid, but he didn’t.
He just looked calm and unbothered by my outburst, and I found myself praying to the moon goddess for patience.
“I get that you hate me, I get that you want to see me suffer. But all this? It’s petty, even for you. The least you could do is spare me the mediocre tricks.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Valtor and the others exchange glances, but right then, their opinions didn’t matter.
And after it all, he maintained a level of calm that made me clench my fists. A beat passed before he finally deigned to say, “I don’t hate you, Merrielynn.”
The urge to curse him to stop using my full name gripped me, but I ignored it.
Of course, he wasn’t going to take me seriously.
I was nothing in his world of chaos and madness, a bug he was taking his time to squash under his pretty little boots.
It would have hurt more if I didn’t just quit while I was ahead. If I didn’t just walk away.
It took everything in me to let go of the anger and walk out of the room without reaching out and punching his teeth in.
But I did.
I did, and I thought I was better off for it.
––––
The rest of the day blurred together, and when the final bell rang, Emorie’s call pierced through my numbness.
Tiredly, I picked up the phone and held it to my ear. “Hey, Em. What’s up?”
“Mere, the headmaster’s looking for you and Cormac,” she said, making all the tiredness in my eyes disappear. “He’s at the planning committee meeting,” she continued. “I wouldn’t keep him waiting if I were you.”
Panic set in, and I quickly thanked Emorie before slinging my bag over my shoulder.
How in the goddess’s name did I forget?
I rushed to the meeting room, my heart racing. The moment I pushed the door open, I didn’t even get the chance to greet the headmaster before he asked me about Cormac’s whereabouts.
“Umm,” was the first word that slipped out of my mouth as confusion washed over me. “I wouldn’t know, Sir,” I replied.
Because how would I?
“Well, find him and bring him with you, Ms. Forbes,” the headmaster said, then looked away from me.
Dismissing me.
Like he didn’t just give me a task akin to holding the moon in the palm of my hand.
I turned to Emorie, who was also in the planning committee, and gave her a look that conveyed my frustration. She mouthed a “sorry,” feeling bad for me, and I just sighed as I left the room to go in search of my nemesis.
I didn’t even want to refer to him as that. It felt like I was willingly giving him power over me.
Once again, in one school day, I was looking for Cormac.
After a while of searching, I eventually found him on the football field doing solo after-school workouts.
No, I didn’t want to approach him, especially now that we were alone, but I needed to do as the headmaster instructed, so I drew in a deep breath before walking up to him.
He was in the middle of some sort of drill, drenched in sweat and wearing a pair of track pants and a long-sleeved black thermal shirt. The material clung to every dip and crevice of muscle on his toned body, and all I could think was what a shame it was that such drop-dead gorgeousness was wasted on such a putrid specimen.
“You’re needed at the planning committee meeting,” I said in one breath, trying to keep my distance.
I tried not to scoff at the fact that he just ignored me.
I waited a few more seconds, and it was obvious he wasn’t going to respond, so I just lost it. “If you’re not coming, I’m going to go back without you.”
Whatever, I thought, as I turned away with an eye roll.
But as I turned to leave, his feet hooked around mine, sending me tumbling backward. I let out a shriek as I lost my balance, but Cormac caught my head, breaking my fall before I hit the ground harshly.
I was still in shock when he pinned me beneath him, his body shifting until he was resting perfectly between my legs.
The weight of his body settled over mine, and a haze covered my vision.
But it didn’t stop the panic as I looked around for anyone passing by. I didn’t want to be caught with him like this… or anyone in such an intimate position.
There wasn’t anyone in sight, but my heart pounded like a drum beneath my ribcage as I turned back to meet his gaze.
His proximity paralyzed me.
And my body betrayed me in a way I had been fearing since I found out we were mates. I was reacting to his closeness in a way that was completely involuntary.
Completely at odds with how I truly felt about him.
Despite my fear, I found myself feeling an overwhelming level of desire that made all the words I wanted to say just slip away.
Cormac leaned in closer, his breath warm against my neck as he mocked me, clearly enjoying the obvious effect he knew he had on me. “I could mark you right here and now, and nothing would happen.”
It felt like his deep baritone pierced my chest. “I could sink my teeth deep into your neck without claiming you, and you wouldn’t stop me. There would be no consequences,” he whispered harshly, as his eyes settled on the pulse point thumping rapidly on my neck. “You might even want me to.”
Anger surged through me, and I shot back through gritted teeth, “I’d rather die than bear your mark.”
In that moment, something dangerous flickered in his eyes.
His voice turned low and threatening as he said, “I could mark you right now, and you would let me because you’d have no other choice.”
My heart raced as I realized he was referring to the leverage he held over me.
I felt trapped.
Literally and figuratively.
He leaned in even closer, and the panic bled as I saw his canines stretch past his bottom lip, his teeth sharpening as if he were about to claim me.
A wave of horror washed over me, because as terrifying as the thought was, there was an undeniable sense of anticipation that I couldn’t shake.
A flush covered my skin, and my heart raged within me, just like every other part of my body that was trapped underneath his.
Just when I truly believed he was going to do it, he laughed against my skin before pushing up and away from me. The anticipation died instantly, leaving me breathless and embarrassed.
A part of me had wanted it. A stupid, bond-ridden, naive part of me at that.
I quickly shook that thought away and got to my feet, battling the feelings coursing through me as I marched away, walking ahead of him.
His laughter hadn't yet died out. It pierced through my back as I walked off.
All I tried to do was regulate my breathing and keep as much distance between us as I made my way back to the auditorium.