Chapter 28: Chapter 0028

•AVELINE•

Storm’s voice slid through my mind the moment Matteo walked away. She had been waiting for a long time for Mateo to leave, and I didn't want to appear rude.

'That kiss was both smart and incredibly dumb,' she murmured, sighing.

I rolled my eyes as I walked across the corridor, shifting my bag higher on my shoulder while students passed around me on their way to afternoon classes.

'Pick one,' I muttered in my head.

'I did,' she answered. 'Both.'

I rolled my eyes and groaned. She talked as if she weren't there when Dominic said he would make me his mistress and prevent me from being with another man.

But I wanted to show him that I can kiss and fuck another man if I wanted and there was nothing he could do.

He wasn't the boss of me.

'You are overthinking this, Storm,' I sighed. 'I wanted to teach Dominic a lesson. He shouldn't underestimate me again.'

'You kissed another man in front of an Alpha born,' she sneered. 'And you think this will end peacefully and he will let you and Matteo live happily ever after? He won't even dream of it.'

'Dominic doesn't get to decide who I kiss,' I groaned. 'He shouldn't even interfere in my life when he's engaged to someone else.'

'Dominic is an Alpha male whose pride is already bleeding from every direction. You just handed him another reason to prove dominance.'

'I don't understand why I should care about his ego,' I scoffed. 'He's not my problem anymore.'

'You underestimate him, Aveline,' she answered. 'He's our mate and whether he wants to or not, he's always forced to prove himself to us. So, I hope you're ready for his retaliation.'

'And you overestimate how much I care,' I replied, rolling my eyes. 'Dominic is the least of my worries like I told you. He's a waste of my energy.'

'You and Dominic are something else,' she murmured, and I rolled my eyes. I didn't answer her anymore because she sounded as if she were siding with someone else instead of me.

I didn't even regret my kiss with Matteo. He was such a gentleman and handled the entire situation with respect.

He didn't even appear disappointed when he realized the true intention behind our kiss.

I was heading to my dorm room when my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I unlocked the screen and opened the message from Matteo.

Matteo: "There is a football game tonight at the campus field. You should come watch with me."

I stared at the text for a second before a small smile tugged at my lips.

Matteo was easy to be around, the kind of person who laughed easily and never seemed interested in power games or pack politics, and right now that felt refreshing.

Me: "Sure. What time?"

Matteo: "Seven. I will save you a seat."

I slipped the phone back into my bag and headed to my dorm room. I pushed away the thoughts I had of Dominic and told myself he had no place in my life anymore.

With or without a bond.

But when I opened the door in my dorm room, I froze. Dominic was sitting on the edge of my bed.

For a moment my brain refused to process what I was seeing because the door had been locked when I arrived, and the window across the room was still shut, and yet he was there like he had been waiting for hours.

My heart kicked into a fast rhythm that I hated because it felt like fear mixed with something more complicated.

"How did you get in here?" I asked.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs as his gaze settled on me with an intensity that immediately changed the temperature in the room.

“You should stay away from Matteo,” he answered.

I shut the door behind me. “That didn't answer my question.”

“There are a lot of doors in this building that open for me,” he scoffed.

“Good to know the academy values your privacy more than mine.”

His jaw tightened slightly, though he did not move from the bed. “You should stay away from him.”

I dropped my bag onto the desk and turned to face him fully. “I don't remember asking for your advice.”

“It is not advice.”

“It sounds like it.”

“It is a warning.”

I folded my arms. “Dominic,” I sneered. "I don't belong to you."

The words landed hard in the silence between us, but he didn’t react the way I expected because instead of arguing he pushed himself off the bed and took a slow step toward me.

My pulse quickened again as the distance between us disappeared.

“You kissed him,” he huffed.

"Yes, I did."

“In front of me.”

“That was not part of the plan,” I replied. “But I don't regret it.”

His eyes darkened. “You should.”

I almost laughed. “Why?”

He closed the small gap between us and tilted his head to hold my gaze. He then chuckled. "You belong to me, Aveline, and I shouldn't say that multiple times for you to get it."

"Oh," I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You must think the world revolves around you, Dominic Frostbane. But you clearly don't revolve around mine."

“If you want to see how serious I am,” he murmured near my ear, “I suggest you let me see you with Matteo again.”

The whisper sent a strange shiver down my spine that irritated me more than it should have. I pulled back and rolled my eyes.

“You sound ridiculous.”

His expression didn't change. “You think I am joking?”

“I know you are not going to do anything..There is nothing you will do to me,” I replied. “Or Matteo.”

He looked at me and didn't answer for a moment, and I thought maybe he was trying to intimidate me, but it didn't work.

“You are stubborn, Aveline.”

“And you are dramatic.”

He studied me for another second before shaking his head slightly, though the tension in his shoulders remained obvious.

“You keep pushing me,” he snarled.

“Maybe you should stop standing in my way.”

Neither of us moved.

The silence stretched long enough that I finally broke eye contact and walked toward the closet, reaching inside to grab my handbag from the shelf.

I slung the strap over my shoulder and turned back toward the door.

Dominic was still standing in the same place, watching me. Even though I wished to know what he was thinking, I didn't want the bond to backfire when I wanted to have fun.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To watch a football game.”

“With Matteo?”

“Yes.”

His jaw tightened again, though this time he didn't try to stop me. “Think carefully about what you are doing,” he answered.

I walked past him and opened the door. "I have thought carefully and realized I don't care about you, Dom."

He didn't say a word as I opened the door and walked out. I closed the door behind me and left him in the same spot where he was standing.