\[Maverick’s POV\]
I watch Serenity carefully, looking for any sign that maybe, just maybe, she may feel the same as me. But she does a splendid job of keeping her expression light. The only indication that she is feeling anything is the slight blush on her cheeks and the tips of her ears.
Smirking, I reach out and ruffle her hair before the atmosphere gets too weird.
“Don’t look so shocked.” I sigh, beginning to move. “I’m going to bed.”
I don’t wait for Serenity to respond before I’m turning and preparing to move, but before I can take a step, Rosco’s eyes come to rest on me.
“Speaking of sleeping.” He announces, giving me a look. “I think it may be best if you start sleeping in the boys dorms.”
For a second, shock rolls through me before I realize that he is honestly right. Since Serenity wanted us to pretend to be mates, the best place for me was away from her for the time being. However, despite knowing that, I feel a sense of loss over being separated like this.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Rosco pushes, snapping me out of my head.
“Rosco,” William, who stands by the door with Eleanor, calls. “Do you think the boy can simply go to the dorms and barge into someone’s room?”
“Can’t he?” Rosco asks boredly. “That’s basically what he did with my daughter.”
“There are procedures that must be done in order to get him accommodated.” William sighs. “Let him at least sleep here for the evening, and I’ll handle it in the morning.”
Remaining silent, I watch as Rosco prepares to argue, but when Denali touches his arm, he lets out a huff.
“Then you and I will be sharing a room tonight.” He announces, throwing an arm around my neck and tugging. “Let’s go.”
Giving Serenity one last look, I allow myself to be led away while everyone else watches on.
When we reach my room, Rosco flings me forward, blocks the door, and then locks it. Righting myself, I give him a look as he stares me down.
“Do you intend to kill me?” I ask after a long pause. “I don’t think that your daughter will…”
“Listen here,” he growls, surging forward and grabbing me by the shirt while I raise my hands, showing defeat. “I don’t give two shits if you’re my daughter's mate. If you so much as attempt to use her against me, I won’t hesitate to beat the shit out of you.”
“You could try.” I chuckle, earning myself a snarl of warning.
Sighing, I reach up, wrapping my hand around his wrist and pulling myself free.
“You can try this intimidation thing on anyone but me.” I point out.
Even if Rosco was technically my alpha and I promised my loyalty to him, I didn’t consider him my superior. I only put up with the guy so that I could be beside Serenity. If it wasn’t for her, I would have already decked him.
“You’ve gotten bold.” Rosco points out, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Just know that even if you are mated to my daughter, I still haven’t accepted you.”
“That’s fine.” I smirk, turning and heading toward the bathroom to shower and prepare for bed. “I only need my mate to accept me, not you.”
Finished speaking, I head into the bathroom while Rosco’s gaze burns into my back, but I don’t bother turning to see the look on his face. He could stare however he wanted, but in the end, the only person I accepted as my alpha was Serenity, and I would give my life to keep her safe for as long as I lived.
The next morning, I wake up before Rosco and sneak out to the training pitch. When I arrive, I’m surprised to find that Serenity is there, beating the shit out of a punching bag. She’s so focused on what she is doing that she doesn’t notice me as I sneak up on her.
“Hey.” I announce, earning myself a swing that nearly clips my chin. "Woah, there, tigress.”
“Maverick!” She gasps, panic filling her eyes. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t…”
“It’s fine.” I say, beginning to stretch. “Why did you come out here all on your own? Don’t you know that it is dangerous?”
As I speak, I begin to examine the area around us, searching for any traces of someone waiting just beyond the building or the forest line to attack. Although I didn’t have the same senses as a wolf, my vision, smell, and hearing were still well above those of a human.
“I wouldn’t be so careless.” Serenity sighs, catching onto what I was doing. “I’m sorry that I snuck out without a word, but I couldn’t sleep and wanted to clear my mind.”
“I get that.” I say, stepping into a sparring stance. “How about you spare that punching bag and go a few rounds with me?”
For a moment, Serenity doesn’t speak as she takes me in with an unreadable expression, but when she nods, I feel my adrenaline beginning to pump.
“Alright.” She grins, causing my heart rate to kick up. “But know, I’m not going to go easy on you.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less.”
Bracing myself, I wait until she attacks, moving forward and lashing out. Dodging her attack, I move in with my own, but she manages to stop me, leaving her body mere inches from mine so that I can feel her heat beginning to seep into me.
When my dick throbs, I pull back and prepare myself for her next attack while trying to calm the hell down.
As she surges forward, I move in, grabbing her arm and preparing to flip her, but she beats me to it, doing a back flip over me while clutching my wrist so that she can use my own move against me.
Gasping, I find myself staring up at the sky before I fully realize what has happened, and when I prepare to get up, Serenity is already on top of me.
Pinning me down, she fixes her ice-blue gaze on me while her chest rises and falls with her excitement over our fight.
Neither of us speak as we stare at one another, and when my hand begins to move on its own to brush away some dark hair that has escaped Serenity’s clip, she doesn’t move.
Do it. Everything in me screams. Test how far you can go.
“Well, well.”
The voice reaches us just as my fingertips touch Serenity’s skin, ruining the mood entirely and causing Serenity to jump off of me while Eleanor heads toward us dressed in a tank top and sweat pants.
“Whoops,” she giggles when she reaches. “I didn’t mean to ruin your moment.”
“Moment?” Serenity repeats, her voice cracking ever so slightly, giving way to her nervousness. “I don’t…”
“You don’t have to explain to me.” Eleanor says. “You can continue with what you were doing, I just came to exercise before class.”
She gives us one last look before pulling on her headphones and beginning to run, giving us the privacy she promised, but by this point, the moment is ruined and there is no attempt to return to it.
“Are you just going to lay there?” Serenity asks, offering me a hand. “You promised me a few rounds.”
“Right.” I sigh, jumping to my feet. “Let’s continue.”