Chapter 63

Gretchen's eyelashes fluttered as she watched Colson stalk toward her and yanked her arm away from Hudson. There was an electric warmth where Colson had touched her skin. She quickly pulled her arm away from him and scooted back behind Vita.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Tabitha huffed.

Colson turned and glared at Tabitha. “You don’t think I see the irony in this?”

Gretchen didn’t understand what was going on. Why was he so angry at her? He didn’t even know her. She rubbed the spot where he had touched her. It was still warm. Her stomach tingled as she continued to keep her hand on the exact spot.

Vita looked behind her at Gretchen, who looked at her and shrugged. Vita smiled as she turned to Deak and whispered, “Gretchen doesn’t know.”

Deak’s eyes widened and turned to look down at Gretchen. She stepped farther behind Vita so she couldn’t be seen by the others. Deak then looked over at Colson. “You’re scaring her.”

Colson softened his face so he didn’t look so angry at his mate. He didn’t mean to scare her. He and his wolf got jealous when she attempted to touch someone other than him. Colson cursed under his breath, he didn’t know what he was going to do. His hand still tingled after touching her skin. That one moment meant the world to him, if only he could have more time with her.

“Come on, we need to get to my house. I can take Gretchen with me, why don’t you go with the others?” Vita suggested.

Deak raised an eyebrow at her as he looked at her. “I don’t play well with little wolves.”

Vita giggled. “I’m sure you’re lycan wolf would enjoy the run,” she said to him as she rubbed his arm, trying to coax him into the idea.

Deak knew that Malakai would love the exercise, he was just worried that he wouldn’t relinquish control once they got to her house. But he wanted to show her that he can respect her wishes when she asked him to do something.

Deak let out a sigh, “Very well.” He leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead. He was fighting the temptation to pull her into his arms and give her a real kiss but he knew that he had to be patient and take things slow if he wanted a real relationship with Vita. “I’ll see you at the house.” He pressed his forehead against hers and sucked in her scent in order to get him through their time apart. Deak knew they wouldn’t be apart for long but just didn’t want to let her go.

Vita shivered at Deak's touch. She wasn’t sure if it was a good shiver or bad. It was sweet that Deak was being patient with her and took things slow. It was what she needed at this time. She still wasn’t sure that she wanted to be mated to someone for life at such a young age but she was enjoying how well he took care of her.

Deak pulled away from Vita looking at her one last time before he turned to the others and said, “Come, little wolves, it’s time to run.”

Artemis howled with excitement when he heard he’d get to run. Hudson groaned as he started to run following the rest of them to the abandoned fields to shift and take off. His frustration was getting the best of him.

You need to settle, Artemis told him in his head.

Hudson shook his head. He knew his wolf was right and he needed to focus. He could handle this, he was an Alpha. He needed to be strong for his mate.

When they got to the fields they each shifted into their wolves quickly. Deak standing tall in his Lycan form howled before taking off towards their destination.

****

When the group was out of sight Gretchen turned to Vita and asked, “Okay what is going on? Why did that guy react that way when I tried to help Hudson? I wasn’t doing anything wrong!”

Vita chuckled softly. She was curious about how Gretchen was going to react when she found out. Vita placed her arm around Gretchen’s shoulders and said, “Gretchen, I believe you have a mate.”

Gretchen looked at her with confusion. A mate? How could she have a mate? Wait, did she mean…?

Gretchen’s eyes widened and she started to shake her head. “Oh no, that guy is not my mate. He has been nothing but mean to me, even the first time I ran into him.”

“You talked to him before?” Vita asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

“I wouldn’t say talk. He caught me spying on him and Tristan talking and wanted to know my name. He pulled me by my hair to look back at him. It was barbaric. I refused to give him my name and got away from him as fast as I could.”

Vita just listened and nodded as Gretchen told her about their first interaction.

“I think he’s conflicted about the situation. His pack doesn’t believe in the mixing of factions. So when he found out that you were his mate, his first reaction was to reject you immediately, especially since you’re a witch, not just a human girl. But he hasn’t yet. So that says something,” Vita explained.

Gretchen huffed. “Well, maybe I don’t want him for a mate. Maybe, I’ll just reject him before he has the chance to reject me. It wouldn’t be the first time someone didn’t want me.”

Vita pulled Gretchen into her arms. “I never said he didn’t want you. Why don’t you just try to get to know him and see how things go?”

Gretchen shook her head, “This is so stupid, getting all upset over a guy and I don’t even know him.”

Vita heard the howl in the distance, lowered her head, and smiled. She had a feeling that howl belonged to Deak letting her know that he was leaving the campus.

Gretchen smiled as she watched Vita react to the howl. She was glad that someone was looking out for Vita. Deak seemed to understand that Vita needed to take things slow so that she could get used to the bond.

“So how long have you and Deak been together?” Gretchen asked.

Vita looked up at her with a surprised expression on her face. Vita blushed. “No, we’re not together yet. He’s just been taking care of me since they rescued me when I was taken,” she admitted.

Gretchen gave her a coy smile as she lifted her brow “You just said 'yet.'”

Vita shook her head as she tried to brush off the teasing she was getting from Gretchen. But then she thought would it really be so bad if she were mated to Deak? He didn’t even know her and he was searching for her and rescued her. He’s been protective of her and made her feel safe. Could she fully commit to someone she didn’t know?

“Come on, let’s go before the wolves get there,” Vita told Gretchen before she took her hand and disappeared.