36

Nel, more conscious of herself and the situation, took another step back and quickly aimed to change the subject. “You still haven’t told me what you think.”

“Think of what?”

“Of me…who and what I am and whether you will be able to live with it without…making things more difficult for me.” Nel nervously bit her bottom lip. “In other words…will I have to run?”

“You’ll not have to run anywhere, Red. I want to figure this out and I hope that you do too. If for no one else’s sake, your mother.”

“I do,” she admitted.

“Well, then that’s what we are going to do. For this to work, we are going to need to be amicable. No more petty back and forth or…”

“Physical acts of betrayal?” she asked him.

That would be a heart deal to commit to, but. “I’ll do what I can, Red-”

“No!” Nel forgot herself and immediately approached Colsin with a pleading desperation in her eyes. “No more, Colsin! Please.”

There was such vulnerability there and all the young alpha prince could think to do was protect her from the fear that was causing it. In an unconscious moment, he lifted his hand to touch her face, when he thought better of it.

“I swear.”

Nel breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you…thank you, Colsin.” Nel picked up the blade that she brought with her into the room.

“I think I’ll take that.” Colsin took Nel’s hand and grabbed the knife. “Don’t want you to get any more ideas,” he teased.

She smirked. “You do realize that a knife would not stop me.”

Colsin looked outside at the sprinkle of rain. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.” He lifted the knife. “But still…just to be sure.”

“Whatever you say, alpha.” She glanced at the knife and then headed toward the door of his room. “I should go.” She turned to open the door and then glanced at Colsin. “Thank you.”

“Goodnight, Red.”

She left the room and after she did, Colsin sat on his bed, and cracked his neck, thinking about everything that had just happened. His mind then lingered to how sexy Neliyah Larken was. It was hard not to get aroused by the mere thought of her.

He grabbed his lube. “Now…where was I?”

*************

As Nel returned to her room and closed the door behind her, her hand lingered on the length of the hinge, her mind returning back to that room where Colsin Stone was.

“He cares for us,” said Onyx in the back of her mind. “You saw it.”

“I saw him being considerate, yes,” said Nel. “To say that he cares for us is…well, jumping to conclusions, Onyx. And that is something that we cannot afford to do.”

Onyx’s disappointment in Nel’s remark could be felt. “Maybe…but it does not change the fact that he is concerned enough to see to us being safe. And…he is undeniably interested.”

It wasn’t until she heard this that Nel even realized that she had been smiling. The recollection of his large arms and the way his broad body flexed against her body. She didn’t react because she was too afraid to but it did not stop Onyx from recalling every second of his nearness.

It was as if Nel’s beast held on to those feelings until Nel was spared a moment to experience them as well. And oh boy did she experience it. A heat began to grow between her legs and a tingle in her spine. Was this the effect that the alpha was talking about?

A moan escaped Nel’s lips, and it frightened her. She’d never felt this before, and wasn’t sure that she wanted to feel this way toward a guy who did not genuinely want to be with her.

“Wow,” she muttered. It was starting to become overwhelming, this feeling. “Stop Onyx! I…I don’t want to feel it anymore.”

“Or you do, but are too afraid,” said Onyx. “Is this not a feeling that you would so cherish to have?” she asked Nel.

“No,” answered Nel. “Not if this feeling is provoked by someone who does not truly want me…want us.” She had obviously become frustrated with her counterpart. “Honestly, Onyx, I expect you to think more clearly than this. We are not in a safe enough and secure place to make assumptions like this.”

“Maybe…or maybe you are still hung up on Liam. Maybe you would prefer that he made you feel that way-”

“No!” Nel hardly gave her beast space to speak before she cut her off. “No, of course not! I-it’s not like that.”

Surprisingly, Nel hadn’t thought once about Liam that night, but maybe there was a deep seeded part of her whose mind did linger on him.

Mentioning Liam only made Nel think more about him now. “I hadn’t thought of him until you made mention of it, Onyx. That must mean that you’re the one thinking about him.”

Her beast hesitated and then confessed, “There is something he is harboring,” she said. “Something that…I cannot help but feel connected to.”

“Well, despite what you feel, Onyx, there is nothing that we can do about it.”

“We do not have to be physical with the boy to find answers.”

Nel finally turned from the door and leaned against it, arms folded and exhausted from the night’s events.

“Oh? And what makes you think that he will want to have anything to do with us at this point? After finding out who we are to Colsin Stone?”

Onyx replied with confidence. “Something tells me that he will not give in that easily.”

Tuesday, the following day, exhaustion set in hard. Both Nel and Colsin were in a tiresome state; Nel had been up all-night thinking about her engagement with Colsin Stone the night before while Colsin Stone had been doing the same.

The night the young alpha had with himself, his hand, and mere thought of his mate was better than any evening he spent with Sara.

During school, at each class, Colsin found himself stealing glances, and hardly a time he’d notice her return his stare. Little did he know, she had been doing the same. PA class was no different.

“Alright, guys sparring training.”

“Professor Wilde, it’s raining outside,” said Manari. “Everyone can’t use while it’s raining.”

“Pays not to be afraid of a little rain, Koven,” said Reece Mason from the side.

Manari anxiously glanced over at Reece, a look of timidness flushing her expression. “Right,” she murmured under her breath.

Nel noticed the awkwardness between her best friend and the young Mystic Cove Beta. There was a silent tension lingering and Nel could tell that it was making Manari uncomfortable. “I can…help a little, professor,” Nel volunteered before she could think better of it. Changing the weather was something of a big feat.

“Changing the weather,” Sara could be heard muttering. She rolled her eyes. “Picking up wind and messing with rocks is a little more complex than changing the weather.”

Instead of responding to Sara Slate, Nel turned her attention to the professor. His answer was the only one that she was concerned with. Well…there was another in the classroom that her mind lingered on as well, but Nel knew better than to look his way while his girlfriend was near. Sara had been watching her like a hawk.

“You know,” said Professor Wilde with a glint of excitement in his eyes. “If you can, I’d like to see it.” He looked around. “I think the whole class would.”

Then suddenly everyone started to agree, the room getting louder with excitement. It began to make Nel nervous. She anxiously glanced at Manari and then fought the urge not to look at her mate.

“Um, well I-”

“I’d love to see some Peculiar action!” exclaimed Ethan.

“Yeah, Red,” said Colsin, almost beckoning Nel’s attention. With his arms crossed he watched her. “Let’s see what you got.” Her head lifted slightly; he’d almost got her to look at him, but it was as if she thought better of it.

“Frankly, I don’t think you’re that powerful,” he said. He pressed further for her to look his way and finally, she did.

Nel looked away from him. “Professor,” she regarded professor Wilde.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said the professor.

It didn’t take long before they ended up outside at the training grounds. The rain began to pick up and as it did, Nel quickly created a dome-like barrier of wind above the class, and then looked up into the sky. The deluge was steady, not too heavy but quite inconvenient for the circumstances.

Taking a deep breath, Nel focused on the downpour, and then the sky, then imagined the subtle heat of the sun peering down on her. It was then that her eyes shot open, aglow, and the rain began slow into sharp and sporadic droplets until, suddenly the clouds began to part and the sun began to come out.

There was a small breeze to replace the downcast sky and a peeping sun. Neliyah then looked to the soaked grass, and the mud that surrounded them in the patches of ground without the greenery.

She removed the excess moisture and left enough to keep the verdant blades hydrated. The rest was hauled into a ball before her and then suddenly shrunk until it dispersed into nothing.

While Nel did this she had completely forgotten that she had an audience. As the suddenly beautiful day displayed itself, she simply looked up toward the sky with a smile on her face.

“Whoa.”