15.

Nathan

He didn't like it. No one bit.

In fact, he actually hated it. He loathed the way they seemed to "get along" so well and how comfortable she seemed to be around him, in spite of her awareness of their true nature.

Why wasn't she afraid? Why didn't she fear him?

He kept questioning himself as his gaze trailed back to their desks, looking at the way she oh-so-peacefully slept right next to him, leaning against him as if he were her damn teddy bear and not a dangerous creature with sharp claws, fangs and fast reflexes.

He tsked with strong disapproval, suddenly feeling a little bothered as he noticed the way her hands wrapped around his bicep and snuggled even closer, sighing with contentment even though she was already asleep.

Stupid girl.

He watched as his beta gently nudged her awake right before the bell rang, making her laugh and smile with his clever jokes and his annoying charm as they gathered their things and exited the classroom.

He quietly followed, watching how they laughed and played like two little lovebirds, the sight of them touching so freely actually managing to stir the beast within him, making him feel so irritated and edgy.

His wolf lowly growled, pushing him to go and maul his beta for even daring to touch his mate, his brows furrowing as soon as he noticed the little mate suddenly running straight towards Estefany, bravely facing her off before sending her away.

At least she got spunk.

He did like this side of her. This fierce and protective side of her.

Even though she'd been raised as a puny little human, he could see that her true nature was actually present within her, somewhere in there, secretly guiding her every move.

She was not as human as he'd initially thought, that was a certain fact.

The way her eyes glowed and that-

He thickly swallowed as he suddenly noticed her standing right in front of him, that mouth-watering scent of hers actively managing to erase any previous thoughts running through his mind as he found himself dumbly staring at her like an idiot as she quietly growled at him,

"Listen, you better keep that dog of yours on a tighter leash, because if I catch her once again anywhere near my sister I will fucking rip her head off, I don't care where in the seven circles of hell she has spawned from, I will fucking break her stupid giraffe neck!"

No words of reply came from him, his will to respond evading him as every fiber of his being thrummed with electricity generated by her nearness, his heart pounding and his nether regions aching as he fought with his wolf not to give in and let him have his way with her.

He could hear the way her heart rapidly pounded too, the sounds of her heavily breathing and the sight of his mating mark proudly standing out on her beautiful skin only making his job even harder, to the point where he could barely contain himself. But before his left hand could even raise from his side to touch her, her own hand covered that mark, eyes going wide with something akin to fear. And within the very next moment, she was gone.

**

Damn. Fuck this. Damn you and that stupid, annoyingly beautiful face of yours and that annoyingly inviting scent.

He mentally cursed at his mate and the bond as he intently kept staring at her from across the cafeteria, still affected by that exchange between them earlier this morning.

Why couldn't he control it? Why did he have to want her so much?

Damn this stupid bond.

He hated it. He hated it so much. He was very well aware that it was basically unbreakable, yet he never would've thought that it could he this powerful.

Fuck. Fuck this. Fuck whoever the hell created this bullshit.

He kept repeating within his mind as his gaze remained trained on her, closely observing every small interaction between her and his future beta, his wolf stirring with unrest every time they touched, whether intentional or not.

Great. Now I'm becoming obsessive too.

He mentally berated himself, eyes going wide as soon as he suddenly received an unexpected wave of arousal through the bond.

What the fuck?!?

He almost jumped out of his seat at the intrusive feeling, his gaze already trained on her, just in time to notice that visible blush tinting her cheeks and that certain look in her eyes as she gazed at David like a little schoolgirl in love.

Oh hell no.

What the fuck was he doing?

"What do you say? Should we match?" He heard his beta say just as he tuned in to their conversation, his wolf already growling with anger inside of him as he quietly barked out his future delta's name,

"Christian,"

"Yes, Alpha," His delta was prompt to answer, his gaze also trained on the unlikely pair and watching their interaction.

"Go and invite that dumb human girl that keeps swooning over you to prom. Keep a close tab on beta David and the Encantum princess. See what's going on and report back to me," He swiftly instructed, receving a curt nod from the delta.

"Yes, Alpha,"

The delta didn't waste another second and got up from his seat, determinedly making his way straight towards the little group whilst his Alpha and the three female warriors flanking his sides continued to watch what was happening at that specific table.

"You know, none of this would've happened if you'd just mated her instead of choosing to torment her and drag us through all this bullshit too whilst doing it," Estefany's sneering tone grated against his sensitive hearing, briefly interrupting his intensive spying.

"Whatever I choose to do, is none of your goddamn business, Estefany. Got it?" He immediately replied with a dismissive and authoritative tone, not even bothering to spare her a single glance as he continued,

"Plus, I believe it was actually your stupid choices that led you to your current situation, or have you forgotten everything you did to her? You and your stupid, dumb bimbo brain that makes you believe that just because you are my best fighter you are actually so entitled to have and do anything your cold heart desires, whether morally wrong or not,"

"Oh, please, do not talk to me about morality! You and your weird, obsessive hate towards humans, especially the one that was meant to be your queen!" She bit back with another sneer, this time turning to look at him.

"What did she ever do to you, actually, huh?"

"What could she have possibly done to make you loathe her so much-" She abruptly stopped her ranting as soon as she finally realized exactly what was going on and why.

"Oh..."

"She reminds you of her, doesn't she?"

"She makes you fear that it could happen to you too, isn't it?"

Nathan's breath momentarily stopped as soon as he heard those words coming out of Estefany's repulsive mouth, his hands starting to shake at his sides as he fought with all his might not to think about any of those specific memories.

"Estefany..." He growled under his breath into a silent warning, unfortunately only managing to stir her some more as she let out a cynical laugh.

"Who would've thought? Our Alpha, our mighty, powerful soon-to-be king brought to his knees by a puny little-"

She didn't get to finish that sentence as suddenly, the entire cafeteria turned silent as a thunderous, loud sound broke through, created by Estefany's back as it hit the table with so much force that it actually managed to make cracks in it.

Her sparkly eyes were wide with fear as she looked up into her Alpha's murderous glowing eyes, not even daring to try and move or even breathe for that matter as he tightly held her by the throat.

However, that tensed moment didn't last long as as soon as that small, feminine whimper reached the Alpha's ears he snapped out of that raging trance as if he'd just had a bucket of ice cold water dumped on him, his eyes already returning back to their vivid green color as they darted to the one that made that sound.

His soulmate.

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