Fourteen

My fingers were still wrapped around Jesse's collar, so I yanked on it at the same time that I tackled him. We hit the asphalt road hard, rolling a couple of times.

Jesse stopped fighting the moment we collided with the ground, but his chest was heaving and I'd never seen his creepy red eyes so furious.

When we stopped rolling, I groaned. I was on top of him, sprawled out with my poor limbs scratched and bleeding.

"Are you okay?" the hot nerd asked, crouching beside me.

"Peachy." I winced as I climbed off Jesse's furry body.

My life had become so much more painful since I met those freakin’ werewolves.

The hot nerd reached for me, to help me up, and Jesse lunged toward him again.

"Dammit, Jesse!" I grabbed his collar again, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding on with every ounce of muscle I had. "Leave the nice man alone." I shot the hottie a desperate look. "I'm so sorry."

"Are you sure you don't want me to call animal control?" he checked.

"I'm sure. Jesse's going to behave," I shot him a glare. "Right?"

He glared back at me.

I remembered Ford's warning... that as long as I didn't bring any guys home, Jesse was supposed to behave.

"I've got to get to class. I'll see you tonight." The guy gave me a tentative smile before walking away.

"I'm not going to sleep with him," I hissed at the wolf. "You're not dating me; we're not together. You're a freaking wolf. Back the hell off."

Jesse snarled at me and then attacked.

Not with his teeth; I didn't think he'd bite me, regardless of what I did, until he wanted to change me.

He attacked me with his tongue.

He licked my face, my neck, my arms, my clothes, and my legs. Even as I sputtered and tried to push him away, he kept licking me.

"I've got to go to class." I shoved at his face when he continued licking. "Stop it; I get that you think I'm yours."

"Your dog is so cute!" another girl exclaimed, kneeling beside me. “It's so sweet that he loves you so much."

I bit back a snort.

At least one of us thought so.

"Is he a wolfdog?" she asked.

Uh-oh. The girl knew her dogs.

"Yep. He's been through a lot of training though—even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes."

"That was just him being protective," the girl cooed at the wolf. "Isn't that right?"

He shot me a dark look.

I returned it with an identical, though human, expression.

"Well, I've got to go to class. My dog just sort of hangs out while I'm here, so feel free to hang on to him for a bit,” I said, trying to slip away.

Jesse shook the girl off immediately. It made her laugh, but she stepped back.

"I'll let you go," she promised him. "Have a good day."

"You too." I hurried down the sidewalk, wincing with every damn step.

A few of the cuts and scrapes on my arms and legs were bleeding. Jesse noticed and licked one. For once, I ignored the licking.

He let me go to class, and I spent the entirety of the lecture trying to come up with a way to escape the wolf.

But once again, I couldn't come up with a damn thing.

Jesse waited outside for me after every class. I tried exiting through different doors than the ones I'd come inside through, I tried slipping away in crowds of people, and I even tried running after one of my classes.

Everywhere I went, the wolf tailed me.

I had to admit he was good. Whether it was his sense of smell that made him that way, or he just had really good ears and could hear me wherever I was, I didn't know.

The hot nerd texted me partway through the day. His name was Kevin, and he said he'd pick me up at 8. My feet were throbbing and I had a shit ton of studying to do, but I didn't want to cancel after the mess with Jesse on the sidewalk earlier.

I wasn't sure how I was going to pull the date off with the wolf tailing me, but I'd figure it out.

When I got back to Jesse's place, I opened the fridge. I hadn't had anything to eat all day, and my stomach felt like it was carving itself.

I needed to go through the food and freeze a bunch of stuff to make it last, but that could wait until tomorrow.

Since I wasn't sure if the yogurt froze well or not, I grabbed a container of it and a spoon and slid it up on the counter. I propped my feet up, tilting my head back at the relief and pain that hit together.

"I should stay home tonight," I told myself and Jesse, thinking about Kevin.

The wolf growled his agreement, jumping up on the counter and sitting beside me. He didn’t fit, but he didn't seem to care.

His head lowered to rest on my thigh. I was at the point where I didn't even really mind it anymore probably a sign of Stockholm Syndrome.

It was terrible, but I didn't mind that either.

I was alive, I had a hot date planned, and I had a place to live. And for the time being, I had food to eat too.

My eyes drifted to the envelope on top of the fridge.

If I wanted, I could have food to eat for the rest of the semester.

But spending Jesse's money would be a dick move on my part, and I wasn't a dick.

At least, not usually.

I decided I wouldn't spend his money unless I accepted that we were mates. And since I doubted that would ever happen, the envelope would stay firmly on top of the fridge until Jesse the guy was in the wolf's place. He could spend the money to upgrade his phone and car if that was what he wanted.

"Wait..." I stopped eating my yogurt, staring at the wolf. He blinked at me. "What happens after you turn back into a guy? Say you bite me and I become a werewolf... Ford said there will be lust, but we can ignore some horniness. Will I be able to leave, if I want?"

The wolf neither confirmed nor denied the statement. He closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep. Or pretended to fall asleep.

Dammit, I hated when he pretended he was all animal.

I stretched my arms, reaching past the wolf to grab Jesse's phone off the charger. I hadn't planned on picking it up, but I needed to know what exactly was going to happen after Wolf Jesse bit me.

I called Ford first, and he didn't answer. Mentally, I went through the other guys whose names I remembered.

Zed...too bad-boy-esque.

Elliot...too happy.

Rocco...lighthearted and easily embarrassed.

Perfect.

He picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hi, Rocco. It's Tea," I said.

There was a moment of silence.

Did he seriously not remember kidnapping me, and then being kissed by me?

"Teagan Foch? Does Wolf Jesse think I'm his mail-order bride minus the mail-order and all of my personal feelings on the matter? You can't have forgotten to help abduct me from the sandwich shop."

"I didn't forget," he agreed. "I'm just suspicious about why you're calling."

"That's fair." I scratched my head. "Ford said I could call any of you if I had questions about the werewolf shit."

He let out a breath. Maybe he was worried I was going to proposition him or something. "Yeah. Any time."

"So after the wolf bites me, assuming I survive, does the hunt end?" I checked. "Will Jesse let me out of his sight again?"

"The hunt ends after you're changed," Rocco agreed. He paused again, though.

"But..." I prodded.

"But after the hunt, comes the chase."