All Chapters of Captain Wolf's Surrogate : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

RAVENA splitting headache dragged me out of sleep, and I sat up with a sharp wince, one hand clutching my forehead as the room swam for a moment. The lights were still on, and I realized I had fallen asleep on top of the covers after the call with Mrs. Maxwell, my phone still near my pillow.Disoriented, I stumbled toward the bathroom out of instinct, only to find the medicine cabinet open on empty glass shelves. Of course, there was nothing. I hadn’t stocked it yet. I groaned under my breath and made my way back to the bedroom, each step sending a fresh pulse of pain behind my eyes.Unlocking my phone with frantic hands, I texted the concierge desk with clumsy thumbs, telling them I had a severe migraine and needed standard over-the-counter pain pills if possible.The reply came quickly, telling me she was on it. I sat on the bed, eyes closed, as I tried to breathe carefully through the worst of it. I had never felt a headache like this, and I reasoned it must have been from all the

RAVEN“Did you send Jason after me?” I asked the second the words would come out. “The flowers and the chocolates? Is he harassing me because of you?”But Teagan’s face folded in pure confusion.“What? What are you talking about? Jason sending you flowers and chocolates?”The rest of it poured out of me, emotion clogging my throat now that I was standing in front of her again, hit hard by everything that had happened between us.“I'm talking about the roses he sent, even pretending to be Matt O'Reilly—"“You’re so fucking stupid,” Teagan cut in with a humorless laugh. “What does Jason have to do with Matt sending you flowers?”I opened my mouth but then stopped as her words sank in.So Matt was an actual person?The next realization hit me hard: could Matt be the third guy who had been with Jason the day I left, the one with the smirk I hadn't recognized?Teagan's temper flared before I could even ask. “You woke me up for this shit? Get out.” She was already pushing the door closed, a

RAVEN“At Sunriver Resort and Tetherow during the summers growing up.”He laughed unselfconsciously. “My dad’s obsessed with the golf courses out there, so we’d fly into Redmond and spend two weeks rafting the Deschutes River and eating at spots downtown like Zydeco and The Blacksmith.”I nodded, keeping my expression carefully neutral while something dry and familiar settled in my chest. Classic rich boy, I thought. Of course he knew the multi-million-dollar golf resorts and the steakhouses where the entrées cost more than my entire yearly grocery budget back home.Of course those were the parts that lived in his memory—sunlit fairways and river trips booked through private guides; dinners where the lighting was perfect and no one ever looked at the prices on the menu. The Bend I knew had thrift stores, secondhand textbooks, and the quiet pride of making a paycheck stretch just far enough. We’d grown up in the same state, technically, but we might as well have been from different pl

RAVENI sat there, staring at the cocky curve of his mouth, wondering what a sophomore was doing in a first year chemistry lecture.This bastard was the last person I wanted anywhere near my face right now. He was the first to break the silence, his voice low enough so only I could hear over the soft clatter of keyboards.“So,” he said, still smiling, “did you like the flowers?”My face tightened and I didn’t answer. Instead I kept a level, low voice. “What are you doing here?” Was he going to start bothering me in my classes now, too?He leaned back a fraction, the very picture of casual arrogance, and gave a small, dismissive shrug as if the answer should have been obvious.“I’m in this class.”That was it, and I stared at him as his words sank in. Was he busy being the jerk of the entire university while failing? The audacity.He acted unbothered, but I could see right through the performance. I could almost smell the deep bruise on his ego. He was helpless, trapped in a freshman l

RAVENI answered on the second ring, still half-smiling as I hurried toward the exit, but my steps faltered when Lyall snapped without greeting.“Where are you?”The sharpness of it took me completely by surprise, and I stammered.“I’m… I’m in downtown Palo Alto. I just finished my class and am grabbing lunch. Is everything okay?”He growled under his breath, a low sound that made the fine hairs along my arms rise as an instinctual fear I couldn't explain pricked across my skin.“Who are you with, Raven? You’re not alone. I can hear the background noise. Who is with you?”My defensive instincts kicked in before I could stop them. “Just a friend from campus. He gave me a ride back from campus. What is going on? Are you okay?”I could hear him breathing on the other end, each breath ragged and uneven. “Lyall—” I started, but he cut me off.“Go back to your apartment,” he ordered, his voice sharp and final. “You need to focus on your classes and cut the distractions. And Raven, stay the