Chapter 28

Anila POV

It took me a while to get any sleep. I tossed and turned restlessly thinking about what I had seen in the mirror.

I had freaking purple eyes!

How was that even possible?

Xaden had told me that the color of our eyes represents what we will be when we shift. He told me that wolf eyes turn yellow and bear eyes turn red. Everyone else varies depending on their inner animal. So, what did that make me?

I knew there was something different about me, but did that mean I was neither a wolf nor a bear?

The thought left me feeling unsettled and I found myself staring up at the ceiling, anxiety bubbling in my chest. My heart was racing at a rapid speed, and I thought about calling Xaden and asking if he had heard such a thing. But I already knew the answer. So, I remained still, staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep to take over my body.

My alarm went off way too soon; I wasn’t ready for tonight despite how excited I was only the night before. I groggily got out of bed and stretched out my arms. The sun was completely down and the moon was shining brightly through my window. I knew it was a full moon and that there would be wild shifters everywhere. I wondered if they would have control over their animals, or if the moon caused them to be wild.

There was a part of me that worried about it, but there was a much larger part of me that grew excited with curiosity.

I grabbed a skirt from my drawer and a shirt, along with the blazer before grabbing a towel and making my way into the bathroom. The dorm room was quiet so I knew Penny must have still been asleep.

I turned on the shower and allowed the water to heat up before stepping into the hotness. Once I was done showering, I quickly dressed and made my way out of the bathroom. I paused when I saw Penny groggily and lazily walking out of her room.

She had makeup smeared on her face and her hair was an absolute mess.

“I’m so hungover,” she murmured.

“There was alcohol at the dorm party?”

She furrowed her brows together and looked at me as if I was insane.

“Of course there was,” she said in return. “It’s the one time of the month that the principal and faculty look the other way.”

I was surprised by that, but I didn’t say anything more about it. I had never drunk alcohol before. I wasn’t sure if I would actually like it. I’ve seen what it does to some people, and I’ve never been interested in it. Not that I’d ever be able to get my hands on any anyway while living with Claire. But it never interested me.

When I got back to my room, I nearly screamed.

I wasn’t expecting company so early in the morning, especially not in my bedroom.

“I hope you slept well, my sweet little mate,” Xaden’s smooth voice melted into my ear.

He was dressed in a pair of grey slacks, with a lavender dress shirt tucked into his waistband, the normal attire for someone who was mostly all business. It wasn’t the normal school uniform, but something told me that Xaden was above that rule.

What made me stutter—and my heart jump—was the unruliness of his hair. Normally it would be slicked back, up, and away from his face. But today, his black hair lays over his head in soft waves, stopping right at his eyebrows.

“I slept well enough.”

I chose not to tell him about what happened this morning with my eyes changing to a purple color. I didn’t want him to think of me as a freak or have any reasons to be concerned with me. I didn’t want Xaden to look at me like I was a freak like Claire used to look at me.

I shuddered at the very thought of it.

I glanced at the clock and frowned. It was just before 8:00 pm. I still had an hour before class. I wondered how he managed to get here while curfew was still in effect.

“What are you doing here so early?”

He was sitting on my bed, and he leaned forward, folding his hands together and keeping them on his lap as he grinned almost mischievously.

“I wanted to take you to breakfast.”

The heat that warmed my cheeks made my lips curl further, and I noted the tinge of pink on his ears, was he nervous? I didn’t stop the playful glow that burst in my chest, a need to jest with him growing ever prominent.

“Take me where? The dining hall is only a few hundred feet away.”

I walked toward him, closing the small gap between us. I couldn’t help myself; I brushed my fingers through his hair, admiring how soft and unruly it was. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his lap.

I chuckled as I snuggled against his broad chest.

“While our chefs are world-class, I had a different spot in mind. It’s just outside of campus in the village. You should be well-fed for your first day of classes,” he said, offering me a sheepish smile.

His smile and words tugged at my heart, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I leaned down and pressed my lips against his. His kiss was soft and sweet, and my heart flipped in my chest from the excitement of his nearness.

“Do we have time?” I asked, pulling away from him slightly.

He glanced at his watch and then back at me.

“Plenty,” he answered. “So, what do you say?”

I nodded, kissing him again before standing up from his lap.

“I’d love to go to breakfast with you,” I answered.

I’d never been taken out before, ever. So, it was exhilarating to even be offered, let alone the following morning after… the wild night we had. With heated cheeks, I press my legs together, attempting to alleviate the ache that throbbed at my core from the memory of his manhood inside me.

As we left my room, hand-in-hand, I was able to shout a brief “Bye Penny!” as she stumbled out of the bathroom still half asleep, giving a lazy wave without ever looking at me.

The rest of the dorm was quiet; students were still waking up for their early classes as Xaden whisked me toward the elevator. His grip on my hand was tight, a certain kind of need behind it as he gave it an impatient squeeze, waiting for the steel doors to slip open.

Once they did, he corralled me inside and closed the doors before ever pushing a number. Xaden took a deep breath, and I tilted my head at him curiously. His body drew close to mine, his hand planted itself next to my head as he trapped me between the wall, and him.

Boy, if this wasn’t Deja-vu. Only this time, it was my boyfriend, rather than my boyfriend's brother. Crap that sounded so bad.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, studying the way his jaw tensed and his languid eyes rested on my lips.

“I can’t seem to control myself very well this evening,” He stated matter of factly.

With his free hand, he gently touched my jaw, his thumb ran over the bone, and across my lips—pressing against them to test the soft squish that seemed to make him hum.

Then, he dropped his hand, and took a step away from me, pressing the ground floor on the elevator panel. The metal box whirred as it started to sink, and I was left cold, and bereft at his sudden absence.

Not that we could really do anything in an elevator, but it still didn’t take care of the heat that was spreading beneath my skin. So instead, I asked a question in an attempt to keep myself in check.

“Why can’t you control yourself?”

Xaden gave a brief laugh before turning his hungry gaze onto me. My breath was stolen from the intense look in his eyes, the small ring of yellow that was shimmering around his green irises told me that his wolf was present and that it was just as hungry as he was.

“Because I got to taste you completely yesterday, and all I want is more,” he breathed. “And with the full moon, my wolf is close to the surface and craving our mate.”

His lips peeled back into a sultry smile, one that made a titillating sensation bloom across my skin.

“I want to devour you completely. I want to taste your skin, feel your breath on my chest, hear my name being cried out in your voice, over and over again.” His eyes flashed yellow before settling back to their mossy hue, and he turned to look at the steel doors. “That’s not something I can do right now. So, I must control myself.” My cheeks were pink, but I couldn’t help my next statement.

“That doesn’t really explain why you can’t contain yourself,” I whispered. “I thought your wolf doesn’t control you.”

Xaden whirled around on me again, pressing my back against metal as my front became interlocked with his. His tight muscles beneath his shirt, the bulge of his arms as he entrapped my head on both sides.

“Because you are my mate. Mine. And I want nothing more than to mark you and show everybody not to touch what is mine.”

Possessive, yes. But it still made my skin tingle as I blinked at him. Being marked seemed like such a permanent thing, and an important one, at that. A commitment I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted, not because I didn’t like Xaden.

But because I didn’t understand it. None of it, and that misunderstanding made my gut twist, and words burst from my lips in a clumsy admission.

“This morning, I saw my eyes change purple.”