Avoiding Alpha

I licked my lips and he grinned, dimples and all. Heat burned through my body. Both mine and his. It was too much. I was seconds away from jumping him.



“If you guys force me to chauffeur you while you make-out, I’m going to lose it,” Chris said.



Dastien yelled something in quick French at Chris before getting in the car.



Chris laughed and said something back.



“In English, boys.” Otherwise, I couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying.



“I said that in the interest of those around you, maybe you can tone it down a notch,” Chris said. “Or twenty.”



My cheeks were on fire. “Shut up,” I said as I hit the back of his seat.



Dastien slid across the seats and pulled me to him. “I’ll never be upset that you’re attracted to me. Don’t be embarrassed.”



“Easy for you to say. Jerk,” I said. “Maybe don’t be so hot next time. What was with that look? That pause with the shirt over your head? Jesus. I’m pretty sure my heart forgot to beat for a second. Are you trying to kill me?”



He laughed.



I shook my head. Guys were nuts. “Let’s get out of here.”



When Chris started driving, Dastien linked our hands together. “Did you feel our bond missing?”



“Yeah. I did.” I winced. “But I brushed it aside as a side effect of being on their territory. Going through the gate onto their land wasn’t exactly the most comfortable thing ever.”



“You didn’t think about calling me?”



“I’m sorry. The bond’s there when I need it and otherwise, it feels a little snoopy to be checking on you all the time. Not to mention distracting. I’m having enough trouble in my classes as it is, thank you very much.”



He smiled at me, but it wasn’t exactly genuine. Man, I sucked.



“I was so focused on Meredith, I didn’t even think that it’d affect you. Or that you’d notice.” The look he gave me told me what he thought about that. “Sorry.”



He squeezed my hand, letting me know it was forgiven, but I’d try not to mess that one up again.



“They warded their lands. Covens typically tell the alpha of the pack closest to them where they are so that any run-ins can be avoided, but no pack members actually go there. We always meet on neutral ground,” Dastien said. “My best guess is that the ward either keeps people away from their compound or keeps intruders from escaping.”



He looked at me, eyes flashing to gold for a second before going back to their normal amber. “It didn’t even occur to me that you would go after we talked. I thought you went to class, and I felt you start to get agitated and the distance between us—that you were physically far away. I knew you’d gone there, and the bond disappeared and…” He trailed off and echoes of his terror rang strong through our bond. “I thought—”



I squeezed his hand, cutting him off. “I really am sorry. I honestly thought you wouldn’t notice it, and moved on with what I was there to do. I wasn’t planning on staying long.” I paused as a thought hit me. “How much attention do you pay to our bond?”



Holy shit. My mate was blushing. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him blush.



“Please tell me you’re not going all creeper on me and looking in twenty-four-seven.”



“Creeper? Really? You’re my mate.”



I widened my eyes. “What would you call it?”



“Keeping watch. You do have a tendency to get yourself into crazy situations.”



“I don’t do anything—”



Chris started laughing, but turned it into a cough when I hit the back of his seat.



“Barging in on the coven’s compound first thing in the morning qualifies as a crazy situation.”



He might have a point. I guessed that I did stick my nose in a few places it didn’t belong. In my defense, if I hadn’t stuck my nose in, bad things would’ve gone down in the pack. But before I met Dastien, I totally stayed out of trouble. “My life was totally normal until I met you, buddy.”



“Says the girl who had visions whenever she touched anything. Yeah, I don’t buy that for a second.”



I smacked his arm. “Not funny.”



Chris chuckled from the front seat. Great. I was getting laughed at by both guys in my own car.



“Come on. It was a little funny,” Dastien said.



I tried to keep from laughing, but ended up grinning anyway. I leaned into him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.