Chapter 17

Seventeen

IZZY

“ S o…are you going to tell me why we hate Ashton and his friends?”

Those are the first words Jake says to me when I plop into the seat opposite him in the cafeteria. Jake’s best friend, Dec, looks between the two of us inquiringly, his mouth half full of meatloaf.

“We hate them?” he asks, confused.

“We don’t hate anyone,” I stress. “I’m just…”

Pissed off?

Annoyed?

Feeling betrayed?

All of the above?

Jake waves his fork back and forth in the air. “I don’t think you understand how this thing between us works.” He points the fork at me. “If you hate someone, then I hate someone, and vice versa.”

“What if I told you one of the people I was mad at was Desiree?” I ask, trying to smother my grin.

Jake has had a crush on Desiree for as long as I have known him—and probably longer than that. The man has it bad.

Jake winces and rubs a hand through his sandy-blond hair. “Is there a reason why we’re mad at her?”

“It’s because she’s fucking Ethan and Emery, isn’t it?” Kain slides into the seat beside Jake with a lewd grin in my direction.

I’ve never liked Kain. There’s something about him that makes me uncomfortable. Even now, it feels like there are thousands of fire ants crawling all across my body.

“Desiree is fucking Ethan and Emery?” Jake asks, blinking.

I take a rather aggressive bite of my sandwich. “Apparently.”

Jake’s entire body sags in disappointment. I feel as if I just kicked a puppy.

“Oh.” Abruptly, anger distorts his features, and he throws a venomous look across the cafeteria. “Oh. That’s why you’re so mad, isn’t it? Because those assholes were leading you on while fucking another girl behind your back. What assholes.”

“Who are you glaring at?” Dec asks, frowning. “They aren’t even over there.”

“It’s the thought that counts.” Jake spins back around and huffs. “I can’t believe I defended those assholes.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter. I’m over it.” I dab at my mouth with a napkin. “It’s not like we were dating or anything.”

They are just my fated mates, apparently, who are in love with another girl.

No big deal.

Oh, and did I mention that they neglected to tell me about said mating bond?

“Listen here, and listen well,” Jake tells me seriously, once again jabbing his fork in the air for emphasis. “Guys are stupid. We think with the wrong head more often than not, and we do dumb shit ninety percent of the time.”

“Become a lesbian,” Kain says, offering me a salacious eyebrow wag that immediately turns my stomach. “Then you won’t have to deal with men. And you can make a killing on OnlyFans.”

“Dude!” Jake shoves at Kain’s shoulder while I glare at him in disgust.

“You’re horrible.” To Jake, I ask, “Why are you friends with him?”

“I’m not.” Jake scoffs as if the prospect is ridiculous. “The fucker just refuses to leave me alone.”

“Asshole,” Kain mutters.

“Speaking of assholes…” Dec leans forward as if we’re about to exchange secrets. “I see that you’ve been hanging out with Ansel a lot.”

“First, Ansel isn’t an asshole,” I say, feeling indignation roar through me. “And second, are you stalking me?”

Jake snorts. “The gossip mills have been going crazy lately. Someone saw you leave school yesterday with him. They claim that you found a quiet place to…you know…exchange bodily fluids.”

A bark of laughter escapes me. “Exchange bodily fluids? Really?”

“Bump uglies. Do the horizontal tango. Put the pickle in the sandwich.” Jake throws his hands up in the air, exasperation clear on his face. “You know what I mean.”

“You had sex with Ansel?” Kain asks crudely, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

I pray to every god in existence for patience. Anything to keep me from decking this fucker.

Jake doesn’t have the same restraint that I do.

“Dude.” He whacks Kain across the back of the head. “Knock it the fuck off or leave. I’m serious. This is your last warning.”

Kain rubs at his head while chuckling. “Dude, chill. I was just joking.”

“You’re being disgusting,” Dec corrects.

“Sex isn’t disgusting,” Kain counters immediately. “It’s a normal activity?—”

“Seriously, Kain. Don’t fucking test me…” Jake glares at his teammate, and Kain finally lifts his hands in the air in mock surrender.

“Fine, fine. I’ll knock it off.”

“And for the record, I didn’t have sex with Ansel,” I bite out. “Not that it’s any of your business. We just hung out.”

Kain looks as if he wants to say something—probably a lewd or perverted joke—but one warning glare from Jake has him snapping his mouth closed.

“Where is he anyway?” Dec asks, dipping his french fry into a pile of ketchup.

“Library. He had to study for a test.”

Ansel apologized profusely that he couldn’t sit by me at lunch, and I felt those butterflies return with a vengeance. I don’t know how so much could’ve changed between us in a span of a day, but it did.

“I just wish you had come home last night,” Jake murmurs, pouting. “I had things planned.”

“Things?”

“You know…presents and cake and all that stuff. We’ll just have to celebrate your birthday tonight.”

My smile fades. “I don’t know…”

“Did something happen?” Jake asks, concerned. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

His earnest eyes ensnare my own.

Is it possible that Jake knows the truth about Hale, Gerry, and the others? Is he a part of the supernatural world as well? Or has he been in the dark this entire time, just like I was?

I want to demand answers, but now isn’t the time. Kain is grinning at me with a decidedly shark-like smile—one that clearly states he scented blood in the water and is coming in for the kill.

“Later,” I promise Jake, and I’m not just talking about the birthday celebrations.

Later, we’ll talk. Later, I’ll get my answers. Later, he’ll learn the truth.

His brows furrow at whatever expression he sees on my face before he nods once. “Okay, but I think—” A frosty scowl overtakes his features. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I don’t even need to look over my shoulder to know who has just arrived. I can sense him the way I can my own limb. Heat permeates the air around me and seeps through my skin, alighting me from the inside out. I rub absently at the mark on my wrist as wave after wave of fire ripples through me.

“Izzy.” Emery’s voice is a dark, husky growl that reverberates through me. “We need to talk. Now.”