Chapter Six

Delaney

Two can fucking play this game, but the difference is I won't be the one losing.

I can tell everything I need to know even without my bodysmith power. Wilder is frustrated by the situation he's put himself in, and he's taking it out on me. He wants me, but he's scared to make a move, because he's made himself believe for whatever reason he's telling himself today, that he can't have me.

I have done my research since he bit me, so I do know that the lions are facing a female population problem, but whether the situation with his father is manufactured or not for Wilder's gain, is another question. I know next to nothing about Professor Wilder, and while he seemed nice enough in a slightly unhinged sort of way when he stole me and brought me to that tent before forcing me to talk about pickles, I clearly missed out on his major personality point. He"s a total jackass.

August and Jackson are pissed for me, and I can feel their tension as they shadow me to the very front of the auditorium. If this is where he wants me, I have no problem with that. I was trying to make it easy on both of us, but I guess there's no need for that.

A few other students trickle down as well, likely scared to be called out like I was in front of everybody else in this lecture hall, but once everybody is settled, Professor Wilder's jaw unclenches just a tidbit, but that's not going to work for me.

He wanted a mate? I guess he's about to get one.

It"s futile for me to rally against what he so unjustly gave us both, because there's not a way to undo this. If I full-out rejected him and severed the bond, neither of us would be in any sort of headspace to function for quite a while, and I will not let a man derail my plans.

I usually try not to attract attention, but in this case it feels warranted. I pull off my sweatshirt knowing the tank top I have on underneath will force Mr. Wilder into either giving me more attention than he wants to, or into completely avoiding me. Either one of those options is really in my favor, because I know he'd hate them both.

I grab a hair tie and I throw my hair up so that my neck is exposed, knowing he'll be able to see those bite marks even from up there with his shifter eyes. I casually lean against my hand where my elbow is propped up on my writing desk, and I give him the attention he so clearly wants, knowing full well this tank top does jack shit to cover up my chest. My boobs are basically the third person in this silent standoff right now.

Once I'm comfortable, I let him drone on thinking he's important while Cory passes out the stupid pop quizzes, something I'm not at all worried about because I did read what I was supposed to, and I start making my next move.

With my arms uncovered now, his empty mark is on full display, and I know he can see it. It's a double whammy between that and my neck. I've never heard of a shifter that could ignore somebody that wears their mark, but I can push him further.

Lion shifters are known for being more sensitive to bond marks, so if I open it up between us, I might be able to play with him and entertain myself. Because he bit me, it's not that difficult to let my magic sort of relax into the room with me and seek out where it wants to go. It's a little more challenging to avoid Jackson and August since I wear their marks as well, but I'm so laser focused on Professor Wilder that my magic seeks out where I want it to go fairly quickly.

I've never had to do this before obviously, and I really hate that my first actual mate I'll get is claimed in an act of revenge, but I will also not be a woman spurned.

As I fill in my stupid multi choice pop quiz, most of my consciousness is with that magic, finding his magical signature and wrapping it up, melding with it and welcoming it.

I don't know if this will actually work, but it's worth a try. I figure with who my parents are, I should be powerful enough and have enough juice to take mates at will, so here goes nothing.

I finish my stupid quiz and let my thoughts center on how much I want Professor Wilder as my full mate, focusing on how I know we're meant to be together, and the mark I already wear from him. I will the magic in my arm to accept him and trick it into thinking I have good intentions so that I can bond him to me, as much as I'm already bonded to him.

I stare at my arm as warmth rushes through me, a rush of emotion changing everything about how the rest of my life looks.

One of the bond mark circles on my arms fills in, and I'm assuming Professor Wilder feels it too, because as he starts to collect the tests, he sucks in a breath and trips, catching himself with a hand at the edge of a table. His eyes immediately find mine, locking onto me like a homing beacon. But I don't give him the satisfaction of sharing this moment with me. He claimed me with my back turned to him, so why should he receive different treatment?

I lean over, and he can practically see down my shirt from this angle while I pretend to pick some lint off my pants. Then I tie my shoelace just for something to do, carefully cross one leg over the other, and take notes like the dutiful student I am while he tries to lecture.

He"s sweating a little, markedly ignoring the claiming ring that just appeared on his hand, going so far as to keep that hand in his pocket so it isn't visible. I wish it didn't hit me so hard when he recovers from the shock of my claiming and goes right back to his arrogant self, but when he snaps at Jackson for helping somebody who dropped their pencil, threatening to kick them out for being a distraction again, I give up on trying to affect him, because it"s clear I don't matter to him.

When class is over, I stand up calmly, I collect my things without shaking, and I walk out of that room with my shoulders back and zero rush, pulling my sweatshirt back on as I do so I don"t have to answer any questions about what just happened to my arm. It feels too personal.

I don't even try and dodge Adam when I see him leaning against a post the hallway when I exit. I'm sure he's just waiting for Cory, so I don't let it go to my head that he's there, being intentional with my attention to him. I even wait for Cory to come join us, so they can both see I"m not about to turn into a basket case.

"You're freaking me out, Delaney. You're moving slow. I know what it means when you move slow like that."

I cock my head to the side at Adam, and I smile again. "Do you now?"

"Delaney?" Cory says, reaching for me.

"I'm good" I tell them. "But if you"ll excuse me, I have a brother to go visit. I hope you two have a marvelous afternoon. And I will text you later. Yep, I will. Maybe we can grab dinner or something. Let me know."

I don't react when Professor Wilder walks out into the hall right in front of me, making me swerve to avoid him. "I'm so sorry," I tell him in a polite, slightly robotic voice. I give him a mock bow, holding my arms out to suggest he should proceed like I"m a good loyal subject.

"What are you doing Miss Duncan?"

"Your god-like ego must be exhausting to carry around. I'm simply lightening the burden by ensuring you a smooth passageway through these halls. It's really the least I can do," I say with my head still bowed over.

"I was out of line," his voice rumbles. That makes me laugh.

"I would never presume to think such a thing about you. You're untouchable. Flawless, even. I"m sure you have lots of super important, non-distracting people to talk to, so I'll be taking my two distractions," and I grab August and Jackson by the hand, in hopes to calm them so they don't punch this guy out, "and we'll improve your day by removing ourselves from your presence. Or even do you a solid and visit my advisor like you suggested. I don't think a plebian like me can possibly keep up in a class like this. Good day, sir." And I back away from him with my head bowed in a completely mocking fashion, leaving him fuming and stuttering.

We're not even out of sight before Jackson pins me to the wall though, caging me in and completely dominating my personal space. "Who did you just give your mark to Delaney? Because it sure as hell wasn't me or my brother."

"Yes, and we all know you made sure of that."

Yeah, his face says he didn't like that, but it's nothing less than the truth.

"I made a mistake," Jackson admits.

August is running his fingers over my arm, my sleeve pushed back so he can study the mark up close. "It's beautiful," he admits, "but I don't know how you put it there and I"m jealous as hell."

I yank my arm away from him and try and duck out of Jackson's hold, but he's not done with me yet.

So naturally we make a bigger scene because Adam is also still in sight and he gets involved, deciding I need to be rescued. He comes, fist swinging towards Jackson because he's now actively preventing me from moving. And Adam knows it. "Let her go," his voice gravels.

"You sure you want to get into this?" Jackson asks with a sneer on his face. "You, the guy who—"

"That's enough!" I growl, clasping my hand over Jackson"s mouth to make him stop.

I meet Jackson's eyes, silently begging him not to say anything, because Adam doesn't need to know how stupid I was to think he had feelings for me.

"No I"d like to hear this, Delaney. what's he got to say?"

"Great. Now you're friends. Well guess what? Knock yourselves out. Just leave me out of it."

I let Cory pull me out and spin me away from Jackson, loving him for putting their body between mine and the twins', even if it's just one more person that thinks I can't take care of myself. The difference with Cory though, is I know they have much better intentions that are far less based on caveman emotions.

"Can we all chill, please? This is escalating quickly and we all need to relax. There's nothing to see here; let's just go about our day." I don"t have high hopes for my request, but it feels like it"s worth a shot.

"After what they did to you Delaney, you're going to let him get away with manhandling you like that?" Adam demands.

August tries to petition Adam again. "Do you know who she gave her mark to?"

I really don"t need any more of these potential mates teaming up against me, recklessly wanting to be friends.

"Oh shit," Cory cusses, staying in position but turning his head to look at me. "You didn't."

I shrug. "I might have. I was already stuck with him anyway. This gives me a bit of an advantage when he decides to pull the shit like he just did in class."

"What did he do?" Adam says, right back to being a dick.

"I'm so confused," August whines, holding his head. "Who the hell are we talking about?"

Technically I'm only bonded to one person, and I'm already exhausted with the drama of it. "Oh my gods, fine." Maybe I stamp my foot, but I'm pretty sure it's completely excused under the current circumstances. "That event I went to with you guys, when I was taken? He did more than just take me… You know what? This is a bad idea. I need to go," and I take off running.

As soon as I make it out of that building I feel better, the sun and the fresh air doing wonders to calm me down. The doors open behind me but nobody rushes towards me, so I'm hoping that means they've decided to be calmer about this.

I recognize the twin footsteps of August and Jackson as they meet me at the bottom of the stairs, looking somewhat resigned.

"It's our fault you don't want to talk to us about this," August says, and I'm glad that he includes himself in the problem, not blaming it all on his brother. "And I'm only going to assume you didn't want to tell us just now because you thought we would make a bigger scene when we went after the guy, yes?"

I nod, thinking very much that if they went and punched one my teachers I'd be expelled so fast, regardless of who my family is.

"Then here's what we're going to do," August says. "Don't be pissed at Adam for telling us, he just wants to make sure you're okay."

"I don't care if you guys know, this is all just too much right now. And I don't really want to talk about it."

Jackson checks out my arm now, his eyes running over the newly minted mate mark, fingers tracing the two empty ones. "Were these supposed to be ours?" he asks quietly.

I shrug, trying to look unaffected. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter, Delaney. I know I made a mistake. I miss you so much."

Laughter bubbles out of me without restraint. "I'm glad you realized that, but that doesn't really mean much to me."

I start walking again, my skin feeling a bit tight on my body because of the scrutiny it"s getting right now.

They don't say anything else as I keep walking, because they thankfully seem to get the hint that right now they're just guards for me. We're barely even friends, and it hurts too much to think about what we were. So I'm trying not to think of them at all. Pretty words of apology really have no meaning.

"You have a plan right now, I presume?" August asks.

"My plan," I say calmly, "is to go see Adler. He should be in or around his office, and I'm feeling like I could probably convince him let me work out some of my excess energy before the team warms up."

Having my brother here is truly a gift from the gods, because at least with all else going to absolute shit, there"s one person at school who knows who I am, knows all about my history and what makes me me, and understands me on such a basic level that I don"t have to worry about coming off as rude or misunderstood. I"ll be able to sweet talk him into letting me hang out at the stadium, into working out on his nice equipment, because I need to burn energy right now before I do something I can't take back.

I'm not really sure how well my baggy sweatpants will be to work out in, but I definitely get less attention this way, which I like. The second I step into that stadium and find out where he is, it's like a small piece of home is here.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," he says as he flings an arm over my shoulder. "How are your classes going?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't ask her about that right now," Jackson says, still clearly pissed.

"That's probably a good call. You mind if I hang around for a bit and work out? I promise I've got my magic under control. The guys will block out anything that slips through, but I'm not worried about it being an issue right now," I promise.

"I feel like you've said that before."

I can"t help but smile. Maybe my first real one all day. "You're right, I have. That was before these two. I'm good Adler, promise."

"Alright, but the second somebody starts stripping, you're out."

"More than fair," I concede.

He brings me to say hi to the head coach, who I"ve met before it and is awesome, and he has no problem with me hanging around either, as long as I don't get into any trouble.

I get the feeling that August and Jackson are excited by the prospect of being able to work out as well, being given permission to not follow me around. The equipment of this facility is so damn nice too since the athletes are the darlings of the school, after the conduits.

"You guys can go do whatever," I tell them. "Don't think I didn't catch you rubbing one out earlier this morning, August. My magic is good. I'm in control."

"Told you we'd take care of you," he says with a wink. And there's no way that should be cute or sweet in any way, the thought of him rubbing one out to fill my magic, but the proof is in the pudding I suppose, and if it filled me up then I know he still loves me. Or something like it.

I feel Jackson's eyes on me as I start to stretch and then they both wander off, checking out the equipment as I head out to the arena. I decide that running up and down the stadium stairs feels like a short-term good idea, even if my thighs will hate me for it later.

It's intimidating to stand at the bottom of that stadium and look all the way to the top and know that I'm going to be sprinting up and down it, but with each step all I have to do is recall the way Professor Wilder looked at me or singled me out, and I somehow find the energy to make it another step.

I'm distantly aware when practice starts, guys trickling out to the field to start drills.

Not sure where they got it from, but when I feel like I'm about half dead with fatigue, August is there with a giant bottle of cold water, and I'm so grateful I could actually drop to my knees and blow him right there.

I chug it of course and make the offer, but he just rolls his eyes and waves me off, so his loss.

I catch my breath, deciding to sit and watch practice for a bit, right behind where my brother is standing on the sidelines. It would be impossible to not register the various waves of lust coming off of some of the players that see me there, my ridiculous boobs basically out in the tank top I'm wearing which is now plastered to my skin with sweat, and it's flattering, even if it doesn't nourish me at all. Fuck I wish feeding my magic was as easy as sitting here and soaking up the lust.

I glance to August and start to get bad ideas, because for some reason it still feels like he's a little bit on my side. It's not exactly that I'm low on magic fuel, but…dick. I need it. I start to lose myself in the fantasy of pushing him down between the stadium seats and riding him, taking what I want. In this fantasy of course there's zero guilt for wanting someone unevenly, because he obviously wants me just as bad in this headspace.

Fuck. His hand lands on my knee like he knows I'm thinking about him, and all the bravado I gave him about me not waiting around for him gets lost in a wave of need. Maybe that makes me dumb or weak, but it is what it is.

His thumb starts tracing little circles against the inside of my leg, and my head naturally rolls to the side, exposing the part of my neck I very much want him to lick. And suck. And mark up.

My arm pulses and I don't even care. I know he's supposed to be mine; how much does it matter if he let me dump him because his brother fell out of love with me? I mean, who needs self-respect?

His hand rises and my lips part, my knees widen, and my eyes start to droop right as a fast moving object comes flying at Jackson's face, who's sitting on the other side of me, staring pointedly forward, clearly trying to remain unaffected by the wannabe fuckfest happening between me and his brother.

The thing is, my instincts don't let me do anything other than pluck that football right out of the air. Daddy Foster used to play football so of course I got roped into playing more than a few times growing up. Right now I'm thankful as fuck that I know how to catch a football, because that would have smashed the hell out of Jackson's pretty face. I stand up, absolutely pissed at whatever dumbass lost control of it.

Adler looks amused down on the field, his arms crossed as I step in front of Jackson as if he needs defending again. I stare down the whole ass football team, silently demanding them to give up who almost hurt my…

We'll finish that thought later.

Being tall means my hands are a good size to be able to hold one of these things, and there's a possessive, angry energy that rises in me that somebody would dare be so reckless around somebody that my inner self considers a mate.

There. There's one guy red faced and rubbing his arm, saying something that sounds suspiciously like an apology, but he's going to get what's coming to him for sure.

"Watch where you're throwing that, jackass!" I throw it back to the player on the field in a perfect spiral, nailing him right in the gut. He doesn't bother catching, whether it's because he didn't expect it to actually hit or he just knew he deserved some pain.

We have a momentary silent standoff while he stares open-jawed. Maybe he's impressed because I know how to catch and throw a football, maybe he's surprised I called him out, I don't know, but he's dazed enough that he stumbles a bit at the impact, sending a thrill through me.

The twins stand behind me and flank me as I walk out, feeling like a total badass for handling that. Honestly, if there was a time for me to catch and throw a ball perfectly, it was when someone could have seriously hurt my….

You know.

And a whole bunch of others were around to see him get what was coming to him, so karma's duty has been fulfilled.

"Damn," somebody whistles out as we leave, and maybe it's dumb, but I wind my hand into Jackson"s because I'm glad he didn't get hurt, and this feels like an okay way to let him know that.

Pssh. And my brother thought I was going to make a scene.