Chapter 29

Chapter 29

I was the first person to arrive at Astrology club. I even beat Adrian, which was why I had to stand outside the door, awkwardly shifting on my feet. There was no sitting cross legged on the floor and doing homework today. Instead, I leaned against the wall, my hands folded nicely over my skirt, and I fidgeted uncomfortably.

What a fucking day.

I hope Ceto doesn't think I'm some kind of pervert.

"Oh, darn, I was trying to get here first today." A soft, feminine voice drew my attention from my troubling thoughts. I met Linda's gaze as she stood by the door. "How's it going, Lila?"

"Been a long day." I answered, managing to avoid showing any outward embarrassment.

"Tell me about it." She groaned. "Full moons are the bane of my existence."

I blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what she meant. Maybe she wasn't human either? I glanced at her eyes, hopefully appearing to make eye contact in a confident way and not in an ‘I'm studying you like you're a science project' way. They were a pale grey-blue that was completely possible in the human realm, but I almost thought there were specks of diamonds in there.

Undecided.

"Why?" I spoke as casually as I knew how.

Linda scrunched up her nose. "Why is anything the bane of a woman's existence? Men." She finished with a laugh.

Preach .

"Boyfriend troubles?" The more I talked to her, the easier it felt. She was charismatic and sweet, in that way that made even small talk feel like an intimate conversation with a friend.

"They wish." She snorted at that. "College guys are so immature, and yet all they ever want to talk about is how great our babies would look. Like I'm bringing a baby into the world with a guy who still calls his mom to ask where the laundry detergent goes."

"Straight to babies?" It must be a burden to be hot and likeable. I would have rolled my eyes, but well… I wasn't hot or likeable, and even I felt burdened by the moon. "That seems forward for someone you're not even dating."

Linda tilted her head to the side with confusion. "When you're an Omega, it's all men talk about." She touched a finger to her eye, slightly shifting a color contact out of place. A hint of pink appeared behind it, before she returned the blue lens to its rightful position. "I figured you were an Alpha since you always smell so earthy. Did I read that wrong? "

I chewed on my lip and contemplated how to answer that. I guess it was obvious to everyone but me who was magic and who wasn't. The comedy was, even if I'd also been born with some innate way to sense it just from a magic aura or something, I was so in the dark, that I wouldn't know what feeling or scent I was looking for.

"No, just a Beta." I rubbed the back of my neck. It felt weird to admit it out loud to someone. It was one thing when talking to Marcus or Ceto or Adrian, but she was a total outsider to my life. Casually commiserating with someone who wanted nothing from you was normal and healthy though, right? I'd never had that before. So much had changed since I got here.

"I wish I was a Beta. Then people would leave me alone." She sighed. "Being born an Omega Armadillo didn't exactly give me a lot of agency. But well, can't change your bloodline."

We waited together for another ten minutes or so, and she spoke candidly about her hometown in the deep south, including her favorite fields of flowers where she used to spend all of her moons. Unlike all of the shifters I knew, she was completely in control of her transformations, and she chose when she wanted to take on animal characteristics. She wasn't a hybrid.

I wondered if I could partially shift in between moons? I wouldn't even know how to attempt it though, and it's not like my transformation had been any different from my normal body. Unlike Adrian who could manifest things like wings or claws, my slightly pointed ears were only going to be helpful if I was planning to cosplay.

Either way, it was nice chatting with her. Once again, I had to accept that Linda wasn't a mean girl, no matter how much she flirted with Adrian. My only resentment towards her came from my own jealousy. That was a bit of a theme this month anyway.

It would have been easier to hate her, but here we were. Bonding. At some point before Adrian showed up for class, I even gave her my number. I was going to be a functional college student, just wait.

"You're both early." Adrian said as he approached. Linda lit up the moment she saw him, and I reminded myself that I had just decided not to hate her.

He unlocked the door, barely acknowledging me, and I took my usual seat. I adjusted very, very carefully, so I wouldn't draw any attention to myself.

When Marcus joined me, he shot me a silent smile. My whole face tingled with heat, and I broke eye contact as quickly as I'd made it.

Face forward, get through class , I told myself.

Marcus nudged his desk slightly closer to mine. "You've been good, I hope." He spoke directly into my mind.

I adjusted in my seat. "You're a dick." I shot back. It was playful, but only kind of.

"If your first thought since sitting down is about my dick, I think I've played my cards well." So smug.

He was right though.

I kept my eyes trained forward while I involuntarily flushed, and Adrian began the lesson. We'd heavily covered Aries' compatibility in the last class, so today he was onto the physical constellation, the stars it included, and when and how to find it. I should have been thrilled to approach the stars from a more astronomical perspective rather than a mythical, astrological one, but when Marcus placed his hand on top my thigh, my brain wasn't computing science.

I remained stiff as nails, not even breathing, when he started drawing idle circles at the edge of my skirt with his pinky. He kept his gaze fixed on the whiteboard, while he so casually drove me insane with the smallest motion. I folded my hands on my desk, and I pretended everything was fine.

"The first point of Aries is located at the Vernal Equinox," Adrian said, while Marcus slipped his hand a single inch upward. His pinky snuck beneath the edge of my skirt.

"You seem so nervous, Baby Doll. How many times do I have to tell you to relax?" He started another silent conversation.

"We're in class. Your brother's class." I hissed in my mind.

"Why would that be a problem? You don't think his eyes would be wandering down here, do you?" He inched up higher, until his ring finger was hidden beneath the fabric. He resumed drawing those little circles much too high on my inner thigh.

I focused only on breathing. My gaze was fixed on the dots Adrian was drawing on the board. Marcus was resting his chin in his right hand, face forward, and not drawing any unusual attention while he toyed with me with his left .

"No, but if he sees you reaching over to my desk, anyone would look at what you were doing." I attempted to inject some logic and reason into this situation.

"No one else is." He burrowed deeper into my skirt, his whole hand now hidden. The soft cotton hitched higher from his movements. "I'm pretty sure I could…" He settled his hand all the way up my thigh, and he brushed the side of his pinky over my outer lips. I clenched my thighs more tightly, trapping his fingertips in between them.

"He's going to notice. Didn't you say the bond transferred sensations?" I reminded him through pure panic. It was an exercise in impossible control to keep my expression remotely neutral.

"Are you that turned on already?" A smirk crossed his lips, obvious from the corner of my eye. He sunk his fingers in between the tight squeeze of my thighs, then he drew his pinky up through my folds, brushing past my clit. He lingered, teasing light pressure up and down. My heart beat skipped. "You are. So you like it when I play with you right in front of him. Why didn't you just say so?"

"Marcus." I had no doubt my panic was written all over my face now. Panic and heat and so many things that were not appropriate in a classroom.

"I find it interesting that, in all of your protesting, you haven't told me to stop yet." Using his thumb, he slid my skirt up higher, revealing another couple inches of my skin. "Want me to finger fuck you right here? I bet I could make you come all over that chair before he even finishes listing the stars of the Aries constellation. How long do you think he'd be able to keep his composure while you're drenching your seat?"

"You're insane. "

He angled his hand so he could better apply pressure to my clit, much more brazenly this time. "That's not a ‘no.'"

I sucked in a breath and held it. Every magical predator in this room could likely hear my heartbeat. I didn't know if there were any others outside of Adrian and Marcus, but that made at least two men listening to me lose control.

"This isn't appropriate."

"Mmmmhmmmm," He sunk lower, until he was one knuckle deep inside me. My heart hammered in my chest, as I kept my eyes locked on the front of the room.

"Fucking hell."

"I love the way you're picking every word but the one, single one I told you to say." His laugh was fortunately only in our silent headspace. His hand had no such boundaries. "I knew I liked you for a reason, Baby Doll."

I bit into my lip, while my heart was full on hammering now.

"Marcus, would you mind coming up here and drawing out the Aries?" Adrian's voice ripped us both from the moment, shaking me to my core. It took me several stunned seconds to realize Marcus had already removed his hand with his impossible vampire speed, his reflexes having caught the fraction of a second Adrian had turned his attention this way.

"I'm not much of an artist." Marcus waved a hand dismissively. The same hand that had just been between my thighs. I crossed my legs as discreetly as humanly possible .

"I insist." Professor Karras said through near imperceptible, well-restrained rage. Yep, he definitely noticed. "This club is supposed to be interactive, and I'd appreciate your participation."

Marcus made no effort to hide the amusement in his expression or his body language. "I think Lila is better at this kind of thing. She loves astronomy."

"Traitor."

"Yes, ma'am." Even his telepathic communication was obnoxious.

I scooched out of my seat, never taking my hands off the hem of my skirt, then I walked to the front of the class. I hated Marcus with the fury of a thousand suns as I walked behind Adrian's desk and stood right next to him. He did an impressive job of not looking at me as he pointed to the stars of the Aries constellation, showing me the order so I could trace them.

"Give me your best Ram, Lila." His voice was almost shaking, he was so strained.

"No problem." I squeaked as I reached for the dry erase marker.

By which I mean I have all the problems , I told myself as my unsteady fingers bumped that marker and dropped it on the floor. I looked at the dry erase pen, then I looked at Adrian, while the sound of Marcus' snicker registering too clearly in my mind.

Fuck my life.