Chapter 219

Monday evening, Yorick and I are once again in my room. I was teasing him and he’s prowling around, Thad hunting me in the small space. He tackles me onto the bed, growling against my neck and sending shivers through my body as I squeal.

His fingers begin unbuttoning my blouse when I hear my cell phone ring. I answer without looking, distracted as I watch Yorick kiss his way down my chest.

“Hello.”

“Cyra, are you ignoring my calls?” Shit! Stellan.

I push Yorick off me and sit up.

“Stellan, how are you?” I ask, ignoring his question. Of course I was ignoring his calls. I spent the entire weekend with Yorick and barely thought of Stellan.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you the same question. The last I heard, you were injured and in the infirmary at the Academy,” he says.

I look at Yorick, who is watching me intently. I turn away from him, focusing on the call.

“I talked to Dad. I told him I was released from the hospital,” I tell him.

“And yet, I wanted to hear that you were healed from you, Cyra. Why have you been ignoring me?” He doesn’t sound hurt, he sounds annoyed. It’s as if me ignoring his calls has caused him undo frustration.

“I’m in school, Stellan. Even though it’s only been a week, I still have a lot of studying to do, and I missed an afternoon of classes because of my surgery.”

“One phone call, Cyra. One call to tell your betrothed that you were okay,” he says. Yorick growls beside me and I slap a hand over his mouth, shaking my head to tell him to be quiet.

“Is someone there?” he asks, his tone becoming angry.

“I’m in a study group, Stellan,” I say, watching Yorick get up and begin pacing angrily on the other side of the room.

“I see. Well, I won’t keep you from your…studies. But don’t ignore my calls, Cyra. I was worried about you. You’re to be my mate. It’s my job to look after you,” he says.

“Well, hopefully there will be no more instances of me breaking a knee, so you won’t have to worry.”

“Uh huh. Goodbye, Cyra.”

“Goodbye, Stellan.”

I disconnect the call, watching Yorick. Fur is periodically sprouting on his arms before receding and Thad’s claws keep sliding in and out of his knuckles.

“Do you want to go for a run?” I ask him quietly. I can see that he’s struggling to maintain control of Thad.

“What I want is to kill any man who would try to take you from me,” he snarls. Thad is fighting hard to take control.

“I’m going for a run,” he says, yanking the door open. The way he’s walking, it’s as if he and Thad are literally battling it out for control of his body.

“I’ll come with you,” I say, standing.

“NO!” he barks, startling me. “He’ll mark you if he has a chance,” Yorick says, just as Zach and Piper walk by. Zach may be a jokester, but he’s an Alpha and a good one. He glances from Yorick to me and back again.

“I could use a run, Shakespeare. Come on,” he says, and Yorick takes off. I hear his clothes shred before he gets to the door leading outside, and then I hear Thad’s howl of frustration as he races off.

“What happened?” Piper asks, watching them leave. I sigh and she steps in, closing the door.

“Stellan called,” I tell her.

“Stellan is…”

“The Alpha I’m in an alliance bond with,” I say, dropping onto my loveseat.

“Aw, shit,” she says, coming to sit beside me.

“I didn’t check the caller ID when I answered, or I would have let it go to voicemail.”

I lean forward, dropping my head in my hands. “What am I going to do, Pipes?”

“I’ve been thinking about this, especially with some of the classes we have. Have you read through the alliance agreement? I mean, is there some sort of an escape clause or something?” she asks.

I laugh derisively. “I wasn’t even told that I was being used as a pawn for the pack, much less allowed to see the document that binds me to someone who isn’t my mate.”

“I think we should try to get our hands on that document, Cyra. We need to know what it says, how it reads, in order to make a plan. There has to be some sort of escape clause, even if there isn’t one for you, they would put one in for Stellan. I mean, what if he finds his fated mate? Wouldn’t he want out of the agreement?” she asks.

“Maybe,” I say.

“Look, those types of alliances are meant to benefit the men who make the agreements, not us as the pawns in their schemes. So, I’d be shocked if there wasn’t some way that Stellan, at least, could get out of this. If that’s the case, we need to know what reasons make it valid for him to withdraw from the alliance bond, and then we need to make sure that he does withdraw.”

“So, how do we get our hands on the document? I’m not home. I can’t just go snooping for it, and I don’t know anyone else who I could ask to do that for me.”

“Well, while you and Yorick have been busy pretending you’re rabbit shifters, Zach, Landon, Chase, and I have been getting to know some of the upperclassmen around campus. Some of these individuals are here by choice, not because they weren’t hired by an outside company. The ones who are here by choice are continuing their education, things like learning to infiltrate a pack to overtake it,” she says conspiratorially.

“What? For what purpose?”

“They aren’t willing to give us too many specifics, but I get the impression that the werewolf council uses them when they need to dismantle a pack. We’ve met three of these upperclassmen so far, and they are the elite of the elite. I think I know one who might be willing to help us. First, she’s a female, another Alpha. But second, she’s the only second year and this might be a good opportunity for her to practice her skills. I’ll talk to her and see if she’s willing to meet with you.”

“Thanks, Piper. I really appreciate it.”

“I told you, I’ve got your back!”

She stayed with me a bit longer, then went back to her room. I waited up for Yorick, positive that he’d come to me when he’d burned off Thad’s anger and frustration.

It was after midnight when I heard his soft knock on the door. I opened it, seeing that he still looked miserable. He pulled me to him, and I wrapped my arms around him.

“Come to bed,” I whisper.

He nods, and we get into bed. He wraps his body around mine, burying his face in my neck and breathing deeply.

“Sorry I lost it,” he whispers.

“Don’t apologize. If the roles were reversed, I’m sure I’d have done the same thing.”

He holds on to me tightly, just breathing in my scent as I run my fingers through his hair.

“We have to find a way, Cyra. We have to find a way to get you out of that alliance bond. I can’t let you go. I won’t,” he growls, pressing his nose against my neck. Even now, Yorick is struggling to keep Thad calm.

“Piper had an idea about that,” I tell him.

That makes him sit up. “Tell me.”

I do, and when I finish, he nods. “It’s a start. I’ll follow any breadcrumb that might lead me to the solution I need, Cyra. I mean it. I’m not letting you go,” he says.

He lays back down, still holding me tightly. It’s a long time before either of us fall asleep.