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Chapter Twelve
Before lunch, I ducked into the ladies’ room to use the facilities. There were three girls huddled near the window. One of them was Seraphine from defense class. My wolf’s hackles immediately went up. I looked for my options but there was only one exit. I went into the stall and took care of business, listening to the hushed whispers. My wolf never let her guard down. The smell of cigarette smoke wafted toward me, making my nose burn and my throat constrict. All people, and especially shifters, should know better than to smoke. Humans could smell the tobacco, but it was toxic to our senses and could numb our enhanced smell.
I got out of the stall and moved to the sinks to wash my hands. I didn’t have to look at them to know their gaze was on me.
The hair on my arms raised.
My heartbeat quickened.
“Apparently, I didn’t attack hard enough,” Seraphine said.
I sighed. Honestly, I expected better of the shifter race and of females in general. Must everything be a fucking competition? Her comment warranted no answer from me.
“Did you hear me?” she asked. “Ava.” She spat my name like a curse.
“I heard you.” I grabbed for the paper towels and dried my hands on the hard, scratchy paper.
The fiery scent of anger reached my nose, making me shake my head.
“What are you shaking your head for? You think you’re better than us just because you’re Nolan, Wolfe, and Lex’s latest piece of ass? Come on. They’ll get tired of you just like they did the others.”
They were wrong. My wolf knew they weren’t players, and there was other evidence of this as well. No lingering female scents in our dorm room. No one approached them during or in between classes. They barely even spoke to another female unless it was to be polite or have some common courtesy.
Something that was clearly lacking in the ladies’ bathroom.
“Okay,” I responded. I wasn’t interested in egging them on but at the same time, they needed to know that their words didn’t bother me. My feathers or fur couldn’t be ruffled so easily.
“We already have a claim on them,” one of Seraphine’s buddies said. “So, don’t think whatever you four are doing is going to have any impact on that. We know boys will play.”
Eew.
“So you’re their fated mates?” I asked. My wolf was royally pissed off now.
“Fated mates?” All three of them laughed as Seraphine mocked me. “You can’t tell me you believe in that, right? You think you’re their fated mates? Where did you come from?”
The door to the restroom squeaked as it was flung open. Minx stood in the doorway and, while her face gave nothing away, she knew the situation. Other females had probably done this to her over her mates.
“What the hell is happening here?” Minx said, putting down her backpack.
“Nothing. Just a conversation,” Seraphine said, but there was no denying the quiver as she spoke. That’s when I realized they were afraid of Minx.
“Is that right? In the bathroom? You don’t have anywhere else to talk?”
She and I shared a look. While I didn’t need any help defending myself, I appreciated the backing, especially from my sister. Maybe sister? Sister to me but maybe not to her.
Yeah. That was it.
“We were just asking Ava about her new boyfriends.”
Minx rolled her eyes. “Didn’t sound like that to me. Sounded like a bunch of catty females trying to bully a fellow student.”
“So what?” one of the girls said, putting out her cigarette. “What are you going to do about it? Why do you care anyway?”
I leaned against the sink, taking in the scene. The scent of their fear permeated the room, and yet they were standing their ground. “I care because I hate bullies, and haven’t you heard the rumors? I think we all know what I’m capable of.”
Seraphine groaned. “Whatever. We were having some fun. We’re late for lunch anyway.”
They walked around Minx, their heads a bit down and their gaze on the floor.
