Sorority Wolf (6 page)

He took a step back. Her words struck him as if she had slapped him across the face.
“Fine. I won’t bother you anymore, little girl. But keep in mind you’ve made an enemy
today. One you won’t see coming.”

She poked him in the chest. “Do you always scorch and burn when you argue?”

“What?” He had no idea what she meant.

“Tell me something. What is your true nature?”

He sucked in his breath. “Who told you to ask me?”

“Answer the question. You have to, don’t you? I asked it. So answer it.”

 
“Gentle….”

He ignored his body mate and bent over so he could whisper in her ear. She smelled
clean and fresh. Currently, he hated her aroma. It reminded him of all he knew he
would never have again.

“What is my true nature? I’ll tell you. I’m a demon. I’ve taken over this body, and
I’m your worst nightmare.”

“There aren’t demons.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re just made up to scare children
into behaving better.”

“You’re a werewolf. You want to question whether or not things are real? Take my word
for it, sweetheart; you had sex with a demon. The son of one of the most powerful
demons in hell. ”

He turned and walked from her, leaving her standing in the courtyard by herself. This
had gotten rapidly out of hand. No one was ever supposed to know he was a demon. A
cardinal rule of possession was to never get caught.

Who the hell had told her to ask him that one phrase, stated exactly as it needed
to be said, in order to get him to answer?

“Was this your fault?” he asked his unwanted companion.

 “How could I have possibly told her? I didn’t even know myself.”

The half-werewolf had a point, but he hated hearing it. Everything would be so much
easier if he could only take out all of his aggression on the one thing he couldn’t
seem to get rid of. But how was he to beat up someone who lived inside of him?

 “Or maybe you live inside of me. Did you ever consider the possibility?”

“No.”

He opened the door to his room and walked inside. When he’d closed it behind him,
he gave in to the urge to pound on the wall.”
Fuck all this fucking shit
.”

A surge of hatred rushed over him. It was an emotion he knew well. Most of his existence,
he had bristled with it. But this time, it wasn’t from him; it was from Kieran—well,
the Kieran who used to control his body.

 
“Hey, guess what, dick head? While you were out there fucking around, I figured out
a few things.”

“What?” He shook his head. Things had been better when Kieran hadn’t been able to
form words. Why hadn’t he appreciated the near silence when he’d had it?

 “I can take you down.”

“I’d love to see you try.”

His knees gave out, and he slammed into the ground. “Oh, what the hell?” His knees
burned, and the snickering in his head made the pain even worse.

 
“See I told you. You’re not staying in here. Not one more minute.”

“Kieran.” He couldn’t believe he had to do this. First, someone had helped Alexandra
out him, and now his host threatened to beat him up? No way. No more. “I’m a demon
and the son one of the most powerful demons in hell. Do you think I’m so easy to handle?
One of us will be walking away from here, and I can guarantee it’s me.”

 “Are you all talk, or will you show me what you’re made of, asshole?”

“Oh, I’ll to show it to you. Let’s do it.” He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
Most demons would never have to face this kind of fight. Their hosts disappeared nice
and easy without ever causing even a blip of a problem. But if Kieran wished for a
battle, he’d get to feel the flames.

 “Bring it on.”

***

Alex tapped her fingers on her desk and tried to pay attention to what her economics
professor droned on about. She hated this class, had since her first moment in the
lecture hall, and the only thing that had made it manageable was getting to stare
at Kieran when he taught it as the teacher’s assistant.

Today, he hadn’t shown up, and she wanted to pound him over the head with a very hard
shovel for not being there. If she could be brave and come to class, certainly he
could. He was the demon after all.

She looked down at her phone and texted the ROAR line again, this time as inconspicuously
as possible. If the professor saw her, then Dr. Boring would, for sure, confiscate
her phone.

Is he really a demon
? She’d pondered it all night. Maybe he was just screwing with her.

Yes
.

She groaned, which earned her a sideways glance from the guy next to her. “What?”
She whispered at him. “You never talk to yourself?”

He quickly glanced away, and she counted to ten to try to get her temper down. She
couldn’t shift, and there wasn’t any way for her to get rid of the aggression which
would make her feel as good as ripping into a squirrel or, better, a deer.

Alex pushed her chair back and stood. Every eye in the room fell on her, and she tried
to smile, but it may have come across as more of a smirk. Her emotions were all over
the place. Who knew what she projected right then?

“Sorry. Gotta go.” She turned on her heel and fled out the door before the professor
could say anything about it.

The cold air hit her hard, and if she’d been human, she would have needed a jacket.
The thought jarred her. She and Kieran had stood together on a cold night and stared
up at the Lambda House together. Demon or no demon, when they’d stood there together
in the wind, she’d been connected to him, drawn to his presence, and not because he
was some kind of creature from another place, but because when he’d looked at her,
he had seen her. Kieran had really known who she was.

And then, in bed, she’d felt it again, as if their bodies had made a promise in those
moments her soul had to find a way to keep.

“Oh, damn it.” She stomped her foot, knowing it was childish. She hadn’t behaved so
badly since she’d actually been a kid, but this felt as if it was the perfect time
to start.

The truth was Kieran could act like a complete douche bag. He had a bad temper, and
the things he said when he got mad clearly left something to be desired. But, pathetic
imbecile that she was, she’d gone and fallen for him. She was in love with a fucking
demon.

Her pledging duties called to her, but when they were done, she would find the son
of one of the most powerful demons in hell—after she determined exactly what it meant
to have that pedigree—and she would figure out how this could work because it had
to. She loved him.
Damn it
.

***

“Listen up, bitches,” Mellee called out to the group of girls, and Alex had to bite
her tongue. She’d gotten more than a little tired of being called a bitch. She gritted
her teeth and tried to listen to the rest of what Mellee said.

“We don’t like you yet. Someday, we might call you our sisters. Someday, we might
even encourage our pack leaders to make you our family. Today, you are maggots. You
are nasty nothings I have to put up with.”

The sisterhood stood behind her, all dressed in black and holding various food items.
They were on a dark field with only flashlights illuminating the evening. The light
had to be for show. They were all werewolves. They didn’t need it. But there was nothing
like drama, and the longer pledging went on, the more the sisters seemed to be digging
deep for ways to terrify the pledges.

Only, Alex wasn’t scared. Not even a little bit. She yawned. This had become boring.
She itched to check her cell phone. Maybe her demon boyfriend had texted her to say
he was sorry for being such an idiot. Probably not, but she still needed to check.

Instead, she knew she was about to get
schmegged
. It was a ridiculous word, a made up one, but it still meant the same result in the
end. The sisters would dump food all over her and the other pledges. The whole experience
was, of course, completely illegal, but then again, all of the hazing Lambda did could
get the entire sisterhood thrown in jail as well as have their national charter revoked.
All of that had been explained to them moments after they’d signed their pledge cards
agreeing to tell the university if any of this ever went on.

She wouldn’t, of course. If she did, if any of them ever spoke of the secrets of Lambda,
then their chances to be sisters would end. As well as any future thoughts of joining
the sought-after packs.

Presumably, since Kieran wore Greek letters of his own, he had endured his own pledging
rituals. Or at least his body had. When exactly had Kieran become the Kieran she knew?
Had he been demonically possessed for decades?

“I think I know which one of you I’ll egg first,” Mellee continued.

Of course, she did. It would be Alex. Mellee skipped over as if it was Christmas morning.
The thought made Alex smile.

“Something funny, bitch?” Her cousin snarled. Mellee looked at her and stared silently
for a second. Mellee didn’t move, her nostrils flaring.

“Do you actually need me to answer?”

“Would I have asked you if I didn’t expect you to answer?” Mellee shouted, and it
raised Alex’s temper.

She wanted pack, but she didn’t know if she desired it this much. Assuming her deal
with the demon had ended, and she had to guess it had since he’d named her an enemy,
she had no reason to keep quiet around Mellee anymore.

“I’m not sure, cousin. You made a point of saying no one could talk to me. I assumed
you meant you, too.”

Mellee opened and closed her mouth. The whole crowd could hear every word they said.
Werewolves had fantastic hearing. If anyone hadn’t been aware of their family tie,
they’d know. Alex hadn’t stopped to consider if disclosing their relationship was
good or bad. At this point, she had to react purely on instinct.

“Oh, yes, I know you’re my cousin, and I guess I can even understand why you hate
my mother so much. She followed her heart, and it screwed up your life.” Alex shook
where she knelt on the ground. “But it’s nothing to do with me. I am not my mother.
Never have been; never will be. Her decision took something from me as well, so if
it makes you feel better, drench me in food. Schmeg me until my eyes burn and my hair
falls out of my head. Cover me in it, Mellee. It’ll never change the fact that I’m
your cousin, and I will have pack. You won’t take it from me, no matter how many eggs
you break on my head.”

The first egg smacked into her scalp with enough force Alex saw stars. Maybe she had
spoken too soon. Taunting Mellee couldn’t have been a worse idea. The shaving cream
they shoved in her face burned her eyes. She raised her hands to block the onslaught,
but two of Mellee’s cronies grabbed them to stop her.

“You think you can talk to me like that? You can’t ever speak to me as if you know
me. I’m everything, and for the remainder of your existence, I’ll make sure you know
pain.”

***

It hadn’t been the remainder of her existence, but the few minutes she had stood there
while Mellee and her friends covered her with disgusting, old food felt as if they
would never end. Eventually, they’d moved on and assaulted some of the other pledges.
But she’d taken the brunt of the pain.

Standing outside of Kieran’s fraternity had to be the stupidest move ever. Filthy
and disgusting was not the way to approach a guy who had declared her an enemy. Particularly
one who was a demon.

So what the hell was she doing there?

She sniffed. Truth was she had nowhere else to go other than back to her dorm room
all by herself. And the idea seemed too depressing for words.

“Alexandra?” She jumped and turned around. He’d been downwind; she hadn’t scented
him, but there he stood, Kieran, in all his dark hotness. He looked her up and down,
and she wished she could melt into the ground. “Ah. The schmegging. The sororities’
answer to tough hazing. Can’t have you ladies doing pushups all day long like we do,
so they cover you with food. Nothing like a good egging to make people bond.”

“Well.” She rubbed her cheek and got more cream on her hand. “I think this one might
have been more personally directed.”

“I bet.” He held up a plastic coffee cup she’d not noticed before. “Don’t worry. I
won’t pour it on you.”

“Right. Look, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’ll just go.”

“No.” He grabbed her arm and must have gotten food all over himself. He didn’t react
at all. “Come in. We’ll get you cleaned up.”

Even though she wanted to be clean with him more than anything, she had to add one
last statement. If she went inside and discovered he hated her, she’d explode into
a thousand pieces. “I thought I was the enemy.”

“Are you?” He raised his dark eyebrows. “I guess we’ll have to work things out. Some
elements have changed in the last few hours. I’ll explain it later. If you’re an enemy,
I’ll know it soon enough.”

“Okay.” His words didn’t make a lot of sense, but being close to him made her feel
warm, and she’d been freezing cold since the first egg came down on her head.

They walked through the halls, and she kept her eyes down. It was hard enough being
disgusting without having to meet the stares of Kieran’s frat brothers. It was likely
they all knew what had happened. Kieran certainly had recognized her condition right
away.

He opened the door to his room, and she walked in. The last time she’d been in there,
they’d been naked. Her cheeks heated with the memories. It had been the hottest encounter
of her life.

“What are you thinking?” He took off his coat and set it on the bed. “You have a weird,
scrunched up look on your face.”

“I was thinking it was really…hot…between us in here. But maybe sex is always smoking
for you? Is it a demon thing?”