The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion (12 page)

lowered his body over his mate’s and sank his fangs into Angel’s

throat. Another wave of ecstasy shook him as he pumped his mate full of his seed. At the same time, his connection with his love flooded

with pleasure, and wet heat splashed on his belly as Angel found his peak as well.

For a few instants, the world disappeared, and the only thing that

remained was the two of them, together, sharing the nirvana they

could only find in each other’s bodies. Their bond shone with the

energy of their combined orgasms, and Clark held onto it and onto

Angel. It was only his intrinsic concern for Angel that allowed him to release his hold on his mate’s neck and lick the wound clean. After all, he didn’t want to injure his sweet angel.

When the tremors of their joint climaxes subsided, Clark slipped

out of Angel’s body and smiled at his mate. Angel smiled back.

“Everything’s fine,” the antelope said.

Clark nodded. “We’re probably just jumping at shadows.” When

he had him in his arms, all his earlier doubts seemed foolish and

without a rational basis.

He briefly left the bed and retrieved a wet washcloth. As he

cleaned Angel up, his mate finally replied, “We’re being silly. There’s probably an explanation for everything.”

Clark dropped the washcloth on the floor and cuddled next to his

mate. “Agreed. Now, get some rest, Angel. We’ll check on the rest

later.”

* * * *

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The sound of a key rattling in a nearby door woke Angel from his

slumber. He opened his eyes, wondering why such a noise would

startle him. In a dorm, it wasn’t unusual for fellow students to burst into their respective rooms at ungodly hours.

But gazelles had a specific sense for danger, and that sense alerted Angel that something wasn’t right. He stole a look at the clock on the wall and realized just an hour or so had passed since he’d last spoken with his friends. If they’d gone to town like originally planned, they wouldn’t have had enough time to stay for drinks and come back.

Without further hesitation, Angel slipped out of the bed and pulled

his pants on. Clark cracked his eyes open just as Angel headed toward the door.
“What are you doing?”
the lion asked through their bond.

“Just checking to see what’s going on. Someone’s in the other

room.”

“It could be one of the guys,”
Clark replied.

A bump sounded from the adjoining chamber, and Angel arched a

brow.
“All right, all right,”
Clark said.
“But you stay here. I’ll
check.”

Angel opened his mouth to protest, but Clark didn’t give him the

chance. Moving fast, the lion pulled his pants on and stealthily headed out the door. Angel hated just sitting around and waiting while his

mate could be in jeopardy, so he peeked out into the hallway.

He was just in time to see Clark run straight into Alexis. The

incubus was just coming out of the room he shared with Morgan.

He’d obviously been the source of the noise Angel heard. Angel

frowned. How strange. He’d never felt in danger around Alexis

before.

“Hi,” Clark greeted the incubus. “What are you doing here? I

thought you were out with the others.”

“I came back,” Alexis replied dismissively. “I forgot something.”

“Forgot something?” Clark repeated. “What?”

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Alexis didn’t reply. Instead, his eyes went over Clark’s shoulder to Angel. “Oh, I see how things are now. No wonder you chose privacy

over going into town.”

Angel felt his face flame. Neither he nor Clark had given much

thought to their appearance. Since very little time had passed, Angel probably still had love bites and both of them still smelled like sex.

They both felt safe in this dorm, surrounded by their friends, and it hadn’t occurred to them that they risked discovery.

Then again, Alexis had been the one to encourage Angel’s

relationship with Clark, albeit through hints and innuendos. Angel

suspected his incubus friend had known about their feelings from the moment they’d first met. He had no reason why he should feel

uncomfortable under Alexis’s scrutiny. Still, there was something

challenging in the incubus’s gaze, something Angel hadn’t seen

before. It unsettled him, making him regret they hadn’t been more

careful.

He might have even tried to deny it, but Alexis didn’t give them

the time. With another laugh, he swept past Clark and disappeared

down the corridor.

Clark came back inside, a frown on his face. “Was it just me, or

did he act strangely, as well?”

The doubts that had subsided after the lovemaking session came

back full force, and Angel nodded. Perhaps they were jumping at

shadows, but something had to be there if they both felt it.

Clark walked toward the window and peeked outside. “There’s no

sign of Layton or Morgan,” he told Angel. “If he came back, wouldn’t Morgan have come with him?”

“Maybe he never left,” Angel suggested.

“But that’s strange. He’s the one who came up with the idea in the

first place. Besides, why would he lie when I asked him?”

Angel joined Clark by the window and tried to find Alexis with

his gaze. The incubus was now crossing the yard and heading toward

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85

the student recreation center. Halfway there, though, a large man

stopped him.

To Angel’s surprise, he realized it was Jonathan, one of the

wrestlers in Clark’s team. Clark didn’t get along too well with the

man, and if Angel remembered correctly, Jonathan had also been

among the voices who’d accused Clark of killing Leiland.

Angel expected his friend to be angry with Jonathan, but Alexis

did no such thing. Instead, he effusively hugged the lion and pressed a brief kiss to Jonathan’s lips. Angel gaped in shock. What the hell?

He’d been completely convinced Alexis was smitten with Morgan.

As Alexis disappeared with Jonathan toward the recreation center,

Angel shared a look with his mate. “I don’t like this,” he said. “I don’t like this at all.”

“We have to discuss it with Alexis tonight,” Clark replied.

“Morgan’s my friend, and I won’t have him being cheated on.”

“I agree.” Angel bit his lip and leaned against his mate. “I almost

can’t believe it, though. Could I really be so wrong about Alexis?

Look, maybe we’re mistaken. Maybe it’s an incubus thing, like saying hi. We can’t know until we ask.”

“I hope you’re right.” Clark’s expression looked glum, and Angel

knew what Clark was thinking. Even if the kiss might be a

misunderstanding, what was Alexis doing with Jonathan in the first

place? So many questions, so few answers, and Angel began to think

that, with the exception of Clark and maybe his parents, he was

surrounded by strangers.

* * * *

Jonathan arched a brow at Alexis, feeling both pleased and

apprehensive at his lover’s behavior. “I thought it was too risky for us to be seen together.” It always pissed him off that he was forced to watch Alexis with that shark, Morgan, every day, but Alexis claimed it was all part of the plan.

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“It is,” Alexis replied as he pulled Jonathan into the recreation

building. “But I couldn’t run into you and not kiss you.”

Jonathan melted, his possessiveness awakening once more. He

pressed Alexis to the nearby wall, rubbing against him wantonly.

“When can I mate you? I need it so badly.”

Alexis chuckled. “Soon, when things cool down a bit.” He sighed.

“I didn’t expect the principal to see through the ploy so fast. Does anyone suspect you?”

Jonathan considered the question. The day he’d left the dorm to

meet up with Leiland Travers, he’d run into Tate outside. Tate knew

Jonathan had been gone that day, but Jonathan doubted the other lion was a big threat. “Tate might,” he replied, “but I’m not too worried.

He wouldn’t say anything.”

“Oh, okay. If you’re sure.” A grin spread on Alexis’s beautiful lips.

“Now, I have to tell you something. You have no idea what I found out just now. Clark is fucking his brother.”

A mix of shock and disgust coursed through Jonathan. “Are you

sure?” When his lover nodded, Jonathan added, “What a freak. We

have to let everyone know.”

“Agreed.” Alexis smirked. “Maybe we can’t get them out of here

with the Leiland thing, but by the time we’re done, they’ll run on their own.”

Feeling in a better mood than in ages, Jonathan laughed and pulled

Alexis toward the main computer room. “Come on. We have lots of

stuff to do.”

* * * *

After watching Alexis go with Jonathan, Clark felt increasingly

troubled. As much as he hated to admit it, the incubus’s attitude just didn’t seem normal.

He and Angel quickly cleaned up and dressed in new clothes.

Clark wanted to talk to their parents, but he didn’t know how much

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longer the meeting with the principal would last. Even so, both he and Angel were too anxious to stay in the room, so they decided to go

downstairs. Perhaps they’d be able to overhear something from

student conversations. Any clue would be better than none.

As they left the dorm, Clark distantly noted security had been

strengthened. Prior to the killing, the M dorm had only held a limited number of guards since there were only a couple of students to watch over. Now, however, it seemed Sara was taking the situation seriously.

Did she think they were in danger, or was there a different reason for her choice?

They slowly walked away from the dorm as if they were simply

out for a walk. The Academy grounds were quite spacious, and there

was a good distance between each dorm and the actual school

buildings. It was only his shape-shifter vision that allowed Clark to even see Alexis meet up with Jonathan. He wondered if the incubus

had thought he was safe because of the distance, or if Alexis just

didn’t care about being discovered. Then again, perhaps Alexis had

broken up with Morgan. That would certainly explain Alexis coming

back from town early, as well as Morgan’s strange behavior.

The conclusion reassured him a bit, but he still wanted to see if his parents had any news on the killing. Thankfully, luck was on their

side, and they ran into their fathers in the courtyard. “Hi,” Clark said.

“Can we talk to you?”

His dad nodded, and his expression looked glum. “Let’s go to your

room. We wanted to discuss something with you as well.”

Clark and Angel led their parents back to the M dorm and into

their room. Once the door shut behind them, Clark turned toward his

fathers and said, “All right. You can stop with all the secrecy.

Whatever it is that you’re hiding, just tell us. We can take it.”

His werewolf father sighed. “All right, Clark. Sara didn’t want you

to know this, but we feel you have to be aware of the facts.”

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“Sara believes your friend, Alexis, is somehow involved in

Leiland Travers’s murder,” their dad said. “It seems he has been seen with a lion, that Jonathan individual.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t have to mean anything,” Angel protested.

“Even if Alexis does have a relationship with Jonathan, it would only make him promiscuous, not a killer.”

Brody sighed. “Yes, but unfortunately, after a close scan of all the videos, Sara found evidence that Alexis had also been sleeping with Leiland. Leiland’s roommate confirmed that the cheetah had a

relationship he was very secretive about, and that day, he was

supposed to meet his boyfriend.”

“But Alexis was with us earlier, and then with Morgan,” Angel

protested.

“Which is why Sara concludes there are two options. Either

Jonathan killed Leiland out of jealousy, or Alexis spurred Jonathan

into the murder.”

Clark felt cold inside. “But why would Alexis do something like

that?”

“I don’t know, and neither does Sara,” Carson replied. “It’s the

only reason why she hasn’t made her move yet.”

“All this is circumstantial evidence.” Angel shook his head,

obviously refusing to believe his friend could have done something so awful. “It doesn’t mean anything. Besides, there are many other lions who could have killed Leiland.”

Carson squeezed Angel’s shoulder. “Byron caught Jonathan’s

scent at the scene of the murder. The lion tried to mask it—you know all these devices that are now used to eliminate scent—but with

Byron’s help, we found the lingering traces anyway. Apparently,

Jonathan didn’t realize Byron had this ability.”

“So it’s certain.” Clark couldn’t understand anything anymore.

“It’s certain Jonathan killed Leiland.”

Brody nodded. “The main problem is that it seems incubi have the

gift of influencing the morals of people who are attracted to them,

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hypnotize them if you will. So the situation is a bit difficult, as we don’t know whether Jonathan acted on his own or if his judgment was

impaired by Alexis’s magic.” He gave Clark and Angel a serious look.

“Either way, keep this under wraps until we find a solution, and be

extra careful around Alexis.”

Clark thanked his parents for their trust. He didn’t doubt their