Chapter 16
The mall was busier than I thought it would be on a Thursday afternoon but there was still plenty of space for us to move freely. June dragged the rest of us into shop after shop, throwing items of clothing at me to try on. Ellie stood quietly beside me and Grayson, she seemed to recognise that nobody could come close to June in terms of enthusiasm so she didn’t try. June was like an unstoppable force when it came to shopping.
On the way over here Grayson had promised that he would only buy me things if he or I really liked them. However, I soon realised that this agreement wasn’t going to help me very much because he apparently loved everything I tried on. He wanted to spoil me and there was nothing I could say that would change his mind.
June thought that was hilarious because every time I tried to persuade him to put some of the clothes back he would pout until I gave in. I have no idea how much money he must have spent on me today but I was already feeling guilty about it.
“We should probably get something to eat soon.” I suggested.
“Just one more shop.” June said.
She was pointing and pulling me in the direction of Victoria’s secret. Grayson looked perfectly happy and comfortable but I could feel through our bond that he was feeling slightly anxious about being dragged into a lingerie shop.
‘He is probably worried about getting aroused and the whole shop noticing.’ Jade said.
‘I can imagine how it would be difficult for him to hide that.’ Scarlett
‘The rest of these females better not try to look, if they do I will scratch their eyes out.’ Jade growled.
‘Calm down wolf, the whole world isn’t trying to steal your mate.’ Scarlett said with a g***n.
June pulled me towards one of the racks. There were so many different options here, how did people even choose what to get?
“What size are you?” June asked.
“Errm 34DD.” I said.
June walked around the store selecting bra sets in various different colours and styles. Grayson wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his body.
‘I hope you don’t mind but I need some cover.’ Grayson mindlinked me.
I could feel his e******n pressing into my backside. I rocked my h**s back gently to tease him, enjoying the effect I was having over him.
‘Very naughty but two can play that game.’ He mindlinked me.
He leaned down and pressed his lips against my marking spot. I felt a shiver travel down my spine. I could feel his warm breath against my neck. I bit my l*p to stop myself from moaning out loud.
‘Do you like that?’ He mindlinked me.
‘Yes.’ I replied.
‘Do you want me to continue?’ He mindlinked me.
‘Tell him to mark us.’ Jade said.
‘Yes.’ I replied.
He licked my neck.
‘How much do you want me to sink my teeth into you right now?’ He mindlinked me.
‘More than anything alpha.’ I replied, without hesitation.
‘That’s good to know.’ He mindlinked me.
He let go of me and walked away. Jade whined. If I wasn’t biting my l*p so hard I would have probably whined too. I can’t believe I almost begged him to mark me in the middle of the fricking store. I am such a mess. A few k****s on my neck and I completely lose my self control.
‘Yep, and you say I am bad.’ Jade said.
‘You wanted him to mark us just as much, don’t lie.’ Scarlett said. She was laughing at both of our expense, I couldn’t blame her for that.
I slowly made my way over to where June was still pulling underwear off the racks. Ellie was looking at her in disbelief, while Grayson was just watching me with a smile on his face. I am sure he could smell my arousal even from a half a metre away.
“June, I think that is enough. We are not shopping for the rest of my life here.” I said as I reached her.
“I know but you need options.” She thrust a pile of garments at me. I noticed that her and Ellie only had a couple of items in their hands so why had she got so many for me?
“I am not even sure they will even let me into the changing room with all of these.” I said as I followed Ellie and June towards the changing room.
I started looking through the items that they selected for me. Most of them were normal but some of them were a lot smaller or sexier than anything I would usually wear.
“Wait, what are these?” I asked, picking out a few bras which look as though they wouldn’t perform the basic functions of either support or coverage. At this point I was unsure if I could ever refer to them as a bra anymore.
“You’re not meant to see those till we get into the changing room.” June complained.
“Ok, but what even are these, they don’t look at all comfortable.” I m****d.
“You are not meant to wear them all day but Grayson will like them so just shut up and try them on.” June said.
I looked over at Ellie for some kind of back up but she just shrugged her shoulders at me. Sometimes she found it easier to just go along with what June wanted and I guess that this must be one of those times. I decided to follow her lead and took the items into the changing room with me even though I had no intention of actually trying them on.
I decided to get three bras which were all very sexy but also comfortable. Well as comfortable as you can be strapped into a lacy piece of fabric and elastic anyway. June kept trying to persuade me to also get one of her more revealing suggestions all the way to the checkout but I just ignored her.
When I got out of the store I noticed her sneaking something into one of my bags. She must have put the damn thing in with her items just so that she could sneak it into my bags. I was going to kill her next time we were in class together. I would do it now but that would mean showing Grayson the tiny bit of fabric which was pretending to be a bra right here in the middle of the mall.
We headed to one of the restaurants in the mall. It was one of those places which did gourmet versions of everyday food like burgers and pizzas. We spent the whole meal sharing anecdotes about each other.
June talked about all the parties that we went to together and all the stupid things that we did when we were drunk. Grayson shared stories about when we were younger and I was still training to be the next beta. He had to change a few of the details for a human audience but it made me happy to hear how much he remembered about me even though we hadn’t spoken to each other for the last couple of years.
He told them about the time that I turned up late for training with puffy red eyes because one of the girls a couple of years older than me was picked to be homecoming queen over me. He told them how he left a tiara on my doorstep the next day with a note saying: for the real homecoming queen.
I had never known who had done that. I assumed that it was either my mom or one of my friends from school. I wore that tiara for the whole of the next week hoping that the person who got it for me would say something. It didn’t even occur to me that it could have been Grayson that gave me it.
We finished our food and then drove Ellie and June back to campus. As I waved to them I noticed something in the corner of my eye. It was the same woman that I had seen a few hours earlier. She was standing next to a tree across the road from my dormitory. Has she been just hanging around campus for the last few hours?
“That is odd.” I said.
“What?” Grayson asked.
“There was this woman hanging around when I was waiting for you and she is hanging around my building now.” I said.
Grayson’s smile suddenly dropped. He glanced all around anxiously before looking back towards me.
“I don’t see anyone.” He said.
I glanced back to where she had been standing and he was right. She was gone without a trace, almost as though she had disappeared into thin air.
‘Who is this woman? Houdini?’ Jade asked.
“She’s gone but she was there and she is a lycan.” I said.
“A lycan?” Grayson asked. His attention was now fully on me.
“I don’t like a lycan hanging around so close to your classes. Maybe we should see if she is still nearby.” Grayson said.
We got out of the car and I showed him where the woman had been standing. We could still smell her scent in the air so we started to use it to follow her trail. The trail led us around half of the campus before we lost it.
There were many points where she crossed her own tracks or climbed over smaller buildings. She was either a tracker herself or she was specially trained to avoid detection. Either way, she knew we would be following her and she knew exactly how to lose us. This made both me and Grayson very uncomfortable.
“I don’t want you to be alone around campus anymore.” Grayson said.
“Don’t you think you are overreacting a little bit?” I asked.
“No way. This woman seems to have taken an interest in you and yet I have no idea what she wants. Until we know, I think it is better to play it safe.” He said.