Chapter 74: Feromonal torture
Andria’s POV
"Today, I’ll be sharing you all into groups of two; you have to fight your partner like they are the enemy," he said, looking at me, like he was studying me and then smirked.
It dawned on me that he was a Dravari, and just like vampires, he could read minds too. By the way, he was staring at me, as if trying to read my mind.
My mind was dirty, replaying the scene from my dream. I hope he wasn’t able to read that.
My cheeks turned a shade pink just thinking that he may have read my dirty mind.
"Mask it, Athena," I ordered her. "Mask my desire, I don’t want him reading it," I commanded.
"I cannot mask it, maybe you can tap into the other part of you, although I’m jealous about the idea, but I know that’s what you need now," Athena replied.
I tried to summon that part of me, but the vampiric part of me, who can mask it, couldn’t come up. Well, I guess I’m left to myself now. I have to try not to think about that and just concentrate, although it’s so hard to focus when the instructor is precisely the one you want to avoid, and he can’t even seem to stop landing his gaze on you.
"Aria, you look lost," Becca called out, snapping his fingers at me. "I was asking you a question, but you seem zoned out."
I blinked, snapping myself back into reality. "What was the question again?" I asked Becca, trying to play it cool, even though my cheeks still burned a bright pink, and my stomach still flustered.
Becca tilted her head at me, her brow creasing. "Are you okay? Your face is literally pink," she said, her tone half-concerned, half-teasing. "Are you in your heat period?"
That question, although it sounded like a tease, she may just have made the correct guess. I have eavesdropped on mum and Lena when she was educating Lena on heat periods, and I can guess that what I’m facing now is my heat period.
As a vampire at the time, I never really cared to listen attentively; besides, Mum wouldn’t even want to educate me on that. The few times I was caught eavesdropping on their special she-wolf lessons, I was punished severely.
I shook my head sadly at the thought of that. If only they knew I was a wolf, if only I had transformed on time before meeting my vampire side, would they have treated me any better?
I doubted that they would have treated me any better, because the harsh treatment started even before I met the monster part of me. It only got worse after that.
I forced a smile, the kind that could pass as casual if you didn’t look too closely. "I’m fine," I lied smoothly. "Now, what were you asking again?"
She studied me for a second longer, but eventually let it go. "I was asking if you think you managed to convince Mel to play undercover. We talked about it yesterday, that she was the only one who could pull it off without drawing suspicion."
That, at least, was something I could focus on. Something concrete, not as distracting as staring at Kaelric and triggering my heat, especially not in this period. I leaned closer, lowering my voice. "Yes. I had talked to her. We made a deal, and she agreed to play undercover for us."
"Good, but what is this deal all about?" Becca asked with a slight nod, relief and curiosity evident in her tone.
We were so absorbed in our hushed conversation that we didn’t even notice when Sir Kaelric drifted closer. It wasn’t until he was close enough for us to see his shadow fall at our feet that we realized that we had tuned out the class session.
"Aria," he called, his tone steady and commanding. My head snapped up instantly. "You are paired with Zade, Becca, you are paired with Arlo, Liara, you would fight with Aven," he turned and moved back to his position at the front.
The sound of my name rolling off his lips had a strange effect on me; it wasn’t just the way he said it, but the weight he gave it. I wondered why my body was so sensitive to these things. I’ve never felt this anxious before. And I wanted to ask Becca if she thought this way, if she was on her heat. My stomach twisted, heat crawling up my skin all over again.
I couldn’t spare the Alpha successors a glance, even though I didn’t have a wet dream about them; I still felt the same tingly sensation at my core when I glanced at them.
I didn’t want this; it was so embarrassing to think of them that way, in a sensual way.
How could one dream, just one, reduce me to this jittery mess?
I shifted uneasily in my seat, trying to steady my breathing, but Kaelric’s eyes found mine, deliberately, confirming my suspicion that he had read the junk in my mind. My cheeks burned brighter.
I tried to read his mind, but it was a dead end; he had used his exceptional ability as a Dravari to lock the access into his mind.
It was as if he had caught me red-handed in my own thoughts, as if he knew exactly what effect he had on me, and I couldn’t penetrate his.
And for a second, I thought he was about to smirk. Instead, he turned away just as abruptly.
The moment his gaze turned from me was the moment I took in the pairing arrangement that he had stated earlier. "Me? paired with Zade?’ I muttered under my breath.
This day can’t even get any worse. The last thing I want is to be paired close range with any of my mates, and not Zade of all mates, for crying out loud. This is just feromonal torture.
My feromones can’t take it.
Although the very name made my blood boil, I still have some residual feelings for him, like a love-hate feeling, like a mix of fury and desire.
And being paired with him was the last thing I wanted.