The Mate That Wasn't Mine novel Chapter 3

3.

MAXIM POV

There is being rash and there is this next-level shitshow. I’ve gone and claimed a scratched up, red-faced awkward mute as my mate.

Of all the women out there! I couldn’t have waited to have met some other woman. One with a backbone and attitude to match mine. The only fiery thing about this girl is her insanely long hair.

It’s already annoying me. I had to keep my hand clamped to her waist and back to prevent getting tangled and accidentally yanking her.

Still, when the shafts of light from the train lit it up, it appears fairly pretty. But that’s about it.

My wolf reminds me with annoyance that any woman at Ravenbow before would be useless. A mate bond clicks on first sighting. They’ve all had at least a glance at the wonder that is me.

At least it wasn’t that guttersnipe Malva. I might have let that walking noise go through the window pane.

But still, this girl? Fuck! Tess? Tessie?

And she bit me! What the hell was that about? Glaring at me with those calm, autumnally dark-brown eyes like a little devil.

After dragging her into the bathroom and getting the handshake I need, I’m not above giving her the same treatment back. I can bite too. Let’s see how red those cheeks go then.

A twinge of pain hits my temples, my wolf reminding me of the dangers of not this new idea going wrong.

Ravenbow and the packhouse have been fun. But even fucking he delectable Princess Hazel felt a little dull by the end.

Which is strange, because seducing the Alpha’s daughter was such a rush at the start. But the chase is always the best bit. The realisation they’re yielding and admitting everything, giving everything doesn’t half make you feel like fucking champion.

But this Tessa girl, she is an opportunity to present myself as a settled, mated, off-the market man of worth. Shake off the immature, playboy tag. Put my dick in a cage for a prolonged period and get some focus.

Well, unless she really likes playing at being mates of course. Then why lock anything down?

What could be a better gift to the Alpha and his gang of ultra-loyal Wardens? Me, transformed into an expert assassin who will never let the pack down. Wear the dark red shirt that marks me out as superior to every Beta and student. Even the Wardens will watch their tone.

Basically, I really fucking need this.

Because I don’t have the dark red shirt I crave, just yet. I’m still a lowly Beta. Made for so much more. Don’t the Warden’s know just how much that boils my blood.

Silas and Kai are doing just fine. Both top ends of the infantry. They lead shifted wolves into battle. They have that quick awareness of situations, solid consideration for others. They’ll be battalion leaders, squad trainers.

I won’t.

The assassin role suits me much better. Working alone, instincts above rules.

Three years training. Excelling at every single fucking level. Only for fucking around with the Alpha’s daughter to clip my wings. All rush, no refinement was Warden Marshall’s dry little summary when they withheld my spot.

Only a few years older than me, his smugness was unbearable.

As was his sharp little haircut. A fluffing buzz-cut that left his scalp like a tennis ball. I tower over him in every department, but he holds the keys to my future.

Kai and Silas told me to forget it, that my time will come, but his opinion burns at me. My wolf suggests it is because he might be right. Not every decision I make comes from a place of steady, considered thought. Very few of them to be honest.

Warden Marshall’s stinging words were the reason I sat on my own in the train in the first place.

But now we’ve shaken hands. This is happening. Tess and I are mates to everyone outside of this squalid metal bathroom.

I told her I was in the assassin section. She’ll be upset when she finds out a large part of the training is reading body language. Like the ancient Warden Donlon reminds us, a dubious twinkle in his remaining eye, it’s easier to kill them if they’re laying themselves out on the platter for you.

Her little moan and flexing hips into my thighs was all the confirmation I needed that she would go along with this plan. So not quite laid out on a platter, but certainly glazed over enough to not give her decision the thought it deserved.

Plus, she kissed me like she’s never known affection before. There wasn’t an ounce of devious seduction in her curvy frame. Even with her top unbuttoned to show a stunning amount of creamy cleavage she wasn’t playing an annoying sex kitten role.

Those kisses were unique though. Something to consider later.

But right now, we have more pressing matters. We’re running out of time.

“What now then,” Tessa whispers, immediately withdrawing her small hand.

“We need bites.”

Her face freezes before she snaps a quick, “No.”

“We do,” I hiss in frustration. Outside the locked metal door I can hear the upheaval of a fresh load of students clattering in. Chatter about rooms, views and timetables surrounds me like a swarm of flies, irritating my thinking.

Tessa adds softly. “No we don’t. Not straight away. Not everyone jumps to that on their first night”

I bristle at her refusal. “They really do. Don’t be naive.”

Without thinking I leap backwards like a guilty lover. She lifts her legs up, hiding herself. Pretty sure mates don’t do that. Making a mental note to work on some trust exercises, I twist my scowling face to the side, ready to shout back at our foolish interrupter.

Except Tessa darts forward, leaning from her basin ledge, sinking her extended teeth into my chest.

Her wolf is controlled, it’s not deep enough to form a real link but enough of her sharp incisor-style teeth were present to leave a hell of a mark, just above my heart. “FUCKING HELL! FUCK OFF!”

Foolishly, I had not considered being bitten might hurt like a bastard. I slap the basin counter and ride out the wave of pain, my wolf under orders not to heal. This wound needs to last. Has she bitten pure fire into my blood? Every inch of me feels like its cramping up!

“FUCK TESSA!” I exclaim again, lifting my arms over my head, before examining myself in the mirror, my skin burning.

Only now does my wolf inform me that a bite there, from a non-mate feels like being branded with silver. “DAMN IT! Fuuuuuuuuucking hell!”

When I open my dazed eyes, she’s smirking. Actually amused at my pained reaction. She might have her head tucked down like some shy little wren but maybe Feisty is the right name for her. She’s got something going on.

“Maxim stop fucking about in there and get out!” a voice booms. Other are still chattering around him. “He’s found his mate dickhead what do you think he’s doing in there!”

“His mate?” the voice exclaims. “Sounds like she’s just ruined him for a change.”

“Maxim must be mated to a hellcat.”

Rubbing my collarbone I whisper, “You can say that again,” grimacing in the mirror at the angry marks. She’s watching me, her brown eyes fixed on the raw marks, her lips coated in a faint sheen of my blood.

I reach out and hold her chin, carefully wiping the ruby stain from her bottom lip.

“I think the longer we stay in here, the more fun they think we’re having?”

“Okay, so stay a bit longer?” she whispers before flinching at another round of banging mayhem. At least she’s stopped looking at the floor. For a few seconds something flares between us. Heat bristles around the small space.

Only for Tessa to quickly remove my hand from her under her chin, where my thumb had been stroking softly across her cheek without even realising. The contrast between my darker, olive skin against her pink flushing cheek is interesting.

“You don’t need to do that. We’re alone. Tell me what’s going to happen when we get off the train. How will it go? What are the Wardens like?”

Weirdly, there is a tiny jolt of annoyance that she didn’t ask me to kiss her again.

I’m not against practicing that for the purposes of putting on a show. Instead I quietly answer her questions only stopping to shout back at the frustrated passengers forced to find another bathroom.