Chapter 2 Two

CHAPTER TWO

My body bounced off the wall, and my feet slipped from underneath me.

M

I winced and was preparing for the inevitable crash landing when strong hands gripped my shoulders.

Heart dropping into my stomach, I forced my eyes to look straight ahead and found myself staring at a chest.

The gray polo shirt was molded to muscle, and I shook my head to clear it. It didn't help. I couldn't get over the way the muscles curved and tensed, and something inside me yanked.

Between the hard chest and the run-in, my blood calmed to a jolt.

I knew people could be strong, but I hadn't realized running into someone this fit would feel like hitting a wall. Like, what the hell? I ran my fingertips over the muscles, reveling in the heat and smoothness, then froze. Two snickers sounded from Muscular Chest's side.

Oh my God.

My face burned, and I dropped my hand like I'd touched something hot.

In fairness, I had. This chest alone had jumbled my thoughts. I needed space and air.

Fast.

I took a step back and stumbled all over again, but the hands were still on my shoulders, keeping me upright.

"Uh ... thanks." I jerked my head up, hoping to pull myself together, but when I locked eyes with the brick wall and his scent invaded my senses, my thoughts vanished entirely, and my mouth dropped open.

He was more than handsome but gorgeous didn't sound manly enough

-because this guy was all man. He had at least six inches on me, and his black hair hung into his crystal-blue eyes, emphasizing their color. I wanted to get lost in them, and his amber-sandalwood scent made me want to rub myself all over him.

Which would make this situation even more embarrassing; otherwise, I wouldn't have restrained myself.

His eyes warmed as he looked me over, but then he sniffed. His jaw clenched, and his full lips mashed together in a grimace. "Do you think you can stand without falling now?"

I was used to getting that look from almost everyone I met, but it cut deeper coming from him. Seeing the warmth vanish from his eyes hurt, which was preposterous. I didn't even know him.

"Man, I think you broke her." The guy on my right chuckled. "I swear she's got drool puddling in the corner of her mouth."

That snapped me out of my stupor. I looked at his friend, who was almost as hot as Sexy Chest. His friend's milk-chocolate-brown eyes danced with mirth as he ran a hand over brown scruff that was a shade darker than his short hair. His dark skin crinkled around his eyes-further proof that he was trying to hide a smile.

"Leave her alone, Keith." The man with lighter-brown skin on the other side of Sexy Chest scoffed. "She's scared." He stepped toward me, his shaggy, curly hair ruffling in the breeze. "She was running." His honey- brown eyes seemed warmer than the others, but his body was stiff, giving off clear stay-back vibes. He lifted his head to scan the area behind me. "It looked like something was chasing her."

These three were the sexiest guys I'd ever seen, and I'd proven that neither my mouth nor my balance was stable, but I despised being talked about as if I weren't standing right here. I had to say something. "I saw a deer."

Keith laughed, not hiding his amusement anymore. "And you thought it was chasing you?"

"What? No!" Deer weren't aggressive toward humans. Even nonanimal people knew that, so I was still speaking nonsense. "I meant, I ..." How did I salvage this? At least I wasn't exposing myself as a freak ... sorta. "I wanted to take a picture, but I forgot my phone."

As if there were a higher being that hated me, my phone dinged in my pocket.

"I believe we all found it." Sexy Chest's deep, husky voice rumbled.

My damn traitorous eyes glanced back at him, and my breath caught at the suspicion etched into every line of his face. He dropped his hands from my shoulders, and I noticed a detailed wolf tattoo peeking from under the sleeve of his shirt. The olive tone of his skin gave it more definition, making it appear almost lifelike.

I looked over my shoulder, wondering if I could catch a glimpse of whatever had been following me.

The nicer guy followed my gaze. "Judging by your expression, I'm assuming you aren't searching for a deer."

"Adam, come on." Keith snorted. "She can't walk, she was gawking at Raffe, and she can barely put together a coherent sentence. She probably bumped into a tree and thought it was someone grabbing her."

And here was when the teasing began. My blood jolted, and my mouth went dry. I needed to get away from them before I had an epic meltdown ... again. "It felt like I was being watched." I shrugged, staring at the mulchy ground. "I'm sure it was nothing ... just me being paranoid."

"Why don't you go to your room, and the three of us can check out the area?" Raffe said, a little bit of the warmth springing back into his eyes.

Part of me snapped to attention, ready to follow his suggestion, which irritated me. Why in the world would I want to obey someone I'd just met? But there was something about him that I couldn't explain.

I lifted my chin. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm sure it was nothing. And if something was chasing me, I'd hate for you to go out there and have something happen. I couldn't live with you all getting hurt because of me."

Raffe scowled, and his eyes narrowed as he stepped back into my space. For a moment, I swore his blue eyes glowed, but Adam punched him in the shoulder.

"We'll be fine, pigeon." Keith shoved his hands into his khaki pants pockets and smirked. "Besides, Raffe eats birds in his sleep."

Pigeon. Sigh. It was the equivalent of being called chicken, though most people didn't realize that. Unfortunately, Keith might be smarter than he seemed.

I hated what these people stood for. They were the type who bullied and berated people for being different. Hell, Keith was already doing that with

me even when it was clear I'd been scared.

I could either stand here and let them ridicule me or get my shit together and meet my roommate like I should have done already. The latter would let me hold on to a smidge of dignity. At least they were willing to search the woods in case something was off. That had to count for something.

I settled on saying, "Don't hurt the deer if you see her."

"Her?" Keith arched his brow. "Did you name her too? Let me guess, Bambi? Thumper? Flower?"

Raffe cut his eyes to his friend, and after a few seconds, Keith huffed and lowered his head slightly.

Here I'd thought weird things only happened around me. Something strange was going on between them.

Well, the last thing I needed was to learn more about it. I had enough freak inside me to last a lifetime without adding glowing eyes and people talking through expressions without looking at each other.

"No, but if you meet up with her, ask her what it is and let me know." The words had popped out before I processed my response. I couldn't stand smart-asses. "Unlike people here, I don't limit names to Disney movies."

"Hey." Keith sneered. "I can come up with more-"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Raffe took a giant step back and cut off Keith. He stared at me and frowned. "Please, head somewhere safe. If someone is out here, we want to catch them. And I don't want to leave you alone when you were clearly scared."

Even though he'd dismissed me, he'd done it kindly, and I didn't want to make a further fool of myself.

My phone dinged again, no doubt my parents wondering why I hadn't checked in. Without another word, I marched past the three of them and went toward my car.

I waited for the snickers and snide comments to begin, but nothing happened. The three of them remained silent as if they'd disappeared.

I glanced behind me.

Only Raffe was there. The other two had vanished.

Our eyes locked, and my heart started to race. Something strange surged between us. He sighed, shoulders slumping, and his face twisted as if he were warring with whether to say something. Then he said tenderly, "Be careful, okay? Things aren't as safe as they seem around here, and I don't want anything to happen to you."

Butterflies took flight in my stomach as our gazes remained locked. We both took a step closer to one another, something drawing us together.

Then his eyes glowed again, and he huffed. "I need to check on them, but I can't until you're away from the woods."

Great. I was lingering, his effect on me obvious. How stupid. It wasn't like something would ever happen between us.

Snapping my head forward once more, I hurried to my car, determined to forget Raffe and the eerie sensation of the woods.

"EVERYTHING IS FINE," I told my parents for the hundredth time, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. My poor lilac comforter was taking the brunt of my frustration. I yanked on the edges, smoothing out the wrinkles as I finished setting up my room. I moved away from my new queen-size bed and took in the room, which was far nicer than I'd expected.

I heard some shuffling on their end, likely a hand covering the speaker while they whispered to one another. They always thought I didn't know what they were doing, but it wasn't hard to figure out, especially since it happened every time they were worried about me.

Waiting for them to say whatever else was on their minds, I snatched the string of butterflies I'd cut out of craft paper to hang up and add some purple to my room. All shades of purple were my favorite colors. I hadn't expected the room to have a small chandelier, but it was perfect for what I had in mind. I removed my lilac sneakers and climbed onto the bed then threaded the butterflies through the curved arms of the light fixture so that the butterflies hung down like a cascading chandelier of their own.

"We know you try, honey, but ... try not to do those ... things." Mom sighed then laughed as if to lighten the mood.

Sometimes, I believed they regretted adopting me, and honestly, I couldn't blame them. I was weird, I freaked out teachers, and I'd been expelled from a few schools because parents refused to let their kids attend class with someone who petrified them. I did believe they cared about me, but I didn't fit in with them. Hell, my own biological parents had given me up, and I'd never once wondered why. I was a freak. "I'm going to try really hard, Mom. I don't like it when those things happen either."

"Of course, none of that matters to us. We love you," Dad interjected. "But if you want to make friends-"

It was the same speech they'd given me millions of times over my twenty-one years. You'd think they'd have realized it didn't help. "I know. I know. I love you too."

The door to the apartment opened, and I stiffened. "Hey, my roommate just got back. I need to go."

"Oh. Okay," Mom said excitedly. "Just remember-"

"Noted, Mom." I didn't let her finish. She'd already said it five times in the past five minutes. "I'll call or text you two later. Love you. Bye." I hung up and jumped down from my bed onto the fake wood floor.

"Skylar?" a warm female voice called out, and my blood went straight to fizzing.

Ugh. My hands grew clammy as footsteps walked down the small hallway between our rooms, and a girl stuck her head in my open doorway.

I swallowed and immediately felt inadequate. Her long caramel-brown hair hung over her shoulders, highlighting her light olive skin and delicate features.

"Hey, I'm Lucy. Sorry I wasn't here when you arrived." She stepped through the doorway, her hauntingly luminous gray eyes scanning my room and stopping on me. She sniffed, and her brows furrowed. "Something came up, and I had to leave."

"No worries," I squeaked then cleared my throat. With her looks, she fit right in with Keith, Raffe, and Adam, which meant the two of us probably wouldn't get along. "I'm Skylar. I got delayed too, and I don't blame you for not waiting." I rubbed my hands along my jeans, discreetly wiping the sweat from my palms.

"I figured something came up," she said as her gaze landed on the painting I'd hung on the cream wall over the bed. "Nice artwork."

"Thanks." It was a picture of a purple sky on a cloudy day with messy purple, pink, and white flowers that appeared to be wet with rain. It brought me calm when I needed it, and I'd pulled it out first thing after I'd moved everything into the room.

An awkward silence descended, and the fizz damn near increased to a hum. Fear clawed into my chest, and I felt naked. I shouldn't have come here. I couldn't even escape to my room because I had to share this small apartment with her, including the one bathroom.

Lucy glanced at her watch. "The bookstore closes in an hour. They stayed open for students who arrived last minute. You could still go if you need to."

In other words, she wasn't willing to take me there. That wasn't surprising. "Yeah, I should do that." I needed my books for tomorrow, and that was an amazing excuse to get away from here and explore the campus. "Thanks for the information."

"Sure." She ran a hand down her gray EEU shirt, which showed the outline of a black wolf and a silver full moon. "Anytime." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and yawned. "I gotta get some things ready for class tomorrow, or I'd offer to go with you."

"No worries." I sensed she was lying, but I wouldn't call her out on it.

At least she was being nice.

"Yeah. Okay. Text me if you get lost or need anything." She lifted her phone then spun and left just as quickly as she'd arrived.

That had gone well. And what was it with all these people sniffing me?

When Lucy's bedroom door closed, I hurried past the sterile gray dresser and headed through the den and kitchen out the door. The hallway was surprisingly empty. In all the shows I watched, students were always hanging outside their rooms in the hallways. Maybe that happened in the residence dorms and not here.

Lucy and I lived in an end unit. Apartment doors lined the light-gray hallway walls, and my sneakers padded over the dark-gray carpet to the elevator.

On the ground floor, I marched through the double glass doors and headed across the road toward the student center.

The damp wind filled my lungs, making things feel not quite so bad as I walked between two massive brick buildings that were damn near identical, except the one to my left was taller.

Some guys were playing frisbee in the open area between the buildings and the student center. I watched as they laughed and joked with several girls who lay on blankets, all of them comfortable in their own skin and with friends ... two things I'd never experienced.

A pang of jealousy surged through me, and I inhaled, keeping my gaze focused straight ahead on the student center. I needed to hurry before the bookstore closed.

I marched on, but the laughter and shrieks of fun behind me had tears burning in my eyes. I'd been foolish to come here. I wanted to go home, but if I did, my parents would never let me live it down.

Worse, I'd disappoint them again. Something I'd done far too many times.

When I reached the back of the student center, I blinked to clear my eyes. I found a back door and stepped inside.

The bookstore was to my right, and luckily, the lights were still on. Near the front, by four open glass doors, an employee stood at the cash register. I scanned the area and saw that each section was marked with subjects. On the left, by the history section, was one person I never wanted to see again.

Raffe.

That strange tug urged me to close the distance between us, but I wasn't an idiot. Someone like him would never want to be with a person like me.

He was handsome, strong, and confident. I was not.

Forcing myself to ignore him, I went to the section labeled Science. A sizzle ran down my spine, and I somehow knew Raffe had seen me. But that was crazy. It wasn't possible.

Shaking my head, I focused on locating my microbiology and chemistry books. This educational opportunity was important to me, and I needed to excel in those two classes to get into veterinary school.

My microbiology textbook was shelved at the bottom, and I dug around for a decent used copy.

Something rattled over my head, and metal groaned. When I glanced up, I couldn't believe what I saw.