“I know you all have questions about what happened, but I’m not going to answer questions about a private matter of one my students. Miss McCaide’s been through a lot, and she still has a hard time ahead of her. I expect you all to treat her with respect and compassion. This ends now.”
Nikki raised her hand again. “A whore—”
“Nikki!” Mr. Dawson said. This time power sizzled behind the command. The hair on my arms stood on end as it rolled through the room. “Did you not hear me? You will go—”
“You don’t even know me. None of you know me.” As much as I wanted Mr. Dawson to fight this battle for me, I couldn’t let him. I’d had enough of this. “I’m not a whore. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend. If he even had a girlfriend. To be perfectly clear, I sure as hell didn’t ask for this. This right here is a nightmare.” I motioned around the room. “And you’ve all just made it that much more shitacular. I hope each of you is feeling really awesome about that right now. And you,” I pointed to Nikki, but she couldn’t meet my gaze. “If you say one more word I swear to God I won’t be responsible for what I do, you stupid—” The hot, woozy feeling was back with a vengeance. I was so done with this class. I grabbed my backpack and my half eaten sandwich.
“Tessa. Wait,” Mr. Dawson called after me. Power backed the command, but I shook it off and kept moving. I heard shocked murmurs from the class but I didn’t look.
I strode out the door, ran to the stairwell, and slammed into Dastien.
Why had I dared the day to get worse? I was seriously dumb sometimes.
Dastien’s scent filled me. I wanted to bathe in it.
I pushed him away. It wasn’t easy, but I had to. For my own sanity. I tried to step around him, but he blocked my way. “Move.” I shoved him, but it was like trying to push a boulder.
“Tessa. Calm down for a second.”
“Calm down? Do you know what I just went through in there?”
He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Tessa, I—”
I slapped his hand away. “No. Don’t. I can’t. Not right now.” A tear slipped free. I wiped it away with my gloved hand. There was no way I would let him see me fall apart. “Please. Let me go.”
“Cherie…”
“Please. Just let me be.”
“If that’s what you really want.” He frowned and stepped aside.
I raced down the stairs and out into the courtyard. A black Expedition pulled between the buildings, narrowly missing me.
I slammed my hand on the hood of the car, like any good Angelino would do. “Hey. Watch it.”
Two men stepped out of the car. Their power tingled along my skin making me stumble. I kept on walking to the dorm, but couldn’t stop myself from sneaking a peek at them again.
“Very sorry, lass. We didn’t see ya,” one shouted to me. He wasn’t very tall, but he commanded attention. The two shared a word, and then glanced at me before they walked toward the faculty building.
I tried to shake off the feeling that I should know who they were, but couldn’t quite manage it. I looked back one last time before picking up my pace.
Chapter Twenty-One
Once I was in my room, I went straight for my cell. The tiny screen said nineteen missed calls. Oops. I flipped it open and pushed the number one button. Home. It didn’t even finish ringing before she answered.
“Finally! Teresa Elizabeth McCaide. You called your brother but not me! And you tried to run away. What is going on over there?”
“Sorry.” My voice cracked.
She took a deep breath. “Oh, baby. What happened?”
“Nothing. I’m totally, one hundred percent, a-okay.” The wobble in my voice told my mother what she needed to know—that I was one hundred percent lying.
“Oh, Tess—”
“Mom. This isn’t the place for me. There has to be somewhere else. Axel said something about the cousins?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, baby. The cousins can help, but they can’t teach you what you need to know right now. If there’s a chance that you can get a handle on your wolf without your cousins’ help, then you have to try.”