a bear? I don’t know why they’d make such a big secret of him being a shifter though, so that doesn’t really make sense, but also maybe that's why I'm so terrified of him. Maybe it's my own instincts telling me that Bond or not, he's bad freaking news. Fuck.
He places a firm hand on the small of my back and directs me out of the room. I flinch but manage to stop myself from scrambling away from him, thank God. He doesn't notice, just pushes me out of the building and into his car, the driver opening the door for us both and shutting us firmly in the backseat together.
I want to crawl out of my damn skin.
"Something wrong, Miss Fallows?" he asks, his eyes firmly trained on his phone. I really don't matter to him at all, just our fucking bond.
"Nothing at all. No problem whatsoever." I can't help but let the sarcasm drip from my words.
His eyes narrow at me. "I understand that you are a petulant teenager but if you could attempt to be civil, this will go far more smoothly for us all."
It nearly fucking kills me not to tell him, to keep my secrets and not throw them in his face, but my lips stay sealed shut.
"Nothing to say? I wonder why is it that I've been cursed with a selfish Bond? Bad enough that you're practically a child, simple and plain. With the power of all of your Bonds, I assumed you were going to be something... spectacular. How disappointing."
I will not cry. I fucking will not cry.
The driver pulls over in front of the student accommodation and quickly gets out to open our door.
I blink back the tears. "Is there a reason we're here? I can't attend the college."
North gestures for me to get out before him, his eyes steely and cutting. "You will be attending. I will make the necessary arrangements. I suggest you spend your time here wisely, I will not tolerate laziness and if you think having wealthy Bonds means you don't have to work and provide for yourself, well... you have misjudged us all."
My cheeks sting as if he's slapped me. Did he just—did he just call me a fucking gold-digger? The fucking gall of this man.
I would rather fucking die than bond with him.
"Thank you for the ride and for pulling strings for me." I nearly choke on the words, but I'll be damned if he gets to call me a petulant, selfish child again.
He steps out of the car after me, dammit, and nods to the driver. "I'll see you upstairs. There's other things we have to discuss about our situation."
Oh, hell fucking no.
If he thinks he's going to form a bond right now, to just take the extra power he so desperately wants, he has another thing coming.
Why don't I have a knife or a gun or something? I need to protect myself against these guys.
I follow him up the stairs, sizing him up carefully. He's taller than I am by at least a foot, and he fills out the suit nicely. When I'd tripped and he'd caught me earlier, I hadn't felt any softness to him at all, his entire freaking torso was rock hard. What part of his office job makes him so damn ripped?
Basically, short of using my gift, which I cannot do under any circumstances, I don't stand a chance against him if he tries to force the bond. I need some pepper spray or, fuck it, a gun. I smirk at the picture my mind conjures up of his face if I pulled a gun on him.
It's pretty freaking good.
We get a lot of curious looks as we move through the dorms and more than a few flirty smiles. North's entire face changes into a stunning, smiling, warm mask of schmoozing councilman. I can't contain my eye-roll. Of course he's beloved. Of course he's the type of guy the other woman will drip for.
Of-fucking-course.
He leads me up a set of stairs, why the hell isn't there an elevator, and then to a room at the end of the hall, ushering me in ahead of him. The room is plain, nothing but an old, spindly looking bed in the corner and a cheap, pine desk.
"This is your room and where you will spend your evenings. You will be in here by six every night, and you will not leave again until at least seven in the morning. Any exercise, study groups,