Untamed (Rejected Mate Academy #1) - E. M. Moore Page 0,49

with sending me off to die. That, in and of itself, trumps his tale. “I—”

“There’s a party next weekend. The future alpha is throwing it, and I want you to attend as my guest.”

My stomach turns. Warnings scatter through my mind.

No one likes me in Lunar.

They’ll say hurtful things.

They’ll change Jonah’s mind.

“Kinsey, did you hear me?”

I nod slowly.

He sighs. “It’s part of the deal.”

“I know,” I growl. “I’ll go.”

His bare chest expands as he takes me in. “It’s informal. Just a bunch of people our own age.”

Just a bunch of terrifying assholes our own age. “Informal. Got it.”

He slings his bag over his shoulder, then grabs my own, signaling our time together is over. I follow him all the way through the building and to my room. His nostrils twitch as we get closer. He’s smelling for another male wolf, I know it. He’ll find a trace of Nathan’s scent but not what I made it out to be. Like he told me before, my head is so filled with him, how could I even think about another wolf? It was just fun to tease him.

“I’ll text you more details about the party when it gets closer,” he says. “I’ll also arrange everything with Ms. Ebon.”

“Thanks,” I mutter. I’m looking forward to this about as much as I would look forward to my own funeral march.

He doesn’t tell me goodbye, just turns and leaves. I close the door behind him with a little more force than necessary, but I don’t care if he knows I’m pissed. Does he expect me to walk into a river of piranhas and be happy about it?

Fuck.

16

A week and half passes with Jonah and I keeping one another at arm’s length. The party gets postponed once, so naturally my mind goes to everyone hating me, and they’re trying to get Jonah not to invite me. The fucked up part is, that’s a real possibility.

My etiquette instructor is my saving grace in this department. She helps pick my outfit right down to the boots she buys me, telling me she’ll take it off the classroom supplies budget. I hope that’s a real thing since I don’t have the money to pay Greystone Academy back, and I’m low-key obsessed with the outfit she chose.

When she said she would choose my outfit, I was expecting to find some sort of floral print mishmash like the dresses she wears, but the skinny jeans, boots, and long shirt are very trendy. The lengthy, bronze necklace that dangles in my cleavage rounds out the ensemble. The woman even does my nails, and as I look at myself in the mirror fifteen minutes before Jonah is due to arrive, I can’t believe I’ve pulled it off.

I look normal.

Mia whistles from the bed. “Damn, girl. I like it.”

I shift my gaze to stare at her through the mirror. “Is the lipstick too much?” I challenged myself to go a little darker, and Grace was happy to accommodate another session with me.

“No, it’s absolutely perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing. He’s going to be kicking himself for not accepting you.”

A laugh bursts past my lips. “Ha! Highly doubtful but thank you for the comedy break this evening.”

She sits up, throwing her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m so jealous. We only get to go home every few months to visit, and I desperately miss parties.”

Yesterday, her and her mate had another mandatory visit, and it didn’t go so well. They never do. Mine and Jonah’s visits aren’t going spectacularly well either since we keep locking horns when he accuses me of not trying. At this point, I’ve stopped talking during the “mediation” or whatever fancy word they want to call it.

Hell, I’m not even in a real relationship yet, and I’m already in couple’s therapy. It’s fucking exhausting.

Mia gets up, placing her hand on my shoulder and squeezing. “I know this is going to be hard for you. I’ve been contemplating all day about what to tell you to make it better, and I don’t know. The only thing I could come up with is to try to start fresh. Maybe they’ll accept you more now that you’re fated to Jonah? Try not to go in with old hurts and feelings. If that fails, I have more chocolate stockpiled.”

I turn, wrapping my arms around her. Honestly, I don’t know what I would’ve done if she hadn’t showed up in my room that first night. I’d probably still be keeping to myself, and