Midnight Kisses (Shifter Island #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,35

followed me up to my bedroom where I shut and locked the door in case Nolan was nearby.

My thoughts went from the searing hot kisses to his lame-ass apology before he’d knocked me out with some karate mojo, and tears filled my eyes. “A huge asshole, that’s who! He … he left me.” I swallowed the lump at the back of my throat. “Knocked me out before I could lift his mask and dumped me in my bed without even giving me his name.”

Kaja’s face fell, and she held out the cup while shaking her head. “Whoa, that’s heavy. Probably because … it’s forbidden?”

She handed me the coffee, and I took a long swig, hoping the caffeine would prevent my head from exploding.

No more mage wine. Ever. Again.

“Yeah, I guess so. But … I wanted to know who he is.” Was it so irrational to have wanted to throw caution to the wind and forget about the rules? I didn’t care if it was forbidden. He was my fated mate! But he did care. Enough to leave me without a name, and that stung. His rejection of me over “rules” was a wound I’d never forget. Ever.

“Okay, no biggie,” Kaja said, holding out a muffin. Legit, this girl got me. Food and coffee were the things I needed first thing in the morning to function. “We can figure this out. Your mate will have mate marks, so we just look for a guy who has matching marks, and boom! Mate found.”

I snickered before stating the sobering truth: “Yeah… well, I’m not sure I want to go out to my first day of class parading this around.” I held up my hand. If the teachers saw it, or the king, I’d be kicked out so fast it’d make my head spin.

Kaja winced, tipping her coffee cup at me in acknowledgment. “Right.” She walked over to my suitcase and flipped it open. “Where are your uniforms? I have an idea, but you need to get ready for class.”

I shrugged. “Never got any. Hey, when I opened the door, you said, ‘It’s you.’ Please don’t tell me everyone is talking about the mate marks.”

Bad enough being the new girl, a year early, banished clan…

Kaja winced, and I had my answer.

“EVERYONE is talking about it. Blue girl and her black wolf, fated mates. They had to break up the party… ” Kaja pressed her lips together. “Didn’t I tell you that everyone is talking about it already?”

Frick. This wasn’t happening. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Come on. I’ve got an idea—or two.” Kaja pulled me out of my filthy dorm and across the courtyard into her castle-like house. As we approached the west wing, I could hear her sisters bickering in the kitchen.

“Nell!” Kaja shouted.

Nell popped her head into the hallway and, upon seeing me, grinned. “Hey there, Cinderella, that was some heavy petting last night with your prince. Have fun?”

Kaja shoved my ring finger into her face. “The dude never revealed his identity. Total asswipe. He knocked her out and left. Can you hide this before first period?”

Nell’s mouth popped open. “Holy crap. Mate marks? I thought that was a rumor. Figured Fiona was joking when she said she saw them last night on your hand. Well, not yours but Blue Girl.”

“Can you hide them?” Kaja repeated while I sank into my own mortification.

Hide them? I rolled the idea around in my head, frowning. Yes … that would be ideal. Mate marks were usually worn with pride, but all that was assuming one knew who their freaking mate was and it wasn’t forbidden! “Yes, please. Hide them.”

The last thing I needed was more rumors. No, the last thing I needed was getting kicked out of school before I mastered my elements, but the rumors would seriously suck.

Nell’s twin, Rue, peeked her head around the corner. She was the quiet one who didn’t attend last night. Smart girl. “He’s probably hiding his too. Scandalous.”

“Rue!” Nell snapped as her sister shrugged and disappeared back into the kitchen where I heard Fiona and Mele, the eldest Harvest girls, all gossiping.

Great, now all the Harvest girls knew my secret.

“Yeah, I can hide them, but my magic is only strong enough to conceal them for a day. You’ll need to come by every morning so I can repeat the spell.”

Relief poured through me, and my shoulders dropped.

Yes. This was good.

Maybe I could just forget this mate thing ever happened. Clearly, he didn’t want it—not to mention