Julian’s POVNo amount of protest has been able to keep me from setting foot on the Mishnia University property. Unlike the other students walking past me on the way to class, I didn’t bother with a backpack and books. Unlike them, I wasn’t here for an education. I was here out of necessity. Also curiosity. My father had many other opportunities to send me to college before, but he kept me on for his dirty week until this past year.So why now? Who is here that he needs me to be close to? He won’t admit to his real agenda, but I know my father well. Nothing he does is without reason. Until he was ready to divulge his true intentions, I would be stuck slumming it with a bunch of privileged humans. As I said, he could have sent me to a school tailored to our own kind, but no, he sent me here. Yet another reason I was so set on this being more than is hope for me to further my business knowledge.“Your class is that way,” Bash says.Yep, I have my trusted bodyguard attending college with
Mila's POV“Where the hell have you been?” I’m shoved back against the door before I’m able to close it all the way, knocking the wind out of me.When I went home after work, I snuck in through my window so I didn’t have to face my stepmom when I was already feeling off by what happened the last couple of days. I wanted a good night of sleep so that today wouldn’t feel so hard. Of course, that means she thinks I’ve been gone this whole time. I should have known she would be furious, but I couldn’t hide from her forever.I have to suck in a few weak pulls of air to try and catch my breath before I can give her an excuse. She didn’t let me. This time she was beyond her normal level of mad. This time, she slapped me across the face the second I opened my mouth. I cried out and fell to the floor. My hand comes up to cover the part of my face where she struck me, and I look up at her with genuine fear. It’s been a while since she hit me in the face or anywhere visible, but today she did. I
Mila’s POVPulling the best I can on my powers, I try to fix what’s left, but I only manage to heal the red mark from her slap. The bruises haven’t changed at all. That will have to do for now. I’ll need some ice for the black eye, though. I turn the bathroom light off and walk silently to the kitchen. There are a few ice packs that I keep inside the freezer, so I pull one out and place it over my eyes. I hiss at the cold, but it gives me some relief.I fight back tears as I look at my reflection in the window. It’s dark now, which means I was passed out for a few hours…on the floor. She walked past me several times and did nothing.This can’t go on…Even if she knows she can’t kill me, one day her anger will go too far and she will. This was proof of that. Any one of my injuries could have become life threatening. The idea of my last breath would come while I was lying on a cold floor makes a tear fall from my eyes.Would any wonder what happened to me? Or would they believe whatever
Julian’s POVI blink my eyes open and groan at the intense head ache currently wreaking havoc in my head.“What- ““You’re awake.” The family sound of my father’s voice makes me groan loudly.“What are you doing here, dad?” I say while I rub my eyes.I’m in no mood to deal with him, but with this headache, I don’t think I could escape him now.“I’m here because you destroyed an entire room in this house and took off in the middle of the night in your wolf form. Anyone could have seen you Julian, how could you be so careless?”I guess we’re jumping right into things then.“I was angry and lost control, but I wasn’t seen and I didn’t hurt anyone. Okay?”Even though I want to nurse this headache for a few more hours, there isn’t time. I can’t show any weakness, and the way I lost control last night is bound to get around. Especially if my suspicions are true and we have a mole. Roman would use this incident against me if only to rile me up.“What are you really here for, dad? Are you fin
Mila’s POVI can’t believe Julian! He’s been openly flirting with other girls and then has the nerve to act like he cares about me.Again, I try to remind myself that it was one night, but as much as I say, it felt more than that. It felt like we connected, but boy has he proved me wrong every time I’ve seen him. He’s a popular guy, not that I could blame the girls flocking around him. He’s handsome there’s no question about that, but there is a dark secret hiding all of his nice features. I sensed the moment he touched me, and yet I still wanted him. That hasn’t changed and when he touched me just now, I wanted to lean in and accept his warmth.Why was he toying with me?Uh, I wish I could erase any memories of that night and him. I wish I could take it all back!Like I didn’t have enough drama in my life, I had to go and add more. I’m so stupid.Anyway, I’m meeting Roman today, so maybe he can take my mind off things even just for a little while. He’s handsome, charming and funny. A
Julian’s POVAfter I watch Mila walk away, I’m in a bad mood again. She pulled away from me and the ache has only gotten worse since she left, but I have to get this shit assignment from my dad done fast so I can work on fixing things between us. I’m fixing against hundreds of years of instinct passed through generations to stay away from Mila, which only pisses me off more. If I didn’t have plans to deal with my father already in motion, then I would rip his damn head from his body.Pushing aside plans of murder for now, I storm down the path to the library again. The large building is hard to miss once I get closer. Although most of the buildings here look like they have been around for a hundred years, there have been clear attempts to repair and modernize things slightly. The library, though, it looks like it hasn’t been touched. I would stop and admire the architectural art of its design if I wasn’t in a hurry to find this girl.Someone pushes the door open and a small group of s
Mila’s POVThis is the most amazing date I’ve ever been on. Roman is so sweet, and hasn’t complained once if I walk too fast from excitement or eat too slow. He has also stopped at every game to win me something to take home with me, and is carrying a plastic bag over his shoulder full of little stuffed animals. I can’t help but smile every time I look over at him holding that giant bag.This time I’m not quite sneaky enough, and he smiles. “What?”I shake my head, but I can’t shake my smile. “You just look so silly with that bag of stuffed animals over your shoulder.”He chuckles. “I don’t mind it. It puts that beautiful smile on your face.”My face heats at his words and I lower my head, hoping he won’t see.“So where to next?” He asks.“Aren’t you tired? We did a lot already.” I point out, but he shakes his head.“No way! We haven’t done rides yet. Unless you’re not into that, then we can grab a few more fried Oreos. I think I’ve developed an unhealthy addiction to these things.”“
Mila’s POVThe drive back to school is quiet. Not that Roman hasn’t tried his best to distract me from the awkward moment we shared with Julian and his date. I just can’t let it go and I hate that Roman has to suffer because I’m an emotional mess.Why am I a mess?It was ONE night! How could that man entrap me so easily after just one time? It’s like a put a spell on me and it keeps pulling me toward him, no matter how much I want to run away.“Hey.” Roman brushes a finger along my cheek and I finally turn to look at him.He gives me a weak smile, but there is no sign that he’s angry at me, which makes me hate myself more.“I’m so sorry. We were having such a great time and I- ““Don’t,” He says, cutting me off. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s clear you and Julian have a history and from the tension between you two, I’m guessing it’s not good. You have every right to be upset at seeing him. I’m not upset about how things ended today, and you shouldn’t be either. We had a lot of fu
MilaSomething is wrong with Julian when we leave the store with my laptop and new phone. I keep glancing his way, but all I see is his furrowed brows and him clenching his jaw. What happened in such a short time to change him so quickly? I thought for a second we might even become friends, but now I’m not so sure. Being around him feels too…erratic. One second he’s almost sweet and then he’s anything but. It’s confusing and frustrating. So much so that I stop walking and grab his arm. He looks at me, surprised at first, but turns to me when I face him.“What’s the matter with you?” I snap.I’m not sure why I feel so worked up over his change in mood, but I do!“What’re you talking about?” He asks, clenching his jaw once again.“I’m talking about this.” I wave a hand over his entire person. “You were happy to throw money around for me and then, as soon as we leave the store, you look pissed off. So what is going on? Do you regret what you paid for in there? I’m more than happy to retu
Julian’s POVMila has shocked me by complying with me, escorting her into the building that made her eyes grow twice their size. She looked at the mall we’re walking into as if she has never seen a place like it before, except I’ve been doing some research on her family.For one, her stepmother’s body has still not been recovered, which means we have to consider that she is still alive and possibly in hiding. If that’s the case, then there must be a trail leading to where she would run to hide out until she can plan her next move. Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of her, if she’s still alive, anyway.My research has helped me learn a few things about Mila as well, and one of those things is that her father was a well off man. He wasn’t the most successful businessman, but he was comfortable. Comfortable in the fact that his net worth was two million dollars. Nothing close to myself or my father, but not too bad. What I don’t understand is where all that money went. It’s cle
Mila’s POVJulian is quiet as he drives us toward the mall. Not the one in town where Isabella and I usually go, but the one in the town over that’s known for having a ton of very high end retailers. Even though Isabella could easily shop there, I think she doesn’t because she doesn’t want me to feel even more guilty if she offered to buy me something worth so much. Also, all of my objects have been ignored, which is why it’s so uncomfortably quiet in this car. Julian shot down all my protests before they were out of my mouth. I glared at him, but he ignored me and acted like I wasn’t burning a hole in the side of his head.Man do I wish for that power right now!Anyway, I gave up and now I’m thinking of ways I can avoid him spending a single penny on me. I mean, why did he give me the limitless black credit card if he was going to go shopping with me and pay for a whole bunch of stuff? What more will I need to buy with that card?My phone vibrates in my bag, so I pull it out and see
Julian’s POVIsabella leads me down the path from the library and heads down the path that leads to the athletics department.“You know how much about him? Football player?” I ask her. It’s almost all I know.She smirks. “Baseball actually. He’s tried his hand at all of the usual sports but got into college on a baseball scholarship.”Not much better if you ask me.“So what’s your plan to deal with him, anyway?” She asks.“I’m going to warn him to stay away from Mila.” I say simply.“I got that, but how? Are you going to threaten him with bodily harm or actually harm him to send a message?” She sounds a little too excited by the second option.“Depends on how well he listens. I don’t like to get my hands dirty so early in the day..” Lie. “But if I have to, then I will.”She nods in approval.We walk the rest of the way in silence. The closer we get to the fields set up near the athletic building, I can hear the sound of balls hitting bats and the defining sound of whistles. I never sa
Mila’s POVI can’t tell if having Steven walk me to my classes today is a good or bad thing. For one thing, no one has yelled horrible things at me. In fact, no one has looked my way other than to stare at Steven. It’s…nice. We make our way toward the coffee shop. I’ll be working out for the next couple of hours until it’s time for my afternoon class. Steven picks a spot far enough to not crowd me, but close enough that he can monitor me. Things are fast and intense for the first hour but slow down a little and I take that time for my break.Steven orders a black coffee and I order and white chocolate mocha. We sit together but don’t say much, but it’s a comfortable silence. He’s not bad company.“So, how long are you assigned to be my protector?” I ask him.“As long as my boss says so.”Right.“I think he’s being a little paranoid.” I point out, making him smile a little.“Not at all. I can’t say much, but you’re the only woman who’s ever caught his interest like this.”I look at him
Julian’s POVI look down at my phone and feel my blood heat at what Steven just told me. Some girl laid a hand on Mila and threatened him with police action. That last part makes me snort out a laugh. We have people in the police and DA's office who could have any charges thrown out before the ink dries on an arrest warrant. That girl has no power, and she will damn well know it.“Are you listening?” Melody’s voice catches my attention and I glance up to see her unamused eyes looking at me.“I heard everything you said.” I say to her with a little less patience in my voice than I normally have with her.I’m trying to get on her good side after all, but right now I’m ready to scare the shit out of some stuck-up bitch who thinks she can lay a hand on my mate. My skin ripples with the urge to shift right now and take care of her now, but I can’t screw up the small window I’ve created for myself with Melody.“Really? Because it looks like you’re more interested in your phone, then what I’
Mila’s POV“I’m sorry you had to deal with all that because of me.” I tell Roman through his window when we arrive at the university.He gives me a forced smile. He’s clearly seriously pissed still.“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I can’t deal with. Have a good day! I’ll call you.” He waves to me and I step back to let him go.I watch him drive off and had this feeling in my stomach that he won’t be calling me. Isn’t that what guys say but never mean it? I need to watch some RomComs so I can get better educated in the universe of dating. With a sigh, I forget about men and all the confusion they bring, but the universe has a wicked sense of humor because when I turn around, I see Scott heading my way.He’s smirking and is surprisingly alone. “Hey Babe.”“I’m not your babe anymore, Scott, and according to you, I never was.” I say, walking past him.“Are you still upset about that? It was a long time ago. Can’t we put that behind us and be friends?” He grabs my elbow to stop me.I w
Mila’s POVI jog down the stairs from my new room and head for the front door of Isabella’s house. She wanted to walk me down, but no way am I going to let her act like a disapproving mom and question the heck out of Roman. So I promised her I would text her if at any time I felt in danger. That didn’t seem to make her feel much better, so she handed me a sparkly pink taser to put in my bag. She had a whole keychain of self defense stuff but I convinced her a taser was more than enough.She seems to suddenly be taking on the role of concerned mother and it’s kind of sweet. It’s the first time someone really cared about me like this and I like it even if it seems a little much. When I step out of the front door, I stop short at the sight of a very handsomely dressed Rowan leaning on a very expensive-looking car. I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m not hallucinating, but no, he’s one hundred percent real.He smirks at me before pushing to his feet and buttoning his suit jacket
Mila’s POV“Girl, you need to spill right now. What is going on? You were in the news because of a shooting Mimi!” Isabella sets in on me the second I climb into her car. Guilt hits me like a brick at how concerned she’s been while I’ve been worrying about a bunch of other stuff I want to keep away from her. She’s too pure and happy to see the darker parts of the world, but now I don’t have a choice but to tell her. “It’s a long story.” I say, hoping to brush everything off until tomorrow when it doesn’t feel so raw. I should know better than to expect something like that from her. It’s a shock. I’ve been able to keep any of this a secret for this long. “Mila enough. I know there is something you haven’t been telling me. You think I never noticed the marks or the scars? I said nothing because I didn’t want to push you, but now. You need my help and I will, but please don’t lie to me. I’m your best friend.” She’s right. It’s time I told her everything. “My stepmom has been hurtin