Christian was lying on a lounge on the balcony basking in the evening sun when Kai showed up, laughing.
He had heard his laughter inside the dorm and had hoped he would keep the ruckus inside, but clearly, that was too much to hope for.
Opening his eyes, he shot his roommate an annoyed glare. “Can you go laugh elsewhere?”
“Oh, you are gonna love this,” Kai said, grinning widely as he perched on the balcony rail.
The sound of a door closing with a bang came from inside the dorm.
“Oh, he is mad,” Kai said gleefully.
“If you have anything to say, get done with it and leave me alone,” Christian ordered.
Kai rolled his eyes. “You are no fun.”
Sighing tiredly, Christian closed his eyes and tried to ignore him. If he pretended he wasn’t there, he would forget he was. Sometimes that worked.
“You’ll never guess who’s Levi’s mate,” Kai said.
At the word ‘mate’, Christian stiffened all over. For a moment, he thought Kai had found out that Sara was his mate. And then his roommate’s full sentence registered.
Levi. He was talking about Levi.
He relaxed.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the girl since the previous day. As long as she was around him, there was a possibility that he would be affected by the mate bond.
And as long as he didn’t reject her, he had to stay away from her. But how could he do that when they lived in the same dorm? Ian was still adamant about not getting rid of her.
Earlier on, she had gotten into trouble and escaped into the jungle. A jungle full of rogues. He had thought his problem was solved, because he knew for certain an Omega like her couldn’t survive the forest.
Ian had wanted to go after her, but he had refused. He was immensely disappointed when she came back to the campus hours later, unscathed.
Knowing that Kai wasn’t going to stop his blabbering until he said what he wanted to, he asked, “Who?”
He was definitely not interested in Levi’s mate. Or anyone’s mate for that matter. The entire mating thing was stupid to him and he couldn’t care less who mated who.
“Our dear roommate, Sara.”
Christian frowned, and then opened his eyes and turned to look at Kai. “What?”
Kai gave a nod. “I know, right? The mighty Levi got paired up with an Omega. Who would have thought?”
“What are you talking about?” Christian demanded, getting into a sitting position so fast that his head spun.
Kai frowned. “Jeez, what are you so freaked out about? She is Levi’s mate, not yours. Calm down. I’m pretty sure the Goddess has someone magnificent for you.”
“She cannot be his mate,” he said.
“Why not?” Kai asked, arching his brow. “You should have seen him in the bathroom when I walked in on them. He almost snapped my neck because I saw her naked. Cute, isn’t it? He doesn’t care that she is just an Omega.”
“But-”
“But what?” Kai urged.
Christian looked away, his mind spinning. How could it be? Sara was his mate. He felt the bond between them. So did Ian. How could she be Levi’s mate too?
And then he recalled the fight in the quad, of the two male werewolves fighting over a she-wolf they both claimed to be their mate.
Was that it? Was Sara bonded to both of them?
If that was the case…
No. He wasn’t going to reject her. He wasn’t.
He couldn’t let Levi have her.
This changed everything.
It was one thing to not want a mate, and another to get one but have them end up with another person.
She was his, and he wasn’t going to lose to Levi.
***
The next morning, Sara woke up extra early to prepare breakfast for everyone.
She had thought all night of how to get in their good graces, and feeding them seemed like a good place to start.
Thank heavens she was good at cooking. She was going to make the food so delicious they would forget the school cafeteria existed.
She was beating some eggs when Christian appeared in the kitchen, looking half asleep, his hand below his shirt as he scratched his belly. His face was scrunched up in confusion.
She froze.
She had last seen him in the quad the previous day, when he refused to save her from serving Eddie.
“You are cooking?” he asked, half-dazed.
She blinked. That was not what she had expected him to say. Some snappy comment, or, as was more befitting him, a cold glare that chilled her to the bones.
“Uh, yeah, I…. uh, I thought-”
“That’s a lot.”
She nodded. “I’m making breakfast for everyone.”
“It smells delicious,” he said, getting closer to the stove and lifting the lid off the pan.
“Ah, thanks,” she said.
She looked at him closely. Was this really Christian? The one who got annoyed if anyone so much as looked his way? Why was he being so nice?
After checking what she was cooking, he walked back towards the living room. A while later when Sara was setting the table in the living room, Kai appeared.
Naked.
She quickly pressed a palm to her eyes. “What are you doing?” she demanded, images from when she had first seen him shuttling through her mind. Did he have a thing for walking around naked or something?
“Coming to check what’s with the delicious aroma that woke me up,” he said, unfazed as he walked towards the table and reached for a fork.
“Wear some clothes,” she told him.
“Maybe you should take your clothes off too,” he suggested, collecting a plate and moving to take a seat.
And then Levi walked into the room and aimed a glare at him.
Kai cleared his throat and placed the plate and fork back onto the table. “It’s cold, anyway,” he said as he walked back into his room to put on clothes.
Sara opened her eyes. On seeing Levi, she got anxious, wondering whether she would be able to get to the end of her plan.
But he didn’t say anything as he took a plate and loaded it with breakfast goods.
Soon, the three guys were all eating at the table, enjoying the meal.
“So, what’s the occasion?” Kai asked at one point, giving Sara a curious glance. “You normally avoid us in the morning, what’s with the sudden breakfast feast?”
“Yeah, what’s with that?” Christian seconded, crossing his arms over his chest.
Levi didn’t say anything, but he too looked at her expectantly.
Wringing her hands on her lap nervously, Sara said, “I…uh…I want to ask a favour.”
Kai grinned and leaned over the table towards her. “You know what you need to do, and l’ll give you as many favours as you want.”
Levi grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back.
“What favour?” Christian asked. “You can just ask me.”
She gave him a perplexed look.
Levi frowned at Christian, and then he turned his attention to Sara. “You can tell me,” he said. “I’m your…” He cleared his throat. “I’m not busy, I can do it.”
Sara wondered whether they were pranking her. Kai was acting as expected, but Levi and Christian? It was like someone had taken over their bodies overnight.
“I’m sorry if I’ve offended any of you,” she said, “I was hoping we could begin afresh.”
“And?” Kai prompted.
“I wanted to ask…I don’t expect anything else from you, but please don’t bully me anymore.”
She bit her lip and shut her eyes tight. This was it, this was where they laughed in her face.
Silence stretched for too many seconds before Kai asked, “You made us breakfast to bribe us into leaving you alone?”
She nodded.
“Holy, you are so cute, it’s a shame you refused to…never mind.”
“What will we get in return?” Christian asked.
Sara opened her eyes and looked at the three of them. “I can cook for you.”
“Messing with you is fun,” Kai said, “but I have to admit, your food makes me feel even better.”
“Deal,” Christian said.
Sara looked at Levi, waiting for his answer. He was watching her with a narrowed mistrustful gaze. As if he was trying to figure out any hidden agenda behind her request.
She released the breath she was holding when he said, “Fine. Deal.”