“I don’t need your help,” Levi said to Christian as they waited for Kai to return with the kit. He wanted to start treating Sara right away, but not with Christian still in the room.
“Sure?” Christian asked, folding his shirt sleeves to his elbows. “I think you should be the one to step aside. My pack is known for its healers, remember?”
Christian was well aware of why Levi didn’t want him around. But Sara was his mate too, and he wasn’t comfortable with another man taking care of her. If he allowed Levi to treat her, the two would get closer, and he couldn’t allow that.
As for Levi, who didn’t know that Christian also had a mate bond with Sara, he couldn’t understand why his usually cold and indifferent roommate was so interested in her well-being. This would be the perfect time for him to act as his usual unbothered self.
“Here it is,” Kai said as he walked back into the room with the first aid kit. He could sense the tension in the room, which seemed to have increased significantly during the short moment he had been away.
Christian reached for the kit, but Levi slapped his hand away and took it instead. “She is my mate,” he said, “I’ll take care of her.”
“Is she?” Christian challenged. “When did you two complete your bond? Because I can’t sense your scent on her. Can you, Kai?”
Kai looked between the two, confused. Christian knew Levi had a mate bond with Sara. What was he doing? Trying to get a rise out of him? Or was he, too, attracted to her? What was it with this Omega that got all these Alphas going crazy? Even the Alpha King!
“Uh, no,” he replied hesitantly. He wasn’t sure who between the two he didn’t want to piss off more. Levi was a killing machine, but Christian did happen to have a gun lying around somewhere.
“She is fated to be with me,” Levi told Christian, getting in his face, “and whether we have completed our bond or not is none of your business. Now get the fuck out of here, because she is hurt and I need to take care of her and if you keep me one more minute, you’ll regret it.”
“I’m not leaving her with you,” Christian said resolutely.
Levi narrowed his eyes and shoved the kit towards Kai, who grabbed it quickly. Then he grabbed Christian by the arm and pulled him towards the doorway and out of the room. Their heated voices came from the living room, and for a second, Kai was tempted to follow along and see the drama unfold.
But then his eyes fell on Sara.
While the two idiots fought, this was the perfect chance to get closer to her. Quickly, he went to the door and shut it. When no protest came from either Levi or Christian, he hurried back to Sara’s bed and opened the first aid kit on the bedside cabin.
“Oh, dear, you are bleeding too much, I need to stop it right away,” he said as he reached for Sara’s shirt and pulled it aside.
She groaned in protest and shook her head. “I’m fine,” she muttered, her voice weak.
“Are you?” he asked. “You are not healing at all, so I’m guessing you are a very weak Omega. If I don’t stop the bleeding, you’ll become even weaker and maybe pass out. The wounds might also become infected if I don’t clean them soon.”
She blinked. “I”
“Unless you only want to be tended by Levi. I get it, he is your mate. Should I call him?”
She shook her head, her eyes falling close. “No, it’s…it’s fine.”
Kai could barely keep his smile to himself. As long as he had her consent to tend to her wounds, he could find a way to do what he wanted.
“Alright, then, I’ll start with the wounds I can see. Do you have any on your back?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Okay.” His eyes ran down her body, over her throat, bra, exposed stomach, and to her hips. “I have to take your jeans off,” he said, eyeing where sharp claws had shredded the material. The claws had also gotten to her skin, and blood seeped through the material.
“No,” she said, “I’ll…I’ll heal.”
He doubted that. None of her injuries seemed to be healing by themselves, a process that should have started already. “I’ve never met a werewolf as shy as you,” he commented. “Being half naked before me should not be a big deal, have you never been in the nude around your packmates before?”
Being naked was not a big deal for werewolvesespecially for him. He wasn’t a fan of clothes and wasn’t the kind of werewolf to bring clothes whenever he shifted forms. Unless there was the risk of running into humans. That wasn’t a concern in a place like North Academy.
Anyway, while not everyone was comfortable enough strutting around in the nude like him, it was normal for werewolves not to be overly conscious of their nakedness. At least for the unmated ones. Mated werewolves had something against others spying on their partners. Something that could get him killed, he thought, as he cast a look towards the door.
But Christian was right. Levi hadn’t completed his bond with Sara, so he didn’t exactly have every right to go berserk. Not that he thought that made any difference to Levi.
“Fine,” Sara’s voice broke through his thoughts.
I must be crazy, Sara thought as she felt Kai pop her jeans button and undo her zipper. Getting undressed by Kai wasn’t something she had ever wished for, but she knew he was right. She was too weak and was not healing. If her injuries were not treated soon, she could get worse. She could barely stay awake as it was.
With her clothes out of the way but for her underwear, Kai started cleaning her wounds with antiseptic. The stinging sensation ensured that she didn’t go under.
He started with her throat, gently cleaning her injuries and then applying antibiotic ointment.
She became more aware of his touch as he moved south towards her cleavage. I really am crazy, she thought as a warm sensation spread from where his fingers brushed her skin. It was Kai, for heaven’s sake. The guy who had disgusted her from their very first meeting. What business did her body have reacting to his touch?
Kai had been with more women than he could count. He had seen, touched, and kissed so much soft feminine skin that he considered himself an expert in the matter. And yet, now, he felt like a virgin who was dying for a taste. He didn’t understand why she made him so desperate. Maybe it was because she had rejected his advances. Yes, that must be it. That was why he felt like he would die if he didn’t sleep with her.
He would never get a chance if she and Levi got matedor maybe he could. After all, he knew very well that not even a mate bond could keep a woman faithful. Anyway, this was the best time to find out whether she truly wasn’t attracted to him.
The next wound was located in the middle of her chest, on the swell of her cleavage exposed above her bra. As he reached for it, he brushed the heel of his hand against her bra.
Sara’s eyes shot open. She gulped and shut them again when she saw that Kai was focused on cleaning her wound. It must have been a mistake. She didn’t put it past Kai to try and cop a feel, but if it was just a mistake, she would make a fool of herself if she reprimanded him.
But…
Why had it felt so nice? Why did she want him to make that mistake again? What was wrong with her?
She couldn’t bear the thought of being attracted to Kai. Not after everything he had said when he was pursuing her. It would be like losing a fight!
Kai felt Sara’s body tense when he brushed against her breast, but she didn’t make any protest. Not that he needed any more evidence that she had felt his touchher nipples had gone hard enough that they were showing through her bra.
He smiled sardonically as he wiped lower. Had it all been an act before? Had she always been aroused before whenever he got close to her, while she was busy telling him off?
Getting bolder, he used one hand to push her bra lower while he pretended to clean the wound further. He trailed his fingertips on her skin, applying a bit of pressure.
When Sara’s eyes shot open this time, he was looking directly at her.
And then it hit him.
It was like an electric shock that awakened every single nerve ending in his body. A connection that he had never felt before in his life, pulling him to her, only her…
“What do you think you are doing?” Levi’s voice thundered through the room, and then he was jerked from his perch on Sara’s bed and flung halfway across the room.
But not even his roommate’s animosity was enough to quell the feeling of glee swelling up inside him.
He had a mate bond with Sara.