Alpha Island: The Lycan's Mate

Chapter 3 Crash and Burn

              As they walked through the halls Dylan noticed Shawna, the fairy princess, sitting at one of the cafeteria benches. The tables around her were filled and she was obviously happy with the worshiping attention. Just like he thought… she wasn’t going to be any help.

            “Dylan look!” Kadae said, holding up a box of popcorn. “It’s free.” He said, shoving a handful in his mouth.

            “All food is included with the tuition.” Mia said giggling.

            “Sorry. I think he forgot to pack his brain when we left home.” Dylan sighed. He looked at Ava and her adorable smile on her lips. Her soft… pink… luscious looking lips. Damnit maybe he should just drag her outside the boundaries.  Winning someone over the old-fashioned way stinks. He looked over and saw Kadae and Mia walked over to look at the other snacks available. Big mistake letting Kadae know he could eat as much as he wanted. But now he finally had a moment to just Ava.

            “So you skip battle classes?” Dylan asked, flashing her a smile. He watched her squirm a bit nervously. “I’ll be skipping them too. Maybe we can skip together?”

            “Why are you skipping them?” Ava asked.

            Dylan winked at her. “Hiding of course… you?”

            She smiled up at him biting her bottom lip, “same.”

            “Where do you usually go? Maybe we can both go there together?” Dylan watched her eyes flash up to his. She seemed to be studying him and even a bit guarded against him. Of course, he was a complete stranger to her.

            “I don’t have a usual place, but I do frequent the library a lot.” Ava felt his greedy eyes on her. He was probably a transfer student just trying to get lucky. Maybe he even got kicked out of his last school? And maybe he was just a new guy looking for a friend… But after what happened with Todd she had built a wall up. She was afraid to trust.

            But Todd was like eating from a gas station and Dylan would be fine dining at a three Michelin star restaurant. He was gorgeous. There was no way he was really interested in her as anything but a friend. His silky brown locks and deep pooling blue eyes… his muscular body was well defined. And she was a moron… because she was just openly checking him out. She quickly glanced up and noticed the small tug at the corner of his lips. Damn… he noticed.

            The attraction was there. He just caught her looking him over. He could work with this. Maybe a deep part of her could recognize he was her mate? He just needed to provoke her natural instinct. The magical block on the mate sense was strong but could it really be stronger than the mate bond? The more he was around her the more she should begin to feel it… he hoped. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and crash his lips against hers. To say he wanted her was putting it mildly.

            CRASH

            Dylan turned his head to the commotion. Kadae was holding some guy up by his neck and that guy had dropped his tray. s**t.

             “What is going on?” Dylan said as he ran up to Kadae. He placed his hand on his beta's arm. “Put him down.” Kadae obediently lowered the man.

            “He grabbed my ass and Kadae was just teaching him his manners,” Mia said as Ava walked up to her.

            “Hey, new guys!” A man said walking up from the side. “You two causing trouble?!”

            Dylan quirked his eyebrow up.

            “No, they didn’t do anything.” Mia barked at the guy. “It’s your friend here that’s the problem.”

            The guy reached his hand forward to point at Dylan and Kadae grabbed his hand abruptly. His eyes went black as he bared his fangs at the man. “Touch him and they’ll be picking up your pieces to bury.”

            “Easy Kadae…” Dylan said quietly seeing the man was shaken. Natural instinct would be pushing through. And these men were werewolves. They didn’t know who these men were, but their wolves would sense the danger. It was obvious that they were because even his hand began to slightly shake.

            Kadae growled and slowly let go. No one would touch his prince. Not that he couldn’t handle himself but there was a reason there was a ranking order. It was the beta's job to protect his alpha at all costs. Something that wolves would also recognize. Dylan could see their eyes flipping between Kadae and him. They were already trying to figure it out.

            “Your friend is protective over you, huh? What rank are you?”

            “Doesn’t matter.” Dylan said tersely. He nodded in the direction of the offending guy. “Next time you make advances they better be wanted.” He then turned walking up to Ava. “So we have found the cafeteria. Why don’t you show me where the library is next?”  This was his way of telling her he would meet her there. He turned his head to see Kadae still had the two men pinned with his glare. “Come on, Kadae.”

            As the three of them walked away Kadae finally backed away. He kept an icy gaze on them for a few feet until he turned and followed his alpha. His instincts had him wanting to rip these men apart. This was never a problem before. No one would dare mess with the lycan prince. Maybe being here would be a bit more challenging than he thought.

            “So you two are more than friends… right?” Mia asked quietly as they walked down the hallway.

            “Wait this isn’t no bromance…” Kadae chuckled trying to deflect what she was asking.

            “You know what I am talking about.” Mia looked at Kadae and then back to Dylan.

            “Yeah, we are from the same pack, and he outranks me.” Kadae just went with it. “But more than that he is my good friend.”

            “What pack are you from?” Mia asked innocently.

            “I don’t want to talk about it.” Dylan said quickly.

            “Fair enough. But you two just picked a fight with the alpha of the Opal pack and his beta. Just so you know…” Mia turned her head back to the front. The alpha’s reaction was very curious because he almost seemed afraid of Kadae.

            “What he did to you was wrong Mia. I won’t allow it. Besides, I had my eye on you first.” Kadae said with a grin and he listened to her giggle in front of him.

            “You know the library has some hidden spots in it. Maybe I can show you around it sometime?” Mia turned her head and bit her bottom lip with a smile.

            “I may need a thorough tour. And I tend to get lost so maybe we should make it a routine… just until I know I won’t get lost.”

            “Wow, can you two not talk about having s*x in the library in front of me. I actually go there to study. Maybe we should make out like a time chart, so I know when it isn’t occupied.” Ava said, scrunching her nose up.

            “I don’t see what the big deal is. Who knows Dylan may need a tour with you Ava.” Mia said bluntly.

            “Mia!” Ava wanted to cry. She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. How could she say that in front of the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen?

            Dylan watched Ava’s ears turn red in front of him. She was adorable. And how easily she was embarrassed and flustered… it was cute. He had to say something here. Not saying anything would make Ava think he wasn’t interested and saying too much would make him look like… well Kadae.

            “I’d be honored if Ava ever wanted to give me an extended tour.” Dylan almost winced at himself. He sounded like a dork. This is what happens when he is around Kadae too much. He saw Kadae’s shoulders shaking beside him and he knew he was trying to stifle a laugh. His eyes landed on Ava. He hoped she didn’t think he was creepy.

            “This tour is more like a one-time thing.” Ava said quietly.

            Ouch.

            The sound of a whistle was heard in his head followed by a crashing sound. Next to him Kadae made the hand motion of a plane crashing and then an explosion as he exaggerated his hand dramatically around. Crash and burn, huh Mav?

            Dylan shot daggers at his beta. He had to try to recover from this.

            “I just meant… I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better. And uh… you're beautiful and I’d be honored to have you by my side…” Dylan saw Kadae suck in air from his teeth. Damn, he was screwing up.

            Ava turned around and flashed him a wide smile. “The school year is just starting. You have a lot of females here. You may want to slow down so you don’t waste all those lines up on me.”

            She thought he was using liners on her. He was drowning. He always thought he was a good swimmer and now he needed a life preserve. Maybe girls were only interested in his title… it wasn’t really him.

            “What my pathetic friend here is trying to say is he needs a friend to talk to while I’m busy with the ladies.” Kadae chuckled and slapped Dylan on the back. “He isn’t a fan of hooking up like I am.”

            Lame. Like that would work… Yet she smiled wider at him.

            “Me either. You are a bit awkward with trying to be friends, huh?” Ava giggled, biting her bottom lip.

            She had no idea how much that small little motion made him want to devour her right there. His beast raged against him as he tried to fight his instincts.

            “Sorry, I’m new to all of this.” Dylan finally admitted quietly.

            “I take studying seriously, but you are welcome to join me.” Ava smiled at him and then started walking again with Mia.

            “That’s a big deal. She never allows me to study with her.” Mia said matter-of-factly. “Better not screw it up or you’ll be banned like me.”

            “I’ll do my best.” Dylan sighed as Kadae jabbed him playfully with his elbow. How humiliating… his beta had to come to his aid trying to hook up with a girl. And not just any girl… his own fated mate. Without his title and mate pull, this was tougher than he imagined. And it was making him second guess himself slightly. Did anyone actually ever really like him? The real him? Or was it all pretend because of his title?