Mated to a Rogue

Chapter 7

-Dakota POV- 

Austin just sat next to me. 

I look straight ahead and I think I am in a bit of shock. It is impossible not to notice the shadow of the huge man that is sitting next to me. His presence demands attention. 

"Hey Dakota, do you want to be my partner." Charles, one of our classmates says but as he says this, his eyes widen when he sees Austin already sitting with me. 

"f**k off." Austin says to him before I can say anything at all. 

(Holy shit.) 

Charles turns around and almost runs away. 

(Oh s**t, oh s**t, oh shit...) I keep repeating in my head. 

I can't seem to move a muscle. This guy paralyzes me in fear and I am not even paying attention to the teacher either though I hear him talking. I manage to hear the end of what he says. 

"Now, choose an animal to study." 

Austin raises his hand. "We'll take wolves." 

(Wolves? What a coincidence.)  

Austin gives me a side glance. "Is that good with you?" 

I slowly nod but all I can think of besides shitting myself is how much I like his voice. It is low and deep.  

The teacher nods and notes it on her computer. 

 (Wait... is this one of those long projects? Why didn’t I pay attention!?) 

Austin turns to me. “When do you want to meet?” 

(Why is talking to him so hard?! Oh, I know, because he is scary!) 

“Uh... when is it due?” I ask slowly. 

“Next Tuesday.” 

I look down finally concentrating and actually thinking.  

It's Friday, so we have... four days. 

“I guess we’ll have to meet almost every day.” I mumble. 

“Agree.” He says. “Every single day.” 

I stare at him with wide eyes.  

“Today too. Let’s meet after school. Your place?” He says. 

“Uh... yea... wait, no sorry. My roommate and her boyfriend are gonna be there.” 

“Library then.” He says. 

I nod. “Okay.” 

He gets up and starts to walk out and now I notice that the class has ended and people are walking out. 

I am in a bit of shock.  

(Austin and I just had a... semi-normal conversation.) 

I still can’t believe it. 

I take my stuff and make it out to where Lil is sitting on our usual spot. 

“LIL!” 

I dramatically sit next to her. 

“What the heck? What’s wrong?” She asks. 

“I am partnered up with Austin in my ecology class for a project!” I am being extra dramatic so she understands my situation. 

She looks confused. “Oh! The guy you always say is scary?” 

I nod and take one of her fries. 

She giggles. “Look, you know what they say, don’t judge a book by its cover.” 

“In his case, his pages match the cover. He is scary when he opens his mouth too.” I say. 

(And dreamy at the same time. How is that even possible?)

I can't stop thinking about his voice. 

(Am I into ASMR?) 

“Oh... you’ve seen his pages?” She lifts an eyebrow up. 

“Wait what? That is starting to sound sexual.” I shake my head but my mind starts to wander off. 

She starts laughing and that keeps me grounded. 

“Just be yourself around him. Do you really care what he thinks?” 

“It’s not that I care what he thinks, I just don’t want to piss him off. You didn’t see what he did to that other guy at the party.” 

She rolls her eyes.  

“Who did what? When?” Hunter asks suddenly appearing with Ethan. 

“We are talking about Austin... the one with the twin sister.” Lil says to him. 

He thinks for a moment and then his brows furrow.  

He looks at Lil. “Stay away from him.” 

“What? Why?” I ask. 

“Because he’s a ro-” He looks at me. “... a... real tool.” 

Lil looks at him confused but then he leans down and whispers something in her ear. 

“Oh.” She says and then looks at me. “Well... just be careful.” 

“I am doomed!” I say dramatically again. 

She giggles. “I think you’ll be fine.” 

“Where the hell is my girl?” Ethan suddenly says and starts to look around for Brenda. 

“Oh... OH!” He says staring at a commotion in the distance. 

People are gathered in the plaza. We can’t really see what is going on until some of the crowd shifts and we can suddenly see Brenda who has a girl in a headlock. 

“Oh s**t!” Ethan runs and I am surprised at how fast he makes it to her. Hunter too. Lil and I are running but we make it there when Ethan has already separated them. 

“I hate you!” The blond girl says to Brenda. 

“Yea? Well, suck my d**k b***h!” Brenda shouts. 

I almost choked trying not to laugh. Lil groans and shakes her head. 

“Isn't that Sarah Whitman?” I ask Lil and she nods. 

Sarah Whitman is like the princess of the school or something like that.

“We had a run with her a few months ago and they both had it in for each other ever since.” She says and gives me a side glance. “Brenda stole her car, ruined it, and got Natalie in jail. You know... the usual.” 

I am not even surprised at this point and I have only known her for a month. 

The crowd starts to disperse and we head back to our table. 

“I am going to eat the b***h on day!” Brenda shouts. 

I look at everyone as I cringe. “Eat... as in... eat her ou-”

“What? No! Eeww.” Now it’s Brenda who cringes. 

“I am just asking because that sounded a little weird.” I say. 

She shakes her head. “No. You're the weird one.” 

I laugh because I agree. I am weird. 

“What did I miss?” Nathan says walking towards us with Natalie. 

“A lot.” I say. 

His eyes suddenly go to my feet. 

“Is that like a new trend?” He asks pointing at my socks. 

“Isn’t that your Pj top?” Natalie asks. 

I forgot I was still wearing all this crap. 

I groan. 

 "Leave me alone. It's been a stressful day."

They laugh at me.

After spending a bit of time with all of them, I get back to my classes. When I am done, I head back to my room and properly get ready unlike I did this morning. 

With heavy feet, I make it to the library which is just a block from our dorm. As I approach it, Austin leans on the wall in front of it, waiting for me. My heart almost leaps inside of my chest as I walk up to him.  

“Hi.” I say awkwardly. 

Suddenly, he gives me a smile and it feels like this guy has just shot me. Every single time that I have seen this guy, he’s had that angry serious expression on him. 

I smile back and quickly head in with him following. He then takes the lead and leads us to the back where the tables are much more secluded. We sit across from each other and I am eager to just get into the project so that we don’t have to make small talk. 

“So how do we start this? Do we get information from the books here? Or should we just get it from the internet?” 

“Neither.” He says. 

“Okay... then where from?” 

He taps his head. “We have me.” He says. 

“You know all there is to know about wolves?” I ask. 

“Pretty much.” He says and smiles. 

I am not used to him smiling but I like it. 

“Do you... like wolves?” I ask. 

He nods. “Yea, you can say that.” 

He takes some papers out from his bag and hands them to me. “This is what the teacher gave us as a guide.” 

I take it and start reading it. So basically we have to answer all these questions in long paragraphs.” I say and look at him. 

He is intensely looking at me as he rests his head on the table on top of his folded arms. He slowly nods and my eyes go to the ink on the radius of his arm that runs up to his deltoids. 

I have to admit, tattoos look good on him. 

“Like them?” He asks and sits up. “I work in a tattoo shop. If you ever want some, I can do them for you.” He licks his lips as he stares at me. 

I get nervous and start bouncing my leg up and down in a nervous tick. 

“Oh... I never gave it much thought.” I say but that is complete bullshit. 

 I was obsessed with getting a tattoo about a year ago but then at the last moment, I chickened out. 

He smiles and I find myself liking it. He can be intense but at this moment, he seems calm. 

I know Lil is right. He just might be a nice guy and I’ve just been judging him because of how he looks. But he really did scare me with what he did at the party. I don’t really know but I think he might have anger issues. 

“Alright, let's get started then.” I say. 

He leans back on his chair and crosses his arms.  

“First things first.” He says. “What time can I see you tomorrow?” 

I am surprised by the question.

“Oh... Uhm... well if we can, early in the morning because I go to my family's home in the afternoon. I’ll... let you know...?” 

He stares at me for a few seconds and then puts his phone on the table.  

“Give me your number.” 

(Oh god... what is happening?) 

I slowly take his phone and put my number in. 

“Where do you live?” He asks, taking his phone back and he looks genuinely interested. 

I am taken aback by the question. 

 “Um... up in Bedrock, near Rose Hilltown.” 

He nods, thinking.  

“We should start. The library will only be open for another hour.” I say, nervously. 

He stays quiet but soon we start our project. As I am trying to concentrate on it, I am thinking that there is no way we’ll do much today. He keeps staring at me and I keep getting nervous. “Okay so, tell me about wolves.” I say. 

He starts to speak with confidence. “Wolves are smart animals. They are caring, playful, and highly devoted to family. They actually educate their pups, they take care of their injured and they live in family groups, packs. They are very social creatures but also very dangerous, especially in groups.” 

(Wow.) 

“You really like wolves, don’t you?” 

He stares at me for a few seconds and smiles. “Sure.” He says. 

“What the hell is this?” A familiar voice suddenly asks. 

I turn around to see Dallas. He looks between me and Austin. 

“Uh... hey.” I stupidly say because, at this point, my mind is fried. 

“What are you doing...” Dallas says and looks at Austin. “...with him?” 

“And what’s it to you?” Austin says and gets up from his chair in a very defensive stance. 

(I am actually about to crap my pants.)