Chapter 187

I was frozen in my spot when he pulled away. My eyes snapped open, and I could see his self-assured smile as he turned away with his meal.

If I could die right this second, I would.

"Well, well, well." Nix’s voice was amused. "I thought you said you weren’t interested in him?"

"Amy, are you okay?" Megan’s soft question caught me off guard.

"Why wouldn’t she be?" Nix was just as confused as I was.

Megan came closer and started to rub her side against the wall in my mind. "Because…" she started. "She didn’t want to like Rowan because of us. We are waiting for your mate, Nix. You, yourself, are interested in Erubus. Falling for a man, specifically our king, would be hard. Knowing he will be selecting a queen, or finding his mate, is even worse." Megan paused. "No matter what happens, Rowan isn’t for her, and she knows it."

Nix was quiet. "I didn’t think of that." I felt her following Megan, pressing herself against the wall. "If Rowan is who you want, I would give his wolf a shot. He is the king, so he will be strong. I haven’t set myself on Erubus; yes, I like him, but I won’t force you to be with a man you don’t want to be with."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I won’t do that to you again.” Brandon had taught me that if we were going to end up with any man, I want all of us to agree with him. Plus, Rowan, like Megan said, was destined for someone else.

I could feel the burn of tears behind my eyes, but I was being stupid. He is just a man, a man who obviously doesn’t like me.

"You don’t know if he likes you or not," Nix offered.

"If he liked me, he would have kissed me." I shook my head and grabbed the meals. I took a deep breath before walking out. "Choose a meal." I laid the choices on the table, and everyone grabbed their choice. I brought the rest back to the kitchen and picked one I wanted. "Does anyone need theirs heated up?"

I put mine to the side and went back into the living room to heat everyone’s dinner up. After everything was done, I passed out utensils and turned the TV on for background noise.

When I sat down with my meal, I slid off the loveseat and onto the floor. Rowan looked at me weirdly, but I put my food on the table and ignored his look as I ate.

I felt him shift closer, and I wanted to pull away. I don’t know what he was playing at, if he just liked the attention or what, but I didn’t enjoy being toyed with. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was bothering me.

Sooner or later, he would have his mate, and I would fade from his mind.

"It might not be what you are thinking, Amy." Megan tried to comfort me. "Not everyone is like Vince and Brandon."

All I could do was nod. In my head, I knew that. But with everything that happened in my first life, I wasn’t going to trust any man. They would have to prove their intentions with action.

And Rowan proved that he wasn’t really interested in me.

Again, the thought made me want to cry. I couldn’t understand why I was so emotional today.

My phone rang when I had that thought, and I checked the caller ID. It was my mom.

I answered. “Mom?” Her sobs hit me in my chest, and I closed my eyes. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Chapter 187

“Your father is gone, baby.”

“What?” I just talked to him. What did she mean he was gone?

“There was an attack today, and the pack was wiped out.” The words hit me in my chest. She didn’t know the truth, and I couldn’t tell her over the phone, either. Fuck. “Come home. I need you to come home.”

“I can’t leave, Mom.” I whispered the words. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. “No one is allowed to leave school without an armed guard now.”

“Then I’m coming to you.”

“I moved out of my dorm.” I explained that some of us were being moved to the apartment building. “Come here, Mom. I’ll tell Sterling to send you up to my apartment.” People would know soon enough that I moved in here, but I didn’t want them to know I was in the penthouse. No one but the ones in here would know.

“Okay, baby. I’m on my way.” Her sobs ripped my chest open as she hung up. I looked down at my phone for a moment, a little lost. The silence that followed was deafening.