Academy Of Mates novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Chapter 40

I did not cry.

Though I wanted to.

And I was pretty sure I would have if it wasn’t for the people around me.

My entire body was in this shocked state where I continued dancing and twirling while my heart was frozen and my eyes were stinging. My skin prickled as the seconds and minutes passed… on and on.

When the torturous dancing stops and we are told to enjoy the rest of the night, I feel my knees lock and my stomach drop. I could barely breathe. I can barely think.

Kelcey and Christy turned to me expectantly, ready to party the night away, but I walked out of the grand ballroom, unable to stay any longer. Pushing past overly eager couples and drunk wobbling attendees looking for the bathroom, I made it to the hallways lit only by candle light.

My heart jumps as my name is called from behind me. For some reason I can’t explain, I thought it was Sebastian for a moment, but it’s not.

Andrew stood by the end of the corridor, his lips pressed in a worried line.

“Not now,” I said as kindly as I could, a sour burp coming out of my lips.

I think I was going to throw up. The alcohol I’ve been chugging carelessly was bubbling up my throat and into my mouth.

It was not pleasant.

My feet stumble, my ridiculously high heels betraying me, but just as I fall flat on my face, a hand catches me.

“I got you.” Andrew says, pulling me and helping me to a window where I promptly start releasing what my stomach was trying hard to push out of me. “Let it out. It’s okay.”

Letting it out was putting it nicely.

I was hemorrhaging my insides at that point.

The sour taste of my vomit curls my toes and stings my eyes even more. From the way I was hurling and retching, it certainly felt very close to shifting into my wolf form for the very first time.

I sounded like I was dying as I coated the wall below the window in bile and whatever horror I was spilling from my mouth.

Through all this, Andrew’s hand stayed on my lower back, tracing circles and trying to soothe the monster that was attempting to break out of me.

I half expected him to run away, disgusted, but he stayed where he was and even quietly said soothing words. “Better?” He asks when the sounds of me gagging stopped.

I waited for a good minute, letting myself catch a breath and making sure that was all of it before I leaned back and nodded. “Yes, I think so. Uh, I’m sorry you saw that.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t see anything.” He smoothly counters, handing over a white handkerchief. His name was embroidered into the soft fabric. In gold.

Yet another reminder of what position and pack he was in.

A smile pulled at my lips despite the vomiting I had just done and how weak I suddenly felt. And when I didn’t take the handkerchief from him, he leaned over to dab the soft fabric on my lips. “Thank you.”

“Fun night?” He inquires with a carefully lifted eyebrow. He was so relaxed, so casual, uncaring about how he just watched me hurl my entire stomach out the window.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my head starting to pound painfully. “I had too much to drink.”

He leaned against the wall, his eyes on me the entire time. “I know the feeling well.”

1/4

Chapter 40

Which I also knew.

Even before I met him, Andrew was known to be a wild party man.

But I give him the benefit of the doubt now since I was also just drinking myself silly. “Well, the Academy can be a lot of pressure.”

Andrew took a second to reply, his eyes glancing down to my wrist where his bracelet was. “Yes, until…”

I wiped my lips, cringing when the taste of bile was still in my throat. “Until?”

“You.” He confesses, his voice low as though he was telling me a secret. “I met you.”

My breath catches as I look up at him in surprise. “What about me?”

There was no flattery in his voice when he spoke, only the genuine truth. “Seeing you and being with you was better than anything I could have done in the Academy. Most especially better than my original plan which was to get myself drunk out of my mind to get this place over with.”

Did he not want to mate with his Alpha?

She’s perfect.

They were perfect together.

But then maybe he didn’t love her and love is what he wanted… wasn’t it?

“You’re a miracle worker, Varessa.” He cooed teasingly as he saw my cheeks go red. He was startlingly beautiful, the kind of beautiful that knocks the air out of everyone’s chest whenever anyone looks at him.

I cough, giving distance between us, mostly so he doesn’t smell me and my vomit breath. “Just because you were between my legs…”

Suddenly, he laughs, a low laugh that makes my heart beat a little faster. I wish I could put the sound in a jar to take out whenever I wanted.

The deep boom of his chuckle felt like silk washing over my body, and I would do anything to hear the sound over and over again.

“Yes.” He playfully admits, his hair falling to his face. “That is a big factor as no man, no matter how powerful, can resist having your legs squeezed against them for hours.”

I wonder if his hair was as soft as it looked, but then I realized what he had just said and I flushed, my cheeks heating up. My pulse quickens as I do the most childish thing I could do; stick my tongue out. “Very funny.”

A smile curves his lips. “Just telling you how it is.”

I couldn’t turn away from him, his charm blinding.

It was enough for me to momentarily forget about my broken heart.

And when he looked at me, it was like a caress, his warm gaze slowly trailing down my body. It brought a shiver down my spine. “So about Benedict,”

I pull away, straightening my spine as my lips drop into a frown. “What about him?”

Apparently, Benedict and I attracted attention. That’s what we get for not changing dance partners when the gong kept telling us to change but didn’t.

I could tell Andrew was thinking about how to ask whatever question was on his mind and I waited patiently for him to find the right words.

“Are you two… okay?” He asks, the question hanging. He sounded hesitant, like he was approaching a wild monster ready to pounce.

“We’re okay.” I said with a shrug, my knees a little shaky. “We aren’t anything to be honest. I don’t know why he kept putting attention on me. Maybe I’m just a toy, you know, to play with.”

His gaze doesn’t waiver. “I hate Benedict more than anyone else, but that being said, I know him well, a little too well, and he is not the kind to simply play with someone.”

I looked around, checking if anyone was around, but we were alone. “People change.”

2/4

Chapter 40

He didn’t look like he believed me, but nodded anyway.

A yawn left my lips as I leaned against the wall, feeling the cold marble on my back.

His eyes were still on me, almost as if he was searching for something, an answer to a question that he didn’t ask. “Let me walk you back to your room.”

Sebastian’s warning whispers in my ear, but as I look at Andrew, I cannot find a reason to distrust him or to reject his offer. “Okay, but only if you have nowhere to be and if no one is expecting you. The evening is young and the School of Love has just begun.”

Already, attendees were rushing to their rooms, pairing up and lip locked the moment they’re in the halls. Ties are pulled off, suits are removed and dresses are slipped off.

It seems introductions went very well and everyone was in the mood for celebrations.

It’s not uncommon for people at the Academy to enjoy themselves with others. In fact, it’s expected.

And with a man like Andrew, I can only imagine that he has a very long line of women waiting to warm his bed for him.

“I’m right where I want to be.” He said once we had turned a corner and made it to the stairway that led to my room. “What about you? Are you expecting someone tonight?”

“I am not like you, Andrew. I do not have an army of suitors begging at my feet.” I poke fun at him, playfully digging my elbow into his side.

“Says the woman who has literally won everything.” He peers down at me, not moving an inch from my side. There was a certain tone in his voice… something I’ve heard before with Benedict and somehow even Sebastian- but surely it can’t be jealousy? “I heard many wanted to spend the night with you.”

“That’s only because you and Benedict can’t leave me alone.” And it was true. Almost every conversation I had with another man was them asking about the Betas and subtly asking if I do something in bed that makes them so interested.

Shuddering about men imagining me in bed with the Betas, I did not notice that we were already at my door.

“This is you?”

I nodded, turning the doorknob and pushing it open. “Yes, this is me.”

Something hung in the air as we stared at each other and I was more than a little confused about my next steps with him. And then, my stomach churns, bile surging up my throat once more and before I can say another word, I’m running into my room and sprinting for the toilet.

I skid to a stop and went down on my knees, hurling air and making a lot of atrocious gagging sounds as nothing seemed to come out of me anymore.

I dreaded hearing the footsteps behind me as I felt his warmth on my back. He leaned down, going on his knees as well and comforting me with his hand on my back.

“Just let it out.” He says in a soothing voice. “You’re going to feel much better after.”

I don’t know how long it took for my stomach to calm down, but by the time I’m done, I’m beyond exhausted.

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