Chapter 60
“Every predator has a breaking point. The wise ones pray they never become the reason it breaks p>
~ Rebel Beast
“How dare you disrespect what’s mine p>
Maverick’s voice carried an otherworldly boom, his vertical pupils constricting into razor-thin slits, the gray in his eyes spreading with an intensity that no longer looked human.
A suffocating aura rolled off him in waves, so oppressive that everyone present could tell Professor Maverick Nightshade was no longer the one standing before them.
Well, not everyone.
Most of the girls had already fled to their rooms, no doubt trembling behind locked doors and leaving Shannon to her fate.
Aria, Brittney, Alek and Trisha remained trapped in the corner of the common room, having lost their chance to escape earlier. Their backs were pressed firmly against the wall, fear written plainly across every one of their faces.
Maverick towered over Shannon, his broad shoulders slightly hunched as a low growl continuously rumbled from deep within his chest. The sound alone was enough to freeze one’s blood.
Shannon had long stopped worrying about the blood pouring from the wound in her side. She was staring at his face instead, and whatever she saw there drained every last drop of color from her own.
“Maverick!” Dimitri tried again, but the moment he lunged forward, his body abruptly halted. He frowned and looked down only to discover both of his feet had been sealed to the floor by thick ice.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Dimitri exclaimed, glaring at the ice in disbelief. “You froze me p>
The only response he received was another low, unapologetic growl.
“Killing the girl isn’t the answer, Feral,” Dimitri said, deciding to address the wolf instead. “Maverick protects these girls. If you kill her, he’ll never forgive himself for it. You’ll have broken the very rule he forced the beast students to follow. He won’t like that p>
Feral slowly turned his head toward Dimitri, his narrowed eyes carrying not the slightest hint of remorse.
“Maverick,” he growled, “doesn’t like her disrespecting what’s his either p>
Then he turned back to Shannon with such finality that Dimitri’s stomach lurched.
Fuck.
He knew exactly what that look meant.
His gaze darted across the room until it landed on Aria. She looked frightened, confused and completely overwhelmed. Then it hit him.
“Aria p>
Her attention immediately snapped toward the Beta. Dimitri’s eyes were filled with desperate expectation.
“Do something p>
“Huh?” Aria stared at him as though he’d finally lost his mind. What did he mean, do something? If he couldn’t stop Professor Nightshade, what made him think she could? She was only human.
Slowly, she shook her head. She couldn’t.
But Dimitri refused to accept that.
“Trust your instincts p>
Aria’s heart lurched.
The frightening part was that her instincts had been screaming at her from the very beginning. They wanted her to go to him, and stop him.
Common sense, however, screamed even louder. Stay where you are. Stay alive.
After all, this entire disaster had started because she refused to mind her own business. Why should she risk her life for Shannon after everything the girl had just accused her of?
Dimitri saw the hesitation written all over her face.
“If you don’t stop him,” he shouted, “he’s going to kill the girl, and the Maverick I know would beat himself over it p>
“Stop him how?” Trisha cried, panic plain in her voice. “Girl, that’s his beast! What could you possibly do p>
What could she possibly do? Aria honestly didn’t know.
Then, as though someone had whispered directly into her soul, one answer surfaced with startling clarity.
Touch him.
The thought struck with such certainty that it stole her breath. But doubt followed.
Didn’t Professor Nightshade hate being touched? What if she only made things worse?
Yet even as she questioned herself, another truth surfaced. He had touched her, not once but twice.
During the bull attack, he’d held her without the slightest hesitation. Then earlier, he’d briefly touched her.
Aria had done everything possible to convince herself she wasn’t special. But what if she was wrong? What if he only welcomed her touch?
The idea sounded completely absurd, yet she could no longer ignore the strange pull between them.
She swallowed hard. God, please let her be right.
Because if she wasn’t, she would’ve broken the promise she’d made to Davina.
“Oh, hell no,” Brittney blurted the moment she saw the resolve settle across Aria’s face. She had spent the whole time teasing Aria about Professor Nightshade, but that didn’t mean she was about to watch her best friend run straight toward a monster.
“I’m sorry,” Aria whispered apologetically.
Before anyone could stop her, she ran.
At that exact moment, a slow, terrifying smile spread across Maverick’s face as he raised one hand toward Shannon.
“No p>
Aria threw herself between them and, without giving herself another chance to think, reached up and cupped both of Maverick’s cheeks with trembling hands.
Her heart was racing so violently now it pounded against her ribs like a war drum. Aria swallowed hard.
“Please don’t kill her,” she pleaded softly.
And me too. She added the last part silently in her head.
Aria was terrified. Her hands trembled where they rested against his cheeks, yet somehow she found the courage to keep them there.
Maverick slowly lowered the hand he’d raised toward Shannon, and the suffocating pressure filling the room disappeared almost instantly.
That should have solved all their problems, except a slow, fiendish smile spread across his lips. He looked at her with unmistakable satisfaction.
“I knew you’d come, little prey p>
“Excuse me p>
Aria wasn’t sure which part alarmed her more. The ridiculous nickname. Or the unsettling feeling that she’d just walked straight into a trap she hadn’t even realized was being laid.
A shiver crawled up her spine as she caught the dangerous amusement dancing inside those gray eyes. Instinctively, she pulled her hands away as though she’d touched something that burned.
Then she tried to step back. She never got the chance.
Maverick—or rather, the wolf wearing Maverick’s face—slid an arm around her waist and effortlessly pulled her back against him.
“What are you doing?” Aria demanded, panic creeping into her voice as her heart began racing all over again. “Let go p>
Ignoring the traitorous tingles spreading beneath his touch was becoming increasingly impossible.
Feral merely smiled.
“I’ve grown rather tired of Maverick pretending he can resist you p>
His thumb lazily brushed against her side through the fabric of her clothes.
“So…I’ve decided to help him along p>
Before Aria could even begin to understand what he meant, he lowered his head.
And kissed her.