Hidden Mate

“T his is everything,” Brock said as he set my pink luggage on the ground. He focused his silver eyes on me and ran a hand through his messy chestnut-brown hair. In the right light, hints of auburn were visible, but not in the dim dorm room. He pulled his navy button-down shirt over his gray slacks. He’d be attractive if I didn’t find him downright repulsive. He was the typical elitist jerk who came with the territory of alpha heirs. He wasn’t part of my pack but rather part of the second strongest pack that happened to have the most money. He played the part of a snob very well. “Hey, I still have a few bags downstairs.” Roxy threw her long red hair over her shoulder and pouted. “Can you get those?” She batted her hazel eyes at him like that would change his answer. I used the pack bond to link to my best friend. Don’t encourage him. It’s bad enough that Dad said I could only come to Kortright University with him. In fact, it was odd. If he thought there was any chance of me and Brock getting together, he would be disappointed. I couldn’t mate with someone who thought they were better than everyone else. I refused to. “It sucked carrying up Sadie’s, so get yours yourself.” He pointed at the plywood door. “I need to get settled into my own room, anyway.” “Don’t you have someone taking care of that for you?” Roxy pointed at her white, flowy top and black miniskirt and then lifted her right foot in the air, emphasizing her black strappy heels. “I could really use your help. I’m wearing a dress and heels.” “Change, then,” he said hatefully and turned his attention back to me. “I still don’t understand why you hang out with someone like her.” He scowled at her. “And I don’t see why you agreed to come here …” She paused and held up a finger. “Oh, wait, I do. You wanna get in her pants.” Oh, my God. Kill me now. “Like I said, you’re a really classy girl to be friends with.” Brock stepped toward her and snarled. “Why don’t you take your pathetic ass back home?” Her breathing became ragged, and her eyes glowed faintly. “What did you just call me?” “You two, stop it.” They’d argued the entire way here. He and his driver picked us up in his expensive Navigator while someone who worked for his family had come here to set up his dorm room for him. “It’ll be a long year otherwise.” “Well, if she respected—” he started, and my wolf surged forward. My skin tingled, alerting me that my fur was about to sprout. “She’s my best friend—end of story.” I hated that alphas tried to tell you what to do in every aspect of your life. My dad bullied me almost every day, and this was why I’d wanted to go away to college so damn badly. It was a chance to find myself. “We’ll see how long that lasts,” he murmured and then straightened, focusing on me. “I’ll be by here in a couple of hours to grab you for dinner.” I wanted to tell him to f**k off, but that wouldn’t go over well. For whatever reason, Brock was the cost of my college experience and freedom. I had no clue why, but I couldn’t push too hard too soon or it could all be ripped away from me. “Okay.” I turned my back on him and scanned the room. It wasn’t huge like my room back home, but it was big enough. Twin beds sat across from each other against the light gray walls with an end table on both sides. A small window was right in the center of the beds and overlooked the tall brick building that housed the school library. At the end of each bed sat a small metal desk. I unzipped one of my bags, pulled out the down mattress topper, and tucked it into the corners. It wasn’t much, but I’d sleep more peacefully here than I ever had back home. Here, I wouldn’t be under Dad’s constant scowl or watchful eyes. Well … that was a stretch. Brock would be doing just that, but at least, I didn’t have to deal with my father’s constant nagging over why I couldn’t be a better shifter or complaining that I wasn’t born male. He wanted an alpha heir, and with me being a woman, I was disqualified even though people pretended otherwise. So, my responsibility was to mate with an alpha heir that could rule over both his pack and mine when the time came. The door shut, and Brock’s overly musky smell thinned. All shifters had a hint of musk to their scent, but he wore musky cologne on top of it to make his scent even stronger. Like that would prove he was more powerful or something. “He really is an asshole.” Roxy frowned and sat on the bed to remove her heels. “I mean, he carried all of your bags up here and then talked to me like that.” She shouldn’t have been surprised. She was from my pack and had to deal with the same dictator. However, her dad wasn’t like that with her family, which was a shocker. Granted, he was low on the totem pole, so that might have explained it. However, those low-hanging fruits, or anyone who talked ill of my dad, sometimes conveniently disappeared. “Look, I’ll come and help you.” I picked up some clothes I had on hangers and walked over to the small closet in front of the bed. When I opened the door, I found a full-length mirror attached to the back of it. I hung up the clothes and looked at myself in the mirror. My rose-gold hair caught my attention immediately. Most people thought it was dyed, but it wasn’t. The soft pink color was natural and highlighted my light ocean-blue eyes. Standing at five foot eight, I wasn’t tall by shifter standards but taller than most human girls. “You’d think he’d try to take care of your best friend too,” she whined. “It’s like he already thinks he owns you.” I agreed, and that was a huge problem. “We both know he doesn’t give a s**t about me. He only wants to earn points with my father.” “Your dad is the wolf king.” Roxy wrinkled her nose as she put on socks. “I mean … even some of the other supernaturals cower in fear. Hell, if I didn’t know he was such a d**k to you, I’d be trying to get in his good graces as well.”