My Forbidden Mate is My Professor

Chapter 8

MAREN’S POV

I returned to my room with my chest burning with rage. Who the hell does Thorne think he is?

I had spent an entire week trying to seduce him, exposing my vulnerability as if I were worth nothing, and he treated me like trash, ignoring the bond screaming in our faces. But the second another male showed interest in me, he decided to play the possessive mate?

I went into the bathroom to take off that silly dress and my gaze landed on the mirror. I could still faintly see the mark his huge, strong hands had left on my neck.

He told me he had no right, that he didn’t want me, but his eyes had devoured me during the entire dinner. How could he lie to my face?

I tried to shake off the bad mood and focus on my studies. Back at school for the new week, I completely forgot about my plans with Kai. I had no intention of going, it was all just an act for Thorne.

But my phone vibrated. It was a message from Kai with the address of a luxury bar, saying how excited he was

I knew exactly that Kai wanted to use my Omega body as a one-night trophy.

I was a second away from telling him to rot, but I remembered Thorne’s reaction in the garden when he found out about the date... His heavy breathing against mine, his sick possessiveness. I could even feel how his wolf roared inside him, demanding to claim me.

I changed my mind. "I will be ready at eight."

I wasn't doing it for Kai; I was doing it because I needed Thorne to break his damn control. I wanted the pain of seeing me with someone else to be stronger than his stupid professional pride. I wanted him to accept that I am his mate, because this void of belonging to no one was killing me.

I showered with fury and put on a black silk dress. I felt small and scared, but I forced myself to look lethal..

"Do not go to this date, Maren. Kai is only using us at his whim" my wolf whimpered, with her tail between her legs.

"We are going" I responded internally in a sharp tone. "Thorne needs to learn that if he doesn't claim what is his, I am free to go out with other males."

The idea of Thorne losing control was bigger than the disgust I felt every time I was near Kai. However, my plan wouldn't work if Thorne wasn't a witness to what Kai was capable of doing to me.

That’s why I took my phone and, with my heart in my throat, I sent the address of the bar to Thorne. 'It’s not too late to stop me, mate. Unless you’d rather leave me adrift than admit what you feel for me.

I thought he would respond, or that he would show up at my room door to prevent me from going out with Kai, but contrary to that, my heart ached from his silence.

I cursed him in my head before taking my bag and leaving, hoping the mate bond would make his chest burn, feeling how Kai approached me with his disgusting lust.

"You are f*****g delicious, Maren" he purred, leaning in to give me a kiss.

His simple proximity was the perfect trigger to want to hit him and run to my room, but I swallowed my disgust. I was wagering my safety just to get a crumb of attention from the man I loved. With a fake smile, I pulled away.

With a fake smile, I pulled away. "Not yet, Kai. Don't ruin the surprise."

During the ride, I could feel his predatory gaze roaming my skin, whispering what he planned to do to me after the bar. I felt sick, but my plan had to continue.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, I was relieved to see his friends; at least I wouldn't be alone with him.

The night passed between forced laughter and glasses of wine that went down too fast. The alcohol began to do its job, numbing the pain Thorne had caused me in the garden.

However, when I was on my fifth glass, the world had already begun to tilt. My head floated and the heat of the alcohol made me feel bold, almost invincible. Kai ordered a round of special cocktails.

"Come on, Maren, one more for old times' sake" Kai said, sliding a glass of a bright blue liquid toward me.

I smiled, wanting to completely forget Thorne's rejection and wrap myself in alcohol once more. "Cheers" I said.

I took the glass with clumsy fingers and brought it to the edge of my lips, but something stopped me. Even though my vision was a mess, I noticed the liquid bubbling strangely. It wasn't the effervescent bubbling of champagne; it was a chemical reaction, small and dense, at the bottom of the glass.

I blinked, trying to focus. "What... what is in this?" I stammered, my tongue heavy.

"It is just the ice, gorgeous. Drink it in one gulp" Kai ordered. His voice was no longer seductive; it was cold and hungry.

The coldness of fear cut through the warmth of the alcohol. I looked up at Kai and saw the predatory smile on his face and the complicity of his friends.

I wanted to scream and throw the glass in their faces, but my muscles were too slow from the alcohol.

Kai reached out, surrounding the back of my neck with a pressure that made me shudder and began to force the glass toward my mouth.

My mind told me to stop, but my body, numbed by the previous drinks, only wanted the noise of the world to turn off.

I was a millimeter away from drinking it when the atmosphere of the bar changed drastically, silencing the laughter of Kai's friends.

CRASH!

The glass flew from my hand before a single drop touched my tongue, exploding against the wall into a thousand blue pieces.

What the hell? Everything in front of me happened like a black and white flash.

I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them again, I recoiled in fear.

Was it Thorne? He had Kai by the throat, lifting him off the ground until his feet barely touched the carpet.

"You bastard" Thorne roared, with a force that made the crystals on the nearby tables explode.

"Professor, it is not what you think" Kai tried to say, his body trembling.

Thorne didn’t respond with words. He leaned over the table, with his Alpha aura crushing the four boys against their seats. He took Kai’s chin with one hand and forced him to look at the remains of the blue liquid on the floor.

"I know what you were trying to do, Kai. I have seen that trick before" Thorne hissed, his eyes glowing with a promise of death. "You tried to drug my... a student of this university!"

"It is a lie! She agreed to come" one of the friends started to say, but Thorne threw him a gaze so lethal that the boy peed his pants right there.

Thorne roared once more, making my wolf shudder, not with fear but with desire. Our mate had come for us!

"If you ever breathe the same air as her again, I will rip out your heart and give it to the rogue wolves"

Without more, he threw Kai against a table like a piece of trash and turned toward me. His eyes roamed my face, searching for signs of damage.

He was furious, but beneath that fury, I saw a terror I never imagined in him.

"Outside, Maren" he hissed, dragging me toward his car.

"You came" I whispered, letting my head fall against his stone chest.

He looked at me with his jaw so tense it seemed ready to break. Without saying another word, he lifted me in his huge arms and settled me in the passenger seat, his hands trembling with contained rage while he fastened my seatbelt.

I wanted to draw him toward me, feel how he ripped off my dress and claimed me, but he limited himself to driving toward the campus in a deathly silence.

When we arrived at the dorms, he opened my door. "Get out, Maren" he said, trying to sound professional, but his voice trembled. "You have to go to your room and rest."

What? Did he plan to leave me there after taking me out of the bar? I clenched my fists with massive anger.

"Why are you doing this?" I sobbed, clinging to his shirt while he helped me out. "You save me, you watch over me as if I were yours, but you don't mark me! I know you feel it, Thorne! Why don't you claim me?"

Thorne held me by the shoulders, keeping me at a distance. His eyes were full of unbearable agony.

"I am your professor" he hissed, his voice breaking. "There are rules... a relationship between us cannot exist. I am not going to ruin your future for an impulse of the blood."

His words were the final poison. My wolf howled inside me and with a strength I didn't know I had, I pushed him away from me.

“To hell with your rules,' I screamed, my heart broken. 'You are a coward! You leave me out there, at the mercy of guys like Kai, just to keep your damn reputation clean. I wish I had never met you! I hate the damn bond that unites us, Thorne, because it only serves to make me feel how you despise me over and over again. Go to hell!'"

"I shouted every insult I knew at him, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces under the effect of the alcohol and the rejection. I turned around and ran toward my room, leaving behind the only man who was slowly killing me.