Daddy’s wild girl

Chapter 10

The sound of her mother’s voice was like a bucket of ice water over their scorched skin. Bella’s heart stopped, then began to hammer against her ribs so hard it was painful. She looked up at Collins, her eyes wide with a frantic, animal terror.

He didn't move. For a terrifying second, he stayed buried deep inside her, his golden eyes locked onto the locked bedroom door as if he could see right through the wood. His jaw was set, a muscle leaping in his cheek. He looked less like a man caught in a lie and more like a predator deciding whether to strike.

"Bella? Are you asleep, darling?" Samantha’s hand rattled the doorknob. Click-clack. "The door is locked. Is everything okay? Collins said he forgot his phone, but his car is still in the driveway..."

Bella’s voice died in her throat. She gripped Collins’ muscular forearms, her nails sinking into his skin as a silent plea for him to do something, to hide, to vanish.

Collins finally moved. He withdrew from her with a slow, agonizing slide that made Bella let out a shaky, silent breath. He stood up, his massive frame silhouetted against the amber lamp, and grabbed his discarded shirt. He didn't look panicked; he looked lethal. He leaned down, his lips brushing against Bella's ear, his scent of salt and musk still thick enough to drown her.

"Don't make a sound," he hissed, his voice a vibration she felt in her teeth.

He didn't hide in the closet or under the bed. He stepped toward the window, sliding it open with practiced silence, the cool night air rushing in to fight the stifling heat of their sin. He looked back at her once—a dark, possessive glance that promised this wasn't over—and then he disappeared into the shadows of the balcony, dropping down to the trellis below.

"Bella? I’m getting worried!" Samantha’s voice was sharper now, the sound of her heels pacing in the hallway.

Bella scrambled to her feet, her legs shaking so violently she nearly collapsed. She grabbed her discarded pants and shirt, throwing them on with trembling fingers. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and bit her lips until they stung, trying to bring the blood to the surface to hide the paleness of her shock.

She took a deep breath, trying to steady her vocal cords. "I'm... I'm coming, Mom!" she called out, her voice sounding high and brittle to her own ears.

She hurried to the door, her skin still humming from Collins’ touch, and turned the lock. She opened the door just a crack, peering out with a forced, sleepy squint.

Samantha stood there, looking elegant in her evening gown, but her face was etched with confusion. She peered past Bella into the room. "Why was the door locked, honey? And why is it so hot in here?"

"I... I was just changing," Bella lied, her heart thundering. "And I had the heater on. I had a bit of a chill."

Samantha’s nose twitched. She stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as she sniffed the air. "What is that smell? It smells like... like a shift just happened. And Alpha musk."

Bella’s blood ran cold. Her mother was a high-ranking wolf; she wasn't stupid. The scent of Collins was everywhere—on the sheets, in the air, and soaked into Bella’s very pores.

"I think my wolf is just restless about the academy," Bella said quickly, trying to block her mother’s view of the rumpled bed. "You know how it is... the hormones and the power."

Samantha looked at her daughter for a long, agonizing moment. Just as she was about to speak, the front door downstairs opened and closed with a heavy thud.

"Samantha? I found it!" Collins’ voice boomed from the foyer, sounding perfectly calm, perfectly domestic. "It was in the glove box. Ready to go?"

Samantha turned her head toward the stairs, the suspicion in her eyes flickering. "He found it," she murmured, then looked back at Bella. She reached out, tucking a stray hair behind Bella’s ear, her fingers grazing the spot on her neck where Collins’ bite was hidden beneath her collar. "Get some rest, Bella. You have a big move the day after tomorrow. We need you at your best."

"I will, Mom," Bella whispered.

As her mother walked away, Bella slumped against the doorframe. She heard the SUV pull out of the driveway, the gravel crunching under the tires. She was safe for now, but the mark on her neck was throbbing, and the seed inside her felt like a ticking time bomb.

She walked over to the window and looked out into the dark. She knew he was out there somewhere, watching. And she knew that the Lycaon Academy wasn't going to be a sanctuary. It was going to be a cage, and her Alpha was the only one with the key.

The heavy iron gates of Lycaon Academy creaked shut behind Bella with a finality that felt like a prison sentence. Her mother had kissed her cheek, smelling of expensive perfume and ignorance, while Alpha Collins had remained in his study, claiming "pack business" was too urgent for a goodbye. The rejection stung worse than the bite he’d left on her shoulder, but as she looked at the towering gothic stone of the school, the pain turned into a cold, sharp alertness.

This wasn't a normal college. The air was thick with the scent of ozone, raw testosterone, and blood. Every student she passed looked like they had been forged in a furnace—scars peeked out from designer hoodies, and their eyes tracked her with a predatory hunger that made her inner wolf growl in warning.

Bella gripped the straps of her backpack, her knuckles white. She had barely taken ten steps onto the manicured grass of the main quad when the atmosphere shattered.

"DUCK!" a jagged voice screamed from the left.

Bella didn’t have time to think. She looked toward the sound just as a heavy wooden baseball bat came spinning through the air like a lethal propeller, aimed directly at her skull.