Chapter 15

Atwood

All I wanted was for Ruby to follow the rules and make a good impression on her new classmates. I wanted her to make friends, get good grades, and learn to enjoy the Lycan world. That’s it.

Not… whatever this is.

Did I not instruct Alice closely enough to ensure that she properly explained the rules to Ruby?

Perhaps Alice just assumed that Ruby understood the rules of the Lycan world and gave her too much freedom. I find it difficult to see any scenario in which Alice would want to intentionally make Ruby’s first day so negative. My head housekeeper has always been loyal to me and the crown. She would never want to sully our reputation, let alone my mate’s reputation.

Maybe I should’ve just instructed Ruby myself. It seems as though she wasn’t even aware that I am in charge of training here. Perhaps if she had known, she would have put in more of an effort to make her first day run smoothly.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on her.

Truthfully, I just want her to run so she can sweat out the scent of that awful perfume. I’ve never liked that tradition because my sense of smell is so acute, and have always gone so far as to dampen my own sense of smell so that I don’t have to inhale those awful scents. I hate it even more now that it’s covering up the sweet scent of my mate.

If I could have just smelled my mate’s scent this morning, I would be more relaxed today and probably wouldn’t be punishing her so harshly.

Normally, Ruby’s scent makes me feel relaxed. It’s euphoric, like the scent of the deepest part of the forest. But now… cinnamon? Really? The smell makes me want to gag and makes my wolf bark angrily inside of me; he hates it too. After this, part of me wants to ban the use of perfumes at school, but I know that the students and their prestigious families will be outraged.

Ruby is not a particularly fast runner and takes a long while to run, which we’ll need to work on of course. However, I’m impressed at her dedication to following through with her punishment despite her obvious upset at the situation. Any other girl her age would have likely thrown a fit at having to run thirty laps, but my Ruby is different. She takes it all in stride, and admittedly, it turns me on to see her lovely white hair flowing in the wind.

If only she weren’t wearing those baggy sweatpants and hoodie…

I can imagine her long, slender, snow-white legs. Her small, tight hips and perky ass. The beads of sweat running down her bouncing tits. Her nipples are likely hard in the cold autumn air.

I grit my teeth as I imagine throwing her into the locker room when no one is around and ripping off those baggy clothes so I can finally take her. My wolf grows excited at the thought, barely able to resist the urge to call her over right now so that I can do just that.

But no, I need to teach her a lesson for being tardy on her first day. Besides, I need to make a show to anyone else who may be watching as well, so that no one believes that I’m playing favorites.

When Ruby finally finishes running, the school day is nearly over. I watch as her running figure turns the last corner of the track and heads toward me in the setting sun. She jogs up to me and stops, leaning over and placing her hands on her shaking knees as she gasps for air.

Sweat cakes the back of her neck, soaking her short hair. I can smell it. It smells heavenly, and I can feel my erection straining against my pants. She glances up at me, her eyes pausing on my erection, which causes her face to blush even more than it is already.

I’m not ashamed of my mate seeing my large erection. Soon enough, I’ll be using it to make her feel nothing but euphoria.

“The day is almost over,” I say.

“I’m… sorry… for taking… so long,” she says in between gasps of air.

I can’t help but to smile a little bit. Instead of being angry with me for punishing her, she’s apologizing for not performing as well as she should.

“It’s alright,” I say. “We’ll work on it and get you in better shape. You’ve had a long week, as well.”

She looks up at me with her big, round eyes and soft cheeks and I nearly melt.

“Go get your things,” I say softly. “I’ll drive you home.”

I watch as she limps back toward the school. When she finally disappears inside, I bite my lip and walk behind the bleachers to relieve myself of my erection.

Several minutes later, Ruby returns with her book bag and her uniform slung over her arm. I’m confused as to why there is a large brown coffee stain on her blazer, but even more confused at why she has an all-white uniform instead of the traditional black and burgundy uniform. It seems as though there was yet another issue with misinformation.

I’ll be sure to speak to both Ruby and Alice about it later, but right now my only priority is to bring my mate home and resist the urge to pull over on the side of the road and ravage her along the way.

We get into the car and begin to head back to the castle. Ruby is silent the whole way, looking out the window at the setting sun and sniffling miserably. I reach over as I drive to put a hand on her soft thigh, which seems to comfort her a bit.

When we arrive back at the castle, I send Ruby off to go bathe before dinner. I return to my study, where I am finally able to relax and sit at my desk, which is slowly piling up with important paperwork that I need to deal with in regards to the kingdom. It looks like it’s going to be another sleepless night.

I use mindlink to call Alice to my study. She appears within moments, slipping in through the door like a ghost and standing to face me in the dim light of the study.

“You called, my lord?” she says cordially.

“Care to explain why Ruby was given a white uniform and ratty gym clothes today?”

Alice pauses for a moment, but confidently never breaks eye contact with me.

“Miss Ruby was quite insolent this morning,” she says firmly. “She refused to wear the regular uniform. There wasn’t much time since she was slow to wake, so I had no choice but to fulfill her wishes and let her experience why white is not appropriate for a transfer student’s first day of school.”

I sigh heavily and lean my elbows on my desk, placing my head in my hands.

Is this true? My Ruby was so insolent this morning that she refused to follow simple orders? I find it somewhat difficult to believe, but I suppose that it is not entirely far-fetched given her attempted escape earlier this week.

Although her disobedience turns me on, it is not appropriate for Ruby to behave like this.

“I will speak with her,” I say. “Please ensure that she wears the proper uniform tomorrow. And pack the appropriate training clothes. I will not be embarrassed like this again. Do you understand?”

“I understand, my lord.”

“Good.”

I dismiss Alice and begin to ponder what I will say to my mate regarding her insolence, but my thought is almost immediately interrupted by another knock at my door.

Can I not have a moment of peace in this castle?

Kayne enters, striding up to my desk with a yellow folder in his hand. He sets the folder down on my desk and stands with his arms folded in front of him.

“What’s this?” I ask.

Kayne flashes a toothy grin that shows off his long canine teeth.

“We’ve found your mate’s birth records,” he says.

I smile, opening the folder, and all of my anger toward Ruby temporarily dissipates.

I’m going to throw the biggest, most extravagant coming-of-age ceremony for my girl.