Jaded Love (The Lycan Academy Book 4) Read online

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  Jaded Love

  The Lycan Academy Book 4

  Copyright 2019 by Mazzy J. March

  ISBN: 978-1-68361-379-4

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden

  without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing LLC

  Table of Contents

  The Lycan Academy Series

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  An Excerpt from Third Snarl: The Lycan Academy Book 3

  I have two mates.

  But neither one will make a move. They watch me while I study. I’ve seen them everywhere around campus. I’m attracted to both.

  Waiting on your mates is hell.

  I’ve bided my time all my life for my wolf to pick out her mate.

  Preferably before my mom and dad arrange a mating for me—something they had been talking about in recent years.

  But I hadn’t expected her to choose two men from The Lycan Academy, Aramis and Braxton. They have been friends almost since birth, and we’ve been in classes together, the library, the cafeteria, everywhere on campus and never connected in any way. But something has changed. As if a spotlight has shone on them. And maybe on me.

  With bated breath, I wait for them to talk to me but my wolf won’t wait much longer. And neither will I.

  The Lycan Academy Series

  First Howling

  Second Growl

  Third Snarl

  Jaded

  Jaded

  By

  Mazzy J. March

  Chapter One

  Aramis

  Winter’s last breath still held frost on the trees and fogged up the windows of the dorm room Braxton and I had shared since our first year here at the Lycan Academy.

  We had two weeks left of the semester—two weeks, in my mind, to capture the attention of the one my wolf and I had admired from afar for too long.

  Too long had I procrastinated in going after what I craved like my next breath.

  A book slammed behind me, and I turned as a grin pulled up one side of my mouth. I knew Braxton would reach his wall at any minute—he’d been cramming for finals since five this morning though he was already acing every class he took.

  “I need a break—and coffee—and food. Shit, my neck hurts.” He stood and stretched this way and that like a mini yoga class right there at his puny dorm desk.

  I ignored him, glancing out the window again, and took a swift inhale as the target of my thoughts came from the other side of the academy, the girls’ dorms. Book bag over her shoulder, she held a to-go cup in one hand while the other pulled her black leather jacket tighter around her curvy form as the bitterness of winter nipped at her. She tugged at her slouched beanie as she sat on the nearest bench, closed her eyes. With my enhanced shifter vision, I could see her nostrils flare with an inhale and wondered what had captured her senses so fully.

  My wolf panted and preened inside me as we stood, captivated by Jade.

  Let her scent us. Then she will know. She will know us.

  The beast inside needed to pipe the fuck down before we collectively filled the smallish dorm room with pheromones.

  “Are we too late for breakfast?” Braxton pushed his chair under his desk and straightened everything, though he and I both knew, once we returned from eating, he would be right back at it, no matter how much he already knew the material.

  I turned my wrist and looked at the ostentatious Rolex my father had given me for high school graduation. Not my style at all, but at least he’d gotten me a sportier version, one that didn’t look like I was trying to flaunt our wealth, even though most of the school gossiped about it anyway . “We’ve got about another hour, but let’s head down now before the good stuff is picked over.”

  “Remind me to get some coffee to go on the way back. I’m cracking into Shifter History next.”

  Told you.

  I listened to him go on about how much more he had to study and possibly spending the night in the library. Since my best friend was a straight-A student and every teacher’s favorite, especially teaching assistant Fury Volkov, he got special after-hours privileges to the library. Including a copy of Fury’s key.

  I got good grades, mostly As and some Bs, but didn’t sweat it. Coming to the Lycan Academy was more about escaping my pompous, pretentious parents than learning more about being a shifter. In my family, we were born to the life and tutors drummed history and other such lore into us from the nursery onward.

  And of late, my focus was 90 percent about stalking the female I knew was my mate.

  While we walked the covered corridor from the dorms to the cafeteria, I pretended to pay attention to Braxton, nodding and making appropriate agreeable noises when he prompted, but every other ounce of my attention was on her.

  She flinched at her first gulp of what I assumed was coffee in her hands. Could’ve been hot chocolate or green tea—maybe she preferred something more exotic like silver-needle jasmine. I stuffed my hands into my pockets, frustrated at these little things a mate should know, but here I was, guessing like I was on a fucking game show instead of playing for keeps.

  “Aramis, what’s with you lately? You’re like…” Braxton twitched his entire body and made a face with his mouth all screwed up and eyes squinting. “Like a fucking caged tiger or something. You need to run?”

  No, I needed to mate.

  “I’m okay. A lot of things on my mind.”

  “I told you—send them some generic shit off Amazon and be done with it. They already know you don’t come home for the holidays.”

  I whipped my attention toward him and almost growled. He was talking nonsense, thinking I was preoccupied with giving my parents some bullshit gift when, in fact, I couldn’t give a shit. Whatever the newest gadget on Amazon was had already been delivered to the house, gift wrapped and everything. All I did was type in some bogus note about having a good Yule.

  Done and done.

  “Yeah,” was the only response I gave him before we went into the cafeteria and partook of piles of sausage and eggs, my favorite breakfast. While Braxton grabbed his to-go coffee, I couldn’t help the unease inside me. Waiting for the moment to know who your mate was, was one th
ing. Knowing who she was and not being able to muster the courage to approach her—one awful, bastard-attitude-making other thing.

  “Fuck, she’s gorgeous,” I blurted out then realized someone else stood next to me, muttering the same exact sentence.

  About my mate.

  Rage blurred my vision.

  No, not Braxton.

  She’s mine.

  “What?” Braxton grabbed me by the elbow with more strength than I realized my studious friend possessed. He dragged me to the end of the corridor where the prying eyes and ears in the cafeteria couldn’t hear us.

  He didn’t want anyone to hear me kicking his ass for calling my mate gorgeous, apparently.

  “You’re into Jade?” He tossed his coveted coffee into the metal trashcan at our left.

  I scoffed and took another step toward him so we were chest to chest. “No, I’m not into her. She’s my mate.”

  Braxton zeroed in on me with those golden eyes. “Are you sure she’s not just another conquest?”

  Enough. I shoved him with my hands on his pecs so he stumbled back. It was only the beginning of what end would come to him if he didn’t shut the fuck up, especially about her.

  He could talk about anyone or anything in the entire world but her.

  “Dude, I’m asking because—”

  “Because what?” I snarled. “Why do you care?”

  He turned his gaze to Jade then back to me. “Because my wolf recognizes her as my mate.”

  You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

  “Don’t screw with me, Braxton.”

  He took a step toward me, and I held my hands forward, palms out, stopping him from getting any closer. My wolf wanted to crack open my sternum and make a beeline for his gullet for talking about my mate—best friend or not.

  “I wouldn’t. I’ve known for a few months, I just…”

  I huffed out a laugh. “Haven’t talked to her yet?”

  “You either?” he asked, an eyebrow cocked.

  “Nope.”

  We both turned then and watched her together. I knew there were harems—Nora Blessing and her Volkovs were the latest, but there was a history of shifters, female shifters, having harems of various sizes.

  My wolf wasn’t sold on the idea of sharing.

  “She’s stunning,” he whispered, and I nodded.

  “What the fuck are we going to do?”

  He chuckled. “Not sure. But let’s not let it come between us. Deal?” He jutted his hand out, and I’d shook it.

  “Deal.”

  Chapter Two

  Jade

  “They’re looking at me again!” I ducked my head and murmured to my two best friends, AJ and Nora. “Is there something on my face?” I brushed at my upper lip, in case a bit of cream cheese or tomato from my toasted everything bagel clung there.

  AJ bent close, her red hair swinging around her face. “I don’t think so.” She leaned past me and gave them a fierce glare. “I believe you have an admirer…well, two.”

  “Jade and two guys, sitting in a tree…” Nora burst into giggles. “But AJ is right. I know that look. Certain Russian wolves were giving the same one to me from the first time I ran into any of them. Have they talked to you yet?”

  As we spoke, the guys disappeared from the doorway and we joined Nora in laughter. When I could get a breath, I wiped tears from my eyes. “Nothing gets past you two. Of course they haven’t talked to me, the stalker twins.” Hilarity faded as I considered the situation in a new light. “Do the Volkovs know them well, Nora? I mean…they’re awfully cute, but all this watching without even a hello. Is it cute, or is it creepy?”

  Nora cleared her throat and cupped her chin in her hand, considering. “Everyone here, hellcats excepted of course, is pretty decent, at least in my limited experience.”

  “It’s a little embarrassing because, of course, I’ve been here longer, but I trust your instincts.”

  Nora shook her head. “I don’t know why, but thank you. Maybe I should ask Fury his thoughts. He seems to know everyone.”

  “Or march up to them and ask what their deal is,” AJ said. “We’ll come with you if you want.

  “No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Although it was so sweet of them to offer. “I can do it. If you think I should.”

  “What do you think you should do?” Nora had also lost her humor and was taking this seriously, if her frown offered any indication. “Because nobody can tell you whether you are attracted to these guys or whether they are the ones for you.”

  “Both? I mean…I know it’s not a big deal to you, but…”

  AJ laughed. “Yes, Nora, it’s not a big deal to you and your four men of steel.”

  “Hey! I am sort of involved with all the Volkovs, but I haven’t slept with any of them.”

  “Yet.” She let out a sigh. “I feel like the ugly spinster sister here. Nora has four, you have two, and I have a bagel without any seeds on it.” AJ picked up a half of the aforementioned bagel and bit into it with such a woebegone expression, I had to laugh, again.

  “You two are complete nuts, you know, but you did get me out of my funk. I suppose I should be happy two cuties are watching me. And if they ever say hello, maybe I can get to know them and find out if I want to date either or”—my cheeks flamed—“both.”

  “Right,” Nora said as we all stood and bussed our own trays like the sign above the plastic bins pronounced we should. There were no waiters at the academy, but the food was very good. The challenge at mealtimes was to remember we weren’t kids anymore, and just because nobody told us not to eat chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, we shouldn’t. Most new students overate at first, but the majority got past it.

  Sure, there were desserts to be had, but also hearty soups and a really nice salad bar at lunchtime, vegetarian and vegan options, and so on. I actually had eaten cake for all my meals for a few days once. I don’t recommend it.

  Funny how thinking of food distracted me from what was really on my mind. For all my talk, I was more than flattered Aramis and Braxton were ogling me. It was probably nothing, but what if it was more? The Volkovs were truly mad about Nora. The air virtually sizzled when they were around her, and the school buzz had them as a great developing love story.

  But me? I’d be grateful to meet one guy I loved, and the idea of two? My brain was still having a little difficulty wrapping around it. I’d never really had a boyfriend, mostly spent my time studying and trying to fit in, something I’d never been good at. Until Nora came to school, I’d passed most of my free time alone. Sure, AJ had been there, but, somehow, we’d never connected until Nora provided the catalyst.

  “Jade?” AJ tilted her head and studied my face. “Are you daydreaming about a couple of ogling wolves?”

  “Would you believe me if I told you it was mostly about food?”

  “No!” my friends chorused as we strolled toward the door.

  “Okay.” Because, what else could I say, really? A combination of the two topics had occupied my mind. And the food thread might be embarrassing.

  Because the guys wouldn’t…

  Since I didn’t have class with Nora and AJ until later today, we parted ways, and I headed for my first period, fishing in my bag for the paper I might or might not have remembered to stow in there. My room on the purple floor was a whole heck of a lot of stairs away, and I tried very hard not to have to make extra trips during the day. If for no other reason than it would guarantee my late arrival to a class or some other item on my crowded schedule.

  To my disgust, the essay I’d spent the entire previous evening on was not where it should be. I could, however, picture it on my desk where I’d left it, intending to pack it up to turn in today. The day it was due.

  Class would be starting in a few minutes, so with no further dithering, I spun on a heel and…slammed into a brick wall. Otherwise known as one of my stalkers. When I peeled myself off of him, I took a couple more steps back to be able
to tilt my chin up enough to see his face. His handsome face with even features, brown eyes, a straight nose, and full lips made for kissing. Those lips were currently flapping like a fish’s, and before I could say anything, he had moved around me and darted off down the hallway.

  Hell.

  “You could just say hello,” I called after him, but not loud enough to reach him, even with his better-than-human hearing where he stood at the far end of the hallway, shoving the door open to make his escape. “I don’t bite.” At least I hadn’t so far. And at the rate things were going, with guys who seemed content to stare at me from a distance, I wouldn’t be biting anyone anytime soon.

  Mates.

  Don’t tell me. Tell them.

  Mates know.

  Maybe they did, but what good was it likely to do me if they were too shy to give a nod in greeting. At this rate, it would be our 50th anniversary before we had a conversation.

  Anniversary? Way to take things too far, Jade.

  Chapter Three

  Aramis

  My knee bounced up and down, hitting the heavy oak table while Braxton gave me the look of death. Apparently, my bouncing was interrupting his studying.

  Her scent lingered in the air all around me, inflaming every cell in my body. I could hear her heartbeat over the others. Although this place was packed with students and librarians alike, I swore, even in a crowd, a packed stadium, I would be able to pick up her thrumming heart over everyone else.

  I kind of lived for it.

  Don’t tell Braxton.

  For the umpteenth time, I glanced over at Jade, sitting with her friends Nora and AJ, with Fury next to Nora. Even though it was well-known Nora was Fury’s mate, my wolf and I still didn’t appreciate him being so near ours.

  Fuck, I needed to do something about this.

  As though the fates had overheard my mental conversation, Nora and AJ, with Fury tagging along, got up, gathered their things, and left the table, saying their goodbyes to Jade. I watched a few minutes longer as she leaned her face against her palm and sighed while biting on her bottom lip. I’d seen that before. She bit her lip when she was trying to concentrate.