Bonded Read Free Page A

limped over to the sink to examine her
appearance in the mirror. At least there were no visible
bruises...yet.
    “I’m sure he was
careful not to really hurt you, Brandi. And besides, it was a
perfect opening for you to ‘accidentally’ meet. After all, you’ve
been crushing on him ever since you first saw him. This was your
chance to get up close and personal with the man. I saw an
opportunity and I made sure you took it.”
    Brandi stared in
disbelief at her friend’s reflection in the mirror. The girl seemed
oblivious to what she’d just been through. “If this is how you set
people up, please do me a favour and don’t do it again.”
    Turning on the
taps, she splashed her face, pleased to rid herself of the sticky
sweat that had accumulated there. Sure she’d dreamed of getting all
sweaty with Reno Smith; it just hadn’t been from this type of
activity!
    After shutting off
the water, she dried her face and rummaged in her backpack.
Thankfully, she had a spare top in there. Brandi pulled off her
sweat-stained garment and donned the fresh one; it was a bit
wrinkled, but it would have to do. Balling the dirty t-shirt up,
she shoved it to the bottom of her bag.
    When she looked
up, Tabi was frowning. “He didn’t ask you out?”
    “No, he didn’t ask
me out! He was in full instructor mode. He didn’t even notice me.”
She rolled her eyes, exasperated both with her friend and the ‘man
of her dreams’ who’d just treated her as a non-entity.
    “Now that can’t be
true. When I peeked in the door, he was lying on top of you. He had
to notice you!”
    Brandi snorted.
“Oh sure, he noticed me. I was an anonymous body to beat up.”
    “I’m sure it
wasn’t that bad.” Tabi gave her a doubting look.
    “When it was all
over, he said, and I quote, ‘Thank you for your assistance, Miss
Jones.’”
    “But your name
isn’t Jones. It’s Johansson.”
    “Exactly! He
didn’t even know who I was.” Brandi shook her head, wondering how
her friend could be the next thing to a computer genius one minute
and then morph into the poster child for every dumb blonde joke
ever written. “I know you meant well, Tabi, but don’t do me any
more favours, okay?”
    “Okay. Sorry.”
Tabi answered in a small voice. Brandi sighed and gave the girl a
one-armed hug. Her roommate meant well, however, when it came to
men she just didn’t think things through all the time.
    “Come on, we have
one final lecture before exams start.” Brandi finger-combed her
hair and pulled the mass of fire-red curls back in a clip. After
taking a look around to ensure she wasn’t leaving anything behind,
she picked up her bag and headed towards the hallway. Behind her,
she could hear the sound of yelling and grunts of pain. Reno Smith
must be beating up on someone else now. Poor fools.

Chapter 2

    Reno sat on the
terrace outside the cafeteria. As he stared across the grassy
commons watching the young men and women who had gathered there, a
touch of envy shadowed his heart. God, how long had it been since
he’d been that young, felt that carefree? He took a sip of coffee
and sighed. He might be only twenty-eight, but as far back as he
could remember he’d been weighted down: duty, responsibility, the
need to contain his wolf... He snorted and pushed back the
self-pity—there was no place for that in his life—and resumed
watching the scene before him.
    Some of the
students were studying while others lounged on benches or under
large shade trees visiting with friends. A few were engaged in a
lazy game of football that involved more laughing and talking than
actual sport. For all intents and purposes, it looked like any
other college or university; the only difference was that the
entire population was made up of Lycans. Residents in nearby towns
thought the school was a private denominational institution and
great pains were taken to maintain that facade.
    A shout rose up
from one corner of the green space; the football game