Make Me Beg - BOOK 1 OF THE MATES & MARKS TRILOGY

Chapter 12

"Miss Linette?" Mrs Gomez barked, for the third time. Cassie jerked up in her chair, her eyes snapping open.

"Hmm?"

"I believe the words you were looking for are 'Yes Mrs Gomez'" The maths teacher spoke sternly, but not angrily. Cassie could feel the entire classroom staring at her, some looking at her with eyes of pity and others with amusement.

"Yes M'Gomesh" She mumbled, blinking owlishly. Various members of the class snickered under their breath and Cassie rested her chin on her hands, leaning to the side slightly with the fight to stay awake. Mrs Gomez sighed and turned back to the whiteboard. Cassie hadn't been sleeping well the last few days... Over the weekend she had kept nodding off and jerking back awake, her body too nervous and jumpy to let her sleep for long. Now it was Monday morning, and she had slurped her way through three cups of coffee just to keep her awake long enough to reach the school. She was racked with trembles through her body when she was awake but found herself quickly falling into the abyss of sleep against her will every ten minutes. Stress. Worry. Anxiety. Gnawing away at her chest since Brandon left her under those stairs, humiliated and marked. Well, not marked as a mate would, but still patterned across her neck and shoulders with a considerable blossom of blue, purple and red contusions. She was hidden beneath another oversized hoodie, (Thank goodness for the random pile of hand-me-downs that get left in the laundry room for Sam...) the arms fell past her hands and the bottom reached past her own bottom. She rarely wore trousers or shorts usually but she couldn't help the desperate urge to cover herself, to hide her body away from prying eyes.

The rest of the lesson passed before her eyes, barely registering in her brain as she continued to go round for round with the force trying to drag her eyes closed. As the other students trailed out to their next class, her teacher called her to the front to give her a lecture on getting enough sleep and going to bed early. She nodded compliantly, although she knew her bedtime wasn't the problem. Thankfully, the older woman appeared to take pity on her and told her to use the rest of her second period to take a nap in the first-aid room, writing her a note with a sigh.

Cassie tottered down the hallway in a daze, bumbling into walls and lockers, unsure of where she was headed. She kept wandering until her body ran out of perky juice and she crashed beside a line of lockers. Crumpling to her knees on the hard floor, letting her body fold down into a ball with her head in her arms. She let out deep breaths, trying to gain control over her body again... Maybe even to help herself drop into darkness... She didn't know if she wanted to stay awake or to sleep forever... Everything was foggy...

~

A sick feeling, deep in her gut. Mate. Karliah's wolf growled inside of her. Mate help. Something was wrong... But Cassie wasn't marked, so she couldn't feel the link strongly enough to distinguish what it was... But she didn't care what it was - She needed to find her brunette baby. Now. The alpha raised her hand and requested permission to use the toilet. She stepped out of the classroom instantly began to sniff at the air, searching desperately for the bouquet of scents that would lead her on the trail to her mate. Her footsteps pounded down the tiled floor, checking every corridor she passed. Cassie had a beautiful smell, sweet but not clinging and sticky... Like the fragrance of flowers rather than fruit...

The scent became stronger and stronger as she followed it fervently, her movements nimble but forceful with deep harsh breaths, taking in as much of her mate's scent as she could to track her down. Once she reached the main corridor of B block she caught sight of her mate.

Her eyes laid upon the heap of a girl on the floor, blonde brows pulling together in worry as she bolted to the small, curvy girl's side and knelt beside her. Her rough hands ran through copper curls, revealing a small heart shaped face, eyes closed and bottom lip poking out in an adorable pout. Karliah gently pulled her mate's voluptuous body into her lap, the small limbs curling over the edges of her outstretched arms. Something was wrong, she felt Cassie's temperature and pulse with the backs of her long finger but both seemed fine.