Chapter 529

The next morning, my wolf wakes me up early, knowing that I need it. I mean, she doesn't frequently function as my internal alarm clock - we both like our sleep way too much for that – but today she gives me a sleepy little nudge with her nose before climbing to her feet and giving her fur a rough shake.

I stifle a groan and take a deep breath, letting my eyes stay shut, wanting desperately to just... lean back in the warmth of Jackson's body and sleep for just five more minutes...noveldrama

But my wolf is more disciplined than me, and she gives me another nudge with her nose, and I sigh quietly, forcing my eyes open.

Then, moving as slowly as I can, I lift my head from Jackson's chest and peer up at him. But he's still breathing deeply, his eyes shut. Carefully, I lift my body just a centimeter and slowly move away, grimacing the whole time, desperate trying not to wake him.

But just as I'm about to slide completely off his chest and onto the bed, his arm tightens around me, pinning me to him.

"Why are you being so weird," he grumbles, his voice thick with sleep.

I gasp a little and then scowl, letting myself fall back onto him. "I wanted you to stay asleep!"

"Why?" he asks in a whisper, opening one eye and looking down at me. "When you get up to go to the bathroom you just get up and bounce out of bed, making a racket. Why are you being so sneaky now?"

My scowl deepens, because I thought that I had been shady. But my mate smirks at me, letting me know that I was no such thing.

"Fine," I sigh, resting my chin on his chest and looking up at him. "I wanted to get up early and go to the shooting range for practice."

"What?" Jackson asks, blinking hard and shaking his head to wake up more.

"Nooo," I moan quietly, reaching a hand out to touch his cheek. "You stay asleep - you need it —“

He just smirks at me and nudges me down the bond, reminding me that because of his particular magical skill, sleep is largely optional. I just roll my eyes, because even if he can draw on his magic and his body mass for energy, he shouldn't have to just for me.

"I need range practice every day," I whisper. "Captain said so. And the only time I can do it is in the mornings before our run."

"Damn," Jackson says, his eyebrows going up. "Even more responsibilities? You are...loaded up this semester, Clark."

"Don't remind me," I murmur, shaking my head. "But you go back to sleep, Jacks - just because I have to -"

"No way," he says, sitting up and taking me with him so that I'm sitting in his lap, his arms supporting my lower back. "I'll go with you."

"You don't have to do that!" I sigh, shaking my head. "No one's even awake to hurt me -"

But he ends my protest with a quick kiss before lifting me bodily and setting me gently on my feet by the side of the bed. I grin over my shoulder at him.

“Go," he murmurs, giving my lower back a little shove as he reaches for a pen and a piece of paper on my desk. "Brush your teeth and get dressed, I'll write a note for the other two, who are going to freak out when they wake up and find you gone."

I grin at my mate, secretly pleased at the idea of having him along, and grab my uniform from where I sneakily hid it last night before bed, tiptoeing away to the bathroom to get dressed for my day.

Fifteen minutes later, Jackson and I are walking in the pre-dawn light across the field behind the castle, my rifle slung over my shoulder. I stifle yawn after yawn as we walk and he smirks at me, already bright and awake.

"Oh shut up," I sigh, bumping my shoulder into him, which of course does nothing. "Not all of us have magical coffee in our veins."

"If I did," he murmurs, looking forward to my blind, "I'd be at risk of you biting me like a vampire, drinking my blood for the energy kick." "Yes, baby," I sigh, trudging forward. "You would."

Together we make our way to the telephone-pole-like ladder and as I start to climb I laugh when Jackson dips down to put one firm hand beneath my ass, boosting me with little to no effort about eight feet in the air and cutting my climb down by about a quarter. I grin down at him, calling my thanks, and then do my best to scurry up the pole as fast as I can.