“But it’s true,” Kairos went on. “There are four of us that the Queen picked for this mysterious princess. You, me, Max and fucking douche-bag Lunerly. Twenty-five percent chance that one of us gets her.”
“Yeah,” Thorne mumbled. “Great.”
“Your chance at happiness shouldn’t be twenty-five percent,” Kairos continued. “Probably less than that. What if this Princess is a mega bitch?”
Thorne chuckled slightly at that. He nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” he said. He turned to look at Kairos. “You would’ve been okay if it was the wolfless girl?”
Kairos’s lip twitched. He took another drag on his cigarette. “If she made you happy, yes. If she was truly, honestly, your fated mate? Absolutely,” Kairos shook his head. “Something about her is up though. It wouldn’t surprise me if she somehow awoke some dark magik to curse you as her fated mate.”
“I don’t think a wolfless could do that,” Thorne mused. “Especially one as fragile as her. Though,” he paused and cocked his head in thought. “I suppose she isn’t a wolfless anymore.”
Kairos licked the front of his lips. He sat in silence for a moment before pulling on his cigarette. He finished it then flicked the filter off into the dirt.
“She’s still weak,” he bit out. “And there’s no room for weakness at Alpha Academy.”
“What else can you do?” Thorne asked. “You’ve already beaten the shit out of her. If that won’t keep her down then what will?”
“Dunno,” Kairos mumbled. “But I know she’s harboring some big secret. And it’s not that she’s your fated mate.”
“She couldn’t have known,” Thorne added, brows knit. “No one ever knows who their fated mate is. Unless there’s signs but I’ve avoided her like the plague.”
Kairos shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He shoved his brown fringe off his face then sighed before standing. He brushed off the front of his pants. Thorne stayed sat. He eyed his friend suspiciously.
“No mate for you?” he asked.
“No,” Kairos said quickly. “Nothing. Not even a thrum.”
Thorne hummed. He could sense his friend was lying. But Thorne knew better than to poke the bear that was Kairos Moonraiser. He figured, when the time was right, Kairos would tell him whatever it was that was bothering him.
Kairos looked down at Thorne and extended a hand. Thorne took it and hoisted himself up. He stood and let Kairos clap him on the shoulders.
“You looking to party?” Kairos said.
“Please,” Thorne said. Kairos laughed and swung his arm around his friend.
“Maybe get some leggy blonde to get the redhead out of your head, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Thorne agreed. Later that night, a leggy blonde had herself perched in Thorne lap. She held a glass of whiskey on her lap and was feeding it to Thorne at an alarming rate. Still, Thorne was stuck with thoughts of Zora.
The way she looked when he broke the bond replayed again and again in his head. No matter how drunk he was, he couldn’t get rid of her. Every time he closed his eyes, he was met with her hazel-gold gaze and her cries of pain.
It was stained behind his eyelids like a plague.
Zora
The days that followed the awakening of my wolf, I felt a lot like a baby deer walking for the first time. Everything was so much more sensitive. My feet could feel every rock and pebble under them, even in my thick running shoes. Smells were so much more prominent, so much so that I gagged myself when I sniffed myself after basics. Then, there was my new friend.
Or rather, my old friend who decided to show up more than usual. The wolf inside of me was a constant looming voice in my head. She had comments for everything and it was truly enough to drive me wild. For example, I’d started up my training with Valentin again. He was coming at me harder than he was pre-wolf. One particular day, he threw me to the ground with such force, I struggled to breathe for a second.
Get up! Getupgetupgetup! My wolf chanted in my head.
Jesus, can you give me a second to breathe? I thought back. I felt her tail swishing in the back of my mind. I had come to learn that happened when she was impatient.
Jesus will not answer your prayers so quit laying around and GET. UP! I huffed and blew my sweat soaked hair off of my face. I’d tried to slick it back in a braid that morning but the punches Valentin was throwing were causing tendrils to fly out and stick to my face. I pushed myself onto my elbows and glared at Valentin.
“We’ve been going at this all morning,” I groaned. “It’s Saturday. Can I at least have an hour of freedom on a day without classes?”
“No,” Valentin said. He stood in the striking stance he’d taught me and circled me. “Your wolf is still weak. We need to build up your strength and speed. It will help your body become more accustomed to her powers.”
I grunted and pushed myself up to my feet. “You both are exhausting,” I huffed under my breath.
I heard that,
Good, I scoffed. You were supposed to.
Another tail swish. You know, we’d be much stronger with a mate, she goaded.
I took my sparring stance and circled Valentin as he was doing me. My arms ached with overuse but I kept them high. I threw two punches at Valentin. He blocked them easily.
Too bad we got rejected, I threw back at my wolf. I was trying to concentrate on sparring. I blocked a high kick by Valentin then threw it right back at him. I clipped him under the jaw and he grunted.
“Good,” he said before firing back at me.
My wolf’s tail continued to swish. There certainly other people besides the Knight that can make us feel all tingly inside,
I balked at her comment. Valentin took the opportunity to sail a swift punch to my ribs. It was one that would’ve cracked me in half a week ago. But with a wolf, my bones stayed intact and my body flew across the sparring mats like a boulder. I slammed into the padded wall of the gym with an “oof.” I flew a plethora of curse words at my wolf as I righted myself into a sitting position. She snickered before bouncing off into the back of my mind. I bushed my hand over my face again, chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath again.
A hand extended into my vision. I looked up to see Valentin standing over me. His brown hair was slick with sweat like mine. Seeing him, chest heaving and face slick with exertion did something weird to me. Half of me was proud that I’d given him enough of a fight that he had to actually put effort into throwing himself at me. The other half was a turning of arousal, deep in the pit of my stomach. My mind began to wander to the other things we could be doing to get all hot and bothered. I took Valentin’s hand and stood up. A jolt of electricity burned down my arm and into his.
I told you, my wolf said.
I yanked my hand out of Valentin’s. He blinked at me as if he was confused. Don’t you have other things to do?
My wolf started to clean her paws leisurely. Just this until you figure out how to shift and let me run free,
Good luck, I snorted back at her. I rubbed my palms against the side of my pants. Valentin’s brow knitted together. “Are you okay?” he said, softly. I nodded quickly. Valentin brushed his own hair off his face. He sighed then looked over his shoulder at the clock. “It’s half past one,” he said. “The Queen has requested you call her at three. Shower off then meet me in my office.”
I nodded, still slightly afraid of what words would come out of my mouth. I brushed past Valentin and towards the locker room. I was halfway across the gym when Valentin called my name. I turned back to face him. He smiled at me softly.
“Keep up the good work,” he said.
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