“Nothing to do with me.”
He snorted. “Yeah right. Two atrocious storms in twenty-four hours? Highly unlikely to be a natural occurrence.”
“Fuck off, Arron.” Lightning blasted a nearby tree, frying a few sheltering birds. I felt bad for them, but each time I lapped thegymnasium and saw my witch standing next to that fucking bear-shifter asshole, my magic went haywire.
Only she wasn’t my witch.
We lapped the track again, passing several bedraggled females. The longer I ran, the angrier I got. How dare fate fuck with me! After witnessing my father destroy my mother thanks to a stupid soul-bond, I’d never wanted to be bonded to anyone. Least of all a pathetic witch with no status in our world.
More and more students fell by the wayside as the storm worsened. Soon, the rain turned to lumps of stinging ice. So many ice pellets fell from the churning black sky the running track turned white. The temperature plummeted below freezing, but I didn’t care. I blocked out everything until all I could feel was the pain in my chest.
People yelled and cursed as ice stung their exposed flesh and the wind cut through their wet clothes. Only the shifters among us seemed relatively unbothered by the shocking weather.
By the time the bell signaled the end of the class, my legs were as numb as my heart. Arron stomped off back to our apartment, utterly pissed off. He knew the storm was me throwing a stupid tantrum and punishing everyone, but what I couldn’t admit, even to myself, was that I had no control over my magic.
Not while she was in the gymnasium, near enough to cause me physical pain. She and the shifter asshole had disappeared from view ages ago. I assumed he’d sent her back to her room. The bastard hadn’t shown his face again, although nobody had been brave enough to quit running early, just in case he was still watching us.
Several witches and mages staggered back to the dorms after me, all of them miserable as fuck. Only one had the sense to use their fire magic to stave off hypothermia. Idiots, the lot of them.
“I’m going to kill that bitch,” Demelza muttered to her friend Cassie. “This is all her fault.”
I said nothing. If the others wanted to go after the little witch, that was up to them. I couldn’t get involved in any revenge plot, as I’d discovered actively hurting my witch caused me unbearable pain. But I certainly wouldn’t get in their way.
Maybe if they killed her, it would sever the soul-bond and my torture would end. Then I could move forward with my life.
The alternative was more pain and suffering, and I wasn’t ready for that.
12
Raven
Being cradled in a huge shifter’s arms meant the icy rain barely touched me as he carried me along the deserted pathways. He generated so much body heat my clothes were almost dry by the time we reached his cabin.
I’d tried to persuade him to let me go back to my dorm, but the male was stubborn as a, well, bear. He seemed determined to look after me, which, in his head, meant providing dry, clean clothes and feeding me a hot meal.
Honestly, I kind of liked it. I’d grown used to taking care of myself, and having someone embrace that role gave me all the feels. Plus, my magic loved it. Being close to him calmed it down. It was almost as if it knew he was mine. Which was weird.
Maybe his talk of soul-bonds wasn’t completely off the wall. I mean, I believed he believed it, but until I researched it more, I’d reserve judgment.
No witches I’d met over the years had soul-bonded mates or even mentioned it as a thing. Yes, I knew shifters had mates, but shifters were different to witches and mages.
Maverick opened his cabin and stepped inside. A fire burned in the grate, kicking out plenty of delicious heat. I sighed in delight as he placed me on a sofa a few feet away from the fireplace. Stars, I could get used to this.
My dorm room resembled a prison cell compared to Maverick’s cozy cabin in the forest. Sure, his cabin lacked personal items, and the kitchen was basic, but I loved the cute rustic vibe.
A sensible, risk-averse witch would probably have refused to come here, but that wasn’t me. Nothing about the bear shifter scared me. He’d been protective from the second he barreled into my life, and I had no reason to think he meant me harm.
“Here, go warm up in the shower,” he said, handing me a thick, fluffy towel. “I’ve put a plaid shirt and some shorts on the bed for you. They’ll be much too big, but it will give your clothes time to dry.”
“Um, I think my tee is almost dry now,” I replied. Both of us looked down at my boobs, and I blushed when I saw the heat flare in his eyes. Fur rippled down his arms before he growled.
Then he coughed and spun away into the kitchen area. “I’ll make you some food while you shower.”Okay then. Me showering and changing into his clothes was apparently important. I rolled my eyes and padded into the small but clean bathroom.
The walk-in shower looked like it would be a tight squeeze for a huge bear shifter, but it was plenty large enough for me. The water ran hot within a few seconds, filling the bathroom with steam.
If this was a human horror movie, some dude with an axe would burst in through the door, but instead of climbing out the windowand running as fast as my legs could carry me, I shucked off my damp PT clothes and stepped under the stream of hot water.
Maverick would protect me. Heck, he’d probably eat a dumb serial killer for breakfast.
