The mage rolled his shoulders and sighed. “Not my problem. My job is to eradicate the threat. I have no choice but to deliver her to Starfall. Luckily, the fall semester only started a fortnight ago, so shehasn’t missed much.” He turned to me. “Let the witch go, bear, and I won’t arrest you.”
My bear chuffed in amusement. Like this pathetic mage stood a chance of taking us down.Arrogant fuck.
“No. She’s my mate. I’m not letting you take her.”
“For fuck’s sake,” the mage muttered under his breath, while his team members eyed me warily. “I do not get paid enough for this shit.”
The guy on his left cast an attack spell in my direction, and my bear lost his shit when our limbs spasmed in pain. He surged forward, bones crunching and fur rippling. My furious roar caused the ground to tremble when I reached my full height.
One fucking ton of pissed-off Kodiak bear launched himself at the mages, no longer caring about anything but protecting his mate.
3
Raven
Ihad no clue who this massive man was, but I respected his commitment to the cause of protecting me. I didn’t know who the mages were either, but they seemed like major assholes. The only useful thing they’d done was freeze all the human bystanders.
At least Adam wouldn’t see me on the local news channel being manhandled by a sexy guy in a plaid shirt. Stars above, he’d be furious when he found out I’d disobeyed his orders and sneaked off the compound.
Honestly, all I’d wanted was a small taste of freedom. A chance to see a bit of the world. If I’d known what would happen, I’d have stayed in bed.Or maybe not. That chocolate drinkwaspretty amazing.
I sighed at the thought of never seeing my sexy lumberjack or drinking melted chocolate again. He really was cute with his thick brown hair, neatly trimmed beard, and more muscles than any male had the right to. But from what the mages said, he was a bear shifter.
Witches didn’t mix with shifters.
Sure, he seemed to think I was his mate, but the poor man must have made a mistake. Mate bonds were rare in witches. They hardly ever happened. Most witches formed relationships for convenience’s sake, not a mythical soul-bond.
From what I’d read, it happened more often with shifters. The wolves ran in packs and partied under the full moon. They actively searched for their mates. Held social gatherings and mixers with finding their mates in mind. Many other types of shifters existed, but they mostly kept to themselves.
I tuned back into the conversation when the mage guy said something about not being paid enough. Willow shrieked as my lumberjack protector shifted into the biggest bear I’d ever seen in my short and not terribly exciting life.
The bear towered above us all, taller than a bus. He probably weighed as much as a bus.Yikes.I froze, but he took great care not to squish me as he roared at the mages. One of them peed themselves, and I couldn’t help but smirk. Willow tried to reach me, but the mage behind the leader shoved her back.
“Stun the bastard!” the leader yelled.
Another tent nearby caught fire as my anxiety spiked. I heard Willow calling my name, but a mage flung magic in her direction, instantly silencing her pleas. The mage leader blinked out of sight and reappeared behind the bear. I saw him stab the bear in the butt with a small metal device, and the enormous creature collapsed. He went down hard, nearly squashing one of the other three mages.
Part of me wished he had squashed them. They’d have deserved it.
Assholes.
“Witchling, get over here before I stun you too.”
My eyes widened in shock. How dare he threaten me!
Flames burst from my fingertips as my magic decided now was an excellent time to play. The mage leader cursed up a storm and quickly cast a dampening spell, snuffing out my flames. Then he grabbed my wrists and cuffed them. I tried to call on my magic, but it had vanished.
“They will remove these cuffs once you’re safely inducted at Starfall Academy,” he told me as thick, black shadows formed above our heads. He glanced up and frowned before pulling me away from the chaos. He was sending me to school?!
“I can’t leave!”
Willow jumped up and down while pointing and yelling. At least I assumed she was trying to yell. Nothing came out, so I couldn’t be sure. Nova appeared behind the group of frozen humans, her face locked in fear.Stars. This was bad.
I rolled my shoulders and forced myself to relax. Adam would fix this. He had contacts.
“I’ll be alright!” I shouted to Willow and Nova. “Don’t let Tally steal my romance books!”
Willow looked ashen as Nova gripped her shoulder, but I refused to stop smiling.
