Even though no part of us touched, the heat of his body scorched me.
“I’m willing to beg, yes,” I admitted.
“I bet you’d look so fucking pretty on your knees, begging for me to—”
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Maverick grabbed Alaric by the shoulders and flung him away so hard he hit the wall with a sharpoomph.
“He wasn’t—” I tried to say, but Alaric hit back with a blast of icy-cold wind that knocked my bear over. Maverick roared, and a nearby window shattered.
“STOP!” Reacting to my panic, the magic inside me surged forward. Violet flames blasted out and spread up the walls, scorching several dull paintings. Both males forgot about their fight and focused on me in alarm.
“Raven! Calm down!”
“Pull your magic back now!”
“I can’t!” The more I tried, the more it got away from me like a snowball gathering speed as it rolled down a mountain. The wall of fire expanded, pushing the males back. Alaric shouted my name while trying to dowse my flames with his icy magic.
“Focus on the magic ball in your chest. Imagine reeling it back in like a ball of wool!”
I forced the panic down and pictured the magic as a sparking purple ball under my breastbone. Hundreds of glittering strands spread out in a blanket, coating me and everything around me. Slowly, carefully, I wound each strand in and tucked it back inside the ball.
The heat surrounding me lessened.
“Good girl, keep going.” I heard the relief in Alaric’s voice as the flames extinguished. When the fire finally spluttered out, I opened my eyes to see a worried shifter and a pissed-off mage eyeing each other with suspicion.
I sighed.
“He wasn’t hurting me,” I directed at my bear before he could launch another attack on the mage. Then I spun to face the mage.
“So you’ll help me?” Exhaustion coated my words. Not having control over my stupid magic stressed me out.
“Yes.”
I slumped against the blackened wall in relief. “Thank you.”
Now all I needed to do was figure out how to fix the damage before anyone saw it.
Alaric saw me panic all over again and rolled his eyes.
“Go. I’ll sort the mess out.”
My bear’s jaw ticked. I could tell he wanted to pick me up, but he couldn’t, not with Alaric here.
“I’ll escort you out, Miss Blackstone,” he said in a formal voice. I almost laughed at his terrible impression of a teacher helping a student but swallowed my hysteria before I gave us both away. Alaric might report us if he suspected there was something between me and the coach. Right now, he probably assumed Maverick had intervened to protect a vulnerable student from harm. Not his mate.
At least I hoped so.
“Thank you, Coach Wilder.”
Alaric frowned at our awkward interaction but stepped aside. Maverick followed me toward the exit. When I looked back, Alaric stood staring at us.
30
Alaric
“You owe me,” Connie grumbled as she cast magic to fix the damaged walls. Sadly, the scorched paintings were beyond help. Art was impossible to repair with magic. Only the original artists could do it, and those dudes were long-dead.
I picked up the blackened frames and hid them under a cloaking shield. I’d get rid of them later. Jamieson was a fire mage; he’d happily incinerate them for me.
