Me: I’ve missed you!
I waited for him to reply, but… nothing. A flicker of disquiet trickled through me. My bear was always excited to spend time with me. He’d never once made me feel like an inconvenience or less than. It was why I lo—
Oh. I clapped a hand over my mouth in shock.
It was too soon to catch big feelings!
What if he had doubts about us?
The more I stared at my phone and he didn’t reply, the more I wondered whether the prevailing belief that cross-species matings were undesirable had filtered down to my bear.
Sure, he’d seemed happy to have found his soul-bonded mate. But after spending time away from me, perhaps he’d come to his senses?
Ten minutes passed…fifteen minutes… and still nothing. He’d read the message but not replied.
By the time an hour ticked by and every other witch had left the common room, I’d officially lost my mind. All kinds of awful scenarios played on a horrible reel in my head, like nightmares on repeat.
Was Maverick injured?
Had he hooked up with a sexy ex and didn’t know how to break the news to me?
I still had no clue why he’d disappeared without explanation. Zane had mentioned something about a trip back home but refused to say more. I wasn’t sure how he knew Maverick’s plans. Zane didn’t seem like a male Maverick would be friends with.
For starters, Zane was still a student, and second, the incubus was an asshole. He’d grilled me for ages about the vampire prince. And I still had no clue why he even cared. Or whether the whole dream-walking episode had been real.
I knew dream walking was possible, but it seemed like the sort of gift only a super powerful witch would have (i.e., not me). Still, the ring the vampire gave me was real.
It occurred to me that the ring might be valuable. Zane had noticed it, which meant others would as well. Which was why I’d slipped it inside a shoe in my closet. The only people with access to my room were Glynda and Zane, and neither of them was the type to go snooping in my closet. The ring would be safe in there until I could figure out a spell to locate Rasmus.
Since it was late, there was nothing I could do about the vampire right this moment, but I could go to Maverick’s cabin and find out why he was leaving me on read. If he had changed his mind about me, I deserved to know why.
41
Maverick
Raven’s unanswered text message taunted me, but as badly as I wanted to see her, my head was a mess. I needed time to get my shit together. To forget the horror of the last few days.
I picked up a bottle of moonshine, splashed some into a glass, and slumped into my chair on the deck. It was late, well past the witching hour, but the forest had come alive. Creatures chittered, branches swayed in a light breeze, and high above, the moon gazed down upon me with accusing eyes.
An image of my mother’s tearful face came into focus. My father, stoic but grieving. And our close friends, devastated.
None of them had blamed me, but they didn’t need to. I’d carry the guilt of what I had to do to my grave.
I sipped my drink while staring into the darkness, letting the sadness roll over me.
There had been a moment of lucidity before I ended my uncle’s life. A brief glimpse of the male he’d been before booze and life took him.
The male trapped inside the raging, feral bear had understood. He hadn’t blamed me for doing what needed to be done. His eyes had filled with sorrow for a fraction of a second before he dipped his head, acknowledging me. Submitting to his fate.
A heartbeat later, it was over. My uncle lay dead at my feet. We burned his body a few hours later.
I curled my fist as my bear lay silent, grieving in my chest. He’d been quiet since we left the mountain, paralyzed with anguish. I wallowed in memories of the uncle I’d adored as a cub.
Boon had called me as I drove back to campus. A catch-up, he’d said, but I knew he must have heard the news. In a small community like ours, it didn’t take long for bad news to spread.
Cases were on the rise, Boon told me. A pack alpha from a neighboring state had turned feral two days ago. He’d killed his luna, an omega, and five betas before the rest took him down. Now the entire pack was under house arrest, locked in their homes by mages, in case any more wolves succumbed to the disease.
The whole thing was a fucking nightmare, and if we couldn’t figure out who was behind it, shifters were in danger of ending up like the vamps.Wiped from the history books.
