He pulled a green leaf from a bush and used it to clean his blade while ignoring the mess on his face.
“Where did you disappear to while I was killing the second hellhound anyway?” The bastard had blinked away, leaving me to deal with two hellhounds at once.The fucker.
“There was someone I needed to talk to,” he said with a smirk.
My jaw dropped. “And that was the best time to talk to them?”
He waved his hand dismissively, apparently not bothered by the strip of bloody sinew that flew off and hit me in the face. I coughed and gagged before spitting it out. Goddess, demons tasted like ass.
“You had it all under control, care bear. I knew you’d be fine for ten minutes.”
“Stop calling me care bear!” I grabbed my shorts from where I’d stashed them under a bush and pulled them on. A sudden storm had hit the area shortly after Zane vanished. The wind had died down now, but once we left the cover of the forest, the rain fell in sheets, washing the worst of the blood from my skin.
I closed my eyes for a moment, relishing the feel of cold water on my overheated skin. It helped numb some of the pain of being separated from my mate.
“Was she okay when you dropped her off?” My poor little witch. She needed me. I’d not even had time to feed her before Zane stole her from me. Fucking incubus. He’d winked as he took her in his arms and blinked away. If he hadn’t proved useful in the forest, I’d have disemboweled the bastard.
“She was very happy when I tucked her into bed and gave her a goodbye kiss,” he taunted.
I lunged at him with a roar, but he blinked out of sight, only to reappear behind me.
“You need to curb those anger issues, care bear. Our little witch is a sweet-natured soul who won’t like it if you punch her other mates.”
“You don’t fucking deserve her,” I snarled.
His cocky smile slipped a fraction. “Nope, but fate likes fucking with us, so here we are.”
“What’s fate got to do with it?” The goddess chose soul-bonded mates. At least that’s what I’d always thought.
“Ah, fate. That fickle bitch.” Zane scowled for a moment before his customary psycho smile reappeared. “I don’t have time for philosophical discussions right now, care bear. Got places to be, people to fuck with. Laters!” Before I could open my mouth, he’d gone.
Goddess be damned, the incubus annoyed me. I had no clue why he even bothered pretending to be a student here. He seemed to treat the place like a fucking hotel.
While third-year students enjoyed a lot of freedom, Zane took the piss. Still, it wasn’t my problem. If he died while up to something, I wouldn’t shed any tears. And unless he’d sealed the bond with my witch, she’d get over it.
My bear grumbled at me, urging me to hurry the fuck up so we could track down our mate. We needed to cuddle and covet our mate to make up for leaving her. She might have understood my reasons for leaving her, but that didn’t make it right.
Claiming and leaving was not how a good bear treated his soul-bonded mate.
My heart ached when I realized Uncle Seamus would never get to meet my beautiful mate. He’d probably have behaved like an asshole about me bonding with a witch, but I knew, deep down, he’d have adored her.
Seamus had never paid attention to the bullshit about inter-species mating. He’d believed a bear should mate whomever he wanted, whether that was another bear, a wolf, or someone from a different species.
I pushed thoughts of Seamus aside and focused on my mate. The bond between us hummed at a low level. I couldn’t sense any anxiety or fear, which meant she was safe. I’d shower, change, and then go find her. Montgomery needed to know she was my soul-bonded mate, andthat I’d claimed her, but first, I wanted her all to myself for at least a day. Two days if I was lucky.
This was nonnegotiable. As far as my bear was concerned, the rest of the realm could fall apart around us. He gave no shits. All he cared about was making our mate feel loved and cherished for as long as we both lived.
45
Raven
My head spun as I followed Glynda into the food hall. My friend had no clue how I’d spent my night, and although she’d commented on my quietness, I was grateful she’d not pressed for answers.
Unless anyone saw the mate mark, they wouldn’t know Maverick had claimed me as his soul-bonded mate. To stop the gossip train from leaving the station, I’d deliberately worn a thick sweater to hide the bite. I wasn’t ashamed of it, but I knew Maverick wanted to wait a few days before we informed the headmaster of our new status.
Chatter rolled over me as Glynda decided what she wanted for breakfast. I barely glanced at the dishes on display. Nothing appealed. Not even pancakes with maple syrup.
Was my bear safe?
