Unsurprisingly, she shut right up. Maligning all-powerful deities was a seriously bad idea. Unless you felt like being smote into a pile of ash.
“He’s right. You reek of shitty bear.”
“Better than reeking of jealousy,” I said with a smile.
“Yep,she’s jealous,” Kenji confirmed from his spot on a nearby table, where he’d blinked into view. The witch already sitting there cursed when my familiar swiped a sausage from her plate, but she knew better than to hurt him. Familiars were off-limits, no matter what they did.
Which was just as well, givenmyfamiliar was on a one-kitsune crime spree.
Kenji had called it, as usual. Demelza’s aura glowed a lurid shade of green that clashed horribly with her pink lipstick. I debated whether I should let her know her jealousy had messed up her style aesthetic but decided against drawing attention to my talent.
“Ugh, please drop dead, you stupid bear-fucker,” my nemesis muttered before turning to Alaric. “I’ll see you at the party later,” she purred. The tether in my chest burned as I pictured Demelza and Alaric naked, entwined, fucking…
A chair burst into flames.
“For fuck’s sake,” Alaric grumbled before dousing it in water. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward the side exit. “Can you please not burn down the fucking building for one day?”
“It’s not my fault mymentorrefuses to help me!” The stupid mage got on my last nerve.
“I tried to help you! I taught you how to draw your magic back in and contain it!”
“Pretty sure you were supposed to do more than that!” I grumbled.
He leaned in, forcing me back against the wall. I hated how he used his physicality as an intimidation tactic, while also loving how much I enjoyed being dominated by the mage.
Maverick’s presence tickled via the bond. I sensed him checking to see why my emotions were rioting. Since the last thing any of us needed right now was an angry bear storming across campus, I forced myself to take a few deep, calming breaths.
Alaric was a dick.
I knew this.
He might also be my mate.
Again, no surprises there.
But even if he was another soul-bonded mate, I had boundaries. I was not obliged to accept him as my mate. And given how he treatedme, why on earth would I want a mate like him when I had emotionally available, dependable, protective Maverick?
My bear was the best sort of mate. A mate who cared for me, wanted to keep me safe, and treated me like the center of his universe.
The mage didn’t deserve a mate like me.
“You know what?” I shoved him back. He barely moved a millimeter because, stars above, the mage was a veritable feast of muscles and brawn. Not that I had any business thinking about his muscles. Ugh. “Forget it. I don’t need your help.”
“Good, because I’m fucking busy.” Alaric stepped back, but I didn’t miss the way his gaze dropped to my cleavage and stayed there for way longer than was polite. He might pretend he hated me, but we both knew he wanted me.
I stormed back into the food hall, all riled up after my useless encounter with the mage. I noted that he’d left his double-shot caramel espresso and bowl of oatmeal behind, and smirked. Missing out on his morning coffee and breakfast would serve the bastard right.
Kenji hadn’t moved from his spot, but the cursing witch had left. Unfortunately, Demelza was still holding court for her followers, a.k.a. sycophants. The witch had recently joined one of the more prestigious covens. With her star rising, she’d started devoting a lot of time to making the rest of us unaffiliated witches feel less than.
“I doubt any coven will take a witch mated to a shifter,” she commented in an exceptionally loud voice designed to carry across the entire room. Sure enough, anyone with functional hearing caught her slur.
Several shifters growled in annoyance, but most of the mages laughed.Bastards. I hated mages. Something about being a male witch automatically turned them all into arrogant, misogynistic, condescending assholes.
Alar-dick Vane being a prime example.
“It proves there’s something wrong with her, don’t you think?” Deciding to ignore her because I was starving, I moved over to the food counter. Demelza followed me, apparently keen to continue insulting me to my face.
“Is the fur shedding an issue?” Her concern was wholly fake. I picked up a plate of pancakes and maple syrup, adding a bowl of cut fruit to my tray as a token healthy option. Then I grabbed some crispy bacon for my familiar so he didn’t steal more food from anyone.
