“They sacrificed the parents, and when they went to do the same to the baby, I lost it. I shifted into my firedrake form and raised hell, killing two of the three elders before saving the boy and fleeing to Fate Hollow in one trip.” My lip curled into a sad smile. “That baby was raised by two phoenixes in Fate Hollow, and he was loved. They named him Sam. He died when I had turned one hundred from natural causes, but he’d been happy.”
“Kalista, Rowan, that’s heartbreaking.” Tears fell from her face, and I reached back over to wipe them away with my knuckles.
“Your tears mean a lot.”
“Because I care?” Her eyes fluttered shut as I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Yes. It’s been a long time since someone cared out of the goodness of their heart.”
“When did you found Fate Hollow Academy?”
“The same year I fled here with Sam. The cult used my fire to their advantage on multiple occasions. I’m not innocent by any means, but I swear I’ll make them pay for using me and others like me for their sick cause,” I spat, pulling away. “This academy is a safe place for all supernaturals, in spite of that fucking hierarchy. It’s also a place to train us all in case the cult tries to start a war with the supernatural race or the humans. It could go both ways, really, and that’s the scary part.”
“Well, I’ll be here the entire time.” She turned back to her plate and picked up her fork. “We’re mates, Rowan. I’ll always be here.”
My heart jumped, and calmness soothed the anger that had been raging for over a hundred years.
The Fates had truly blessed me.
I walked Wren to her dorm, and I wasn’t quite expecting what awaited us.
Apparently, Damien had gone ahead and told some of her friends that we were mates, and it seemed the news was received both well and not well.
As soon as Wren opened the door, her witch friend Trixie, greeted her with a swift kiss on the cheek and a ‘good luck’ before darting out the door.
Damien leaned against the wall facing the door with his horns and tail out as he observed us, shadows whirling around him.
Kian, the necromancer she’d been roomed with, was sitting on the sofa with his hands in his lap and his head down.
Lachlan, the werewolf I’d been hearing about hanging around her, was sitting next to Kian with his arms crossed and a hesitant look in his eyes.
And Thorn, the ice fae she’d come to the academy with, stood against the wall the sofa was on with a stiff posture as he awaited her return.
Each one of their heads whipped toward her.
Wren stilled in the doorway, and I placed my hand on the small of her back to lead her in so I could shut the door.
“Um, hi,” she mumbled, a rosy tint to her cheeks as her worried blue gaze scanned each man in the room. “I guess Damien told you that Rowan’s my mate.”
“Yes,” Damien purred in a low voice. “I did. I also mentioned that you were alone with him all night in a warded room that I couldn't get into.”
“I’d like to hear the reason for that,” Thorn stated before flicking a piece of ice at me, but it melted as soon as it came to a certain proximity.
“But it seems like we can smell the reason,” Lachlan finished.
“Not just smell,” Kian muttered. “Your magic is tied together. There’s a light thread of the Fates linking you together.”
“Which means,” Damien growled. “You fucked our girl without even consulting us.”
I growled, wrapping my arm around Wren and pulling her into my chest. “She’smymate. I cemented the bond with her because she’s mine.”
“Yes, but,” Wren squeaked. “Rowan had told me that I wouldn’t be attracted to any other man that wasn’t going to be my mate in the future.”
Kian let out a sigh as he lifted his head. “Potential mate. Foxes won’t be attracted to anyone who isn’t a potential mate. Those potential mates don’t always mate. The fox sometimes loses their attraction for them.”
“That’s not going to happen,” she snapped, her voice strong.
Kian’s gaze dropped as he nodded.
