That’s when I hear it.
A woman crying.
I cross the room to find her sitting on the floor behind the bed and hugging her knees tightly to her chest. “Go away,” she sobs, cradling her head in her hands. When I don’t move, she throws a pillow at me, spilling feathers in an arc through the air. They burn to ash within moments. Flinching, she knocks her elbows against the stones at her back. “He’s not here, so just leave!”
Curtains rustle on a breeze that kisses my bare skin...and hers. She’s naked but in much worse shape than me, trembling so hard that her teeth chatter. But I don’t smell any blood, and she doesn’t have any bruises on her body from what I can see. “What happened?” I ask, crouching to her level. I recognize this girl—the blonde from class who throws herself at Alistair every chance she gets.
“I had him,” she growls, “right where I fucking wanted him.” Her fangs descend as her frustration grows.
Shifter. Predator. Inhaling sharply, I scent her more clearly and taste her emotions: disbelief, embarrassment, and fury, with a hint of longing that curdles on my tongue. She’s a wolf desperate for a mate.
Mytrue mate.
Her eyes flash an icy blue as they shift. “This is all your fault, you fucking bitch. We were almost there—he wasin my hands—and you just had to ruin it with your stupid fucking vagina!” Growling, she tears a board from the floor and hurls it at me, the wood scraping my cheek as it sails past. The scratch heals instantly and takes the pinprick of pain with it.
A shadow falls over us, and Callum’s scent wraps around me. “Alistair’s wolf was spotted on the grounds,” he announces, sighing. “It seems your connection to him wasn’t entirely severed when we...became intimate.”
“Yeah, no shit,” the female shifter growls. “As soon as he realized you were fucking someone else, he wasn’t interested in me anymore. Threw a tantrum and jumped out the window like a lunatic.” Shaking her head, she laughs bitterly. “Gods, why do I like the crazy ones?”
“Alistair isn’t crazy.” A frown tugs at my lips. “He’s?—”
“—all yours,” she scoffs, throwing her hands up. Her claws retract as she takes a deep breath. “I’m done. He clearly doesn’t want me, and you won’t stay out of his head long enough for him to give me a chance.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she buries her face in her arms. “Pleaseleave. You smell like him. Likeallof them. Gods. How can you nail three men while I’m—” She chokes on a sob and falls silent.
Callum gently takes my hand and pulls me away. The flames tickle his skin but don’t burn, a decided improvement from when that same fire harmed Alistair. “It is his own heart he breaks,” my lover murmurs. “None of this is your fault.”
It feels like my fault.
If I hadn’t come to the academy, I never would have met Alistair. He’d be fair game for whoever wants him. Revyn and I would be running through the wilds pretending that everything is alright between us, and Callum would be doing...whatever itis that vampires do. Probably looking for another mate, if I had to guess.
I draw a breath as we step near the balcony. Alistair’s scent lingers, the taste of his anguish exploding on my tongue. I shut my eyes as it rocks through me. None of this is fair to me or to him. “I need to sever the bond,” I whisper, drawing back the curtain to search for Alistair. Tracks lead to the base of the mountain. A wolf howls in the distance. “But I don’t know how.”
A voice rumbles from the open doorway. “An alpha has to do it.” Revyn takes a deep breath and enters the room, ignoring its owner’s whining protests as he joins me and Callum by the window. “But it’s not as simple as declaring your intention and asking an alpha to enforce it. You have to mean it.” He taps the space over my heart. “That’s why Alistair’s rejection wasn’t complete. A part of him still wants you.” His gaze slants to the blonde covering herself with torn sheets. “Despite his other options.”
“Fuck you,” the girl snaps, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing her clothes from where they’re scattered across the floor. “Alistair only wants her because she’s his true mate.” Her glare cuts to me. “If he had a choice, he’d never pick you. I’m purebred. He should be with me.”
“Pack Princess,” Revyn mutters, curling his lip.
I hate to agree with him, but all signs point todefinitely.
“Breaking one’s bonds is manageablein theory,” Callum sighs, rubbing his smooth jawline, “but in practice, it won’t be that simple. Sienna and Alistair are fated. Affirming one’s rejection won’t be enough.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Revyn crosses his arms over his bare chest, his skin still damp from the bath. “They can’t keep this up. It’s unhealthy as fuck.”
My heart soars as the perfect opportunity presents itself. “Let me mate with you, Revyn.” It won’t solve my pack problems,but it will keep him alive long enough for us to find a place to settle...or for him to come around and start acting like an alpha wolf. “Then Alistair won’t have a choice but to back off.”
Most importantly, I can heal Revyn’s heart of the rot and break my ties with Alistair at the same time.
“Not that simple,” Callum repeats, his voice lilting on each word. “And we still don’t know the consequences of Revyn’s predicament. The safest option is for you to mate with me?—”
Revyn growls.
“—becauseIwon’t corrupt your soul.”
“Bullshit, fanger. Shifters don’t mate with vampires.”
“Our histories say otherwise.”
“No onesanemates with a fucking vampire.”
