Something is happening to me. Something I’ve been dreading and waiting for in equal measure. The matebond is waking up. I’ve felt it for weeks, the pull toward Raven, the instinct to hover, the way my magic reacts to hers, but now, with her birthday only two days away, it’s getting harder to hide. Harder to control. Harder to breathe around her.
I catch myself doing it constantly. Standing too close. Watching her too long. Listening for her footsteps even when I’m supposed to be doing homework.
Mom teases me about being overprotective, but she doesn’t understand. Dad does, he’s seen this before, but he keeps his distance, giving me space to figure it out. But I can’t figure it out.
Because every time Raven walks into a room, something inside me snaps to attention. Like a compass needle
