Chapter Seventeen
1074 Words
LUCIEN’S POV
I woke up with a violent gasp, like my body had been plunged into ice water. For a moment, I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling, feeling the room spin around me.
Then reality hit.
The smell of Kellen beside me and beneath both of ours, a faint unmistakable smell... Eira.
My whole body froze.
Last night slammed me like a punch to the gut. Her mouth, her skin, her heat. My own loss of control and the bond dragging the three of us under until we could no longer think.
I pushed upright on the bed, my chest heaving. My skin was awfully electric, my blood pulsed like something ancient had awakened inside of me.
I felt stronger, sharper and more powerful than I had ever felt in my life. My eyes grew wide at the sudden realization popping up in my mind.
The prophecy, it had to be.
“The moment you claim your mate, you will feel whole,” the priestess had said.
I’d always thought it was just a s********e dramatic prophecy our senile elders had cooked up. But from the way I felt, I knew it wasn’t just my imagination. Power hummed beneath my skin, rolling through my muscles and making me feel feral.
But then, something felt wrong.
Terribly wrong.
I reached inward, calling my wolf forward. He always came eagerly, but today, he hesitated. I frowned, wondering why he reared back so violently.
I touched the part of myself that connected to the mate bond, and my wolf flinched, he didn’t recognize her. My entire body went cold.
“No, it doesn’t make any sense, the prophecy...” I shoved my fingers through my hair, gripping until it hurt. “That can’t be right.”
I probed deeper in a state of desperation, but my wolf recoiled even harder, snapping and refusing the bond like it was something so foreign.
Eira was not our mate?
Beside me, Kellen stirred awake. He moved groggily, face pale and throat marked with deep purple bruises from Eira’s teeth. His lips were still swollen from my kisses.
When our eyes met, he understood immediately.
“You felt it too, right?” he said, his voice as silent as a whisper.
I nodded, throat bobbing as I swallowed. “My wolf doesn’t recognize her.”
Kellen’s jaw went tight. “Mine too.”
Silence engulfed the space around us.
Kellen sighed, leaning back on the headboard, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
“We shouldn’t have touched her,” he grimaced, his voice filled with remorse.
Guilt creeped into my chest. Not because of the mate bond I couldn’t feel, but because of him... because of us.
“Did we betray ourselves?” I asked quietly.
Kellen sighed through his nostrils. “Yes.”
His barely audible words sliced through me.
Kellen rubbed his temples. “I felt like I was being torn into two. Wanting her because of the bond and wanting you because you’re mine. I hate that this bond forced us into something we didn’t choose.”
My chest tightened as I shared a painful gaze with him.
We sat in silence, until Kellen whispered, “Lucien...we can’t claim her again. This cannot happen again.”
The thought made something hollow ache deep inside of me, an ache I couldn’t explain.
But I nodded.
“For us,” I said. “We won’t touch her again.
Kellen let out a shaky breath, sorrow crossing his features. He reached forward, squeezing my hand.
“We’re still us, right?”
“Always,” I said, a wry smile crossing my lips.
He leaned in, planting a soft kiss on my forehead. I held him, resting my forehead on his.
***
By the time Kellen and I reached the school courtyard, my nerves were still frayed. The walk from the dorm had been uncomfortably silent. Last night still hung over us like a dark cloud. I shook my head, shoving the thought away.
“Schedule?” Kellen asked, breaking the silence in the air.
“I haven’t checked yet. How about you?” I replied as we stepped into the school building.
Kellen shrugged. “I haven’t checked either.”
We walked through the front entrance, slipping down the hallway and making a left towards the west wing. But the moment we headed towards the lockers, the temperature in the hallway shifted.
A familiar voice cut through the air. It was sharp, furious and trembling with so much rage. Kellen and I froze.
Eira.
We exchanged looks, tension building between us.
“Should we?“
“Yeah,” I agreed instantly.
We pushed through the cluster of students who were gathering far too quickly at the scene, forming a semi-circle against the lockers.
No one stood this close unless something dramatic was happening.
“Move,” I ordered the crowd.
Some flinched and stepped aside at the sound of my voice. Others hesitated until Kellen glared, and they scampered away.
And then, we saw her.
Eira stood in the center of the commotion, chest rising and falling sharply while her fists trembled at her sides.
And on the floor, was Aria.
She sat on the floor, one hand pressed to her cheek as tears gathered at her bottom lashes. Her eyes travelled to Eira, rage and disbelief in them.
Kellen froze beside me.
Aria saw us instantly and her expression shifted to shock and relief.
“Lucien!” She cried, her voice breaking as she lifted her trembling hand from her face. “Kellen! She...she hit me!”
Gasps erupted from the hallway.
Eira spun towards us, her eyes as wide as saucers.
“I didn’t touch her!” she snapped, her voice rising in a pitch, sharp with desperation. “She fell! Tripped over her own feet like a klutz!”
Kellen moved first. I watched him drop to a crouch beside Aria, gently lifting her chin with an unbelievable softness for someone who could snap bones with two fingers.
“Aria,” he said softly. “Did she hit you?”
Aria nodded, her lips trembling. That was all he needed.
Kellen rose up slowly...too slowly, and I knew he had been blinded by rage.
“Kellen,“ I called after him, stepping forward.
But he didn’t hear me.
Kellen marched up to Eira, and before anyone could move, his palm cracked across her face.
- Writer
