CHAPTER 44
1473 Words
ADINNA’S POV
The silence that follows can cut glass.
The room hums with something thick and alive, and an invisible thread pulls at all of us. The air feels charged like a storm right before it breaks. For a second, no one moves or breathes.
Then Hunter grips the nearest table, his knuckles white, his jaw flexing as if he is holding back a snarl.
“It can’t be her.” His voice is rough and guttural like it was scraped from somewhere deep inside of him.
Riley steps back instinctively, her eyes darting between us. I can feel her confusion pressing against mine.
Dean’s eyes find me. There’s something in them that made my stomach. He whispers my name, so softly it almost doesn’t reach me. “Adinna…”
And then, of course, Jace breaks the silence the only way he knows how with venom. “What did you do, witch?”
I blink at him. “What?”
He takes a step forward, eyes blazing. “Don’t play dumb with me. You did something. You cast a spell, and bound us together somehow. You think this is funny? Some kind of punishment?”
My blood runs cold. “Punishment?”
“Oh, come on,” he spits. “You expect us to believe this is just coincidence? Four of us , the cardinals for that matter, suddenly drawn to the same omega?” His lip curls. “You’ve been planning this, haven’t you? You must’ve wanted us so badly you couldn’t pick just one.”
The words hit harder than I expect. I open my mouth to argue, but nothing comes out.
Salem, leaning casually against the wall, lets out a dry laugh. It’s humorless. Dangerous. “So tell us, omega,” he says, his tone laced with mockery. “Are you really that interested in us, or is this just your way of getting attention?”
I stare at him, disbelief slicing through me. “You think I wanted this?”
Hunter growls low in his throat, cutting through the tension. His voice drops to a warning rumble. “Enough.”
But Salem only shrugs, his dark eyes flicking toward me. “You can feel it too, can’t you? That pull. That heat. Don’t act like you don’t.”
He’s right, that I can feel the magnetic pull in my chest that won’t stop dragging me toward them. But it’s not something I control, it’s something that’s happening to me.
I shake my head. “I don’t even know what this is. I didn’t do anything—”
“Bullshit,” Jace cuts in, stepping closer. His voice is sharp, slicing through the air. “You expect us to believe you’re innocent when our wolves won’t shut up about you? You’ve been messing with us, haven’t you?”
Riley snaps then, stepping between us. “That’s enough, Jace.”
He glares at her, but she doesn’t back down. “She didn’t do anything. You can feel it, can’t you? It’s not just her.”
Hunter looks up at that, the muscles in his jaw tightening. He looks conflicted. For once, he doesn’t look angry, just tired.
Jace scoffs, turning away. “I’m not playing into whatever this is.”
But Dean hasn’t looked away from me. His gaze is steady, and searching like he’s trying to piece something together that’s been sitting at the edge of his mind for weeks.
Finally, Hunter straightens and crosses his arms, glaring at him. “You look too calm for someone just figuring this out,” he growls. “What do you know, Dean?”
Dean’s shoulders tense. “Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Dean hesitates. For a second, it looks like he might deny it again but then he sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. “I had a suspicion,” he admits quietly.
Everyone freezes.
Even Jace stops pacing, his head snapping toward him. “A suspicion?” he repeats. “About what, exactly?”
Dean’s gaze flicks to me again before he answers. “About her.”
The word drops like a bomb.
I blink at him, my pulse racing. “What do you mean, you had a suspicion?”
He exhales, looking genuinely torn. “I didn’t want to say anything unless I was sure. But I’ve felt it for a while now. The pull.” His hand goes to his chest unconsciously, as if remembering the ache that’s been haunting him. “I thought I was imagining it. Or that it was just…” He trails off, eyes darkening. “Just an attraction.”
The room goes silent again.
Attraction.
The word feels heavier than it should. My chest tightens, my throat suddenly too dry to speak.
Hunter scoffs, the sound sharp and bitter. “You felt it and didn’t tell us?”
Dean meets his glare without flinching. “I wasn’t sure what it was.”
Salem tilts his head, studying Dean like a puzzle. “So you’ve been walking around thinking you might be bonded to an omega and just decided to keep it to yourself?”
Dean’s jaw tightens. “It wasn’t like that.”
Riley shifts beside me, as if she can feel the tension growing thicker by the second.
Hunter pushes off the table, his movements sharp. “If you knew something, you should’ve said something. We could’ve—”
“What?” Dean cuts in, his voice rising for the first time. “What would you have done? Run tests? Called the headmistress? Maybe started another fight in the middle of the academy?”
Hunter’s nostrils flare, but he doesn’t respond.
My mind spins. Every word feels like it’s echoing inside me, bouncing off the edges of the chaos that’s been building all night.
Dean knew. He felt it.
And he didn’t say a word.
“Wait,” I say, my voice barely a whisper. “You knew something was happening and you didn’t tell me?”
Dean’s eyes snap to mine. There’s guilt buried deep, but it’s there. “I didn’t know how to,” he says quietly. “I wasn’t even sure it was real.”
The warmth in my chest flares again, stronger this time, pulsing with every word he says. It’s not anger exactly, it’s hurt. Sharp and raw.
“You could’ve told me,” I whisper. “Even if you weren’t sure. You could’ve warned me, Dean.”
His voice softens. “I didn’t want to scare you. I didn’t want to be wrong.”
My jaw tightens. “And now?”
He sighs, shoulders sagging under the weight of everything. “Now I know I wasn’t.”
Jace laughs, low and humorless. “Oh, how sweet. Maybe the two of you can figure this out while the rest of us go insane.”
“Jace,” Hunter snaps, but Jace just throws up his hands.
“No, seriously, look at us!” Jace’s voice cracks as he gestures around. “We’ve been fighting for days, restless, angry, losing control of our wolves and now we find out why? Because we’re all magically tied to the same damn omega?” His eyes cut to me, and his voice drops into a snarl. “Forgive me if I’m not thrilled about it.”
I flinch. The words sting, even though I know I shouldn’t care.
Salem sighs, folding his arms. “I think what Jace here is trying to say,” he says dryly, “is that this situation is complicated.”
Riley lets out a shaky breath. “Complicated is one word for it.”
Hunter turns back toward me then, his gaze steady, unreadable. “You’re feeling it too, aren’t you?”
I hesitate, then nod once. “Yes.”
“This isn’t normal,” he mutters, more to himself than anyone else.
“No kidding,” Jace fires back.
But Hunter ignores him, his gaze still locked on me. “If this is real, if the bond is what I think it is, then we’re in more danger than we realize.”
“Danger?” I echo.
He doesn’t answer, just clenches his jaw and looks away.
Dean exhales slowly. “Whatever it is, we can’t fight it by pretending it’s not happening.”
Jace scoffs. “Speak for yourself.”
The air grows heavier again, pressing down on my skin. My wolf stirs uneasily, sensing their agitation, their voices, the pull that’s getting harder to resist.
I take a step back, my pulse thundering. “Stop,” I say quietly. “Please.”
They all look at me.
Hunter’s expression flickers with a hint of worry. Salem tilts his head, unreadable. Jace looks like he wants to argue but doesn’t. Dean’s eyes soften.
The silence that follows feels very heavy.
- Writer
