CAUGHT IN A DIRE-BOND

WAIT... WHAT?!

CHAPTER FOUR

SOLEIL

"You came back without my bracelet, and smelling like them."

Velma was outraged, and her eyes shone with so much malice, I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

I thought back to the incident in the woods, the emotionless way the Dire twins had spoken about my body. They had eventually let me go without touching me, but somehow I felt like I had been branded. No amount of scrubbing had been able to get the smell of them off me.

"I... I got caught," I stammered. "The Dire twins, Azrael and Adriel had found me. They hunted me down and..." I shivered as I remembered being held over a cliff by my throat. "They had almost killed me."

Velma rolled her eyes. "I wish I could find it in myself to care, but I don't. Where is my bracelet?"

"They didn't let me take it with me. They..."

The words died in my throat as her palm connected with my face, causing my head to loll to the side. I was on my knees in the middle of her bedroom, and both her followers were on either side of me, holding my arms apart.

She lifted a hand then and lowered a flash of light that seared through me and made me scream in pain. Death hovered far too close, but something saved me. The bell.

"f**k!" Velma cussed.

Monique stepped back first, and then Ava followed. The former spoke up. "We have the annual games now. I think her punishment can wait for later."

Velma's face splits with a cherry smile. "Oh, I think I know just what punishment she needs now."

*******

"When did you get back?" Sera asked as we walked into the woods that bordered both campuses.

I turned to my friend, noting that she now had the mating mark on her neck. "I see you've completed the rite."

She smiled shyly. "Connor showed up at my dorm room last night and..." Her face flushed a bright red. "Things got a little heated."

I couldn't help but think how everyone else seemed to be getting good deals out of the mating thing, except me.

I offered my best friend a genuine smile. I was truly happy for her despite my own situation. "Congratulations, Sera. You deserve it. How does it feel being mated to a Beta?"

Her face lit up as she started to talk about what her new life was looking to be, and as much as I tried to focus on what she was saying, I couldn't.

Darkness crept along the trees that lined the dark woods, the familiar smell of bergamot inching closer and closer as we walked along.

Velma had found a new way to torment me. I was supposed to find the burnt flag for my dorm, and Sera was just unnecessary collateral damage. And it looked like it was about to get worse.

I cleared my throat, then chucked my flashlight against a tree as I shrieked. Sera stopped talking and turned to me.

"What was that? Are you okay?"

I groaned. "I thought I saw something."

"And you decided to break our flashlight so you won't have to see it again?" She teased.

I would've laughed, but I could feel them getting closer. If she didn't leave soon...

"I think you should go back and grab a new one for us. We can't get the flag without having a flashlight."

"Me?" Sera almost laughed at the idea. "How do you expect me to leave you behind in a place as creepy as this?"

The air around us started to get colder, the shadows becoming thicker. My heart climbed into my throat.

"I was here last night, remember? I'm not as scared as I was anymore. Except you'd like to stay here while I go ahead and grab a new flash."

She shook her head instantly, shivering for good measure. "I would piss my pants if I had to stay here all by myself."

She studied me for a long time, and the more she lingered, the tighter my chest became. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Go on. I'll be waiting right here." That was if the twins didn't finish with their plan to kill me first. I didn't say that out loud, though.

She looked like she was unconvinced but then just as the shadows started to creep along the trees just next to us, she sighed. "Fine. I'll be right back."

She turned and dashed off in the direction of Wolvaris, and I did the exact same thing, only, I was running in the opposite direction of the approaching shadows.

My breathing was labored and my heart was pounding wildly in my chest. I wasn't going to let them catch me tonight.

"Where do you think you're going?" Darkness swirled around my feet and all of a sudden, I came to a halt.

"What are you doing to me?" I asked, fear creeping into my voice.

Adriel stepped out from behind the tree to my right. "Did you really think you could run from us, Nosi?"

"I already apologized for invading your space. What more do you want with me?"

He gave me that same smile, the one that couldn't be read. "You. You belong to us already, Nosi."

I was going to ask him what Nosi meant, but then Azrael stepped out into the dark night, all perfect air and dark energy.

"On your knees, Nosi."

I dropped down on my knees instantly. And just like that, lust started to dance through my insides, making my core throb and my insides squirm.

"What are you doing to me?" I cried out, weakly. Why did I suddenly feel like I was going to combust if I didn't have them touch me?

My whole body felt like it was overheating, and my body throbbed with desire. I could smell my own arousal, and I wasn't alone. The twins were looking at me with shock on their faces.

"It can't be," Adriel muttered, his eyes dazed and taking on a faraway look.

Azrael looked at me like I was a strange being. "You can't be. It's not possible."

Couldn't be what? I tried to ask them, but my tongue was held down by the weight of my own desires.

What the hell was going on? What were they talking about?

My wolf's voice was loud in my head as she finally spoke. "Isn't it obvious, dummy?"

There was a strain to her words, like she was battling a pull.

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She didn't have to respond, the twins did at the same time, and my whole being froze into a near statue.

"Mate."