Chapter 37 Maverick
Maverick
Working at Starfall Academy was both a blessing and a curse. While it allowed me to stay close to my mate, not being with her as my bear and I wanted was killing us both.
My bear had been a complete asshole lately. I spent more time fighting him than anything else. The only time he settled was when we could touch our little witch.
We smelled her fear from a mile away and had come running.
By the time we arrived at the sports complex, her fear had faded.
I still had no clue what happened, but it was fucking obvious the blue-skinned fish boy was responsible.
Raven’s half-assed explanation about stumbling into the water seemed off, but I let it pass.
For now.
I planned to speak to – threaten – the merman later, however.
He’d regret upsetting my mate once I forced him to complete laps of the obstacle course for two fucking hours.
I looked up from the stove to see my pretty mate snuggled up in a warm blanket in front of the fire. My bear stopped pacing inside me and chuffed happily, knowing our mate was safe.
The eggs were done, so I scooped up a generous portion and added two slices of toast and a spoonful of baked beans. Raven yawned heavily when I handed her the plate.
“I want to see a clean plate.”
She peered at me through her thick lashes, pretty eyes sparkling in amusement.
“And if I don’t?” The minx was teasing me. My bear perked up again, interested to see where this was going.
“Then I’ll have to spank my naughty mate’s ass.”
Her cheeks turned a becoming shade of red. “Um…” From the way she sank her white teeth into her bottom lip, she liked the idea. I inhaled the sweet scent of her arousal and fought back a groan.
Dammit. I had a class to teach in an hour.
Turning up with a massive boner would be a nightmare.
Goddess knew I already had to deal with a bunch of fucking students flirting with me daily.
Some of the wolf-shifter females were fucking shameless in their pursuit of me, even though I was technically off-limits.
“Eat!” I barked when I saw Raven had not picked up her cutlery.
She jumped, startled by my gruff tone, and immediately forked some eggs into her delectably pouty mouth.
“Good girl,” I purred, and the flush in her cheeks deepened.
Since drooling all over my mate was not helping my boner situation, I reversed back into the kitchen to make a coffee. Once she’d finished her breakfast, I’d take her back to her dorm.
It wasn’t what my bear wanted, but he was shit out of luck. There wasn’t time to take care of our mate in the way we wanted.
“I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” I said in a low voice, in case there were any shifters nearby. I couldn’t sense anyone around, but I needed to be careful. Montgomery would happily fire me if he knew Raven was my mate and we still hadn’t bonded.
From the way Raven shivered when I pressed her against the wall, she was in no rush to say goodbye to me either.
“Can’t you give me a pass for gym class?” Her cute little frown almost had me on my knees. A place where I’d happily spend all my days. She yawned again, and I almost caved. But then I remembered if she didn’t show for my class, I’d miss out on seeing her for another day.
“No, you’re not slacking off,” I growled. “Physical training is important. There are too many threats out there, and until you get a handle on your magic, you’re vulnerable.”
She huffed loudly while scowling at me. I fought back a smile at the sight of her little tantrum.
“Ugh. Such a meanie.”
“If you’re a good girl in class, I will reward you afterward.”
The scent of her arousal flooded the air around us as my meaning sank in.
“But… but… don’t we need to be careful?”
Nobody would see her if I took her back to my cabin after lessons. If anyone came near my cabin, I’d hear them. It was a perk of being a shifter.
“Don’t you worry, little witch.” I brushed my lips against hers and then pushed her toward the main entrance of her dorm. “Now go get changed. Classes start in twenty minutes!”
She grumbled some more and then shot inside.
I waited a few seconds to make sure the coast was clear before jogging to the sports complex. My phone rang as soon as I unlocked my office and stepped inside.
“Hey, Mom, is everything okay?” I put my phone on speaker as I changed into my shorts. It wasn’t like my mother to call during the day. She was usually too busy with our family’s lumberyard in the Diamond Peaks.
“Honey, it’s your Uncle Seamus.”
I sighed. “What’s he done now?” The old bastard had a drinking problem. Every fucking day, he got wasted on moonshine and scared hikers while staggering around in his bear form. Honestly, how his stupid head hadn’t ended up being mounted on the wall in some hillbilly bar was a mystery.
“He’s turned feral.”
I dropped my sneakers in shock. Feral? Fuck. Once a shifter turned feral, that was it. There was no coming back from feral. The disease was a fucking death sentence.
“How? He doesn’t mix with anyone but us!” Nobody knew what caused the feral shifter disorder, but Boon had told me some of the Shifter Council believed it was a viral infection spread by intimate contact with infected, asymptomatic shifters.
In the early stages of the disease, the symptoms were subtle.
Mostly mood swings and a desire to spend more time in shifted form.
Since Seamus had always been a moody bastard after losing his mate at a young age and he preferred hanging out in his bear form most days, I doubted anyone would have noticed him devolving. At least not right away.
“We don’t know, honey. He’s stuck in his bear form and can’t communicate. Your father has trapped him in the barn, so he’s safe for now.” Her voice hitched on the last two words, and I swallowed hard.
We both knew I’d have to end Seamus. None of us could risk his escaping and going on a murderous rampage.
Not with a human settlement in the valley.
While it would take Seamus a good day to reach Diamond Falls on foot, a feral shifter felt no pain and would not stop to rest or eat.
They turned into killing machines, infected with an all-consuming bloodlust.
The only solution was to put them down.
“I’ll leave now,” I told Mom, knowing there was nothing else I could do.
My father wasn’t strong enough to handle a feral adult bear.
Whereas I shifted into a giant Kodiak, my father was a much smaller black bear.
Seamus’s grizzly towered over him. Only Thorrin’s polar bear was bigger than my Kodiak, but nobody had seen him in ages.
“I’m sorry, Mav,” Mom said in a soft voice.
She knew how much it would hurt me to put Seamus down.
As difficult as he had been in recent years, most of my happiest childhood memories involved Seamus taking me and Thorrin fishing and hunting.
Teaching us how to forage for food, build a shelter, and defend ourselves against other predators.
I loved him.
We all did.
I hated this fucking disease.
“Need a hand?”
“Goddess, fuck!” I snarled when the fucking incubus materialized in front of me. He smirked as he leaned against the wall, playing with a small knife.
“You know it’s forbidden for students to enter faculty offices without permission, right?”
The fucker snorted. “Since when do I care about rules?”
“Well, you should,” I growled. “Now get out of my way. I have shit to do.”
“So I heard. It sucks that your uncle has turned feral. The disease is spreading. Not as quickly as the bloodborne virus hit the vampires, but still…” His voice trailed off as he flicked his knife in the air, catching it with one hand.
“If you know something, Vanyx, spit it out!” I wasn’t in the mood for his fucking mind games.
I hurriedly changed into a pair of jeans I had stashed in a cupboard before grabbing my truck keys. It was a day’s drive back home, and if I set off now, I could be there by nightfall. Hopefully, Dad could keep Seamus contained until then.
“I think we both know this disease isn’t some random mutation. There’s only one group that stands to gain by weakening shifters, and that’s the power-hungry bastards in charge of the Mage Council.”
He was right, but I didn’t have time to debate politics with him.
“Yes, I know this, but now is not the time, Zane!” He blocked my path.
“I’ll make sure our little witch is safe while you’re gone,” he said with a smirk, “but we need to talk when you get back.”
My bear growled at the sight of his smug face. “Stay out of her bed, Zane. If you push her, I’ll fucking maim you.”
The bastard grinned. “I don’t need her in a bed to pleasure her, care bear.”
My bear surged forward while roaring in my head. He wanted to rip the incubus apart. It took all my effort not to shift in my office.
“Get the fuck out of my office now!” I growled as fur rippled down my arms and my shirt split across my shoulders. Damned incubus. Now I’d have to drive for hours wearing only my jeans and sneakers.
He grinned when I swung my fist at him. My bear needed to hear the crunch of the fucker’s nose before he calmed, but before I could connect with the arrogant bastard’s face, he blinked away. The momentum had me stumbling forward, and I cursed loudly.
We’ll rearrange his face when we return. My bear chuffed in agreement. Our little witch might not like him so much if I turned the annoying shit into a fucking Picasso painting.