Chapter 10 Bechora
The Academy had a sense of humor. That was the only explanation for History of Magical Warfare being my first class of the day.
The fact that it was taught by Professor Sabelus, a vampire who made it his mission to sleep through every class he taught, didn’t help.
Worse still, when I stepped into the classroom and scanned the space for an empty seat, the only one left was right next to Vallynn.
The prince looked awful, which became even more obvious as I slid into the desk beside him.
His usually immaculate uniform was rumpled, tie askew, and his skin had a grey pallor.
Up close, I could see the purple bruising beneath his eyes and the slight tremor in the hand he had fisted on top of his desk.
An inexplicable urge to reach out and comfort him washed over me, and I shook my head to clear it before focusing my attention on the front of the room, where Sabelus sat kicked back in his chair, head tilted toward the ceiling as he snored lightly.
Several minutes passed before the Professor jolted awake.
Standing from his chair, he moved to the whiteboard behind him and hastily scrawled a reading assignment and chapter questions.
Without a word, he settled back into his chair, laid his head on his desk and promptly went back to sleep.
I shook my head with an irritated huff and pulled my textbook for the class from my messenger bag.
“If you need help, let me know,” Vallynn spoke beside me.
“Why would I need your help?” I asked, unable to keep the irritation from my tone as I turned to look at him.
Vallynn sighed, shifting in his seat to face me. “I’m not trying to insult you. I just meant this stuff can be difficult to grasp even for someone who grew up in the realm.”
I studied him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was playing at.
Vallynn was nearly as bad as his constant companion, Dante, with the way he ran hot and cold toward me.
Still, I couldn’t help feeling some strange draw to him.
A desire to connect, that if I focused on it for any amount of time, would send me spiraling.
“I don’t get you,” I replied finally, shaking my head. “It’s like it's a coin toss which version of you I’ll run into at any given time, and frankly, I’m not in the mood for whatever mind games you’re trying to play.”
“I’m not–” He cut himself off and took a breath. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated, sure,” I snorted, turning my attention to my textbook.
He let out a heavy sigh and turned his attention back to the assignment.
Thankfully, he didn’t say anything else to me for the rest of class.
I tried to keep my focus on the reading, but I couldn’t help being hyper aware of how close he was to me, or how poorly he looked.
By the time class ended, my jaw ached from how tightly I’d kept it clenched to avoid asking him about it.
The second Sabelus released us, I crammed my book haphazardly into my bag and raced from the room like my ass was on fire.
I was so focused on putting as much distance between myself and Vallynn as I could that I didn’t notice Archer standing in the hall until I slammed into his chest.
“I knew it was just a matter of time before you ran into my arms,” he grinned as his hands grabbed my shoulders to steady me. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Ironically enough… Divination and Prophetic Magic,” I replied with a half-smile. “And, I’m avoiding the fae prince.”
Archer’s dual-colored eyes narrowed as he scanned the hallway behind me. “Did he do something?” he asked, his tone unusually serious. “You can tell me if he did. prince or not, I’ll make sure he doesn’t ever do it again.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that burst from my mouth. “No, it’s fine,” I assured him, patting his hard chest. “He didn’t do anything, really. I’d just prefer to keep my distance from him.”
Archer’s shoulders slumped forward as he relaxed his stance. Moving to my side, he slipped an arm over my shoulders, and I let him. “Want to talk about it? We’re heading to the same class, you can tell me all about it on the way.”
I let myself lean into him, that ever-present pull toward him easing as I did.
“There’s not much to tell. He can’t decide if he’s going to ignore my existence, be an asshole to me, or be kind,” I said as we started walking.
“And I’m the idiot that can’t seem to help but be attracted to the jack ass.
He let out a soft snarl, stiffening slightly. “Sorry…” he murmured. “I’m fine with you being our pack mates, but my instincts make me a little territorial when it comes to anyone else.”
“It’s okay. I’m trying to be more zen about how this whole multiple-mates thing works and accepting of what's considered normal here. You can probably control your instinctual urges about as well as I can control the stupid pull to Vallynn.”
Archer stopped walking, his arm around my shoulder, forcing me to stop with him. “Bechora…” he started. “What do you mean by pull?”
My brows dipped down as I turned my head to look at him. “I mean, that’s what my unwanted attraction to him feels like. Like something is pulling me to be near him and to want him. Sometimes it’s almost an insistent tugging in my gut when he’s close by,” I shrugged.
Archer leaned his head back and barked out a laugh. “Oh, my sweet mate,” he chuckled. “Can you think of any other time you felt that same thing?”
“I–” I snapped my mouth shut and scrunched my face in confusion. Archer moved to stand in front of me, placing his hands on my biceps as he tilted his head down to look me in the eyes.
“Bechora, what you’re describing is the mating bond pull.”
My brows shot to my hairline, and my eyes widened.
I opened my mouth to argue, shutting it just as fast without actually saying a word, as the truth of his words hit me.
My mind replayed each time I’d felt something similar, each pull to a different male on campus.
Zypher, Gabriel, Caulder, Archer, Vallynn. .. and Dante.
“Those fucking assholes !” I snapped. “They’re my mates? And they’ve been hiding it from me!”
“That would be what the pull means, but what do you mean ‘mates’? I thought we were discussing the prince.”
“We are , but that royal bastard isn’t the only one I’ve felt this pull toward. I feel it for his gargoyle shadow, too.”
Archer let out a low whistle. “Oh, damn.”
“I’m going to kill them,” I hissed under my breath, causing him to laugh.
“I’m happy to help, but we really should get to class before we’re late.”
“Fine. I’ll kill them later,” I grumbled.
We made it to the tower where Divination and Prophetic Magic with barely a minute to spare.
My mind was too focused on the fact that two more males on campus were my mates, had to have known it, and kept it from me, for me to be able to focus on anything Professor Vatorgan covered.
Fortunately, Archer seemed to be focused on taking notes.
He was surprisingly studious after my initial impressions of him being more playful and not caring about his education.
When class was dismissed, we made our way to the dining hall for lunch.
The others were still in their various classes.
Unlike the previous school year, our schedules didn’t seem to match up as well this term.
Archer deposited me at our usual table before heading to the buffet to grab food for us both.
“So, you mentioned this morning about filling me in on something?” he asked, as he set a plate in front of me and took the seat on my left.
“Well, the Cliffnotes here is that I’m a Starcaller, so my magic works differently.
I copy abilities through touch and mating, there’s a prophecy saying I’m supposed to save the realm, and as you’ve already figured out, I’m collecting mates like it’s my job.
” I couldn’t have stopped the words from tumbling out of me if I’d tried, as I shoved bites of food in my mouth between breaths.
“Got it,” Archer nodded. “Super special supe set to save the world,” he smirked.
“Quite the tongue twister,” I smiled despite myself.
“It made you smile at least. You’ve been scowling since I pointed out your mate bond.” I rolled my eyes in response. “Is there anything else that I need to know or some way I can help?”
The sincerity in his words gave me pause, and I set my fork on my plate.
“I… I really don’t know. I don’t think I’ve actually stopped to think about this whole situation yet.
I’m afraid, if I do, it might crush me. I don’t know if I could keep moving forward if I really took a moment to let things sink in. It’s overwhelming enough as it is.”
He studied me for a few moments, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the Dean’s voice rang out through the dining hall.
If the echoes of it from outside were any indication, her voice was being magically broadcast through the entire campus.
The chatter inside the dining hall stopped instantly at the sound of her voice.
“Attention, Students. Due to the campus lockdown preventing students from returning home over the break between terms, the Academy has decided to host a Parents’ Day.
Parents of all students have been notified and will be arriving on campus this Saturday.
All students are expected to behave in a manner befitting of the Academy. ”
The announcement ended just as abruptly as it’d begun, and noise erupted as students all around us started to excitedly discuss the upcoming event.
“On that note,” Archer said, his voice cutting through the chatter. “I suppose we should get to our next classes.”
“I’m heading to the library to hopefully find Miles,” I replied.
“Let me take our trays up, and I’ll walk you,” he smiled.
I nodded, watching as he gathered our plates and trays as quickly as he could before making his way through the growing crowd.