Chapter 16
Both guys stop and stare at each other. Meanwhile, the watch is humming in my pocket, the power vibrating under my skin from being so close to two of my mates.
“Might as well get this over with,” I mutter.
“Rehan, this is Dallan. Dallan, Rehan. Apparently, y’all are my mates.
Well, two out of six. So yeah, there's that. Imma go to class now. So um, bye.” Doing an about face, I all but run toward my class.
“Wait! What?” they both yell to my retreating back.
Am I a coward? Absolutely. Do I feel bad?
Not at all. I am so not ready to face all of that crap at the moment.
I need a minute to breathe and come to terms with the fact that I've already found two mates in one day, and there are going to be six total.
How the fuck do you even process that? Thankfully, the bell for class dings right after I walk in.
I find an empty chair in the back of the room, set up with rows of three-person tables.
Only one person is at this table, but whoever it is has their hood up and head on the desk, so I take the seat at the far side.
The middle seat is left open between us, where I’m not sitting directly next to someone, even if I would have preferred the window.
The professor comes storming in a couple minutes later, reminding me of the scene with Snape in Harry Potter, although he looks so much creeper and greasier.
Actually, I think he’d be closer to Filch.
Okay, then. He seems like a peach. Thankfully, we learned basic Latin in high school, so the first couple weeks will be more of a refresher.
It will be nice to have at least one class not kick my ass until I get the hang of a new school and class load, even if the instructor doesn’t have the best temperament.
About thirty minutes into class the door opens and I feel a tug in my chest. The already silent room somehow goes even quieter, and as soon as the guy turns around to walk towards the professor's desk, I see why. I don’t know what's in the water here, but some of the men I’ve seen look like they could be Greek gods, and he’s no different.
Even from my seat at the back I can tell he’s tall; probably six foot four, dark shaggy brown hair, and the most amazing blue-green eyes I've ever seen. I’m assuming he’s some kind of athlete with his build; long, lean legs, trim waist, and wide shoulders.
Dear god, I might actually be drooling, along with every other woman in this room right now.
When he finishes his conversation with the professor, he glances around for an open seat.
The only one available happens to be next to me.
He smiles when we make eye contact and it almost takes my breath away with how perfect it is.
I slide the watch out of my pocket, just enough for a quick glance.
Fuck me. One of the hands stopped, pointing at him.
I don’t know what kind of cosmic joke or whacky karma I had coming my way that every mate I’ve met so far ends up being so God damn hot, but for the life of me, I’m not sure how I’m going to function around them.
Plus, now there are three of them. Already?
It’s only day fucking one. I might be better off skipping the rest of my classes at this rate.
He makes his way to the middle seat at my table, seemingly unaware of all the eyes on him.
As he gets closer the pull in my chest gets worse.
He lowers himself in the chair next to me, and the smell of fresh-fallen rain, like when you walk out on a summer's day after a random rainstorm, follows. I try to focus on my work but it’s so hard with him next to me.
I always knew finding mates was a possibility, and that some people have more than one in their circle, but I wasn’t prepared for the connection to be so immediate, or to meet them so fucking fast. Like, fate couldn’t give me a break, maybe do one a day?
As he’s pulling out everything he needs to do the assignment, his hand brushes against mine and a small bolt of lighting shoots up my arm, causing my hair to stand on end.
What the fuck was that? We both seem to have the same idea of just ignoring the strange shocking feeling as we continue our work.
I don’t know what to think about the fact that the pull seems to get more intense with each mate I meet.
I’m going to fail all my classes at this point.
Sneaking a peek at him out of the side of my eye, I watch him take a deep breath. It seems the pull of the mate bond is getting to him too, since he slowly seems to be moving closer and closer. By the time the bell rings, we are so close we’re almost touching.
He stands first, offering his hand to help me, and the weird electrostatic sensation is still there, pulsing between our grip. “Hi there, Dove. I’m Ward.”
“Hi. I’m Maggie.” We stand there awkwardly, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
“If the two of you could stop eye fucking each other and leave my classroom?” Professor Magus is standing at the door, looking at us with disgust.
Ward rolls his eyes and leads me from the classroom, making sure to stand in between me and the Professor when we walk out.
My next class is Elementals, in Valor Tower, and we have yet to say another word to each other.
He seems content to walk alongside me. As soon as we take a step out the door of Manor House, we run right into Dallan and Rehan, both of whom seem to have been waiting for me.
Fuck. Me. Looks like I’m dealing with this sooner rather than later.
I let out a big sigh and make my way over to them, Ward following along.
All three look at each other then back at me.
Marsh comes jogging up, looking down at his phone, so hasn’t noticed all three men standing around me.
He finally glances up; the look on his face when he registers what he just walked up on is priceless.
He starts hysterically laughing. I’m talking about full body shaking, bent over, tears streaming down his face laughing.
I step around the guys to stand between them and my brother so I have a good path to him, just in case he thinks of trying anything.
I’m already overstimulated enough. After almost a full minute of his antics, I decide I’ve had enough, sending a small bolt of electricity towards his stomach.
“Ouch! Fuck, that was a bit rude,” he rubs the spot, but the laughter has subsided, so I’ll take the look of discomfort.
“Go away Marsh, I’ll fill you in later. Or I’ll shock you again.
” I make a shooing motion at him, and he heads off, giggling like a school girl.
Taking a deep breath I turn to face my waiting mates.
“Okay, let me get through everything before anyone says anything, please.” They all silently nod, so I continue.
“Dallan, Rehan, this is Ward. Ward this is Dallan and Rehan. It seems all three of y'all are my mates. There are supposedly three more, and yes I know it’s unheard of having that many. It goes along with what kind of witch I am.” I pull my watch out of my pocket.
“This is a family artifact; it’s how I know y’all are my mates, and how I know the other three are also somewhere at this school.
Also, I’ve felt a tingling pulling sensation in my chest when I’m around any of you and I think is also part of the mate bond as well.
So yeah. That's where I’m at.” I look up from my feet, where I have been staring during this whole speech.
I make eye contact first with Dallan’s deep brown eyes, since he is directly across from me.
He already knew he was my mate so I figured he was one of the safe options.
To his right bright green eyes look back at me.
Smiling, Rehan seems to be enjoying this as much as my brother was.
The last pair are the ones I’m most nervous about meeting.
This green is dark where Rehan’s are bright; a deep almost emerald green.
Ward doesn’t look as shocked as I thought one would be finding out he’s part of a circle with five other anchors.
“Well Siren, how do you feel about all this?” Rehan steps closer to me, reaching out to lift my chin so I’m forced to look at him. The other two move closer as well, and having them all so close has my magic tingling and going crazy. I can feel their magic responding to mine.
“I haven’t really had the time to figure it out, to be honest. This pull I feel is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
Being separated is like I’m missing a part of myself, which is fucking crazy, since I don’t even know you.
” I stop, not knowing what to say. My heart is starting to race, the familiar hum of my anxiety starting to build.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t deal with any of this right now.
” Letting out a sob, I turn and run away for the second time today, towards my next class.
One more, and then I can hide in my room for the rest of the day.