Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
The summons arrives during breakfast.
A student messenger finds me in the dining hall and hands me a folded piece of paper with the Academy seal. I recognize Headmaster Owen's handwriting before I even unfold it.
My office. Immediately. - Headmaster Owen
Lily looks up from her eggs. "What is it?"
"Headmaster wants to see me."
"Did you do something?"
"Not that I know of." But my stomach is already sinking because immediate summons are never good news.
I make my way across campus with the mate bond humming anxious under my ribs.
Julian is in his classroom preparing for his first lecture.
I feel the moment he senses my fear. The bond pulls tight and I know he's wondering what's wrong, but there's no way to tell him without speaking and I don't have time.
Headmaster Owen's office is on the second floor of the main building. I knock and hear his voice tell me to enter.
I push open the door and freeze.
Chase Valemont is sitting in one of the chairs across from Owen's desk. He stands when I enter, all false courtesy and cold eyes.
"Miss Bardot." Owen gestures to the empty chair beside Chase. "Please, sit."
I sit because refusing would only make this worse. Chase settles back into his chair and I'm hyperaware of how close he is. How trapped I am in this room with a Council enforcer and a Headmaster who answers to Council authority.
"Mr. Valemont has requested a formal inquiry," Owen says, and I hear the apology in his voice even though his face stays neutral. "I'm required to allow it."
"I understand." My voice comes out steadier than I feel.
Chase pulls out a small leather notebook and opens it to a blank page. "This is an official Council inquiry regarding your bloodline and recent manifestation. Your answers will be recorded."
I nod because what else can I do?
"Tell me about your parents."
"I never knew them. They died when I was a baby."
He writes something in the notebook. "Their names?"
"I don't know."
His pen stills. "You don't know your own parents' names?"
"My aunt never told me. She said it was safer that way."
"How convenient that your aunt is also dead." His tone makes it sound like an accusation.
Owen leans forward. "Mr. Valemont, Miss Bardot answered your question."
Chase doesn't look away from me. "Your first shift occurred at eighteen years old. That's unusually late."
"I didn't know I could shift. My aunt never told me I was a shifter at all."
"And you shifted alone. In the forest. With no support from a pack."
"Yes."
"That's dangerous. First shifts without guidance can be fatal."
"I survived."
"You did." He taps his pen against the notebook. "Tell me, Miss Bardot, have you shifted since?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it was painful and terrifying and I have no idea how to control it."
"The Council could help with that. We have resources for late shifters."
"I'll manage on my own."
Chase leans forward slightly. "The Council takes specific interest in late manifestations. Especially those without documented bloodlines. We'd like to run some tests. Bloodwork, genetic analysis, family tree reconstruction."
"I'm not interested."
"It wasn't a request, Miss Bardot."
"Then I'm refusing anyway."
Owen interrupts before Chase can respond. "Miss Bardot is a student here under Academy protection. Any medical testing or genetic analysis requires consent from a parent or legal guardian."
"She has no guardian."
"Then she requires Academy legal representation before any such procedures can be conducted." Owen's voice is firm. "I'll need to consult with our counsel before approving any Council testing of an enrolled student."
Chase closes his notebook with a sharp snap. "The Council will be in touch with the Academy administration regarding proper procedures."
He stands and I resist the urge to stand with him. Staying seated feels like maintaining ground even though my hands are shaking.
Chase looks down at me and his smile doesn't reach his eyes. "One way or another, Miss Bardot, we'll get our answers. The Council doesn't give up easily."
He leaves and the door closes behind him with a soft click that sounds too final.
Owen sighs and runs a hand over his face. "Miss Bardot, you should consider cooperating with the Council's inquiry."
"Why? So they can run tests and decide what to do with me based on the results?"
"The Council offers protection to those with rare gifts."
"The Council kills anything they're afraid of." I stand because I can't sit in this office anymore. "You know their history with shifters who don't fit their rules."
"That was different..."
"Was it?" I walk to the door. "Thank you for the representation offer, Headmaster. But I don't think Academy lawyers are going to stop the Council if they really want me."
I leave before he can respond.
The hallway is empty and I lean against the wall for a moment trying to catch my breath. The mate bond is pulled so tight it hurts. Julian felt my terror during the entire inquiry and now his emotions are bleeding into mine until I can barely tell whose feelings are whose.
I need to see him and tell him what happened before he does something reckless like storming into Owen's office demanding to know why I was summoned.
His classroom is on the other side of campus but I don't care if students see me walking in that direction between classes. I need to get to him before this bond pulls so tight it snaps.
I reach his office and knock harder than I should. The door opens immediately. Julian pulls me inside, closing and locking it behind me in one motion.
"What happened?" His hands come up to my face like he needs to confirm I'm really here and unhurt. "I felt your fear. During my entire lecture I felt you terrified and I couldn't leave, couldn't do anything..."
"Chase. He was in Owen's office. Formal Council inquiry."
Julian's hands drop from my face and his jaw goes tight. I feel his anger spike sharp and hot enough to make me flinch.
"What did he ask?"
"Everything. Parents, bloodline, the shift. He wanted Council testing. Bloodwork and genetic analysis."
"You said no."
"Of course I said no."
"Good." But he's pacing now, agitated energy radiating off him. "This is exactly what I was afraid of. The Council investigating you directly."
"I handled it."
He spins to face me. "You shouldn't have to handle Council interrogations. You're eighteen years old."
"I'm not a child, Julian."
"I know that." His voice cracks slightly. "Believe me, I know that."
The bond flares between us. Heat and want mixing with fear and frustration until the air feels charged. We both feel it and both try to ignore it because this isn't the time but the bond doesn't care about timing.
"Chase isn't going to stop," Julian says after a moment. "He suspects something and he's going to keep pushing until he gets proof."
"I know."
"The Council wants you. They want to study you or use you or lock you up."
"I know."
"And I can't protect you from them." The admission sounds like it's being torn out of him. "I can't fight the Council. I can't keep you safe from this."
"I'm not asking you to."
"Maybe you should be."
"What does that mean?"
He runs a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding through every line of his body. "It means this bond, us, it's making everything more complicated. I can't think straight when you're in danger. I can't focus on anything except tearing Chase apart for threatening you."
The words hit like a slap and I step back. The bond makes everything complicated. Like he regrets claiming me. Hurt bleeds through before I can hide it and I watch him wince when he feels it.
"I didn't mean it like that," he says quickly. "I don't regret us. I just..."
"How did you mean it?"
"I mean I can feel you now. All the time.
Your fear is my fear. Your pain is my pain.
And when someone threatens you, I want to do things that would get both of us killed.
" He closes his eyes and takes a breath.
"I'm supposed to be logical about this. Supposed to think clearly and find solutions.
But all I can think about is keeping you safe and I don't know how to do that against the Council. "
The anger drains out of me because I feel his terror underneath all of it. He's not angry at me. He's terrified for me and the bond is making it overwhelming.
"I know," I say quietly. "I feel you too. All the time. Your worry keeps me up at night."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." I want to let him hold me until we both stop shaking but we can't. Not here. Not where anyone might see. "We'll figure this out."
"Will we?" The question sounds defeated.
"We have to."
Silence falls between us. The bond settles slightly, no longer crackling with anger but still uncomfortable. Still scared.
"You need to be more careful," he says finally. "Chase is watching you. The Council is building a case. One wrong move and they'll have everything they need."
"I'm trying to be careful."
"Try harder." The words come out sharper than he probably means them to.
"What do you want from me, Julian? To hide in my room until graduation? To pretend I'm not a silver wolf so the Council loses interest?"
"I want you alive." His voice breaks. "That's all I want. You alive and safe and not taken by the Council to be studied like some specimen."
"Then trust that I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" The question hangs between us. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you're one mistake away from disappearing into a Council facility."
The bond snaps tight and painful between us. He feels my hurt at the accusation. I feel his terror driving the words. We stand there staring at each other across his office and the distance feels like miles even though we're only feet apart.
"I need to get to class," I say because staying here is only making this worse.
He nods. "Be careful."
"I always am."
I leave his office and the bond follows me like an anchor dragging behind. His fear and frustration and love all tangled together. He wants to call me back and knows he can't.
This is what the mate bond is. Not just feeling each other's pleasure but feeling each other's terror too. Not just connection but being unable to think clearly because his fear is mine and mine is his and we're both drowning in it.
I walk across campus as the sun sets and feel eyes on me from multiple directions.
Knox is in the shadows near the library. I see him for just a moment before he fades back into darkness but his pale eyes track me as I pass. He doesn't speak, doesn't approach, just watches with that predatory stillness that makes my pulse jump.
Near the fountain, Dominion members are gathered in their usual spot.
Caspian is there. The conversation stops when I walk by.
His Alpha awareness settles over me like weight and I feel the pack claim pulling tight.
I nod at him and keep walking, knowing he's watching me go.
Wondering what I'm hiding. Trying to figure out what changed.
The broken bond with Nico pulls painful when I pass the training hall. I don't look to see if he's there but I feel him anyway. Feel his guilt and confusion bleeding through the contaminated bond between us.
And underneath it all, the mate bond with Julian hums constant and terrified. I feel him even from buildings away. Feel his worry following me like a shadow.
Four males. Four different connections. All pulling at me from different directions.
I make it back to my dorm and Lily is already asleep. I change for bed in the dark and try not to think about everything closing in.
Chase investigating. Council threatening. Caspian suspicious. Knox watching. Nico confused. Julian terrified.
Secrets piling up until I can barely keep track of which lies I've told to whom. A mate bond that could get us both executed. A public claim from Caspian that paints a target on my back. Knox's silent protection that I don't understand. Nico's desperate need for forgiveness that I can't give.
Everything in motion and dangerous, building toward something I can't see yet but can feel coming like a storm on the horizon.
I close my eyes and try to sleep but the bonds won't let me rest. Julian's emotions bleeding into mine. Caspian's watchfulness even from across campus. Knox out there somewhere in the dark. Nico's broken connection aching like a wound that won't heal.
Four males. Four different connections. All pulling at me from different directions while the Council circles closer and my secrets pile higher.
I pull the blanket over my head and wish for morning.