65. Tate
Tate
My wolf howled mournfully, devastated that we couldn’t stay with Mae, but until I made an official announcement that she was my soul-bonded mate, I couldn’t remain on campus with her. Or bring her to Moonfall Academy to hang out.
The rules stated soul-bonded mates could be together on their respective campuses, but only if both parties filled out forms with the principals of both academies.
I’d also have to inform my father, which I wasn’t looking forward to.
But that was tomorrow’s problem. Right now, I needed to know my mate was safe.
So instead of leaving for Moonfall Academy, I stuck around, watching as she trotted back to the dorms, still in wolf form, presumably to avoid talking to me.
She really was a stubborn little wolf. I half smiled as I pondered all the fun things I could do to bring my mate to heel. Spanking her ass scored highly, as did not allowing her to come until she submitted.
When she reached the nearest dorm building, she ducked out of sight, but to my surprise, I could still sense her. Why hadn’t she gone back to her room?
I waited for her to go inside the building, but she didn’t move. The longer I waited, the more confused I became.
Everything about the little female was confusing. From her unwillingness to tell me her name to the rune-marked pendant she wore. Was she a spy working for one of my father’s enemies, someone sent to extract secrets?
It was a possibility, although the soul-bond between us made that theory unlikely. As far as I knew, a soul-bond was impossible to fake. I’d felt it when the bond snapped into place.
The damned thing ached and throbbed, doing its best to push me back toward my mate.
There was a reason newly bonded mates disappeared for a week or more. Mate bonds increased the desire to fuck one’s mate’s brains out, and that primal desire to rut with a mate often led to a pregnancy.
An image of me holding a baby son or daughter in my arms flickered into my mind, but I quickly vanquished it. Such a future wasn’t a possibility. Not with my father still alive.
If I fathered a child, he’d use that weakness to coerce me into doing what he wanted.
Just as I was about to give up and leave, the little wolf appeared from the shadows. She walked back toward the gate in her wolf form, head hung low. Not wanting her to see or scent me, I quickly shifted and ran off into the forest.
The bond tether made it easy to track her through the trees. I followed at a safe distance as she trotted along, staring straight ahead, oblivious to her surroundings.
Her lack of care made me angry. How could she be so stupid?
The forest was safer now that dawn was almost here, but it was possible other feral shifters had found their way here.
I would be having strong words with my mate once I figured out what the fuck she was doing wandering through the forest when she ought to be tucked up in bed!
It didn’t click immediately, but after a while I realized Mae’s wolf was making her way back to Moonfall Academy.
A few minutes later, she reached a small clearing that stunk of bear.
I watched as she shifted back and then pulled on some clothes from a bag she’d found. Why was she wearing male clothes?
I frowned, unable to make sense of what I was seeing, but just as I was about to reveal myself and ask her to explain what the fuck she was doing, she took off the silver pendant.
My lungs stopped functioning as Mae, my female mate, shimmered under a magical glamour and became Riley fucking Scott, the hybrid shifter.
No wonder Mae’s hair was the same color as Riley’s. They were the same person!
Why the fuck was Mae pretending to be a male student? And was her name really Mae?
I stood glued to the spot as my fated mate jogged away while I was left struggling to process what I was seeing.
How the hell was I going to fix this mess? I didn’t know, but one thing was certain: I needed to sever the mate bond with Riley fucking Scott before it destroyed both of us.
To be continued…