Page 12 of Blood Oath
My pretty little enigma.
For two weeks, I’ve been tortured with need, knowing my mate was nearby. I’d happened across a dead vampire in a hallway and planned on walking right past to report the body, but that’s when I’d scented it.
Her fragrance. Subtle and cold, like a sweet midnight.
Of course, it had been mixed with the scent of blood. Probably the vampire’s blood, but even just the idea of our mate bleeding had set my asshole inner dragon off something fierce.
I’ve been jacking off to just the memory of her scent for days, but no matter where I went or how much I changed up my schedule, hoping to track her down or run into her by chance, it never happened. She was always frustratingly just out of reach, almost like she knew precisely where not to be when I needed her.
But that all changes now.
My heart is pounding as I glance down at her again. I've never seen her around Everbound—never even heard of her—and now she's about to be the center of my world.
Maven.
My inner dragon growls possessively, and I smile in agreement. We won't be officially bound together until graduation, but that just gives me an entire semester to learn everything there is to know about my mysterious mate. She's hiding it well, but I'm sure she's psyched to have a rare dragon shifter all to herself.
I'm going to covet the fuck out of my mate. Keep her safe and very sated.
We'll be perfect together, even if the rest of our quintet is a clusterfuck. Which god thought it was a good idea to group me with Everett Frost and Crypt fucking DeLune? Silas is a force to be reckoned with and an asshole, but he's less of an asshole than the other two. Our families have run in the same elite circles since we were all little, so unfortunately, I’ve known all of them since we were practically in diapers.
Of the four of us, I'm bound to be Maven's favorite. They’ll all be jealous motherfuckers.
I can't wait.
"And so this Seeking comes to a close," Professor Gibbons finally says. "As you all know, new quintets have time to move into matched student housing together if they so choose. Courses will resume tomorrow. To everyone who was not matched this year, may the gods grant you better luck next time.”
Despite the many matches this year, there are still a lot of disappointed legacies as the audience disperses every which way.
Professor Gibbons motions for us to get off the makeshift stage, and instinctively, I take Maven's hand before any of the others can. Her hand is so tiny and cute compared to mine. I wonder why she's wearing leather gloves. Is she cold? She feels cold—but then everyone does since dragon shifters typically run at a toasty hundred and five degrees Fahrenheit.
I’m more than happy to warm Maven right the fuck up if she wants.
But immediately, she pulls her hand away, not meeting my curious look as she leaves the stage.
She must be nervous. I guess that's not surprising—I’d be overwhelmed if I were a sweet, quiet little wallflower being matched to such well-known legacies like us, too. Plus, I know I’m a big, scary motherfucker at first glance. Maybe she’s intimidated by our size difference, but I’ll show her just how gentle I can be as soon as we find somewhere private to get cozy.
Unless she likes it rough. Or kinky. Gods, I need to know if she has any kinks.
We all follow our new keeper off the stage as she makes a beeline through the crowd of disgruntled and curious stares. Once inside the castle, Maven veers toward the university's massive library. I stick close to her side, amused that she’s pointedly avoided looking at any of us since leaving the Seeking. I try leaning down to capture her attention, but she keeps her eyes forward.
Awe. Who knew my mate would be so shy?
“The library is too public for formal introductions,” Silas says on Maven’s other side.
“By formal introductions, he means he wants to bone you,” I stage-whisper.
Silas shoots me a dry look. “Unlike you, Decimus, I'm capable of thinking outside of my cock. We should find a private space because there are too many eyes and ears all over Everbound. Quintet rankings won’t officially begin until next semester when the no-kill ban lifts, but even over the next two weeks, the competition will grow fierce, and they’ll be looking for weaknesses in every quintet. Especially ours. I won’t have others eavesdropping on us just because you love drawing attention.”
“You have always been way too fucking paranoid,” I helpfully inform him. "And I'm not some attention whore. People happen to like me, unlike you pricks."
"As mature as ever, I see," Everett drawls sarcastically from behind me.
I'm about to fire off a retort, but instead of stepping into the library, Maven suddenly turns into an extended nook that I didn’t even know existed. Has this always been here? I can tell it’s completely private when Silas immediately looks relieved.
Maven finally turns to face all of us. There’s not an ounce of nervousness in her expression—in fact, she still has the perfect poker face. It’s hard to tell much about her body under all the baggy shit she’s wearing, but her features are pretty in an understated way. There's something hauntingly striking about her eyes, most of all.
I’m like a fucking crack addict, already sniffing the air to try to get another hit of her delicious scent now that we’re not surrounded by people. But I wrinkle my nose at the overwhelming smell of aromatic plants. She’s definitely been casting today, and so has Silas because they both smell strongly like burnt plants. It doesn’t help that Everett’s and Crypt’s scents are also perfuming this alcove. Hers is impossible to pick out, which makes my dragon petulant.
