Page 100 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

“This is all very sudden,” Flora said, once more subdued. “I’ll stand with you and refuse to be moved in together. I just … please, consider what this means. Are you going to stand at the altar and refuse to marry me? Don’t answer now. Think about it.”

She spun on her heel and walked away. I stepped after her, lifting my hand toward her, but stopped myself. I had nothing more to say. First I learned that my mate was a shape-thief, witnessed another unbinding, had to fight one of my closest friends (who wanted to kill my mate), and then learned I was to marry Flora.

My mind was a mess. I couldn’t deal with this right now.

***

The next few days passed in a whirlwind. Gareth didn’t reveal Azriel’s secret, but I suspected that was because he was still waiting for the opportunity to kill Azriel himself. Jasper and I refused to leave him alone, but Flora also refused to leave me alone. None of us had the chance to speak. Azriel hid out, not attending classes for a few days, then appeared with her friends once more.

One morning on the way to breakfast, Flora took my hand in hers. I tried to pull away, but she tightened her grip and gave me a pleading look. I relented. Maybe I should just accept it. Our families wouldn’t stop pushing, and if I wanted to work with Gareth to help Jasper escape his fate, I needed leverage. Maybe I could use this marriage to try to help him.

My thoughts were in a snarl when I bumped into someone. My head jerked up and I found myself staring into warm brown eyes.

Azriel gave me a startled look. “Oh! I’m sorry.”

Flora reached across me and shoved her. “Get out of our way, you little vermin!”

Anger flooded through me and I yanked my hand away from her. “That’s enough.”

“Seb—” Flora gasped.

“That is enough. Azriel Jones is under my protection.” I glared past her to Red and Savannah, then swept my gaze over all the students that had stopped to watch. Jasper’s jaw clenched and Gareth narrowed his eyes, but I ignored them. I needed a reason for doing this. I’d blurted it out without thinking, but I wasn’t ready for anyone to know she was my mate. “I was assigned to be her mentor, and she has a wolf, and so belongs to Court Laurel. Anyone who messes with her will deal with me.”

Everyone looked on in shock. Our audience murmured to each other. Azriel half turned from me, while Silas and Freta kept looking from her to me. The only person who didn’t look surprised in some way was Flora. She glared at Azriel openly, then leaned closer to me.

“We could have had an arrangement. But now you’ve just made it far worse for your little mate,” she hissed, so quiet only I could hear. And with that, she stepped back to Red and Savannah, her arms folded across her chest.

Chapter 44 - Azriel

Seb’s dark eyes met mine, and the look in them took my breath away. He was really extending his protection to me, even after he found out the truth? After the last few days, I had cautiously begun to hope the golden boys hadn’t told anyone. I had thought, at best, they would confront me again. I had even tried to figure out how to run away from the Academy entirely, but that proved fruitless.

“You can’t be serious!” Red blurted out. “Lotmas assigned you as her peer-mentor as a joke. You can’t really think she’s worth protecting?”

I glanced at him, only to wince when I saw the death daggers Flora glared at me. I quickly looked away again, unwilling to challenge her. My gaze landed on Jasper, who turned toward Red with his usual aloof, icy air.

“Are you questioning Lord Sebastienne of Court Laurel?” he asked.

Normally, Seb’s full name would draw a scowl, but the way Jasper said it lent more power to his presence. With a small sigh, Seb turned to Flora. She glared up at him and he only stared back, like the two of them were having a silent conversation.

“Let me make it clear,” Jasper continued, still sounding as though he was commanding an army, “Azriel Jones is also under my protection. I stand with Lord Seb.”

I swallowed hard as Gareth’s green eyes sent me a piercing look. “As do I. No harm will come to her while I am here. If anyone does hurt her”—he smiled as he sent first Red, then the other students a lazy glance—“I’ll hurt them.”

My heart pounded wildly, even though they’d just given me protection. Did this mean they accepted me as a shape-thief? Was it real? If it was, then it had to be because of the mate-bond. Even Gareth, who had held a knife to my throat the last time I’d seen him.

Freta’s fingers dug into my arm. “Azriel, what happened?” she whispered. “How…?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered back.

Seb jerked his head. “Azriel. Come join us.”

Silas put his hand on my lower back and pushed me toward the golden boys. I twisted sharply toward him. His expression was blank, though worry shone in his eyes. He forced a smile and nodded at me, as though encouraging me to go ahead.

I tried to keep my own expression neutral as I joined the three high fae. Flora, Red and Savannah all put distance between us, rejecting my presence without words. I didn’t really care, still too surprised to think through the potential implications of what that meant. Seb and Jasper closed in on either side of me, neither touching. It felt half like a cage.

“Aren’t you two coming?” Gareth asked.

He gestured impatiently for Silas and Freta, who hurried to join us, though their expressions said that they weren’t so certain about this turn of events. Freta gave me another questioning look, but I only shook my head. Even if I could explain, I couldn’t—that was, if I revealed the mate-bond I shared with these three, she’d know I was a shape-thief.