Page 55 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

I wanted him closer. I wanted him to touch me. It was crazy, there was no reason why I should feel like this. But the feeling of his warm skin beneath my hands felt … it felt so good.

Seb stared down at me, his eyes searching my face. There was a hunger in them, something that terrified me as much as it thrilled me. His hands came to land on my hips. My heart started beating faster.

“Do you even realize what is happening here?” he asked me, voice low and growling.

“At the Academy? Sure. I’ve figured it out. I bet I’m not the only half-fae here, either.”

His leg hooked around mine, knocking me off balance. I let out an undignified squeal as I fell. As I hit the floor, I cursed myself again. Why did I let him catch me off balance like that?

I started to push myself up and Seb pushed me back down. I punched him in the knee, making it buckle, and he dropped over me. He straddled me and grabbed my wrists, pinning me in position. The weight of him bore down on me and the look in his eyes intensified. My breath caught in my throat as my body responded, lifting toward him. I struggled out of pride more than anything else.

Seb adjusted himself, sliding his knee between my legs. It was so obvious what he intended. I needed to stop him. But I didn’t want to.

“I would expect that you’d be more interested in a high born fae than some weakling like me,” I said, my voice coming out breathless. Not my best moment. “Not to mention Flora is so much prettier than I am.”

“Flora has … expectations,” Seb answered with a shrug.

And I didn’t. He nudged my legs apart further, his jaw tightening. Freta told me to do whatever I had to do to survive. Could I use this? He obviously felt something, even if it was just wanting to bed a warm body for stress relief. Could I offer myself up in exchange for his protection?

The orphanage matron always said I’d end up prostituting myself—

Despite the heat coursing through me, a sick feeling filled my stomach. “Get off me.”

Seb’s eyes widened slightly.

“Get off,” I repeated.

He released my wrists and backed away. I scrambled to my feet and rushed for the door. My body still felt like it was on fire. But it was just physical. The stress of being here. That’s all it was.

It was nothing. Nothing.

Chapter 25 - Azriel

The next few days, I kept my head down. I was given multiple detentions for skipping my classes, which I took without complaint. In my free time, I worked with Silas, Penry, and Freta on preparing for the next trials. They were drawing closer, and we all felt the tension. We kept stealing potions, but Freta and I did our best to make them, too.

I was starting to access my magic better. I didn’t dare try to take on Seb’s wolf form in front of the others, afraid they’d see it was wrong. Using magic was getting easier, though, and I was even able to do some simple spells and potions.

All the same, I needed to get smoother about taking on that wolf form. I’d been observing the other students when they shifted from one form to the other, and I thought I knew how to maintain the illusion that my beast-form was a wolf.

The next trials were called the Assay and were meant to test the strength of the students. It was said to be even more intense than the Surfacing. Older students were openly taking bets on which of the first-years would be dead by the end of it.

“Are you going to see Seb?” Freta asked me one night after I’d finished my homework, when I was getting ready to go out again.

I winced. Seb had been avoiding me as much as I’d been avoiding him. I hadn’t told Freta what happened, worried about her reaction. Honestly, I was just as scared that she’d encourage me to let him bed me as I was that she’d be judgy about it.

“Yes,” I lied. I needed time to myself.

Freta nodded, smiling at me. “That’s great. Good luck?”

“Thanks,” I answered, smiling back.

Seb wasn’t the only one that broke curfew for late practice. Most of the other students did it. So finding a place that was nice and private to practice my skimming and shifting was difficult to do. The pavilions were always occupied, the Alegro room wasn’t big enough to hold the wolf, and most of the other places were too open to risk.

I took one of the secret passages down to the ground level of the Academy. There, I took a moment to tap into my invisibility. I wasn’t sure if that was another form of shape-thief magic, since I hadn’t heard anything about invisibility anywhere else. It wouldn’t be useful in the trials, not when they were viewed by both the students and plenty of high fae.

A scowl crossed my face as I headed outside, moving swiftly. Apparently, starting in the second year, the high fae started to pick unclaimed students to join their courts. If someone ended up strong enough, impressive enough, they could be brought into the court. What position they’d end up in there depended on the court and the student. Lots of times, low-born fae with impressive skills became bodyguards. They might also become spouses to low-ranked, but still high-born, fae. The pretty ones, male and female, also had the illustrious career path of concubine.

Those thoughts weighed heavy on me. If I did prove myself strong enough, would Seb offer me a place as his concubine? The image of me lounging in silk sheets, waiting for him to visit me, gave me the same conflicted feelings as I’d had that night.