AllFreeNovel
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“First off, there’s one more.”
She blinked. “One more what?”
“Mate, bond, pair. Guy.”
“There’s another? There’s four of them?” Her shock made me feel much better about my own reaction.
“Yeah.” I lifted my hair to show her the mark. “The guys think the five points represent the five of us.”
“Huh.” She stared at my neck before falling back. “I don’t know what to say.”
I crawled on the bed next to her with our feet dangling over the edge, then told her about my dreams. I described the hawk I grew to love and think of as a friend and how he showed up at the school. I skimmed over the details she knew and caught her up on the rest.
Then I dropped the other bomb. “The ceremony is tomorrow.”
Her head snapped toward me, and I nodded. “I wasn’t exactly happy about that at first, but they made me realize that delaying the ceremony doesn’t change the fact that the five of us are bonded. Plus, with what Masie told me, it’s best we don’t put this off.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Then you move into the university dorms?”
“Yeah, Mrs. Hedgings said there is a three-bedroom available. The guys will share, and I’ll get my own room.”
She stared up at the ceiling. “I just got you.”
I wanted to tell her nothing was going to change. She was my best friend no matter what, but I didn’t know that was true. Everything was about to be completely different, and I had no idea how that would affect us.
Would I have time to hang out with her or would the guys want us to be together as a family or bond or group or whatever we were calling ourselves?
No. There had to be a way to balance everyone. Avalon told me the best way to manage a relationship with so many people was to be open and communicate our needs.
Time with Hannah was something I needed.
“I refuse to let this come between us. I’ll make sure they understand that you are still a priority. I can’t be around the four of them every minute of every day without going insane.”
Her phone beeped, and she checked the screen before giggling. “Oh, sweet Theo.”
“What?”
She tilted it into view, and I burst out laughing, “No! No way!”
He sent her a photo of a very fitted wedding dress that was more on the side of lingerie than formal attire.
“How about this one?” She scrolled and showed me a sleeveless dress with an open back angled down to a row of buttons. The bodice was fitted, and the skirt skimmed over the model’s hips and down her legs. It was simple, beautiful, and nothing overly sexy.
“I like that one, but how would we get it in a day?” Overnight deliveries to our middle of nowhere school didn’t exist.
“Let them worry about that.” She winked, then dropped the phone. “Are we doing a bachelorette party tonight?”
A laugh escaped before I could stop it. “No, that’s not what this ceremony is about.”
“You’re committing to the four of them,” she protested.
I twisted to lean up on one elbow. “Does that include relationships? Like romantically?”
“Yeah.” Her voice sounded confident, but she pursed her lips and flopped back. “I mean, I think so. I’ve never known any bonds who date outside of their group.”
