Chapter 20 I quickly close my eyes again and try to keep my breathing even, feigning sleep. I don't want to face Mr Collins right now. I'm still hurt and I'm too embarrassed at my reaction to his stunt. He won that round and broke me. I won't let him see me weak again but need time to compose myself. “The seer will arrive after breakfast tomorrow, you two can't be anywhere near her when the reading is done. If you have a bond we don't want it overshadowing any other bonds. I'm going to have the seer collect her from her room. Keep Marcus, Cole and Damien here with her and you two attend your morning classes as normal,” Mr Collins tells the guys. “Fine,” Theo agrees, his tone unfriendly. “Is there anything else? If not, I think you should leave before she wakes up,” Luke says and I can feel the unwelcoming vibes from here. My guys are still pissed at our dear headmaster. Good. “You might not agree with what I did today but I won't have you disrespecting me. I'm your headmast
Chapter 21We sit at Dot’s table for dinner. Damien joins Sunny and another group at the next table. Sunny gives me a small wave, which I return. I choose a carbonara-type dish with garlic bread and chocolate cake for dessert. Dot is unusually quiet, she avoids eye contact with me and I start to feel worried. Had I made that much of a fool of myself in the assembly that she doesn't want to be seen with me anymore? “Dot, is everything okay?” I ask nervously. “Yes,” she answers a little too quickly. “I'm sorry if I…” I begin but she holds up her hand, stopping me. Then she taps her ear and glances around the room. I frown at her and she repeats the motion. “It's fine Josie, if anyone deserves the last piece of chocolate cake today, it's you. You are forgiven,” she says cheerfully. Huh? I look at my cake in confusion and then back to her. She rolls her eyes in exasperation and pulls out her phone. Seconds later my phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out to read the notification.
Chapter 22I wake in the morning, 5 minutes before my alarm is due to go off. Nerves flutter in my abdomen at the thought of what today will bring. I practice some of the breathing techniques that June taught me before a panic attack can fully take me in its grip. “I've got this. Everything is going to get easier after today,” I tell myself out loud. I spend longer than usual in the shower, enjoying the solitude and imagining what my life will look like after today. I wonder if Luke will join me for morning showers and if Theo will hold me every night whilst I sleep. Maybe Deacon will… Nope! I shut that train of thought down immediately. I put a little more effort into my appearance than I did yesterday. If I am going to be forced into finding out who my soulmates are today, then I least want to look good doing it. A knock at my door comes too quickly. I'm not ready.“Girl, open up, it's me,” Dot’s voice calls through the door. Good. I open the door and she enters my room like a whir
Chapter 23The men move silently. A group of about 12 standing side by side. My heart beats wildly in my chest. Here we go. I spot Theo in the line of men, he gives me a reassuring smile and motions for me to breathe. The seer walks down the line of men, she stops in front of Theo and places a hand on his shoulder with a nod, then she continues down the line. Theo has the biggest grin and I know he's dying to run over to me. The seer stops again and we both look to see who else she has selected. It's the copper-haired man with the shy smile. Axel, I think his name was. He stares at me a little wide-eyed and his cheeks flush red. I think he may be in shock. The seer walks away without a word and I follow, Theo and Axel fall into step behind me as we silently go to collect the rest of my bonds. This is so weird. Sage leads us into the main study building, we pass door after door and then suddenly she stops and turns to face one of the doors. Damien steps forward and knocks on the door
Chapter 24I slam the door to my room and fling myself onto the bed, burying my face into my pillow and screaming all my frustration into it. Why would I get Mason as a bond? He hates me almost as much as I hate him. I can't believe I almost felt sorry for him! I thought maybe I'd misunderstood him, that behind the tough exterior was a scared and damaged man. “Fuck you, Mason!” I scream into the pillow. Letting all my rage flow out in my words. I'm so done with all of this. I want to go home. “Josie stop!” I hear as hands pull at me, lifting me from the bed. I struggle against the hold on me.“Get off of me! I just want to go home!” I shout, and then I'm overcome with the urge to vomit. I stumble out of the arms that were holding me and double over, clutching my stomach as I wretch.“Shh, it's okay, it will pass,” Luke’s voice soothes rubbing slow circles on my back. “What's happening?” I ask, my vision blurry and my ears ringing. “Well I'm no expert but I'm guessing you just disc
Chapter 25I sway my hips to the music as I slowly begin to undress. Luke’s eyes flash with a blue glow as he watches me, enraptured. “You seem to be wearing far too many clothes, Mr Weston,” I say when I get down to nothing but my plain black underwear. Luke moves quickly. Getting to his feet and kicking off his shoes to allow his pants and boxers to fall away. He pulls off his socks before getting to work on the buttons of his shirt, revealing a toned chest and tight abdomen. He's perfect. Once he's naked he watches me expectedly. I reach around and unhook my bra, throwing it across the room. Then I push down my panties, shimmying out of them and letting them fall to the floor as I step towards him. His hands land on my hips and he looks down at me.“You are so beautiful,” he whispers before branding his lips to mine. We move towards the bed, our lips never parting as I push him down and climb on top of him. I sit atop him and take a moment to look down and appreciate him. How did
Chapter 26Mr Collins stands motionless at the end of the bed, his jaw is tense and his fists clenched. “Deacon?” I ask, still a little dazed and unsure if this is a dream or reality. I lift my head and look down at the bare chest I'd been using as a pillow. Luke breathes steadily, still sleeping peacefully. Then a horrifying thought occurs to me. I'm naked. “Shit,” I curse. Trying to wrench the covers from under Luke and waking him in the process.“What’s wrong?” he asks, suddenly alert. Then he relaxes when he notices Mr Collins. “I see the search party found us,” he grumbles. My hand lands on a shirt and I quickly put it on. By the size, it must be Luke’s which is fine because it covers a little more than mine would.“Haven't you heard of knocking?” I ask, my voice laced with acid. Mr Collins remains frozen and it's starting to freak me out. “That is not how a headteacher should be staring at his student, Sir,” Luke mocks, clearly still as bitter as me about his words in assembly
Chapter 27I follow Luke into the first room and my jaw drops. It’s huge! And that bed is almost the size of my entire room at home. It must have bedding specially made for it because that’s no standard size. “Well this one is obviously yours,” Luke laughs at my expression.“What? I can't sleep in that, I'll get lost,” “Then it's lucky you have plenty of men close by to come find you,” he hums leaning down to kiss me. I indulge him for a moment before, breaking away to explore further. Luke follows as I check out the next room, it's nice. It's much more modest with a king-size bed.“I'll take this one, you can have the other,” I tell him.“Not sure that's going to work,” he laughs.“Why not?” “Because, my little goddess,” he pauses to grip my hips from behind and kiss my shoulder, “I don't think we would all fit in this bed,” he chuckles.“Excuse me? I will not be having everyone in my bed, at the same time,” I exclaim, feeling quite offended at his suggestion. “My bet is we will