VIVIAN'S POV "Mate," fell from Caleb's lips in a hushed whisper. I rushed over and shoved a hand over his mouth, glancing toward Chris's cell, begging the Moon Goddess that he didn't just hear Caleb. No movement, nothing. Good. I looked back at Caleb. Had he always been so handsome? Not the time. I could feel him grinning beneath my hand. I whispered, "I'm going to uncover your mouth, but you need to be really quiet. Got it?" He nodded. I slowly removed my hand. "We're mates. We're actually mates. Can you believe it?" I stared at him, shocked at how excited he was. Did he not realize how shitty this timing was? "Caleb, something isn't right. I'm a rogue. I shouldn't be able to mate with you." He paused. "The Moon Goddess blessed you with a second-chance mate, and she just chose to overlook that you're a rogue. That's all. Stranger things have happened." I shook my head. "No, Caleb. Something isn't righ
CHRIS'S POV Mate. Vivian and Caleb were mates. I'm not sure why she thought I couldn't hear them. Come on. I'm a shifter, and I'm not deaf. I'd had plenty of time to think this over now, and I wasn't sure what to do with the information, but the more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got about it. Caleb wasn't right for her. He was annoying, for one. He kept trying to talk to me about dumb shit. I guess he was bored, so I think I'd give him that one. But be bored by yourself. Also, did she not remember him in school? Caleb was a loser. He was always going off doing...Actually, I don't remember him from school. But I'm sure he was a loser. I didn't remember him, and that was enough. Or maybe I was just jealous. I needed to tell someone something to get the two away from each other. I didn't want him to claim her. If he claimed her, then it was all over. All over for who? Me? We had only fake dated. But I'd always had feelings for her. She had
KILLIAN'S POV "I'll kill him." Marcus grabbed my arm. "She'll kill you in turn." I glared at him. "You think I'm going to let him touch her and do nothing? Why would you let those two be alone in the first place?" Marcus dropped his arms to his side. "There's more. Chris had information that I also came to tell you. You won't like this, and I think it best if you sit down." I cocked my head. "Spit it out." "Killian, I'm serious. I think it's best if you sit." "Marcus. Just say it." "Vivian has mate bonded with Caleb." I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. "What are you talking about? That's impossible. She's a rogue. She can't." "It's happened. I brought her here. She's waiting outside. I think she knows more than she's letting on." I stumbled backward. My wolf knew she was meant to be mine, but somehow, the Moon Goddess had cursed me and bonde
VIVIAN'S POV "Again." I glared at Clarence from the ground. "When am I going to be on the offensive side?" "When you learn to not fall on your ass." I stood, dusting myself off. "Fine. Hit me again." Clarence had been suspiciously friendly today but firm in his training. Insistent that we needed to train harder and get me ready to map out my destiny, whatever that meant. I stared across at him, noting the determined look on his face. Maybe he was starting to really care about me. I braced myself for his next attack. As he threw the next wave of energy, I felt the force hit my body, pushing me down to the ground, but I pushed back, forcing my wave of energy back. I felt a burst of pure rage building up, and then I was sending waves of energy out, and the force pushing me down was gone. Instead, I watched Clarence's eyes widen, and he was thrown to the ground. Did I just do that? I ran over to him. "Clar
VIVIAN'S POV Fire. There was fire. I could smell it. I jumped out of bed, rushing to my door and swinging it open. People were running in the halls, heading outside. There was panic everywhere. I took off in the direction everyone ran, knowing I needed to see what was happening. Once I reached outside, I saw it. A blazing inferno at the gates. Buckets of water were being thrown; hoses were spraying at the water. I saw a line of what I presumed were the witches lining up, holding hands. Were they strong enough? Could they beat this? I watched in awe as they began chanting, and the blaze started to die down slowly. It was very slow. The buckets of water continued to be thrown. I just stood there in shock. I watched as the fire continued to lessen, the witches continued to battle, and the water brigade continued their fight. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm, and I was jerked back. "What are you doing out here?" It was Marcus. "I..
CHRIS'S POV "What do you think is going on out there?" Caleb asked. I rolled my eyes and didn't answer. Ever since my memories started to cme back, the more and more I wanted to put my fist through his face. Especially knowing he was mated to my Vivid. Vivid, who I hadn't seen since we kissed. "Chris, man. Can you hear me?" "You're not used to being ignored, are you?" "Come on, dude. I didn't do anything to you." "Didn't you, though?" I heard him sitting up in his bed. "What have I done?" "Other trying to get between me and Vivian when we were together; now you're mated to her?" "Oh. You know? Did she tell you?" "I'm not deaf, you buffoon." He was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, man. I know it's not how you wanted things to go down, but she's my mate. We're meant to be together. And once she accepts that, we'll make a great couple." I made a
KILLIAN'S POV "You're not letting some witch probe in my head, Vivian!" Caleb yelled. It took everything in me not to storm into his cell and rip his head off, but I knew Vivian wouldn't like that based on the desperate look she shot my way. "She's not probing around in your head, Caleb. She needs to hold your hand and mine, do some light searching and figure out if our mate bond is the real thing. Aren't you curious?" Caleb glared. "It is the real thing. I feel it. You feel it. You're just trying to make yourself feel better about rejecting me by coming up with some crazy conspiracy theory that it's not." "Caleb, please. What can I do to make you feel better about this?" Vivian pleaded. Caleb looked at her and then at me. "I'll make you a deal." "Anything." "If our mate bond is real, I want you to agree that you'll be my mate. You'll stop this talk of rejection. You'll agree to let me claim you."
VIVIAN'S POV "I'm so glad you're here with me." Caleb was practically skipping, making me sick to my stomach. I forced a smile. "I'm glad to be here." He stopped walking and looked at me seriously. "Do you mean that?" "Of course I do. I told you before. I was playing the part back there. We're mates, Caleb. I'd always choose you over them." He grinned at me. "I knew it." He fist pumped the air. I caught myself almost physically cringing. Had he always been this obnoxious? Knowing what I knew now had all but withered the mate bond, I learned to be a hoax. I felt nothing. “So, tell me more about what you and Sarah talked about." Caleb narrowed his eyes. "Her name is Sam now. She said Sarah is what she used to go by." "Sam. I'm sorry. What did you and Sam talk about?" He grabbed a stick and started flicking it around in the air. "She told me that if I brought your parents to you, y