Chapter 78

Valentin

Immediately, Valentin dropped Bella. Her heeled feet clattered to the floor so he knew she was okay without looking at her. His eyes were still locking on Zora’s.

He watched a million different emotions wash through her. Rage. Jealousy. Hurt. His chest ached as he watched her shake her head. She turned and ran out of the locker room and Valentin couldn’t help but hang his head.

“What a little creep,” Bella sneered. Valentin raised his gaze to glare at her.

“Get out,” he said, low and dangerous.

“What?” Bella said sharply. She leaned into him, her hand hitting his lower stomach and dipping lower. “But we haven’t finished.”

Valentin caught her wrist before her hand could wrap around his cock. He narrowed his eyes at her. Clearly, she didn’t realize he wasn’t in the mood.

“Get. Out.”

Bella yanked her wrist out of his grasp. She turned clopped out of the shower, heels clicking on the tile. Once she was out, she ran a hand over her body, using magiks to dry her soaking wet clothing. She turned back to look at Valentin as her long black hair was curling at the ends.

“This obsession you have with her,” Bella snapped. “It ends. I will not be embarrassed by a weak, whore of an Alpha.”

Valentin clenched his jaw. He jammed his teeth into his tongue to keep himself from spilling Zora’s secret. That she wasn’t weak nor was she a whore. She was the Highest Alpha to exist at this school. Bella was nothing in the comparison to her.

“Noted,” he gritted out from between his teeth. “Now get out before someone else sees you.”

Bella huffed before turning and leaving the bathroom. Her black hair swished behind her. The door to the locker room slammed shut behind her. Immediately, Valentin sailed his fist into the tile of the shower.

The tile splintered and shatter, some of it falling to the floor at his feet. The spray was still hitting his back. He turned the heat up and let the water burn his skin as he pressed his head into the wall where he hadn’t broken the tile.

He hadn’t meant to jump Bella like that. He’d sworn off doing anything with her until they were married. The problem was, his hand was already fisting his cock when Bella had made her appearance known.

His training session with Zora had left him feeling all hot and bothered. He’d bottled it up and stifled it down to avoid doing something nefarious in front of Blythwitch. But as soon as Zora left, he felt the stiffening in his pants as he remembered the way her hands felt and how she smelt and the way that every time her braid whipped around, the scent hit him in the face and had him twitching in his pants.

Naturally, it was enough to drive him mad. So much so that he couldn’t walk across campus to his house. He had to sit in the locker room like some vile teenage and pump himself to the memories of his late mate’s niece.

Thus, when Bella entered, he was already on edge, teetering on the fine line of control. When she’d stepped behind him and covered his hand with her own, he couldn’t control himself. He’d picked her up and ground her into the wall like the mad-man he was. He was about two second away from ripping her panties to the side and plowing into her when Zora showed up.

The memory of the look of disappointment on her face made him slam his fist into the wall again. More tile shattered against the ground with the water from the shower.

How could he have been so stupid?

Zora’s look of disappointment was the same one that he’d seen on Zahara’s face. He’d told her he was going into battle and she’d begged him not to go. That was the last time he saw his fated mate.

Now, he was gifted a second fated mate and he was ignoring her. For what? His own pride?

Her safety, he told himself. I can’t hurt her if I’m not with her.

But then, her face worked it’s way back into his mind. How disgusted she’d been with him after realizing it was him ravaging Bella in the locker room after hours.

He sighed again deeply before turning the water off. He pressed his hand to the place where he’d shattered the tiles. One by one, they lifted from the floor and worked their way back into place. Valentin felt the magiks coursing through him as they lifted. When he removed his hand from the wall, it was like he hadn’t even been there.

He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and walked over to sit on the bench in the dark. He fished through his trousers and found his phone. The background was a picture of him and Victoria from the days immediately following the end of the enslavement. Both had bright, smiling faces. Behind Valentin’s eyes, however, he could see his own pain.

He flicked the phone open scrolled through his contacts before finding Victoria’s number. She picked up after the first ring.

“What’s wong?” she said.

“Nothing,” Valentin sighed. “Just checking in for updates.”

“Oh,” Victoria said in a way that reminded him so much of Zora. “No, there’s nothing.”

“Okay,” Valentin carded a hand through his wet hair. “Amara arrived last week.”

“Right,” Victoria sounded exhausted. “How was the training with her and Zora?”

“Volatile,” Valentin said, immediately. “There seems to be some resentment there. Zora shifted and nearly ripped Amara’s throat out.”

Victoria hummed. “So, she is shifting?”

“You’re not concerned she almost killed the Princess in front of the Blythwitch boy?”

“It’s mildly problematic,” Victoria mused. “But he’s been around Amara enough to know her words get her into precarious situations. I don’t think he’d be shocked to see anyone trying to make her pay for them.”

Valentin hummed. “We used the Hanswolf method today. She got to five in a minute.”

“Good, good,” Victoria said. She sounded distracted.

“Something wrong?” Valentin asked. He cursed himself for how uninterested he sounded.

“No, no,” she replied. “Just thinking about the task force and their lack of updates. Do you think we’re looking in the wrong place?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Valentin said plainly. “We’ve scoured the wolf territories. The human ones seem like the likely next place.”

Victoria hummed in agreement. “Speaking of mates, how is wedding planning going?”

Valentin couldn’t help the grimace that fell on his face. He sighed deeply before answering.

“Fine,”

Victoria laughed. “Fine? You’re supposed to be planning one of the biggest days in your life in it’s just fine?”

“It’s more of a pain if we’re being honest.”

Victoria was silent for a beat. She let out a resounding sigh before speaking again, dropping her voice low.

“Why are you doing this, Valentin?” she asked. “You know there’s another option.”

“It’s not the safe one,” he retorted. “For her, at least.”

“But it’s the one that would make you happy, make her happy.”

Valentin paused. He knew Victoria was talking about the idea of him mating with Zora instead of Bella. His mind was screaming at him to agree with her. To call off the nonsense with Bella and just finally give into the fated mate bond. But his heart knew that he couldn’t take anymore hurt.

If he lost Zora, he’d lose himself.

“I chose my path,” he stated. “Plus, she’s been spending an awful lot of time with the Wolfham heir. I have a feeling he may be the one the prophecy speaks of.”

“And you’ve not thought to bring this to me, earlier?” Victoria snapped. He could hear the sound of her raised eyebrow in her tone.

“I was still uncertain,” he countered. “Still am.”

“Keep me updated,” Victoria said, softer than previously. “I have to go. Call me if you hear anything before I do.”

“Will do,” Valentin combed through his hair a second time before going to move the phone away.

“And Valentin?”

He blinked and brought it back to his ear.

“You can talk to, you know,”

He licked the front of his teeth. “I know.”

“She was my sister too,”

“I know,”

Victoria sighed in frustration. “Right. Of course.”

“Goodbye, Tori. I’ll tell you if I hear anything,”

He pulled his phone from his ear and hung up on the Queen of Wolves. As soon as the line went dead, he threw his head in his hands and tried to not regret every decision he’d made.