Chapter 10: Did You See Them? - Riven's POV

Watching Callista walking away with her sister should have bothered me. Instead, I couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face as I made my way through the crowded hallway toward English, right behind her. Students parted for me, their whispers filling my ears as I passed.

“Did you see that?”

“I can’t believe he just claimed Callista in front of everyone.”

“Is he her arranged mate? You know we don’t take dating seriously until later…”

Sure, dating happened. Kisses too. But serious relationships among teenagers were frowned upon because that could all change at eighteen. The person you were dating could be your fated mate, but they also might not be.

Our situation, of course, was different. I knew what she was and didn’t care what they thought. I’d let them talk and rumors could spread. By the end of the day, every pack within a hundred miles would know that Callista Monroe was mine.

Marcus Stonecrest’s furious expression flashed through my mind. My wolf growled in satisfaction at the thought of punching him in the face. From what I had heard, he had had his eye on her for months, waiting for his chance to make a move in hopes they would be paired by fate at eighteen. Alphas like him saw her seer ability and her father’s position as nothing more than a stepping stone, especially if they weren’t the heir to their pack.

Marcus wasn’t. He had an older brother who would inherit his pack, and since Callista’s father only had two daughters, that made them a prime target.

But of course, Callista was mine and now they all knew it. She would become the Luna of the Nightshade Pack, leaving her sister behind to inherit their father’s pack. I hated to think what male would go after Sabine for that kind of power.

The demon stirred at the back of my mind, its presence a constant shadow I’d learned to live with…and sometimes ignore.

Well played, it whispered. Marking your territory. Such an Alpha move.

I shoved him back down, locking it behind mental walls I had built over years of practice. The demon didn’t get to gloat or have an opinion about this. Kissing Callista had nothing to do with its games and everything to do with protecting what was mine.

Even if that meant she currently hated me for it.

I reached the English classroom and slipped inside just as the final bell rang. Mrs. Hart looked up from her desk, her dark eyebrows rising slightly when she saw me.

“Mr. Nightshade, you’re cutting it close.”

“My apologies.”

I scanned the room and found Callista already seated at the back of the room. She must have just gotten here as well by the flush in her cheeks. Her eyes found mine, and the flash of anger in them made my wolf preen. She was furious, and I liked it. I could work with anger, because that meant she was feeling something other than fear or uncertainty.

“Hi,” I said as I took my seat.

“We’re not finished,” she whispered. “Later.”

Mrs. Hart started her lecture about Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which would have been funny if it wasn’t so painfully ironic. Star-crossed lovers torn apart by family feuds and fate.

At least Callista and I wouldn’t end up poisoned in a tomb. Well, probably.

The demon laughed at that thought. His tendrils wrapped around my consciousness, stirring more thoughts.

It’s not long until the ceremony, he whispered. Everything changes. Are you ready for what comes next?

I wasn’t ready, but I’d never admit it out loud.

Without delay, I pulled out my notebook and pretended to take notes during the lecture, though my focus remained on her. Her scent wrapped around me as if it had become physical, making it impossible to concentrate on anything Mrs. Hart said.

The mate bond was singing between us, stronger now after the kiss. I could feel her emotions bleeding through and, oddly, under the anger and confusion, she felt a reluctant attraction to me that she was desperately trying to ignore.

My wolf wanted to brush against hers, to touch her, and to close the distance she kept trying to maintain, but I held back. If I pushed too hard too fast, that would only make her fight it more.

“Mr. Nightshade,” Mrs. Hart said, her voice clipped.

Oh, I had probably done something wrong. I looked up only to find her watching me with an amused expression.

She had definitely seen me staring at Callista.

"Yes, ma'am?"

Her grin turned wicked. “I asked you what Romeo's fatal flaw was.”

I glanced at Callista, who was very deliberating staring toward the front of the room.

“Impatience,” I said firmly. “He didn’t trust that everything would work out in the end. He acted on impulse instead of waiting for the truth to reveal itself.”

“That is an interesting interpretation.” Mrs. Hart’s eyes sparkled as if she knew that I was a wolf on a hunt. “What about you, Miss Monroe? Do you agree with him?”

Callista went rigid as all eyes turned toward her. “No. I don’t. I think his fatal flaw was trusting the wrong people and never questioning the motives behind it. That got him killed.”

Of course, her answer made several students look between us. If they didn’t know there was tension between us, they did now. It was clear to see.

“Both are valid points. Trust and patience are often at odds with one another until the question becomes which matters more?”

Neither of us answered and Mrs. Hart moved on.

The rest of the class dragged on. Callista ignored me and I had another girl a few seats ahead of me turning and shooting daggers at me. When the bell finally rang, Callista was out of her seat before it even ended.

She darted out of the room quickly, leaving me behind, but I caught up with her out in the hallway.

“We need to talk, Callista.”

“No, we don’t,” she argued.

“But you said we did,” I pointed out, which she had said at the beginning of English. “And I need to talk to you about Marcus.’

That made her pause. I nearly ran into her.

“What about him?”

I pulled her aside into a small alcove away from the other students. “Marcus Stonecrest isn’t just interested in you because of your seer abilities. His pack wanted an alliance with yours for years. They especially love marriage alliances. Right now, he’s ticked that I have a claim on you.”

“But, my father would never—” Callista’s eyes widened. “Would he?”

“Your father might not have a choice if Marcus’s father makes the right offer during the ceremony. It isn’t too uncommon to line up matches around our ages,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“But you said that you would claim me at the ceremony. We’d exchange bites,” she whispered, her gaze narrowing. “You don’t think they’d let something political trump a fated match, do you?”

Her brow creased. Something came through the bond that shocked me. She was actually worried about it. Though she wasn’t too sure of me, she definitely didn’t want to be used as a political pawn for the packs.