Soul Bound: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance (Arcane Arts Academy Book 1)

by Elena Lawson

  The pounding in my chest began to slow, and with it the rain also slowed. It stopped entirely after only a few seconds.

  “Bianca,” I called, not wanting to leave Elias’ side. In truth, I wasn’t sure I could make my legs move even if I wanted them to. My entire left side throbbed, and my legs felt as though they were made of lead. As though they’d sprung root and attached themselves to earth. No, I wouldn’t be moving any time soon.

  Bianca held up a hand to silence me, and I saw her body racking with sobs. She needed space. She needed to process. And then after, I would tell her what I knew. Explain the ugly truth to her in as much detail as she wanted. Or not at all, if she asked.

  Elias’ eyelids fluttered and a ragged breath left his lips. He was coming to.

  He was going to be alright, I could feel it. His body was already healing. We just had to get him inside and wake Granger. She would know what to do.

  Elias’s eyes blinked open and his pupils constricted at the onslaught of moonlight. “Hey,” I said as calmly as I could, brushing the stray dark hairs away from his face. “It’s over. We’re safe. We’re safe.”

  He drifted back out of consciousness, sighing as he went as though giving in to the dark only because he now knew I was alright.

  Adrian came closer and I shied away at first, seeing his muzzle matted with still-wet blood. He whimpered, and bowed his head, nuzzling against my side. Cal came to join his pack mate. His green eyes roved over me, sniffing the air around my body to check for injury, growling every time he found one.

  It took a moment, but once the buzzing of raw power that had been coursing through me ebbed away, seeping back into the earth from where it came, I felt it. Relief flooded every neuron in my body. And when Cal bowed his head to me, tucking his head under my arm, I realized what it was.

  They’d accepted the bond.

  I looked into a set of large glowing golden eyes, and a set of green, and saw something I never thought I’d be able to see in my familiars. Devotion. Hope. And something like desire.

  I turned my attention squarely at Adrian and leaned my head against his, feeling his thick fur against my forehead. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  24

  Cal

  The idea still chafed, but I could admit—if only to myself—that Elias had been right.

  A strange power hummed through my veins, and presumably Adrian’s as well, after that night. Harper’s stricken face haunted my dreams. Her cries rang in my ears. If we hadn’t stayed so close, I shuddered to think what might’ve happened to her.

  “What happens now?” I asked.

  Her bright green eyes flickered like the sun-dappled forest as she studied us. Adrian stood stiffly beside me, the attitude he tried to maintain warring with the urge to reach out to her. I knew because I was fighting the same battle. My fists clenched at my sides and I stuffed them in the pockets of my low-riding shorts.

  “They said you might be required to attend trial,” she replied, her voice low as she focused on Adrian. “You’ll have to think up a good reason for being here. They can’t know about the—”

  “Yeah, we know.” Adrian huffed and ran his fingers through his golden hair, muscles bunching with the movement. I saw Harper’s gaze dart across his chest, a light blush staining her cheeks, and wondered if this unusual bond affected her as much as it did us. “Your people can’t know about this anymore than ours can.”

  “Maybe the proximity of our territory could be excuse enough,” I suggested, nodding my head back the way we’d come from. “Our second ring route is only a few miles away, and that freak storm would’ve drawn the attention of the pack enough to investigate, at least. We could just say that Adrian saw a menacing figure standing over two helpless people and intervened.”

  I shrugged more casually than I felt. Though we had an inherent distrust and dislike for witches, killing didn’t come without its own cost. Adrian wouldn’t admit it, but taking that man’s life, even to save Harper’s, had left an invisible scar. We both knew, though, that if we had to make the decision again, we wouldn’t change anything.

  Harper was alive because of that decision, and that wasn’t something we could regret.

  Adrian nodded and crossed his arms. “If it comes to it, we’ll have to tell Atlas what happened. At the very least, what went down that night. Do you think they’ll call on our alpha to verify anything?”

  “It’s not likely.” The three of us turned to see Elias ducking into the small clearing. “They won’t want to deal with any more Endurans than they have to. No offense.”

  “None taken,” Adrian replied gruffly, his lip curling as if he’d taken all the offense.

  I elbowed him lightly and turned back to Harper. “What will they do to you?”

  She frowned, an adorable line forming between her eyebrows that I wanted to soothe away. “I have no idea. I haven’t been here that long and it seems like all I’ve done is stir up trouble. It wouldn’t surprise me if they decide this isn’t the right place for me after all.”

  “They won’t expel you,” Elias reassured her, setting his hand on her shoulder. Adrian tensed beside me and I had to stop myself from reaching out to hold him back. “If they expel the student the previous headmaster tried to kill, that wouldn’t look too good on them. It would send the message that we refuse to protect our students, even from the staff.”

  Harper shook her head, her red locks spilling over her shoulders even as her black headband kept it from her face. “Everyone already thinks I’m a freak. It’ll only get worse after all this.” She glanced at Elias, then Adrian, then her sad gaze settled on me. “When this all blows over, I’ll find a way to tell them about you. I don’t like staying away from you for so long, and I don’t want anyone attacking you if they see you here.”

  “We need to find a way to break it to Atlas, too,” I told her.

  Without thinking about it, I reached out and brushed her hair back, fingertips skating across the bare skin of her throat. She shuddered at the contact and the tension in my body vanished, warmth flowing between us. “He hates witches even more than vampires, so deciding how to tell him without him wanting to kill you will be tricky.”

  Adrian snorted, his eyes following my hand as I stuffed it back into my pocket. “He has a worse temper than I do.”

  “That’s reassuring.” Elias rolled his eyes.

  “Until then,” I continued, shooting him a glare. “We’ll just have to be careful.”

  Silence settled over us for a few moments and, thinking it was as good a cue as any, I turned to leave. Elias’ voice stopped me as soon as I took a step.

  “Wait.” He looked uncomfortable as his eyes roved over our small group. “I came out here with news, actually, and you might as well stick around to hear it. They’ve approved Harper’s request for an origin test. They’re doing it Friday.”

  Harper’s whole face seemed to light up, but Adrian cocked his head, confused. “What’s an origin test?”

  “A spell that identifies family lines,” Elias clarified. “It can be painful, I’ve heard, so I thought you should be aware beforehand. You’ll likely feel it through the bond to a certain extent and if you’re not prepared for it… well, I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and come running.”

  Adrian snarled. “It’s going to hurt her?”

  Her smile faded a bit when her eyes met ours again, fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “It’s the only way to claim whatever inheritance my dad might’ve left. I mean, since he died when I was a baby and apparently no one knew I existed until I came here.”

  I swallowed hard. She was an orphan, like me. It became glaringly obvious that we had a lot to learn about each other if this was something we were going to make work. I felt Adrian’s eyes on me, heavy, and Harper’s gaze followed him, confusion dancing in their depths.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” My voice was a near-whisper and I cleared my throat. “My parents were also…”

  Ad
rian clapped me hard on the shoulder, saving me from the explanation. “Our parents were best friends, so my family took him in and we were raised together. We were practically twins, anyway—born on the same day and all.”

  Harper reached for both of us, grasping our hands, eyes so full of pain and understanding. With Adrian’s hand still on my shoulder, we formed an odd circle, one that Elias thankfully didn’t try to disrupt. Energy surged between us and Harper’s lips parted on a gasp. We made the odd sight, I was sure, but in that moment, none of us cared.

  With her hand in mine, with my brother by my side, I felt like there wasn’t much we couldn’t face.

  The little redhead was growing on me.

  Adrian flashed her a quick smile that caught even me off-guard and then the moment was over. Even though she hadn’t said anything out loud, her steady strength had said enough. She would be there for us as much as we would try to be there for her. This time when we turned away, they let us go.

  * * *

  “Explain.”

  Stella’s golden eyes were bright with a barely restrained fury. Adrian and I decided together that, if anyone could help us figure out what to say, it would be his mom. Stella had always been a voice of reason in the pack. We explained the best we could the situation we found ourselves in, glazing over the parts she didn’t need to know.

  Even without the worst bits, she didn’t seem to be taking it well.

  “Why the hell would you accept a bond like that without talking to anyone about it?”

  Adrian studied the floor. “There wasn’t much of a choice. When they realized there was no chance of undoing it with a spell, it came down to either accepting it or being responsible for her death.”

  “And you know that would’ve been Atlas’ first instinct,” I added. “Now we’re just trying to figure out how to tell him without triggering that very reaction. That’s why we came to you. Don’t make us regret it.”

  Stella raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Because you think I can help?”

  Adrian grumbled and ran his hands over his face. “We don’t want her to die, Mom.”

  There was a pleading note to his voice that softened Stella’s expression. She crouched down between us where we sat, squeezing our hands lightly. The afternoon light from the window brought out the gold in her sandy blonde hair, so much like Adrian’s. The glow in her eyes faded and she stared at us both calmly.

  “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure there’s a way to tell Atlas about this without triggering exactly that.” She worked her jaw, thinking of a reply that might be helpful. “Keep this between us for now. Tell me of any developments, anything you notice that might tip Atlas off, and I’ll cover for you the best I can.” She frowned. “If a day comes that he needs to know, if there’s no way around it, I’ll be there with you.”

  We both nodded and, after a moment, I found my voice again. “She said we’d be much stronger now. That we would share strength through the bond.”

  Stella’s eyebrows lifted, but Adrian cut off whatever response she’d been formulating. “And she’s powerful—unbelievably so.”

  “And you two are already among the strongest in the pack,” she said. “I can see how that’ll be a problem. If you go all out during sparring sessions, no one will be able to stand against you and you would be considered a threat—more than you already are.” She gave me a knowing smirk. “On the other hand, if you hold back, Atlas will be able to tell and start getting suspicious.”

  I’d never been more grateful that this woman had been the one to take me in. Instead of running straight to the alpha with this information, she was helping us keep it from him to protect us. To protect Harper, who was not only a witch but someone she didn’t even know. But we cared, so she cared, and she was firmly on our side.

  It means more secrets, but we could deal with that for as long as we needed to to keep her safe. For as long as we could until we were found out.

  I leaned forward in my chair and wrapped my arms around her neck, the weight of Adrian’s arm settling across my shoulders as he jumped in for a hug as well. She chuckled and hugged us back before shoving us away playfully.

  “You’ll have to keep a low profile for a bit,” she told us. “He was asking me just yesterday if I knew why you both had been requesting so many second ring shifts. I just told him you had energy to burn and you were feeling restless.”

  Adrian agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully. “We’ll ease up this week, but we can’t stay away too long.”

  “Just let us know if he starts asking about us again.” I winced at the idea of him looking at us too hard. “Help us stay under his radar, if you can.”

  “You’re my boys,” she said fondly, ruffling our hair. “Of course I can.”

  25

  Harper

  It’d been a week since the carnage outside Elias’ cabin.

  So much had changed since then. So many things had happened. Elias was back to his regular brooding, infuriatingly handsome self after only two days of missed classes. My familiars had come to check on me only once since they left the day after the incident.

  They were trying to figure out a way to tell Atlas, their Alpha, that they’d been bonded to a witch without having him want to kill me. So far, they hadn’t managed to come up with anything. If his temper was worse than Adrian’s, then I was dreading the day they did.

  I was so glad they’d accepted the bond, accepted me, but they were still under the rule of their pack leader. They had to follow his command, whether they liked it or not.

  I told them I’d find a way to tell people, too, as soon as everything calmed down at the academy. I couldn’t have my familiars being attacked if they were seen on the grounds. It wouldn’t stay a secret forever. But to keep my sanity, I needed it to for a few more days. Or at least until things calmed down, whenever that might be.

  All that mattered to me right now was that they’d decided to stay. To accept the bond. It brought me so much inner peace. And when I’d seen them on Tuesday, they’d seemed in better spirits, too. Relief was evident in the soft set of their shoulders. Adrian actually smiled. He was quick to cover it up, but I saw it, just for a second.

  Don’t get me wrong. They weren’t happy by any stretch of the word. They still loathed witches, and on some level resented the bond and what they perceived it as. That wouldn’t change overnight. But they were trying, and that was all I could ask.

  Especially if they kept showing up looking as fine as they did.

  I shook the memory of their chiseled chests from my head and analyzed the formal letter in my hand for the umpteenth time.

  I still wasn’t sure if I’d made the right choice. Something told me to keep my mouth shut about the Magistrate’s involvement in the murder of my father and his cousin, Mr. Percival Simmonds. And in the attempted murder of me and Elias.

  It was one thing to accuse a dead man of a crime. It was quite another to accuse the Magistrate of the Arcane Council of being the one who orchestrated the attacks. So I told the Arcane Authorities when they came that Atticus Sterling admitted to killing my father and he tried to kill me, and I didn’t know why.

  Both Bianca and Elias corroborated my story.

  I was the only one who knew of the Magistrate’s involvement, though I was sure Elias suspected something after the conversation we’d overheard not too long ago, and I would keep it that way. For now. I wasn’t willing to risk involving anyone else in my investigation unless it became necessary.

  The Arcane Authorities had taken my statement and told me to prepare for trial before the Arcane Council. And that the Enduran shifter who’d ‘lent his assistance’ would have to attend trial, too. They had no idea the real reason Adrian killed Sterling was to save the witch he was bonded to.

  Hell, I still had absolutely no idea how to even begin to tell people about that.

  But it seemed the Magistrate had no intention of allowing this case to go to trial. The letter Bianca and I received the day befo
re explained the trial had been canceled. It stated the council had found enough evidence to support our testimonies and the issue would be laid to rest.

  It was signed, Godric Montgomery. The Magistrate himself.

  I threw the letter into the trash bin beside Bianca’s vanity, my stomach turning in disgust. I didn’t have time to let Cal and Adrian know the trial was off, though. The soft knock at the door sent a tremor down my spine and I rushed to open it.

  Elias stood solemnly on the other side, that worried crease in his forehead deeper than ever. His raincloud eyes were sympathetic. From behind him stepped Ms. Granger and I swallowed hard. It was time.

  I closed the door quietly behind me, not wanting to wake Bianca.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Elias asked me, his hands twitching as though he longed to reach out to me but couldn’t.

  I nodded and righted my navy-blue headband, tucking a loose strand of red hair back in.

  “It can still be put off,” Ms. Granger added, her voice full of strength and authority.

  The woman was ready to take on the world. Since the death of Sterling, the council had appointed her temporary headmaster in his stead. It seemed she was the most qualified for the position, which was the criteria they used in such circumstances.

  I didn’t think she’d hold the position long since, you know, the council was full of patriarchal twits with deeply ingrained misogynistic attitudes. But she was determined to keep the position, nonetheless, and I respected the hell out of her for that alone.

  If she did, she would be the first ever female headmistress, and the youngest one, too, if I wasn’t mistaken.

  “No, I’m ready,” I replied to them both, straightening my spine and taking a deep, cleansing breath.