Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts)

by Caroline Peckham

  My ears pricked up at that and I already had a thousand questions burning at the tip of my tongue.

  “As for Orders ruled by the sun, well a few of them are Dragons, Nemean Lions, Harpies, and our very own recently arisen Phoenixes of course.” She started clapping, but no one joined in and she quickly kept talking. “But what does this mean for you all? Well, firstly you will find yourself attracted to those of similar power levels to yourself. Then, if you find a mate within your Order or another Order of the same inclination, you may be Moon Bonded or Sun Bonded if the stars deem it in your fate for you to be together.”

  “What if you like someone from the opposite side? A moon ruled Order falling for a sun ruled Order?” Elijah called out and I bit my lip, wondering that very same thing. Were me and Orion destined to ever be mated somehow? I certainly couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. But I didn’t need the sun, the moon or the stars to tell me that.

  “Well that is where things get interesting,” Zenith explained and the sun and moon moved across the sky, crossing over one another so they seemed to blaze as one entity. “You can be mated by both. It is what we term a Soluna Bond. Both celestial beings lend power to bind the mates together, but it is no more powerful than a regular Mate Bond.”

  “What about a bond within Orders though?” Jillian called out. “As a Nemean Lioness, I’m planning on finding myself a King one day, but they usually have more than one mate.”

  “Yes, many Orders have names for their own special kinds of pairings. The Moon and Sun Bonds are not quite so limiting as the Elysian bond- barring the famous exception we discussed a few weeks back. They can extend to polyamorous relationships as is common with Orders like the Nemean Lions. It doesn’t affect their way of pairing, if anything it compliments it.”

  “What about the Werewolves?” Kylie asked. “I heard they pair off monogamously when they find their true mate.” There was a pout to her voice that made me roll my eyes. Maybe if she stopped chasing after Seth, he’d come around to the idea of the two of them again. But from the way he totally dismissed her these days, I had to doubt that thought.

  “Yes, Werewolves are similar to the Pegasuses in that their pack will live polyamorously until the leader has found their mate. An Alpha Werewolf will seek other Alphas of the same power level, either in their Order or otherwise. The same goes for a Pegasus Dom – or Dominant. Once the leader has found their partner, the rest of the herd will then seek their mates until the unit is in harmony. It can take years for a pack or herd to find harmony however, especially as the groups grow or change,” Zenith explained. “If you happen to mate with someone of your Order, there will be a special name for that bond such as the Nemean Lions’ King and Queens, the Wolves’ Alphas, the Basilisks’ Cobras, the Pegasuses’ Dominants, the Vampires’ Count and Countess, the Dragons’ Idols. But no matter who you are mated with, you will still be bound by whichever entity rules each of your Orders, either Sun or Moon or both. Unless you have been chosen to be bonded by the stars of course,” her voice waivered on the word stars. “In which case this is the only bond that will matter, the only one which will present itself to you in your lifetime. The only chance for happiness…” She trailed off and I took Tory’s hand, squeezing. I knew she didn’t want people fawning over her, but her fingers held onto mine in the dark where no one could see. It was the only kind of comfort she could bear. The hidden kind.

  “Now, I want you to all take out your Astrology 101 textbooks,” she instructed and the lights grew brighter as the chairs elevated us back upright. Tory released my hand and I flipped out the lap table, placing my Atlas down on it as I took out my Astrology book, noticing I had one new message waiting for me.

  I picked it up as Zenith started explaining the exercise, my focus entirely lost as I subtly opened the message and read it.

  Lance:

  What lesson are you in? I’m supposed to be filing paperwork on the new security regulations for Nova, but I’ve got a certain Blue haired Fae on my mind…

  Darcy:

  Hmm, sounds like you need some help ;)

  And I’m in Astrology. I just learned about Mate Bonds. Am I going to be your Countess?

  I smirked as I pressed send and his reply came in lightning fast.

  Lance:

  If you wanna start biting me a little harder, you can definitely be my Countess…

  Darcy:

  Agreed.

  Maybe I can come and meet you after class for a snack...

  Lance:

  I can’t wait that long and I’m gonna make a real mess of this paperwork if I keep messaging you.

  Darcy:

  Tut tut. Are you jerking off at your desk, sir!

  Lance:

  Well it’s difficult not to get distracted. I’ve got my eye on a beautiful Cardinal Magic hardback with a leather bookmark pushed between its supple pages. Is it cheating if I stick the tip in?

  I burst out laughing and received looks from around the room as I fought away the blush burning into my cheeks.

  “You’re so busted,” Tory taunted. “I know exactly what you’re doing.”

  I bit down on my lip, showing her the text and she fell into silent giggles with me. She was the only one in the world I’d show that message to. And it felt so good to have a little moment of lightness with my sister again.

  Zenith didn’t care if we howled to the moon in this class, she’d never reprimand us, despite the fact that she took house points from anyone else who rose their voice above a low chatter.

  I glanced down at my Atlas again, finding another message waiting for me.

  Lance:

  Couldn’t do it, Blue. You’re the only first edition I want.

  I poised my thumb to reply with a stupid smile on my face when an alarm blared around the room, the bell drilling into my ears.

  “Oh my gracious!” Zenith gasped. “Everyone up, out out out!” She ushered us towards the elevator.

  “What is it?” Jillian demanded as she nearly fell over Kylie’s bag in her haste to move.

  “It’s the Nymph alarm, it must have been triggered by the wards at the outer perimeter!” Zenith wailed. “Everyone get outside and line up for the count. That’s it, hurry along now. Not to worry.”

  I moved along the aisle, swinging my bag over my shoulder as I tucked my Atlas and textbook into it, my heart hammering to a wild beat.

  We made it downstairs and spilled out onto the path beyond the observatory, crowding together against the wall.

  Zenith pushed her way through the group, moving in front of us as she started counting heads. “Everyone - stop moving! No – ah, please stop moving.”

  “Make way!” Washer’s voice caught my ear and I turned as he raced down the path from the direction of Lunar Leisure in nothing but his speedos. He was dripping wet and the bulge in his tight budgie smugglers jostled from side to side as he raced towards us. He shoved through the crowd and I received a wet hand to the boob as he pushed me out of his way.

  “Argh,” I exclaimed, stepping back as everyone got the message and gave him a wide berth. “Even in a crisis he still has time to be a pervert.” I lifted my hand to dry the wet hand mark he’d left on my shirt and Tory shuddered beside me.

  We drifted to the back of the group and I spotted students standing outside the buildings nearby, getting rounded up by their teachers. Zenith finally manged to do the count then the bells stopped ringing around campus and her Atlas pinged. She took it out and her shoulders slumped dramatically.

  “False alarm everyone,” she announced. “Looks like it was triggered accidentally. Back inside, come on, in you go.”

  Relief washed through me as we started queuing towards the door at the back of the line. We soon made it inside and started moving towards the elevator as everyone grouped into it. A whoosh of air lifted my skirt up and arms surrounded me the same moment that a hand clamped over my mouth. The world blurred and a second later I found myself in a dark store cupboard, crushed ag
ainst a trolley full of books as a hard chest pressed to my back. I didn’t even need to smell the cinnamon in the air to know who it was. His hand slid from my mouth and I laughed breathlessly.

  “Are you crazy? What if Tory thinks I just got kidnapped? Or what if someone saw?” My heart thrummed madly and I couldn’t even focus on the getting the answer to that question as Orion’s hard-on pressed into my ass.

  “I left a post-it note on her arm and no one saw, I’m too fucking fast,” he said with a dark chuckle. “Now stop talking.” I reached behind me in the dark, but he caught my wrist to stop me touching him, evidently able to see in here when I couldn’t. The scent of new stationary and textbooks reached me in the small space and there was hardly any room to move.

  “What happened to not being reckless?” I panted as the heat of his body called to me, sending a deep throb between my thighs.

  “What happened to not talking?” he growled in his teacher voice and my pulse skyrocketed.

  “You set off that alarm, didn’t you?” I said in realisation and he forced me harder against the trolley that was jammed against the wall, his breath burning hot on my ear.

  “That’s it, Miss Vega, now you’re going to be punished for disobeying me.”

  A tremor of excitement ran through me and I sucked my lower lip in anticipation of his so-called punishment. He kicked my legs wide, pushing my skirt up and running his palm over my ass as my heavy breaths filled the air.

  “Do you think you’re going to enjoy it?” he asked and I nodded shamelessly as he trailed his fingers around to the front of my panties and pinched my clit through the material.

  I gasped, resting my head back against his shoulder and his fangs grazed my throat as a primal growl rumbled through him.

  “I can always surprise you,” he whispered against my skin and I tilted my head farther to the side, wanting the kiss of his teeth.

  “Do it,” I said, mostly because I wanted to goad him into whatever surprise he had in mind.

  He took his hand from under my skirt and returned it a moment later. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but when he pushed his hand into my panties, he had something cold and hard in his grip that grazed against my sensitive flesh and sent goosebumps fluttering across my body.

  I gasped, pressing firmer back against him, but he didn’t budge an inch. “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Do you know what a Delicia Crystal is, Blue?” he purred in my ear and I shook my head.

  He grazed the crystal between the centre of my legs and pleasure skittered out from it in echoing waves. A moan left me and he’d barely even touched me. Ohmagod.

  “It enhances pleasure,” he said in a dark tone before repeating the same movement and my legs trembled from the sweet bliss radiating over my skin from the crystal.

  “Lance,” I begged and he pushed it inside me, grazing his thumb over my clit at the same time.

  I cried out half a second after he cast a silencing bubble, my whole body flooding with waves of magnetic energy that all centred on that one object inside me. It was achingly smooth, but must have only been a few inches long. As good as it felt, I wanted more. I needed more.

  I ground back against Orion and he groaned headily, stroking his thumb across that delicious spot once again as the crystal sent another current of pleasure twisting through me. He yanked my panties down and I kicked them off, moving my hand behind me and running it up the hardened bulge in his pants. “I need you.”

  “Bend over,” he said in a gravelly voice.

  I did as he asked, digging my teeth into my lower lip in anticipation as I rested my elbows on the books stacked on top of the trolley.

  The sound of his zipper rolled down and he pulled the crystal free a second before he slammed himself inside me. His hand pressed down beside mine as he braced himself and I reared forward and bit into the back of it like I’d promised I would.

  He slid the crystal higher onto that sweet spot and started pounding into me at a merciless pace as the magical item sent pleasure racing out from it in every direction. I was lost to the intensity of being claimed this way, my thoughts exploding and flashing with light.

  Orion groaned with the feel of it too and I tasted his blood on my lips, the colliding sensations driving me wild. Everything was happening so fast, my mind was a blur and I was already collapsing into my downfall, shattering into a thousand pieces.

  Pleasure ripped through me like a hurricane and I cried out as it continued on and on, the crystal amplifying it tenfold until I couldn’t think straight. My body no longer belonged to me, my muscles bunching of their own accord as I lost all control of myself to the invading, all-consuming pleasure. I was shaking and moaning as Orion clung to me hard enough to bruise my flesh. He finished with a powerful thrust and his fangs sank into my neck, a deep groan resounding through his body.

  He took the crystal away and I sagged forward as my lungs laboured for air and I tried to regain control of my trembling body. It felt like I’d just survived an earthquake located solely between my legs.

  “Was that better than the Cardinal Magic hardback?” I panted through a laugh and he pulled his fangs free of my neck, chuckling as he stepped back.

  I turned around, leaning down to tug up my panties with flushed cheeks.

  He rolled up his fly then his mouth pressed to mine in a long and deep kiss that had my toes curling all over again. “That was even better than the collector’s edition of Advanced Numerology, beautiful. And that little slut knows how to make my spine tingle.”

  I slapped his chest with a wild laugh. “You’re one dirty, book talking Vampire, you know that?”

  “I know that.” He kissed me again. “And you’re one sweet, bitey little Countess.” He flicked a switch and a lightbulb illuminated above us. His hair had fallen forward into his eyes and his shirt was untucked, his teacher look firmly ruffled. And I liked that a lot. Especially being the one who’d caused it.

  He admired the bite mark on the back of his hand with a smirk. “Wish I could keep it.”

  “New tattoo?” I suggested with a teasing grin and he actually looked like he was considering it for a second before I jabbed his arm. “Heal it, idiot.”

  He sighed, rubbing his thumb across the mark until it was gone then reaching out to heal the little puncture wounds on my throat. “One day, Blue, I’m gonna wear your teeth marks wherever I go.”

  “I’ll wear yours too, Lance.” I grinned. “Just three and a half more years to go.”

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “Are you sure I’m worth it?” He cocked his head to the side, a sudden vulnerability in his eyes and my heart slammed against my ribcage like it wanted to dive through the walls of my flesh and slap him for even questioning it.

  “Every day.” I tapped him on the nose and his face split into a grin. “You should go. I’ll wait until you’re gone before I leave.”

  “Alright.” He took hold of the door handle then smirked at me. “The crystal is in your blazer pocket by the way. In case you miss me.” He winked then shot out of the cupboard in a blur and the door swung slowly shut behind him.

  I shook my head at him, trying to fight the endless grin on my face. Well dammit if I don’t miss him already.

  ***

  I approached the Heirs in The Howling Meadow with Geraldine and Tory either side of me. The sun was beginning to set and the air held the hint of spring to it, calling to us on the breeze. Our Elemental Combat lessons weren’t getting any easier. Neither me, Tory or Geraldine had managed to put an Heir on their asses yet. And it was infuriating as hell. With each lesson, I’d hoped to get closer, but sometimes I took such a beating that I swear I wasn’t even scratching the surface of their defences. But I wasn’t deterred. Because one day, whether it would be tomorrow or next year or in five years, I was going to be skilled enough to knock the shit out of them, dammit.

  We reached the boulders where they were gathered, the four of them shirtless and taking it in turns to brawl with each ot
her with fists. Not a drop of magic in sight. I might have been spoken for, but I still couldn’t ignore the stacks of shredded muscle slamming into each other before me. And I was half a second away from calling Orion over to have a go when I remembered I was here for a reason and I probably couldn’t get away with asking for that.

  “Seth!” I called and he turned towards me just as Darius took a swing at him, his fist slamming into his jaw and sending him flying into the dirt. Oh hell yes.

  I smirked, wanting to bask in his loss, but he scrambled back to his knees running at Darius like a psycho and throwing his shoulder into his gut. They crashed to the ground with a tremor that rocked the earth beneath my feet and Orion appeared in a blur of movement, stopping at my side and blowing his coach whistle so loud I winced.

  “Assholes! Despite the grunge hair Capella is sporting and the fucking worst mohawk of the century Rigel seems to think is cool, this is not a fucking mosh pit at some prissy indie rock gig. So get your asses up and start fighting like Fae or you’ll all be in detention for the rest of the week.”

  I tried not to bat my lashes too hard at Orion, but holy hell when he used that voice and blew that whistle, and looked…mmm.

  Tory elbowed me in the ribs with a restrained grin. “You look one second away from drooling.”

  Geraldine was evidently close enough to hear as she started laughing and clutching her side, and Orion and Caleb snapped around to look at me in surprise.

  “What?” I asked innocently, shooting Tory a glare and she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing too, although I’d seen her staring at the guys as well so she wasn’t exactly Miss Innocent right now.

  “Oh give my queen a break!” Geraldine lamented. “There’s enough mammoth man muscle, tight peach-cupping shorts and tantalising testosterone in the air to bring even fine ladies such as us to our knees. But I for one, will not stand for such an advantage in our brawls.”