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Chapter 329
~Valerie’s POV~
<Author: Hey guys, it’s been a while, and I’m starting to get back into the groove slowly. So...>
<Val: Yeah, missed you and our readers, too.>
<Kai: Missed Valerie and want to apologise.>
<Drist: We all do.>
<Xade: Can you forgive us?>
<Axel: Author, just start already; I’m dying of waiting over here.>
The next morning, I honestly didn’t want to go to class for anything. The night still kept replaying in my head.
How my powers had come out suddenly. Who were the guys who attacked me?
Who the fudge wanted me dead since my parents?
Who knew I was alive?
So many questions raced through my mind and I knew that if I did not want any form of suspicion to be tied to me, I needed to dress up and go to school.
The water was still running, steam curling around me in soft wisps, but I barely felt any of it. My thoughts were still scattered, colliding into one another like shards of broken glass.
Earth Heiress and not the Flame Heir, but yet, I had flames.
And then there was the issue of feeling watched.
After I got back to my dorm, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, so I went inside my bathroom to change and bathe.
When I was done, I checked outside my window but found nothing.
Even now, the faint, lingering sense of being watched still clung to me like cobwebs, making my skin prickle.
"Valerie," Astra’s voice murmured in my mind, quieter now, less commanding than yesternight. "We need to talk about what happened."
I dragged a shaky hand through my wet hair, leaning my forehead against the tiles. "What even was that?" I whispered. "That power... Astra, that wasn’t me. I’m not supposed to..."
"...be able to wield fire," she finished for me. "I know, but you did. And I feel the powers in your bones, in your blood. It’s in you... this gift."
"Is it, really?"
Silence stretched between us. My breathing slowed, heart pounding louder in my ears than the shower’s steady hum.
"What’s happening to me?" I finally asked, my voice cracking despite myself.
Astra hesitated, and that was somehow worse than any answer she could’ve given.
"I don’t know," she admitted softly. "But something has been... unlocked."
"How? Both my parents were werewolves and not flame wielders."
"Maybe you should tell Solstice or your Uncle."
"Yeah," I scoffed. "Like that has helped me out before. Remember who kept my powers hidden from me, right?"
She shook her head in my mind and began pacing slowly.
"Then, if not your Uncle, we can talk to Storm or Solstice. I bet they’d listen. Maybe Storm even knows something about your parents that you don’t."
"Or maybe I should talk with Xander."
"Huh... I don’t think so. This should be kept a secret for now. At least until we figure out you aren’t a threat to yourself or others."
Before I could press her further, a sudden, sharp tug ripped through my chest, yanking me forward like an invisible thread. My hands slammed against the wall as a gasp tore from my throat.
The mate bond.
It flared violently, raw and unrestrained, flooding me with an overwhelming rush of emotions that weren’t mine.
Fear, rage, possession.
My first thought didn’t run to the twins, sadly, but to Dristan. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
I stumbled, clutching the edge of the sink as the heat pulsed through me like a living thing. It wasn’t just him.
"Were you planning to in the first place? Girl, you were attacked. If you do not want to reveal more of your identity, you need to stick to them."
"I can’t because I can feel it. The heat’s not normal. It should have been surpassed, but..."
"How can it when you did not consummate it with your mates?"
I blinked, wanting to say something when she added, "...on the school’s property. Who could have done this?"
The others hurried to take a look at her phone, but I just stayed rooted in place before joining them.
I tried to push their thoughts off it to something else, but the girls won’t let it rest.
And so, we arrived at school, but as soon as we entered the hallway, the same news grated my ears. It was literally on everyone’s lips.
I ignored my friends when I heard people mention the use of powers. Many believed witches caused it, but we knew they were rare, especially in this school.
Soon, I was by my lockers, ready to pick up my books, since my friends were too engrossed in the discussion to head for the cafeteria to eat.
But just as I closed the locker, I heard whispers, gasps, and hushed voices.
The students went from fear and loud gossip to soft, awestruck voices as their heads and necks whipped in one direction.
I looked up too, following their line of sight, when I saw one of the most beautiful ladies in my life walk further into the hallway majestically.
"Who’s she?" someone asked.
She looked young, younger than her age, it would seem, but when my gaze caught the ring on her left index finger, I swallowed and immediately stiffened.
No sooner had I done that than her eyes locked on mine and she smiled.
She strutted straight to me, her heels clicking softly against the floor, making my friends’ jaws drop.
My throat tightened as my gaze landed on the golden ring coiled around her finger—the insignia carved into it as familiar as it was terrifying.
My chest constricted. No one wore that crest unless they were...
The lady beamed as she lifted her jaw, just slightly, and said, "You must be Valerie."
My mouth went dry. Astra stirred inside me.
"Y-yes, your Maje—"
"I have only one question for you," she cut in, in a smooth but sharp enough voice to slice through bone, before I could greet her. Her gaze burned into mine as the crowd held its breath.
"Why aren’t you dating my sons when they are your mates?"

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