Page 7 of Caelum

SIX

EREN

“Is it burning?” I asked, eying Stefan as he grabbed the back of the neckline of my shirt and dragged it over his head.

We’d made it back to my room without mentioning what we’d noticed back in Eve’s, but it had been hard. I knew I wasn’t the only one curious about what the hell was going on.

“Yeah. Like a motherfucker,” he ground out, peering over his shoulder to look into the mirror.

Rows and rows of text had appeared as if by magic on his back. Scored into his flesh, which was raised and bleeding, making me grateful my tee had been black and not white.

“It can’t mean what I think it means, can it?” Nestor murmured, staring at the words that took up half of Stefan’s spine in an endless scrolling italic font that made it very difficult to even read what it was intent on declaring.

“She’s my mate,” Stefan confirmed, his lips a flat line.

“How can she be? You know it doesn’t work that way,” I argued, even though my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

This was The Mark, after all.

What all males received once they’d met their Chosen.

I wasn’t sure whether to be jealous or happy for him.

For however long it took to get into Eve’s panties, that would be the only sex he’d be having. His cock was officially on lockdown. That was how it worked with Chosen males. They were tied to one woman and one woman only .

When I thought of that particular female, it certainly would be no hardship to be with her, but the time it was going to take to gentle her?

She hadn’t even known what sex was.

I could imagine her screaming if she came face to face with a cock. That wasn’t exactly going to put a guy in the mood, was it? And Stefan’s souls needed sex, so these next few months were going to be a real barrel of laughs.

Not.

“I felt it when I touched her.”

“Mates aren’t Chosen until graduation,” Nestor said softly, his eyes just as firmly fixed on the markings on Stefan’s spine as mine were.

“You’re telling me something I know already,” Stefan grumbled, and I knew he was edgy because not only was he in pain, but he knew the ramifications of what had happened today.

“You’ll have to wear a shirt all the time,” I told him. “Otherwise they’ll never let you near her.”

He nodded, his mouth still set in grim lines. “I remember.”

“Who could forget?” I thought back to Cash and Jane who’d determined they were mates before graduation two years ago. They’d been practically cordoned off from each other.

We weren’t sure why. Not when sex was permitted between students so long as no one spent the night in another’s bed. It made no sense that casual sex was allowed but committed sex wasn’t. In fact, it was the exact opposite of everything I’d ever been taught.

I reached up and gripped his good shoulder firmly. “It will be okay.”

“Will it?” He sighed and bowed his head. “It’s annoying, but I’m not sad about meeting her.”

“She’ll change things,” Nestor commented.

“She will. But I guess I know what we are now. That’s something, I suppose.”

The fact that her Succubus had called to his Incubus meant they knew which of their souls would be dominant.

This wasn’t unheard of, not exactly, but what was unheard of was for a single touch to trigger the Choosing.

“What happened?” I queried, trying to understand how the impossible had gone down.

“You saw me,” Stefan argued. “It’s not like I did anything. I just held out my hand for her.”

“It must have been on her side,” Nestor reasoned. “Maybe she did something to you? ”

Stefan snorted. “She isn’t a witch. Not that they exist anyway,” he dismissed, staring at the lines on his back before scowling at his reflection and grabbing the tee then dragging it over his head. “I’ll bring this back when it’s clean, Eren.”

“No worries.” I cut him a look. “Want to work out?”

“Yeah, but my back’s on fire.” He grimaced. “I never realized it would hurt this bad.”

“Love is pain,” I teased, amused when he just glowered at me. “Wow, you’re delicate. Normally you’d have tried to slap the shit out of me for a joke like that.”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah, I am.”

“We’ll watch out for her, Stef,” I promised him softly. “There’s no need to worry about her.”

“Isn’t there? She’s from a cult, has no idea what an orgasm is, is years behind on her training, and somehow managed to trigger a mating bond by holding hands with me when it’s normally activated through fucking… You don’t think shit just hit the fan?”

I grimaced. “When you put it like that…”

“Yeah. Exactly.” He grunted. “I’m going to sleep. It should be healed by morning, which is a good thing. Tomorrow should be Hound day. I’ll be fighting more than I’ll be doing anything else.”

Hell Hounds had anger issues. Most classes on the theory of that soul’s beginnings were taken during the first year. After that, classes mostly consisted of beating the shit out of each other to manage the anger and the rage that was indicative of that soul’s identity.

When Stefan strode out of my room a few minutes later, I turned to Nestor. “Want to play a game?”

He shook his head. “I’m tired too.”

I scowled. “Did everyone take a sleeping potion when I didn’t?”

Nestor snorted. “Don’t be stupid. My Vampire is in control.”

Oh. I winced. “You fed yet?”

He hated feeding. So did Stefan. It went against everything they believed in. Me? I didn’t care so much. But I liked the taste of blood. Shoot me.

“No.”

“Want me to?—”

“No. You know it doesn’t work out of blood bags unless we’re ill.” He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll try again tonight.”

I dipped my chin, well aware that if he couldn’t bite anyone after a day of studying and fighting, he’d end up passing out until tomorrow when he could eat a large breakfast.

When he’d gone, mumbling under his breath about hating bloodsuckers, I retreated to the shower. Stripping down, I moved under the spray even though it was cold and grabbed a firm hold of my cock.

I’d been fighting a semi since I’d seen Eve’s big eyes batting up at Stefan and Nestor when they’d kissed her on the temple.

She was Stefan’s mate, but it was common for Packs to share females. Especially when both mates were Incubus and Succubus. Sometimes, it took a Pack to satiate both’s needs.

Shuddering at the prospect, I jacked off, thinking about Eve’s pillowy mouth, the innocence in her eyes. She was beautiful. Even beneath the shroud she wore, I knew she’d be curvy. Round. The thought made pre-cum slip from the tip of my dick.

Her skin was like porcelain, and her face had a pointed chin that surged into the sharpest cheekbones. Her golden eyes were beautiful traps that would ensnare any man in their hold. Her hair was fixed on her head in a bun, but I imagined it was long and would drape over her shoulders and down her back when released from its hold. I didn’t even know the color thanks to the headdress she wore and the netting that cupped it, but I longed to see it down and around her shoulders.

Biting my bottom lip as I thought about kissing her, about sliding my tongue against hers, bringing her into awareness from innocent to knowing, I felt my climax boil in my balls and surge forward to hit the shower wall.

I raised my hands and pressed them to the tiles, leaning forward to let the spray pound the back of my neck, and I blew out a breath.

Change had come to Caelum today.

The rest of the school just didn’t know it yet.