took off. I was so rigid I could hardly breathe. Nobody else gave a shit she’d kissed me in public. We were declared to be mated; it was what we were supposed to do. But gods if it didn’t make me feel like I was floating.
“Glad you’re not being ignored,” Stefan said as he came to my side. His dark eyes still smoldered.
“Didn’t look like your session with Delmare went well,” I commented.
“You fucking think so?” He punched a nearby stone pillar, and a chunk of it came flying off. “She doesn’t want me to help her!”
“Maybe you should back off,” I said.
Stefan growled. “Do you know how hard it is to do that? I left her alone all break and practically went nuts.”
“Do you think you may be bonded to her?” I asked.
“What does it matter?” he burst. “She won’t give me the time of day!”
“Calm down. You have to be patient.”
“Easy for you to say. Your mate’s hanging all over you,” Stefan spat.
“Hardly. We had an argument earlier.”
“You must’ve made up, because she was looking at you like a five-course meal all throughout class,” Stefan grumbled.
My feelings twisted, but I said, “You forget there’s still one very big secret between Emma and I.”
“So tell her! Stop making it a big deal,” Stefan said. By the gods, he really was in a bad mood.
“You know I can’t do that. It’ll put her in danger,” I said, lowering my voice.
“Maybe she’ll want to help,” Stefan said.
I choked. “Gods, no.” Emma couldn’t get involved in the Phantom’s work. It’d put her right in the line of fire, and it was my duty as her Companion to protect her.
Stefan sighed and turned to face me. “I can’t keep doing this. If Irena keeps rejecting me, I have to look somewhere else. I’ve never felt such a strong connection with anyone, but I can’t handle having my heart broken over and over.”
Sympathy swelled in my chest for my best friend. I put a hand on his shoulder. “Just give her some space. If there’s a mating bond there, Delmare won’t be able to resist it for long. She’ll come to you.”
Stefan scowled. “I wish I could get her to open up. She’s closed off to me.”
“Well... perhaps you need to open up to her first,” I suggested.
He made no further comment. As always, my mind drifted to Emma— and how I had to be careful with my thoughts around her now. I could shield my mind pretty easily from the other wolvens, but Emma was my mate. We shared a deep connection, and our magic was bound. If I wasn’t careful and I let my guard down, she might discover I was the Phantom.
Then all hell would break loose. She’d chase me around the dormitories with her sword and threaten to chop my dick off for lying to her all this time. It’d be something she would do.
And once she found out who I really was, she’d be in danger. On my life, I would not put her in harm’s way. I wasn’t ready to tell Emma that I was the Phantom. I never would be.
Which is why I still kept my persona a secret... though a small part of me worried Emma had already figured it out.
Chapter Four
Emma
Seven crows clustered against the pillar, coats dark as night, their black eyes shining with greed. Students shielded their eyes from the crows who dared to come too close. Intimidation loomed from their inky forms, as if even the bitter winter wind did not dare to cross their path.
I’d never seen so many birds on the Arcanea University campus in my life. They were everywhere. I thought they would’ve migrated by now, but these crows must’ve been part of a residential group.
Or perhaps they were some illusion, meant to intimidate those that wandered through these great gates. I wasn’t sure.
I shivered as I left the school behind me. Delmare had invited me to partake in breakfast at a small cafe in town before classes began later in the day. We usually ate in the cafeteria, but Delmare insisted that the pancakes the cafe offered were to die for, and I had to try one.
One crow seemed to have its eye on me— I turned my back, but I could still feel the bird’s gaze piercing me, as if to say I was the next fated for death.
The snow was picking up. It was so blinding I could barely see through it. Yet one shop front