Page 102 of A Blackened Bond

He surprises me by wrapping my arm around his waist, pulling me into him as the engine roars to life beneath us.

Rougher than Annex?My cheeks flare, a heat creeping up my neck with his words and the low roll of his voice vibratingagainst my chest as I sit flush against him.That’s not what he meant. He was talking about the bike.

He flicks a button beside us, and the metal garage door in front of us creaks open. The sound of the engine rumbles beneath us again as we set off, leaving the abattoir behind us as we ride toward the academy.

After a few minutes, we pull up toward the gates. I head inside and enter the dorms, sprinting up to my room. I change into fresh underwear and a clean pair of black knee-cut jeans, matching it with an oversized charcoal ACDC t-shirt and a dark grey hoody.

Lacing up an old pair of black Doc Martin boots, I glance around the room for anything else I might need, and notice an empty tote sitting in the corner. Biting my lip, I grab it and pack another set of clothes and underwear. Just in case I decide to stay in town with the boys again.

I find the broken necklace and gently place it in my pocket before grabbing my bag and heading back toward Mallyn.

When he sees my little bag, he smiles and hands me the helmet as I place the bag across my back.

We head out again, this time a little slower, allowing me to take in the view of the forest and the area around us as we ride.

I notice after a couple of minutes that we weren’t taking the same route we did back to town, or toward ‘Elles’.

“Where are we going?” I call over the noise of the bike’s engine.

“I thought we could take a little detour first. And go to the place I told you about before…” He falls silent for a brief moment. “My spot.”

I nod, leaning in toward him again as we ride higher into the forest and toward the mountains, away from the academy and town.

I could go to ‘Elles’ and drop the necklace in a little later anyway.

We climb higher, speeding up as we reach a steep slope and head through a narrow path in the forest. The bike takes the rugged path with more ease than I thought it would.

We reach a small break in the mountain, overlooking the town below and even a part of the academy from one side. The sun catches the town’s small rooftops, glinting off of them and making them look even more picturesque.

A cold breeze whips past me as I climb off the bike and peer around.

From up here, it seems like I was in a completely different world. Like everything else could fade away, and I could just stay here in this moment. No trouble, no pain, no revenge. Just this breathtaking view that made me feel like none of it mattered anymore.

“I come here to get away from everything.” Mallyn steps beside me, glancing down toward the town in the distance and the forest surrounding us on all sides. “All my thoughts and worries just fade away to nothing when I’m up here.” He turns to me, his grey-blue eyes glinting. “Evenhefinds it calming at times.”

“Your beast?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me as he slowly nods.

“What exactlyareyou?” I had seen many different types of shifters over the years, even mutations from The Facility, but nothing like Mallyn’s beast.Nothing so powerful and intelligent.

Mallyn raises a brow and I realise my words were too curt, coming off ruder than I intended. “I don’t mean—I didn’t mean it like that. I’ve just never met a shifter with strength and intelligence like yours. When we were in the forest together, he was a force to be reckoned with. And something I had never seenbefore.” As I continue, I meet his gaze, a strange look forming in his eyes. “I just…want to know more about youboth.”

He pulls his hood down and takes a step closer, slightly leaning down toward me as he nears.

“Do you truly want to know, Micai? What I am, whatheis?”

“Yes.” My reply is immediate as he watches me. It was an easy answer.

There was something about Mallyn that had me wanting to know more: about him and his beast, about what books he likes, and why he chooses to wear hoodies and cover his breathtaking face. I wanted to know as much about him now as I did about Ezra and Annex.

There was a warm and safe feeling I felt when I was around him, one that slides across my chest when we’re together and compels me to move just an inch closer.

It makes me want to know everything about him: his likes and dislikes, what secrets his dark gaze holds when he’s lost in thought, and what he went through in his past to make him so distant and quiet.

Did it have something to do with why he and his beast had become disjointed and unlike other shifters?

And what does the intense look in his eyes mean as he watches me…like right now?

“Can I take that to mean you’reinterestedin us?” He observes me as that unreadable look forms in his gaze again. A slight bit of worry mixes into it as he stares my way.

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