Page 32 of A Blackened Bond

She had spent the night in Ezra’s dorm room, clearly brought by my brothers.

I understood them more now, though. After everything that had happened with Annex and the attack, both my beast and I wanted her near and safe.

‘Mine’he growls in my ears, rolling under my skin as he waits and listens to each slight movement she makes.

She sits just feet from where we stand, his growl ringing in my ears at the wooden door separating us from her.

I shake my head, trying to shove him back down.

He’d been unsettled last night, wanting to go to her, to shift into his massive form and guard her against any threats lurking in the shadows.

‘Mate’ he calls again. ‘Ours’.

I shake his voice away. A knot wrapping around my chest with his feelings and thoughts seeping through our connection.His possessive need to see and protect her trying to take hold of me.

It was an overwhelming sensation that made me want to rush to her side and never leave it.

He was certain she was our mate, the one person in this world made for us, and the only one able to withstand the monster we were.

A scoff leaves my lips. Something like me—like us—couldn’t have something as sacred as that.Shouldn’t have.

A growl rings out in my ears, anger flooding the link.

He was a beast like no other, a monstrous shifter with strength never seen before. He wasn’t tameable, and the thoughts of getting close to Micai and hurting her…A cold shiver runs through me.

I don’t think I could survive losing another person I cared for like that.

The door opens, dragging me from my darkening thoughts as Ezra stands in the doorway. He combs a hand through his hair, a tired look in his eyes as he gazes half-dazed at me.

But a genuine smile soon appears, stretching my brother’s lips, with an expression more content and free than I’d ever seen before etched across his features.

Ezra held a lot more on his shoulders than he would ever tell anyone, burying his pain deep inside him.

But his gaze sometimes betrays him just by a lonely look seeping through the cracks when he thinks no one is watching.

But Micai had brought a side I’d never seen before out of him. One of genuine happiness and hope, his smile more natural and full of warmth when he’s with her.

‘Ours’my beast growls lightly, no possessiveness in his tone as he watches on.

I clear my throat, trying to shake him away.

“They’re calling all students to head to the Assembly Hall.” Ezra’s brows pinch together as I continue. “The Council’s dogs have arrived.”

A sigh leaves Ezra’s lips. “Tracers?”

I nod as Ezra frowns. He turns back and calls for Annex and Micai to get dressed and gives them a brief explanation.

The Council oversaw and ‘policed’ the supernatural community.

It had been set up centuries ago as a neutral faction. It was supposed to govern the laws and ensure equality among the different species and clans. It was supposed to maintain the balance between the high-blooded families and the lower clans in the supernatural community, keeping those in higher power in check and helping to ensure judgement without prejudice when conflicts arise.

Except in recent decades, they have lost their neutrality, opting to line their pockets and increase their power by favouring certain higher-born families. They only kept the rogues and outlanders in check for appearances' sake, sending their dogs to placate the masses and play pretend.

The system was tainted and just as corrupt as the ones they once persecuted in the past. Laws and rules were now made and policed to suit the ones paying for it. The smaller families or those without backing were stepped on…or worse.

The supernatural community had become tainted, blackened, and corrupted. The families of old with the most power failed to uphold their past promises to protect the weak, and the Council failed to keep the community's balance and equality.

And that’s where we come in.

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