Page 7 of Foxes of Legend

“Yes. Now.” The Elder turned back toward the school before I could respond. He was too important for me to mess thingsup with, especially now that I attended the academy, so I trotted after him.

Elder Peter had saiderrorslike it was all a mistake. He looked back at me with disappointment as we entered the residence hall and made our way upstairs. “As you may already know, all Fated mates are expected to share a dorm. This provides a safe environment while you get to know each other. It also—”

“Encourages breeding?” I quipped purely to make him uncomfortable.

He frowned disapprovingly, but gave a slow nod. “Of course, there’s no pressure, and any inappropriate incidents should be reported directly to me or one of the professors.”

“Incidents? Fated mates are the perfect match. The goddess doesn’t make mistakes.” There was my religious upbringing showing through, saying things I wasn’t even sure if I believed myself anymore.

Elder Peter shifted his eyes uncomfortably, nodding vigorously in agreement. “Of course our blessed goddess makes no mistakes, that is true.Wedo, however. On rare occasions, things have happened. Mostly due to false positives in the blood tests. That’s why I expect you to report anything out of the ordinary.”

We had stopped in front of a door on the top floor of the Residential Hall. He knocked against the hard wood three times, and we waited in silence. The door swung open.

Kairos, the golden haired impersonating ass, appeared on the other side. His shoulders slumped and he groaned, “She reported us? I swear, I didn’t do anything this time.”

Him?

Elder Peter shook his head, eyeing me suspiciously, “No, Dove hasn’t reported anything. This is about something else. May we come inside to talk?”

Kairos’ head jerked up and down as he stepped out of the way. He closed the door behind us and I set my bag down. Two white armchairs flanked a navy blue couch in the small living area, all facing a large flatscreen TV. A small kitchenette was tucked to the side.

Three beds were arranged around the back of the room, windows and a chest of drawers separating each of them. Only one of the beds had been made, the one in the center.

“Are your roommates here?” Elder Peter asked, and Kairos nodded. I exhaled, disappointment or relief, I couldn’t tell. So my Fated wasn’t Kairos.

“Who was at the door?” The giant emerged from the only door in the dorm. His brown hair still dripped from his shower onto his exposed chest. His muscles rippled as his face disappeared behind a t-shirt he was putting on. When he emerged through the neckhole, his brown eyes met mine.Hewould do just fine.

“Enko, this is Dove. Elder Peter wanted to talk to us,” Kairos said, sending some kind of silent message to his friend.

Enko’s face hardened for a second before he recovered, sitting down in one of the white armchairs and keeping his attention focused on Elder Peter, glimpses darting to me occasionally.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Kairos asked. I expected him to be asking the Elder, but his eyes were on me. “We have coffee, water—”

“What’s going on?” I asked, sensing the tension in the room.

The Elder sucked his lips in. “This is going to be your new dorm. You have matched with more than one Fated mate. Gentlemen, this is Dove Hawthorn, her element is yet to be discovered. This is Kairos Stryker, Storm fox, and Enko Pierce, Fire fox.”

“Aren’t the pairings supposed to be of the same element?” I asked.

Elder Peter nodded, “Usually, but—”

The door slammed open. The dark angel appeared. His messy black hair appeared as though he’d woken from a nap. He looked at me, and then to the Elder. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

Kairos stiffened. “Watch it, Seven.”

The Elder cleared his throat, “This is your Fated.”

Seven, the dark angel, glanced in my direction with disinterest. “As if it wasn’t crowded enough in here.”

“The academy will do its best to accommodate your unique situation,” Elder Peter explained, flinching when Seven’s gaze ricocheted his way.

Kairos grinned. “You must have seen this coming, Seven. It’s not like you expected to mate with Enko or me.”

The devilishly handsome rogue shifted his wrath to Kairos. “Fuck off.”

Elder Peter edged toward the door, careful not to startle the trio. I followed after him as though I could escape my fate. He gave me a sympathetic smile, before turning the knob and saying, “I’ll leave you all to get to know each other.”

He slipped out, closing the door and locking me in with them. Now I understood why he gave me the warning to report anything to him. This certainly wasn’t a standard Fated pairing.