Page 9 of Ethereal Shifters

The fuck no. “They’re mine.” I growl and glare at her. Finnegan touches my hand, and Alek steps closer to me.

She cries out a little whine and moves back on the bed, away from me. “Gwen!” Alek’s shout makes me snap out of it, and I shake my head, looking down at the wood flooring and how it’s turned grey everywhere around me. Not touching my mates, though. “I’m sorry. My Nexus is a bit possessive.” I gulp. “But I’m not sorry for what she said. They really are my mates.”

“You rejected them,” Tutor Jettie says, “so they’re not technically your mates, as the bonding has not been completed, and you have not consented to be their mates in a ceremony; therefore, the mating can never be fully completed between any of you.” She looks right at me. “Perhaps the Gods have sought to fill the bond somewhere else. It is not unheard of in our history. Rejected bonds have a way of annoying the Gods, as you’re rejecting the very path they put you on. They can be vengeful to those who reject them and run.”

“Fuck what the Gods want,” Finnegan growls. “We can go to a fucking priest and sort that problem out right now.”

“I know this probably was not explained to you, but no, you can’t. When there is more than one female bond, the priests will have to redraw all the blood taken and see what path the Gods wish for. This cannot be done at the moment due to us having a new alpha. The first six months with a new alpha is a time where all priests are kept in their temples to pray for the alpha and help him on his path with the spirit of our Gods.”

“You’re saying I just have to put up with her here and the weird bond she has with my mates?” I bite out, gripping Finnegan’s hand tightly.

“Yes.” Tutor Jettie levels her eyes on me. “I know it feels unfair, Gwenieve, but you made your choice at the ceremony. It is in the hands of the Gods and your mates now. Do you believe you can control your Nexus’ possessive qualities?”

“Yes.” I grit my teeth. “No,” my Nexus growls, slipping it out before I can control her. My hands change, draining my tannedskin to pale white and transforming my nails to sharp black points. She’s across the room in a second, barely inches away from Georgina, who screams before Finn grabs me around the waist, pulling me away, and we both slam into the ground at the side of the bed.

“Enough, Gwen, you can’t kill her,” Finnegan whispers in my ear, holding me to him. “Onyx needs you to not risk everything right now. Killing her will risk it all.”

“Why? Because you have some connection to her?” I ask, snapping my eyes to him as I push away.

“No! Gwen…” He reaches for me. Georgina is crying. Alek is reaching for me, but I can’t unsee the look in Tutor Jettie’s and Tutor Edvard’s eyes as they stare in horror at me. I’m a monster.

I run out before they could say anything else, before any of them can lie to me and say it’s okay. It’s not. She was imprisoned for years apparently, and she didn’t do anything wrong. Not like me. The Gods should have given them someone else, someone who actually deserves them, because they know I don’t. The Gods made me to be the monster and made her to be the saviour. The healer. The one they will all clearly want.

I know I’m crying but the further I run, the more I ignore the feeling of tears dripping down my cheeks as my heart cracks. My mother taught me to never cry in front of anyone and here I am, crying in front of everyone.You did this!I scream at my Nexus.You made us a monster, and now the Gods are ripping our mates from us!I hear Finn shouting after me, chasing after me, and Alek is with him. I quickly use my power to merge into the crowd and hide with my invisibility, so they can’t see me. My shoulders drop as they run past, followed by Rhodes.

When I know it’s safe, I lose the magic, slip round the corner, and come face to face with Tutor Hank. He’s holding onto his walking stick in front of him, smiling at me. The walking stick is different this time, a dark blue wood with a snake carved into thetop, its teeth holding a diamond crystal in its mouth. His dark blue cloak matches the walking stick, and he somehow looks older than when we met. I’d almost forgotten about my lessons with him after the crazy day I’ve had. I’m not in the mood now to talk to my Nexus.

“You can use your Nexus powers very well then, to merge into the wall and hide yourself,” he notes, pulling out a handkerchief and passing it to me. “Do clean up.”

I take the white handkerchief and wipe my face. “I’m not in the mood for?—”

He stomps his stick on the ground once. “It’s a good thing I don’t care about your emotional state, Miss Autumn, or the boy problems making you cry. I’ve had my fair share of boy problems myself, and I can tell you now that my love life never impacted my studies to become a ranger, then a tutor, and kill over a thousand Vian without a defensive power. Now, explain your control of your powers.”

Strict. Got it. “Some of them, I have full control over. Mostly the older powers I have. I trained for years, and the invisible power is an easier power to control. I can’t always control all of her powers though. She doesn’t always let me.”

He frowns. “Who said you ever needed to ask her? They are your powers.”

“Hers. She killed for them all, except for the grey draining magic,” I correct. I didn’t kill for them. “You don’t know her. She’s very dominant, and she does whatever she wants.”

“And you were told that by your parents?” he asks next. I feel like I’m being assessed, and I don’t like it.

I cross my arms. “Yes.”

“Ah, I might understand now.” He turns. “Come, our lesson begins now. Raw emotional states are the best time for me to tap into your Nexus and open up a connection. When your emotionsare heightened, it’s the point at which you and your Nexus are almost as one. Come.”

Yeah, she doesn’t care, and he is clearly insane. Unlucky for me, I have no choice but to try his lessons or give up my life, because I need to control my Nexus.

We walk around the castle, and even with a walking stick, and the fact that he must be like a billion years old, he still moves really fast. I have to jog to follow him straight out to the back of the fields, down a windy stone path as the weak drops of dusty rain brushes against me, soaking my clothes. He leads me into the forest, where it’s dark, but I can still see where I’m going. “You know, most people would be creeped out by being walked into a forest by someone they barely know.”

“I’m not going to harm you, Gwenieve. Nor your Nexus. You will never have anything to fear from me. My power is not one that can harm anyway, and you’re perfectly safe within the academy grounds. We need to be away from people, as their Nexus mess with my power,” he explains. “Just in case your Nexus decides not to let you back, it is also best we are out here. As she is dominant, as you put it.” He pushes a log off the path with his stick. He’s strong for an old man, too. “Though I do not believe the host is weaker than the Nexus. Ever.” He stops and turns to face me when we get to a small clearing in the forest, almost like a circle with thin, tall trees on the edges. He sits down on the moss and damp leaves, likely some twigs too, and looks comfortable.

I do the same opposite him and cross my legs how he does, and it’s not comfortable. There is definitely a twig sticking into my ass cheek. “If you’re going to ask me to meditate, I’m gonna…”

“Meditation is a wise thing to connect to your Nexus, but we don’t need that here. I believe I need to correct your parents’ teaching and start from the very beginning. I will put you intoa dreamlike state, and it will feel a bit like falling. Then you’ll suddenly be there with your Nexus in whatever version she chooses to take. She may choose to be a wolf, which I believe you shift into, from my research, and not communicate with you at all. That is perfectly normal, considering you are at war with her.”

“I’m not at war with her,” I interrupt.

He links his fingers. “Oh, so you work together to achieve a peaceful state of existence? You can trust her and she can trust you?”

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