Page 41 of Shattered Illusion

“You didn’t know,” I chuckle, shaking my head. “Was your nose broken at the time? Is that why you couldn’t smell your mate from a mile away? I thought you shifters were better than that. Or was there another reason? Did you just not want to claim the dark-haired goddess?” My taunting riles him up even more, bringing a smile to my face.

“It’s none of your fucking business why I didn’t know. That’s between me and my mate.”

Slowly, I push off the wall and walk around Hudson, revealing myself to him. His eyes widen a fraction, knowing exactly who I am—what I am. Why I’m able to hold his substantial bulk like it’s nothing.

Leaning down, I put myself eye to eye with him before I let my own secret fly free. “Newsflash, asshole. It is my fuckingbusiness because she’smymate.” I watch as the wheels spin in his mind until what I said finally penetrates his thick skull.

His gold eyes flash with malice before silver starts to eat away at the shining hue. Ahh. Ole boy is a lycan. How fun.

“Now, wolfie.” I tap my chin as the use of the name earns me a growl. “I think it’s time for you to learn that you don’t touch what’s mine.”

“Fuck you. She’s mi—” His words cut off with a howl of agony that drowns out the crack of the bone in his wrist snapping in two. My fists fly, battering every inch of available skin.

The snaps and cracks of bones and the moans and groans of the lycan create a beautiful cacophony to the carnage being left in my wake.

Blood splatters in every direction from a particularly vicious hit to his mouth as a manic grin spreads across my face. I relish in the destruction of the man who thought he’d get away with hurting my mate.

More times than I can count, he’s opened his maw to say something, but I’ve quickly shut him down each and every time he’s tried. There is nothing that can make me stop doling out justice for what he’s done to my goddess.

My chest heaves as I finally step back and shake out my trembling hands. Hudson’s head is down, hiding the damage to his face, but he no longer attempts to open his mouth and defend his actions.

“Let this be a lesson. The next time you put your paws on my mate, you’ll get it ten times worse. So your best bet is to stay the fuck away from her. Don’t look at her. Don’t think about her. And if I find you stalking her in the halls again, I gouge your fucking eyes out.”

A barely-there nod answers my words. That’s good enough for me. Hopefully he’s smart enough to take the advice and adhere to it.

With a wave of my hand, my magic bindings disappear, leaving him free to move. But he doesn’t. He stays rooted to the chair, not budging an inch. He’s probably waiting for his healing to kick in before he leaves, but he’ll be waiting for a long while. The golden bindings served two purposes in this instance. To hold his ass down. And to halt his regenerative abilities. He’ll need to see the healer if he wants all remnants of this beatdown to disappear quickly.

Just a second little fuck you to him.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I take that as my cue that it’s time to go. It’s probably Axel, looking for an update to the Hudson situation. Shit. I should have gotten another picture. But it’s too late for that now. He’ll just have to live vicariously through my words.

The second the door closes behind me, a howl of agony chases me through the library until I leave it behind, heading toward the small apartment they gave me when Axel finagled my position here.

A tiny—albeit small—part of me feels bad about what just occurred. I wouldn’t take it well if someone told me I could never see my mate again. But then again, I would never put my hands on her like that, regardless if I knew she was my mate or not.

So, turnabout is fair play.

Everyone rushes pastme through the halls as I meander down the corridor with no place to go.

Okay. That’s a lie. I have somewhere Ishouldbe. Should being the keyword in the equation. But there’s no chance in hell I’ll willingly walk my ass intohisclass again. Someone will have to drag me, kicking and screaming, before I subject myself to his cruelty.

It does make me wonder, though, how the fucker still has a job. And I know he does, even though I haven’t stepped foot into West Field since the incident. It would have been the hot gossip all over the academy, just like my incident in Spells and Potions and the dining hall disaster, but instead, I’ve been fielding stares of pity for the past week. If he were anything other than a supe, he would have had his employment terminated immediately. That’s what would have happened in the human sectors, anyway. It’s just another reminder of how vastly different things are here compared to where I grew up.

The bell rings right as the hallway empties, doors slamming shut as the professors start their lessons. It’s easier to gain access to the stairs up to the faculty wing now that no one is around to watch where I go. The first step toward my haven has the stress of the day releasing from my shoulders. The second step has a smile curling my lips. This goes on and on, my entire demeanor brightening until I’m practically skipping down the hall toward my dorm room.

My door opens with ease, and I toss my black bag on the counter, planning to leave it there until it’s needed come Monday morning. It’s not like they’ve given out homework anyway. All they say is practice, practice, practice. But I don’t think that means me. Nothing in my near vicinity is safe from my flames. Except for maybe me.

Perks of being a curiomancer, I guess.

But that just means carving more time into my schedule to get back into one of the magical containment rooms. Which reminds me, I’ll need to ask Thaddeus if he has any time to do so this weekend. There’s only so many things I can attempt in my room that won’t destroy the academy property. Plus, there’s a few other marks on my body that I want to ask about before I get randy and try them out.

The bright light of the refrigerator illuminates the contents within, but my lips tilt down in a frown when I don’t find anything really worth eating. I’d like to avoid the dining hall, but it doesn’t look like that’ll be possible since I polished off all those little freezer meals already.

The door thudding closed echoes my groan of dismay at having to join my classmates. They aren’t all that bad, per se, but the less time their eyes are on me, the better.

My hand clasps around my necklace as I wander over to the couch, plopping down the cushion. The snowflake charm warms in my palm, reminding me of the magic contained within. It’samazing how such a little thing can keep my real self hidden. Safe from the harm others would want to cause me.

Only, sometime I wonder if what they say about me is true. Besides the incident with Professor Asshole, not one person has come after me. Because, let’s get real. There has to be someone else here who can see through this whole glamour thing and see the real me. But it hasn’t happened. Everyone has just left me alone.

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