Page 28 of Monster Girl Awakened

Itakeonelastglance at the magical oasis around us then follow Nessa back through the glamour and into the forest, Unicorn still on my shoulder. She didn’t fly around on her way down the tree, instead choosing to sleep on my shoulder, purring softly.

I shake my head to myself.I never should have shown her the place,but for some reason when I stumbled on it the first thing that popped into my head was Nessa. Something about that place’s magic and Nessa’s are similar, it’s one of the reasons I brought her here. The other being that with some of the odd things I’ve picked up about Nessa, like her willingness to jump into danger and get her hands dirty, I thought she might know something about this part of the forest. Or have already come across it and explored it. I just can’t figure out what makes it feel so similar, or why.

Either way, my judgement was clouded. If my boss Ezra finds out about this then I’m going to get the tongue lashing of the century.No, I need to remember why I’m here and keep my feelings and interactions with Ness separate from my job. Nodding to myself to solidify the decision, I refocus on the girl in question.

Her silky black hair dances around her shoulders in the wind as she forges through the forest ahead of me. My eyes narrow at her easy gait, and the speed she’s moving. After a moment I realise that something’s different. She’s moving more like that of a vampire, that ease and grace most purebloods seem to have in abundance. Plus, when I search her features it’s almost as if she’s glowing. Skin clear, golden eyes standing out more than usual, and just more powerful overall. It’s only since touching Ghost Girl’s casket, because I didn’t notice anything different about her in class earlier other than her looking a little tired. And nothing unusual when she was in the hidden part of the forest. It’s unusual to say the least, but worry nags the back of my mind as I replay everything that happened.What if it somehow unlocked more of her powers?

I suck in a sharp breath, ready to ask if she’s feeling any different when we step out of the forestry and Nessa plops down onto the grass in a cross-legged position.I must have been lost in my head longer than I realised.

Those liquid gold eyes shift to me. “So are you ready to try to link in with the tree’s magic?”

Deciding to hold off for now, I drop down in front of her and clear my throat. “Yeah.”

“Unicorn you can go for a fly if you want, and I’ll meet you back at my dorm,” Nessa says to her familiar. Unicorn stands up, little claws digging into my shoulder as she stretches. When I give Nessa a questioning look she explains. “I’m feeling a little amped up, magic-wise, and don’t want to have another living being to worry about frying.”

I laugh, and Nessa gives me a tiny smile. Unicorn leaps off my shoulder into the air and vanishes into the trees like she was never here to begin with. She’s quite independent for a familiar.

Nessa’s tongue darts over her lower lip as her focus darts around for a moment as though she’s sensing something. Her brows furrow and I reach out to grip her knee instinctively, to ease her nerves. She jolts at the contact, her attention snapping back to me like I fired a gun rather than initiated contact. I search her expression, fully prepared to remove my hand in case I’ve caused her discomfort, but her hand latching onto mine has the tension draining from my body. She wants my touch. I didn’t scare her. Thank the Goddess. Then again, she’s never outwardly shown any sign of being afraid of me, but I’ve grown accustomed to it. Most people see my size, the scruffy appearance and are uncomfortable or afraid. Judging me before I get to open my mouth. Before any actual interaction with me. That reaction only gets a hundred times worse if they find out that I’m a Lycan.

She makes me forget how people usually react to me. Her natural ease and confidence are intriguing. They’re also part of the reason I’m so attracted to her. I may be able to sense the mate bond, but that is my more primal side’s connection. Though I may not have a different creature inside me like a shifter, I can still separate the urges driven by my other half and the more rational ones that are more human.

I puff out a sigh.Distracted, again. Scrubbing the hand that’s not on Nessa’s thigh, over my face, I try to settle my mind. I’ve barely slept since what happened with Ethan and it’s catching up to me.

I give her knee a gentle squeeze and a tiny smile. “You ready?”

“Yes.” She nods once in affirmation, her lips pinching while a determined glint fills her eyes. There’s the strong girl I know.My mate.

I close my eyes and focus on the well of magic in my chest. It swirls and spits like a rainbow coloured pit of lava, and I mentally will it to chill the fuck out before dragging a thin strand out. I direct it to my hand and send the magic into Nessa. For the rune circle to work, I have to send magic into her and she then directs both mine and hers into the rune. But since we aren’t allowed to activate the actual rune circles until the test, today she’s just working on connecting with the type of magic the rune circle we created will be working with.

I flinch when my magic connects with hers and clench my jaw, biting my tongue in the process, hard enough to taste blood. I swallow down a groan. It’s like a fucking aphrodisiac. Her magic. She tugs on the power I’ve lent her and it’s as though she’s stroked my cock instead. I hiss, sweat dotting my brow as I painstakingly focus on that thin strand of magic she’s linked to, making sure she can’t feel the full extent of my magic. I hold onto it until I’m sure the strength of forcing back the rest of my magic is going to knock me out, but thankfully Nessa stops. My eyes pop open and I suck in deep breaths, my heart hammering in my ears as my crazed gaze locks with hers.

I can tell from the way that her eyes widen that I probably appear to be on the edge of feral and I lean back, trying to calm the hell down.Goddess, Corin, get a grip on yourself. My wilder instincts thrash around in the cage where I keep them locked up and I mentally wrestle with them.No, we can’t mark up her neck with our teeth. Bad, Corin.

She swallows convulsively, her eyes not moving from mine. “Your eyes… They’re so beautiful. Like a rainbow, hmm, no not exactly. That would probably make you a leprechaun. Do they have rainbow eyes? A galaxy, maybe? Yeah that seems more likely. Or like a rainbow galaxy…” her words trail off as I stare at her, my eyebrows practically touching my hairline. But her nervous rambling gives me the distraction I need to get my urges and magic back under control, and some of the tension in my shoulders eases.

“A leprechaun? I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended,” I say slowly. My mind is trying to catch up with all that she said. Damn. That would be a pretty cool supernatural to be if they were still around. Powerful, but shifty little buggers who like to drink too much and swindle you out of your Fae coins.

Getting to my feet, I turn away from Nessa for a moment. I let my head hang forwards and puff out a breath of air. Though our magic is separate again, the thin mate bond connecting us has brightened and a few hesitant buds have popped up along the magical bridge between us. As our bond develops it will grow thicker and stronger with various vegetation growing along it to signify our relationship is flourishing.

My jaw twitches as I peer down at the beautiful woman beside me. If we don’t nurture our budding relationship—whether it’s platonic or not so far—and things go downhill, then it will reflect in our bond and it will begin to die, and if she chooses, Nessa can break our connection.

A pang stabs through my chest at the thought of that happening and I take a few more measured breaths. I force myself back to the present. Forcing a miniscule smile to my lips, I meet Nessa’s eyes over my shoulder. “Are you ready to head back? I think that’s enough for today.”

Pursing her lips, she nods, grabbing her book bag before getting to her feet. She swallows hard, then sends me a grin that doesn’t quite reach her eyes before leaving. Instead of heading to my dorm, I throw my head back and let out a growl.

Goddess, I don’t know how much longer I can keep the knowledge of us being mates contained. I have no problem with her other potential suitors, but every time she’s alone and struggling, I should be there with her. By her side so she knows that she isn’t alone. That no matter what, she has me to lean on and protect her when she’s vulnerable. It just doesn’t feel right to reveal something like that to her now, when I know that I won’t be able to tell her about the real reason I’m at the Academy. Even though she’s my mate, I can’t tell her about my job and it would kill me more to reveal how deep our connection is, then have to lie to her about my work or risk getting pulled. I’ve been working on this forsolong that it would be absolutely devastating to get pulled. There is also the added factor that I would be putting her in so much extra danger by revealing to her that we are mates. Suddenly I’d have a huge weakness for anyone I go up against to exploit.

Restless energy has my skin crawling and I take a few measured breaths, trying unsuccessfully to calm down. “Fuck it.” I let the shift come over me, relishing in the burn as my body morphs to my supernatural form. For a moment the chaotic clash of everything my enhanced senses make me aware of, overwhelms me and I slam my eyes closed, sorting through the hundreds of scents and sounds assaulting me. Turning those I have no use for to white noise, I hone in on my primary focus.Nessa.

My pointed ears twitch as I strain to find her, a smirk pulling at my lips when I do. “Stupid, Mountain Man. Hot one minute, cold the next. And don’t even get me started on my body, Unicorn. The hell was the crazy thing that just happened when my magic touched his? It was like a frickin aphrodisiac to me.”Her muttered words are barely audible as she hisses them to her familiar, but I’m so surprised to hear her say that she could feel her magic reacting to mine, that the rest of the world's sounds drown out her voice. A frown tugs at my brows when the rest of what she said fully catches up with me. Hot and cold?Shit. That wasn’t my intention at all.

Goddess, I haven’t even told her that we’re mates yet and I’m already stuffing all of it up.

Having heard enough and with the comforting knowledge that Nessa is safe with her familiar, I allow my more primal side to come forward and take off at a run, needing to work off my frustration.

Nessa

Pressing the palm of my hand to my forehead, I groan.Goddammit,so much for the whole ‘we’re going to ignore boys until I’ve dealt with my demons’. Peeking at Unicorn again, I can’t help but laugh at the judgemental look she’s throwing my way.Little brat.

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