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Donovan leans against the lockers with his arms crossed over his chest and one booted foot pressed to the bottom locker next to mine. “Kaleb is going to be pissed that you got rid of the evidence.”
After dropping my backpack to the ground, I shrug and start putting my combination in. “This isn’t Gina and her goons. It’s just some people who are pissed about Bree and Felix—another golden couple I ruined.”
He frowns. “Another?”
I trade my books out of my backpack for ones I’ll need over the weekend. “Yeah, I’m still getting blamed for Rachel and Kaleb, despite the fact they were broken up before I arrived.”
“Fucking idiot should have told her the truth from the beginning instead of sugarcoating why he dumped her,” he grumbles, staring across the hall at the locker that once held a giant dent from Kaleb’s fist.
Glancing up at him, I offer him an amused smile. “That he’s part angel and hates lying? I’m pretty sure at least some of that is against the rules.”
“No, that she’s boring as fuck, and he can do better,” he states with surprising sincerity.
My smile grows as I zip up my backpack. “Careful, that almost sounded like a compliment.”
“Kaleb is the dumbest smart person I know, and so criminally repressed that it’s painful to watch, but with you, he’s…” His leather jacket creaks as he shrugs. “I don’t fucking know… more alive, I guess.” He runs a hand through his raven black hair that has grown shaggy over the past couple months. “As long as I’ve known him, he’s never thrown a punch outside of training. Then you came along, and he decked two different people for disrespecting you.”
Closing my locker door, I press my forehead against the cool metal of the one above it and groan. “You do realize that’s a bad thing, right? I don’t want anyone hitting people to defend my honor.” My stomach twists as I recall last Saturday night, which ended with Connor on the ground and Kaleb furious above him. “Especially your best friends.”
Donovan stands up so he can crouch down next to me. “Angel, what Connor did was beyond fucked up. If Kaleb hadn’t knocked his ass to the ground, I probably would have done worse when I found out the truth. Knowing what I do about mate bonds, I thought it was consensual.”
“He didn’t force me to leave a part of myself within him. I wanted to do that,” I explain, my voice tight. “I just didn’t understand doing that plus the bite would make us mates. I didn’t even know mates were a real thing in a magical, supernatural sense.”
He flexes his hands on his knees, and under his breath, mutters, “I’m going to fucking end him the next time we spar.”
My head snaps up, and I beg, “Please don’t. I know how bad it sounds, and trust me, I was furious when I found out, but we really did work it out. I made the choice to keep the bond.”
“Sorry, that’s not how this works.” He gives me a measured look and sighs. “Look, I’m glad you figured your shit out, but we’re still going to be mad about it for a while.”
“That’s what Felix said,” I state as a guilt-ridden lump sits heavy in my stomach, “but I hate that you guys are fighting because of me. I don’t want to get in the way of your friendship.”
“You aren’t,” Donovan insists, frustration lacing his words. “We’d be pissed if Con did this to anyone, but it’s worse that he did it to you.”
“Because of what I am?” I ask, recalling how Kaleb pointed out that we really don’t know how being mate bound will affect me in the future.
He gets an exasperated expression and looks like he wants to shake sense into me. “No, not because of what you are, but because of what’s been done to you. The council bound your magic when you were a child, and then sent you to live in the human world with a fucking unhinged asshole who literally locked you away to torture you.” Barely contained anger vibrates through his body. “Others have been taking from you for their own fucked up gains your whole life. We were supposed to be different.”
“Oh,” I reply quietly, feeling raw from the way he so succinctly summed up the root of why it hurt so much that Connor did what he did.
Tucking a crooked finger underneath my chin, he lifts it until I’m looking directly into his eyes. “None of this is your fault.”
My mouth turns down at the corners, and my bottom lip wobbles. “It feels like it is. If I hadn’t said anything—”
“Secrets don’t stay secret forever,” Donovan interrupts, pressing his thumb into my chin to give me a little shake. “Eventually, we would have found out and been even more pissed. Keeping secrets in our group doesn’t go well for us.”
“You’re right,” I relent, thinking of how many times our lies of omission have had nearly deadly consequences.
His lips twist into a cocky grin. “I know. I’m always right.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I counter with a huff of a laugh.
Donovan releases me, stands up, and holds out his hand. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. I’m tired of this place.”
I take his hand and let him pull me up, my feet tingling from crouching for so long. While continuing to hold onto his hand, I reach down to grab my backpack and hoist it over my shoulder. “Me too, honestly. I used to love school, but with everything going on, it’s hard to focus these days. Thank the goddess that it’s only one more month until summer break.”
“Yeah,” he replies, his expression tight.
Squeezing his hand, I frown up at him. “You seem less than enthusiastic for three whole months of sunshine and no homework.”
