Page 114 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

I do. I bit back on the comeback.

“We’ll draw more attention to ourselves in beast form,” Seb explained next to me. He hadn’t moved from my side since Silas caught my arm.

Gareth snorted. “We won’t get any marks, either, with all this running and hiding. The three of us could take anyone stupid enough to challenge us, even with the dead weight.” He glanced over his shoulder as he spoke, a beam of light briefly illuminating his grimace.

“Dead weight?” I repeated coldly.

“Slip of the tongue,” he muttered.

Seb spoke before I could. “In any case, we don’t have much room to think about marks if our goal is to keep these three alive. So let’s not worry about it, ‘kay? Not like the marks mean anything, really.”

They did, though. Low marks in a binding trial would impact their standing in the courts and the Academy for the coming year. Low marks might even be enough to push Seb’s family to threaten disinheritance over the debacle with Flora. I bit my lip, my concern swinging wildly from one extreme to the other.

But they’ll survive their low marks, I reminded myself. Freta and Silas, on the other hand, might not survive the trial. I tightened my hold on the both of them, determined not to let them go.

Twice, other students tried to attack us, but when the golden boys stood together, our assailants took off again. A while later, a brawny third-year lunged from the bushes and grabbed Freta’s arm, attempting to drag her off the path. Silas yanked her back and she screamed. Gareth took his jaguar form, grabbed the third-year student by the neck, and tossed him back into the woods.

Nobody tried to attack us after that.

We reached the edge of the Dark Woods shortly after that. Given how dark the forest already was, I was unprepared for how pitch-black the woods beyond were. I knew there were trees only by the flat silhouette they cut against the night sky.

Quincy and the other teachers waited for us. A group of students entered the woods ahead of us, instantly swallowed up by the dark. That wasn’t just a lack of light. That was magic. My stomach twisted and my nerves thrummed. I held Freta and Silas’s hands tightly, wishing I had three more so I could reach out to my mates.

It was painfully ironic, that the safest thing to do was to act as though there was nothing between us, when all I really wanted was to bury myself in the safety of their arms. We might never see each other again, but for the sake of maybe I’ll survive, I couldn’t say my final goodbyes the way I wanted to.

“Welcome, Lords Sebastienne, Gareth, and Jasper,” Quincy said with a bow. “Lady Freta. Mr. Silas. Miss Azriel.” He gestured at Atira, who brought six vials to us. “Drink and lose yourselves. We will all be watching.”

Who else was there? So far I hadn’t seen any sign of the other courts, not like the spectacle that happened with the other trials. A shudder ran down my spine. They had to be watching. But where were they?

“One at a time, please. Drink your potion, step into the woods, and find the Surrender,” Atira said. She held the potions out, her normally cheerful demeanor ice-cold.

Gareth snatched up his potion and tossed it back in one gulp. He gave us a jaunty two-finger salute and sauntered into the trees. I felt something stretch inside of me, as though part of my body was being pulled toward him. Silas drank next, followed by Freta, then Jasper, and finally Seb. He hesitated before he drank his potion and glanced back at me once before stepping into the trees.

I picked up the vial, wishing I’d learned how to cast illusions so I could only pretend to drink it. But there was no faking this. I gulped down the potion, which was surprisingly nutty and sweet. Then I stepped into the woods.

Instantly, I felt myself start to dissolve. My edges frayed. A soft glow emitted from me. I fought to hold on to my shape, but it was like water. I felt myself slipping apart, turning into something I couldn’t recognize. Panic laced through me, but even that quickly started to fade. I fell to my knees, but when I tried to grab hold of myself, my hands disappeared.

“No,” I gasped, horrified. Was this how it ended? I should have held my mates one last time. I should have made love to them. Should have told them that they had given me hope, and that hope had given me so much comfort.

The mate-bond flared in what little was left of my body. I felt something molding me, shaping me. Right ahead, I saw the tendrils of thought and magic swirling and knew it was Seb. A piece of him came near me, and out of desperation, I grabbed hold of it. My body solidified at once, forming perfectly into the wolf I’d come to know so well.

Instantly, it was as though the darkness disappeared. The woods were still tightly packed and dim, but I could see everything perfectly. Seb was nearby, shuddering as he struggled in his wolf form. I hurried to him, whining, and nudged his shoulder.

Seb steadied. He shook out his silvery ruff and looked over his shoulder at me. A jaguar leapt from the trees above us and playfully batted a rock around between his paws while a massive golden dragon solidified to the space right beside me. A badger cowered at his feet, but he gently picked Freta up in his teeth and put her on my back. One of his beautiful icy-blue eyes winked at me.

But where was Silas? I looked around but couldn’t see him. Seb sniffed the air, then threw back his head and howled. He charged forward, and an unspoken understanding went through me and the others.

Jasper took to the air, flying over our heads as Gareth and Seb flanked me. Freta clung to my fur as we raced through these dark woods. Soon, I caught a scent. I knew it was Silas. My claws dug into the ground as I chased after him. Wherever he went, I was not going to lose him.

I wasn’t going to lose any of them.

Chapter 50 - Azriel

Freta kept trembling on my back, her long shovel-claws digging into my skin while she held onto my ruff with her teeth to keep herself from falling. It hurt, but I ignored the pain as I loped through the woods with my mate. The power of the Surrender pulsed through me, stronger than anything I could have imagined. I felt as though I could reach through time and take the form of anyone I’d ever touched, even before I knew I had powers.

Briefly, thoughts of revenge crossed my mind. Going to the orphanage and taking Kili’s form to get him into trouble. Humiliate the matron.

But those thoughts quickly faded. I could see what my mother looked like.