****************
Chapter 117
~Valerie’s POV~
The rest of the day was a blur. By lunch, I just wanted quiet. To not feel the way my skin heated anyti one of them looked at .
It didn’t help how Astra was behaving, either. I so desperately wanted to feel their touch, even if it was for a little bit, to quench this....
I shook my head and the thoughts away.
I slipped into one of the courtyards tucked behind the greenhouse, which students rarely used or visited. It was quiet and shady looking by this ti of day.
But I didn’t care. However, I halted in my steps when my gaze landed on a figure not too far from .
I wasn’t alone.
Judging by his unique scent, I imdiately recognised who it belonged to—Ash Kaid.
Sitting under the old willow, he was already there, flipping through a book. When he looked up, his expression softened.
"Didn’t think anyone else knew about this spot," he stated.
"I needed air," I replied. My voice was too dry and my skin too warm.
I didn’t expect it to hit this fast.
The bond surged suddenly like a wave inside when I ca close to Ash. My heart sped. My hands started shaking.
I took a step back, ready to give him space and hopefully stop this reaction but instead, Astra groaned.
"Stay."
Just one word from her and I was already considering it.
"Feel it, feel him."
"I... Ash—" I breathed. "Sothing’s wrong."
He was at my side in two strides. His hands gripping my arms as his gaze road over like he had once done when he was worried.
But that was not the painful thing. The second he did, sothing inside sparked like my body and blood lit up.
His brows furrowed as he assessed . "Valerie.... Tell , what’s going on? Are you under the weather?" His hand flew to my neck and forehead. "You’re burning up."
But when I looked at him, I was imdiately transported back to my dream. How they wanted and how I wanted them in return. No.
"It’s the matebond. You’re not able to suppress it as well as before."
I tried to step back, but my knees buckled. Thankfully, he was fast and caught gently.
"Ash... I—" My words lted into a soundless gasp. My head spun.
His hands didn’t move, but his voice lowered smoothly. "Valerie, listen to . Breathe. In. Out."
I clung to the sound of his voice. "Think of sothing cold. Ice. Water. Snow. Not ."
My laugh ca out as a choked breath. "You’re not helping."
"Good. Focus harder."
The heat crawled over my skin like wildfire, licking at my spine, burning up my thoughts.
It wasn’t just desire—it was primal need and overwhelming. The bond wasn’t subtle anymore. It scread through my blood, and every inch of responded like it had a mind of its own.
I clutched at Ash without thinking, my fingers curling into his shirt. My breath ca in shallow, ragged pulls, my legs still barely holding.
His hands never left my arms, but they didn’t wander either. They stayed right there, steady like an anchor.
He didn’t move. He didn’t lean in. He didn’t take in his arms to kiss , much like Astra was chanting in my head.
He just stayed by , just like how Kai had refused to give in and that broke sothing in .
The fire rolled through again—wave after wave, threatening to drown in heat and longing—but I clung to the sound of his calm voice as he held up in his arms.
Then, just as suddenly as it ca, the burn stopped.
It did not stop slowly or gradually.
It went out like soone had flipped a switch or extinguished a fla. One mont I was lting, and the next... nothing.
No heat. No pulsing energy. Just... .
Cold sweat clung to my skin. My knees wobbled, but I managed to step back, out of his hold.
I was trembling—shaking, really—but it wasn’t from the matebond anymore.
It was because I’d felt secure. In all of that, when I’d collapsed into his arms, Ash hadn’t taken advantage of it. He hadn’t even let his hands wander. Not once.
Which said so much about his character, compared to how he behaved on a regular basis.
Ash’s jaw flexed as he stepped back, his eyes scanning once more, like he wasn’t convinced I was okay. "You good?"
"Yeah," I whispered, even though I wasn’t sure I ant it.
He gave a short nod. Then, I helped take a better position and dropped my bag on the pavent.
"When you are better, please visit the nurse’s office. I need to head out."
I wanted to protest, wanted to ask him to stay but recalling that dream, I bit back the words and smiled.
Ash picked his book, without another word, he turned, picked up his book and started to leave.
His steps were quiet, asured, but right before he disappeared around the path, he paused and glanced back over his shoulder.
"Check your bag later."
Then he was gone.
I didn’t understand what he ant—until hours later, when I pulled my books out for class.
Tucked between two, folded and nearly missed, was a note written in neat, angled handwriting.
I ant every word. Even if it was the bond talking, I wasn’t.
—Ash
I didn’t know what to feel. We hadn’t talked so much so...? Was there a hidden aning behind those words, or did it simply an he was holding back?
There was a pinch in my chest, sothing hot and painful and soft all at once. I stared at the note until I felt my throat tighten and kept it when another professor walked into the class.
Later, while walking back toward the dorms, I scrolled through our old ssage thread without thinking.
The screen glowed faintly in the dimming light. Nothing new. Just , reading the words over again, as if I could pull aning from the spaces between.
I almost didn’t notice the presence until it brushed by , cold, too cold for the warm evening. The sunset was still bright, but the brooding being behind wasn’t.
I looked up and stopped short.
Dristan.
He was standing just off the path, arms crossed, his gaze pinned to the phone in my hand before it lifted to my face.
His expression didn’t change. Not at first.
Then he asked in a low and tight voice, "So he’s texting you now?"
I blinked at him, still catching up. "What?"
He didn’t repeat himself. Just kept his eyes on , sharp and unreadable. My grip on my phone tightened when I realised he was indeed peaking.
"It’s not your business."
"Funny," he said, not smiling. "Is that what you said when Kai Xade asked you about our kiss?"
Sothing inside curled at that.
I tilted my head. "Are you... jealous?"
He didn’t answer. Not directly. Instead, after a beat of silence, he said, "I don’t have your line. Not even once. But he does."
That’s when it clicked.
His frustration, the stiffness in his voice—it wasn’t about Ash. It was about being left out.
And sohow, that made everything worse or better. I couldn’t tell but I didn’t cajole or pamper him either.
He had several opportunities to ask, but Dristan didn’t.
Reviews
All reviews (0)