5

Dove

Elder Peter cleared his throat. I must have stood there staring at that single word for at least a minute. His expression remained stoic as I was unable to control my wide smile.

"Your blood tests came back with a positive Fated match. As you know, bringing together Fated mates is one of our foremost goals here at Foxfire Academy."

"Who is it?" I asked, shuffling through the papers to find the answer I so desperately needed to know. I had a Fated mate! "Does this mean I'm accepted at the academy?"

"...And the lab also found trace amounts of magic, but considering who you matched with, you'll need to go in for a secondary test to eliminate the chance of errors. You'll find the appointment information in there, as well as your class schedule. Now, I think it's time you were introduced."

"Now?" My hand shot to my hair, the autumn winds tangled the damp mess. In my state of misery from failing the admissions, I hadn't done anything other than lip balm, and he expected me to meet my Fated mate now? "Let me just—"

"Yes. Now." The Elder turned back toward the school before I could respond. He was too important for me to mess things up with, especially now that I attended the academy, so I trotted after him.

Elder Peter had said errors like it was all a mistake. He looked back at me with disappointment as we entered the residence hall and made our way upstairs. "As you may already know, all Fated mates are expected to share a dorm. This provides a safe environment while you get to know each other. It also—"

"Encourages breeding?" I quipped purely to make him uncomfortable.

He frowned disapprovingly, but gave a slow nod. "Of course, there's no pressure, and any inappropriate incidents should be reported directly to me or one of the professors."

"Incidents? Fated mates are the perfect match. The goddess doesn't make mistakes." There was my religious upbringing showing through, saying things I wasn't even sure if I believed myself anymore.

Elder Peter shifted his eyes uncomfortably, nodding vigorously in agreement. "Of course our blessed goddess makes no mistakes, that is true. We do, however. On rare occasions, things have happened. Mostly due to false positives in the blood tests. That's why I expect you to report anything out of the ordinary."

We had stopped in front of a door on the top floor of the Residential Hall. He knocked against the hard wood three times, and we waited in silence. The door swung open.

Kairos, the golden haired impersonating ass, appeared on the other side. His shoulders slumped and he groaned, "She reported us? I swear, I didn't do anything this time."

Him?

Elder Peter shook his head, eyeing me suspiciously, "No, Dove hasn't reported anything. This is about something else. May we come inside to talk?"

Kairos' head jerked up and down as he stepped out of the way. He closed the door behind us and I set my bag down. Two white armchairs flanked a navy blue couch in the small living area, all facing a large flatscreen TV. A small kitchenette was tucked to the side.

Three beds were arranged around the back of the room, windows and a chest of drawers separating each of them. Only one of the beds had been made, the one in the center.

"Are your roommates here?" Elder Peter asked, and Kairos nodded. I exhaled, disappointment or relief, I couldn't tell. So my Fated wasn't Kairos.

"Who was at the door?" The giant emerged from the only door in the dorm. His brown hair still dripped from his shower onto his exposed chest. His muscles rippled as his face disappeared behind a t-shirt he was putting on. When he emerged through the neckhole, his brown eyes met mine. He would do just fine.

"Enko, this is Dove. Elder Peter wanted to talk to us," Kairos said, sending some kind of silent message to his friend.

Enko's face hardened for a second before he recovered, sitting down in one of the white armchairs and keeping his attention focused on Elder Peter, glimpses darting to me occasionally.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Kairos asked. I expected him to be asking the Elder, but his eyes were on me. "We have coffee, water—"

"What's going on?" I asked, sensing the tension in the room.

The Elder sucked his lips in. "This is going to be your new dorm. You have matched with more than one Fated mate. Gentlemen, this is Dove Hawthorn, her element is yet to be discovered. This is Kairos Stryker, Storm fox, and Enko Pierce, Fire fox."

"Aren't the pairings supposed to be of the same element?" I asked.

Elder Peter nodded, "Usually, but—"

The door slammed open. The dark angel appeared. His messy black hair appeared as though he'd woken from a nap. He looked at me, and then to the Elder. "What the fuck is she doing here?"

Kairos stiffened. "Watch it, Seven."

The Elder cleared his throat, "This is your Fated."

Seven, the dark angel, glanced in my direction with disinterest. "As if it wasn't crowded enough in here."

"The academy will do its best to accommodate your unique situation," Elder Peter explained, flinching when Seven's gaze ricocheted his way.

Kairos grinned. "You must have seen this coming, Seven. It's not like you expected to mate with Enko or me."

The devilishly handsome rogue shifted his wrath to Kairos. "Fuck off."

Elder Peter edged toward the door, careful not to startle the trio. I followed after him as though I could escape my fate. He gave me a sympathetic smile, before turning the knob and saying, "I'll leave you all to get to know each other."

He slipped out, closing the door and locking me in with them. Now I understood why he gave me the warning to report anything to him. This certainly wasn't a standard Fated pairing.

When I turned back to the room, three pairs of eyes watched me. One with curiosity, one with uncertainty, and one with disdain. My cheeks heated.

Kairos approached—his palm trying to calm me like a wild horse—giving me a goofy grin, "I'm sorry about earlier. That joke went too far." When I didn't respond, he continued, "It's so good to finally meet you. We've been waiting years to find our Fated mate."

Seven laughed cruelly, his scar scrunched up. "There must be some kind of mistake. You saw her in the arena. We're the best at the academy and she has no fox form, no magic, and no fighting skills. She didn't even pass the fucking test!"

"Because you pass all your tests?" Kairos snapped, his kind demeanor slipping.

"You just wait, she'll be out of here before next week, so don't get too attached to your new little toy," Seven growled. "She can share your bed, since you're so obsessed."

Toy? Share a bed? "I don't know what the hell you guys think is going on here, but I'm not your toy. I'll sleep on the couch until this is sorted out."

Enko rose from the armchair without a word, gazing at the other two with disappointment. When he stood in front of me, he said, "Don't mind these two dicks. They'll grow on you or maybe you'll kill them for me. Either way, you can have my bed until then. The bottom drawer is empty, and I'll clear out more space for you later tonight." He pointed at one of the disheveled beds.

He was definitely the kindest of the three. My heart fluttered as his eyes watched mine. A drop of water fell between us from a strand of his wet hair. Everything else around us had ceased to exist. It was just me and this gigantic gorgeous protector, alone in our own world—

Seven stormed from the dorm room, slamming the door behind him.

"Don't mind Seven, he's like that to everyone. I have to go to practice, but I'll be back later," Enko said, a hopeful shimmer in his eyes, as if to ask, will you be here?

I nodded, holding his gaze. "Practice?"

"For Skirmish, it's a combat sport," he explained. Enko smiled, waving goodbye and leaving me alone with Kairos.

"I'll get your stuff," Kairos said, moving back to where I'd left my bag and picked it up. As I opened my mouth to tell him that I could get it, metal clanked inside, and one of the blades pierced through the worn cotton lining as he jostled the bag over his shoulder, slicing the bottom of the bag open.

A mess of my weapons spilled onto the floor, along with several of my favorite books, and my clothes—both clean and dirty. The embarrassing items sprawled all over the clean beige carpet. I knelt down, hurrying to scrape it all back into the bag.

"Weapons collector, huh?" Kairos joked as he crouched down, beginning to help clean up the mess and put it back into the bag.

My hand darted out to stop him. "I can get it myself."

Touching him surged electricity into my body. I was electrified, every nerve hypersensitive, the foxfire zinging in my veins. I could feel it, just under the surface. A spark of want ignited within me. His hands retreated from our touch, stopping midair, hesitating as our eyes locked into a staring contest. Did he feel it too?

"What was that?" I asked.

Kairos' tongue ran over his lips as he stared down at me. "The foxfire forging our bond." He scratched his head as he returned to his feet, backing away from me. He added my name as an afterthought, "Dove."

His lips wrapped around my name like he caressed it, kissed it. My eyes were drawn to his mouth, and my tongue slipped across my dry lips.

And then he mumbled something about having to go and darted out of the dorm room to escape my presence.