Twelve Mark

After lying in bed for nearly two hours unable to sleep, I decided there was no reason to keep trying. I was too wound up after the incident with Dustin earlier in the day. It was Saturday, so I didn't have any classes to focus on, but I still had plenty of homework to do. My conjuration professor was on a kick the past couple of weeks to give us as much fucking homework as he could muster. It wasn't my focus, but it was one of the required classes for my major, so I had to pass it.

Forcing my exhausted body out of bed, I went over to my desk and pulled out my conjuration textbook, flipping to the chapter on summoning fire. Most movies and television would have people believe that fire is one of the easiest to produce because it's so chaotic and unpredictable. But that's exactly what made it so difficult. Air was everywhere, water was in the air as well, and earth was all around us. They all existed naturally, so they were easy to make a connection with.

Fire, on the other hand, was not everywhere. Instead, it existed in the spaces between the other elements. The trick of the magic was to create enough chaos to cause the fire but catch it before it got out of control. And that was an extremely small window of opportunity. Every workbench in the conjuration classroom was covered in scorch marks, and the room had several built-in layers of fire protection. But those who could learn to control it were often very gifted students.

And I'd be damned if I wasn't going to be one of them.

The first thing I did was blanket the entire room in a simple water conjuration spell. The idea was that if there was any minor surge of magic, it would activate and flood the room in a torrential downpour. While that might be a pain in the ass to clean up, it was a lot better than burning the dorms down. Besides, I'd packed a couple plastic tarps in my suitcase for this spell in particular, knowing I'd be using it. Reaching into the case, I took them both out and threw the first over my belongings. I started to use the second to cover more of my stuff but stopped.

Dustin didn't have a magic suitcase like I did. So, instead of using the tarps to cover my personals, I used them both to cover his side of the room. He may not ever speak to me again after what happened today, but I didn't want his things to get ruined either. Especially his copy of Treasure Island. He seemed to really love that book.

I didn't know why I was so worked up about everything. I didn't need to be a divination witch to know what was going to happen next. Despite what Todd said, I knew Dustin would come back to the room, make a minuscule amount of small talk, ignore me, and go on with his life. Most likely, he'd be moved out by the end of the week. Worst-case scenario, we'd have to live together through the end of the semester, which was only a few weeks away, then he'd be gone. Nothing was going to come of that kiss. It didn't matter what fantasies I had in my head or how many times I jerked off to the thought of him having his way with me. It just wasn't going to happen.

He was a wolf, and I was a witch. There was no way around that.

Taking a deep breath, I did my best to shove all thoughts of him from my mind. I was going to need my full concentration if I wanted to keep this conjuration spell under control. Getting to my feet, I lifted the textbook into the air, letting it float in front of me with a small hover charm. Bending all my will toward the spell, I started to work my way through the incantation.

I was only a quarter of the way through it when the lock turned and the door slowly pushed open. Through the gap came a tuft of short brown hair followed by a pair of green eyes.

It was him.

"Oh," he said, looking a bit thrown off. "I… uh… thought you'd be sleeping."

"Couldn't," I replied, letting go of the spell. My concentration was shot with him around. "Just doing homework."

"Do you want me to leave?"

I shook my head, grabbing the book out of the air. "No. It's fine. You're probably tired."

He stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and walked over to his bed. It was covered by a tarp. He pointed at it, glancing back at me with one eyebrow lifted.

"Precaution," I said simply. "I'm doing conjuration homework."

"Gotcha."

He put his bag down.

Silence.

The tension in the room was palpable. I knew exactly what it meant.

"Mark… I…"

"It's okay," I replied before he could get the words out. "I already know."

He looked up at me, those bright green eyes full of worry. "Y-You do?"

"Yeah. And it's fine. Honestly." I closed my textbook, turning away from him as I placed it back on the shelf. I couldn't look at him while I said this. "I know you've got a lot of pressure on you to be a certain person and achieve certain things. You're straight, and you're a wolf. I can't pretend that what happened this afternoon will change that. It was a mistake, and you just got excited to be back on the team." I took a deep breath, turning to face him once more. "Isn't that right?"

To my surprise, I found myself face to face with him, the heat of his body rolling over me. I caught a whiff of that same musky scent of his, and for the first time, I realized he smelled a bit like old, worn leather warming up in the sun. It was earthy and wonderful. I couldn't help taking a deep breath.

"Most of that is true," Dustin said, his eyes fixed on mine. "But there's things you don't know."

I was mesmerized by the look in his eyes. "Like what?"

"Like what you did for me today."

"I just told the Dean–"

"No, you don't understand," he said, cutting me off. "The game I had tonight was the most important one of my career."

"It was?"

He nodded. "There were no less than five scouts there tonight. And three of them came up to talk to me after the game. If you hadn't talked to the Dean when you did, I would've missed my only opportunity to show them what I was made of."

"Oh."

"And…" He took a deep breath. "And the only reason I was so good on the field tonight was because… well, because of you."

I stared at him, my brows furrowed in confusion.

"This is going to sound crazy, but I realized something about you today that I've been worried about for some time. I tried to hide it, but I can't anymore." He stepped closer, his hands going to the sides of my face. His touch was delicate and full of care. "I think…" He shook his head. "No. I know that you are my mate."

My heart did a backflip in my chest.

"I… I'm your what?"

"I know… it feels crazy. But there's no denying it anymore. I know what I feel, and it's the mate bond." He stroked my cheek softly with his thumb. "You know what that is, right?"

Of course I fucking knew what that was! It was one of the big mysteries about paranormals like us. Some species, like werewolves and some fae, felt a particular sensation called a mate bond. They believed this to be some sort of fated destiny that their life partner had been pre-ordained by the gods themselves or the moon or whatever they believed in. Some didn't believe in such a thing. However, there was too much magical proof of its existence to deny that it happened.

And, if I was being honest, I'd felt something toward Dustin. It was like a magnetic pull, a deep-seated attraction that really had no explanation. Witches only felt that sort of thing when they'd found their familiar. If I thought about it, familiars and mate bonds were just two sides of the same coin. Except when it came to familiars, witches had to solidify the bond through magic.

I wasn't sure I was ready to jump right into that.

"Are… Are you sure?" was all I could manage to ask, my mind still reeling from the shock.

"I'm sure," he said simply. "I know that I've been straight up until now, and I'm scared to fucking death… but I can't keep denying this. I… I need to kiss you again." He paused, his thumb still stroking my cheek. "If that's okay with you?"

He sounded so frightened and I couldn't help a small smile. I wanted him to kiss me more than anything and for this fantasy of mine to come true. We had all the motivation we needed. Even just standing this close to him, I could feel the intense heat of his body and the pulse of his racing heart in his fingertips. Everywhere he touched me sparked with the flame of desire. I needed him, too.

I nodded, the movement so tiny that only he would've been able to see it.

Dustin closed his eyes, leaning forward, and pressed his lips to mine.

An explosion of fireworks lit up in my body, all my nerves coming alive at once. Electricity shot down my spine, and the butterflies in my stomach erupted into a whirlwind of wingbeats. I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. Opening my mouth, I let him inside, feeling his tongue swirling around my own.

The sensation was so overwhelming and so pleasurable that I didn't notice the surge of magic building up within me. Before I knew it, my feet were no longer touching the ground. I pulled back, just for a moment to glance down as a burst of golden sparks erupted in the air around us. We both laughed, the magic tickling our skin as it bounced off.

But the next moment, they were snuffed out as there was a loud crack overhead, and the entire room was doused in a sudden torrential downpour. We fell back to the floor as the cold rain washed over us, barely managing to keep our feet underneath us. All the air left my lungs as I clung to Dustin, still staring into his green eyes as we were soaked to the bone.

Just as soon as the rain started, it was over, and the entire room was drenched in nearly an inch of standing water.

"Oops," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed that I'd forgotten about that spell in case something caught on fire. "My bad."

But Dustin didn't say anything. He just laughed and laughed. And I couldn't help but laugh right along with him. Everything was soaked, water squished on the floor as we rocked back and forth in each other's arms. But neither of us cared as our eyes met once more. All that mattered was us.

The mess could wait.