8. If Anyone Can, A Sigma Can

Isobel feltlike hives had erupted all over her skin, but she was at least convinced that they could no longer hear her thoughts or feel her emotions because Elijah’s gaze had turned assessing again, and not one of them had flinched as she wondered if she should offer up herself in place of any outside options.

That would have been an insane thing to say.

“We need to address the obvious,” Elijah sighed out. “What if Isobel wants to develop sexual relationships with several of us at the same time?”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t so insane.

“To appease the bond?” she asked, just to be clear.

Elijah cut her a flat look. “No.”

“No?” She froze, the word almost getting stuck in her throat.

“Because you want to be fucked, Isobel.” Those words delivered in Elijah’s calm, almost cutting tone, were doing strange and confusing things to her insides. “That’s why you would fuck someone.”

“Oh.” She relaxed somewhat, her colour rising again. “Yeah, sorry. I don’t really know how all this works.”

“Nobody is trying to force you into marriage so they can turn you into your moth—” Moses cut himself off, but it was too late.

“I wouldn’t marry you anyway,” she snarled at him.

“But you’d fuck me,” he snapped right back, rising from his chair. “Just as long as it doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“What else would it mean!” Her words were shrill, and Mikel cut her and Moses a quelling look, making her want to shrivel up.

“It would mean that touching you lights me on fire,” Moses growled, advancing on her, his eyes flashing black. “It would mean I would crawl out of my own skin to get inside you. Hypothetically,” he tacked on, pausing his strides and holding up his hands, turning partially toward where he must have sensed Theodore leaping out of his chair. “Just as an example. Anyway, we’re done with this meeting, right? I have shit to do.”

“Not yet.” Kalen’s expression had become blank and terrifying again. “There’s still the issue of the teleporting side effect. If Isobel teleports to one of us, there’s no chance of sneaking her onto the fire trail. We’ll be completely exposed.”

“One of us has to be glued to her at all times and the bond must be kept satisfied,” Elijah said, flashing the jewel to the room. “Our first priority needs to be keeping this shining pure gold.”

“Give it to me,” Mikel demanded, striding over to the couch. Elijah handed over the artefact and Mikel slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll keep an eye on it and pull everyone up if there’s a problem. It’s absolutely essential that Isobel has one of us by her side—preferably touching her in some way—throughout the day. After a few days of letting the AI system record us, there should always be someone in her bed, unless she needs some alone time. If that’s okay with everyone?”

The Alphas nodded, and Isobel bobbed her head along with them, but then cleared her throat nervously. “Actually … I was wondering if it might be a good idea to talk to Maya.”

“The Guardian?” Gabriel asked.

“It’s risky.” Elijah sighed. “But so is the bond. It could expose us at any second. I think the Guardian can be trusted. She tested the first soul artefact—risking her position and safety to keep the results of her test hidden—and she didn’t tell the officials about what actually happened in the chapel. She was questioned quite extensively too.”

At Isobel’s confused look, he tacked on: “I hid a camera in their cottage.”

“Of course you did,” she muttered. “So? Can I talk to her?”

Mikel and Kalen shared a look, both of them frowning.

“Take Niko with you,” Kalen finally said. “He’ll be able to tell if the Guardian is lying about anything. Don’t tell her the whole story, but you can tell her that you’re bonded to more than one person, and that those people are here with you. She’s going to assume it’s some of us, but don’t give her any names.”

“Understood,” Isobel said.

“All right, then we’re done,” Kalen answered. “Isobel, Moses, and Theo, hang back.”

Cian made a beeline for Isobel, tugging her from the desk and into a hug. It was fast, but it made her head spin and her breath catch as she was briefly doused in his sun-baked ocean scent.

“We can talk later,” he promised, and immediately, her chest pinched.

She more than wanted that. She needed that.

“Okay,” she croaked as he left the room.

“You two should go on this tour with Isobel,” Mikel said, somehow knowing exactly why Kalen had asked Moses and Theodore to stay back. “You’re the most agitated right now. Use this time to stay close to her and try to settle the fuck down before you lose your shit on camera.”

“I feel like I’m going to tear out of my fucking skin.” Theodore spoke roughly. “I don’t know if I can play it up for a whole tour.”

“You’re going to manage it,” Mikel responded calmly. “And you aren’t going to go for each other’s throats. Learn to play nice in this situation and learn it fast. We want to see the Kane brothers doting on the Princess of Ironside. We want half the population dreaming about being in Isobel’s place and the other half dreaming of being one of the Alphas. Sell the dream and sell it well.”

Isobel straightened her shoulders. “I can do that.”

“You can be doted on, can you, rich girl?” Moses drawled.

Theodore twitched, but then shed his agitation in the blink of an eye, brushing back his unruly dark hair with a peaceful, unaffected expression arranged on his stunning features.

It was borderline terrifying.

Isobel stepped toward Moses, trying her best to shed her agitation the way Theodore had, though she was sure she wasn’t anywhere near as good as him. She tugged on the front of Moses’ shirt, knowing that despite all of his blustering, he always clutched at her in some way when she put her body within his reach.

“I can be,” she said, blinking up at him. “You don’t want to dote on me?”

His dark eyes narrowed into slits, his hands lifting like he was about to grab hold of her before he blinked and stepped back, his eyes widening on her face. “You’re a little too good at that. Theo is rubbing off on you.”

“That’s my girl.” Theodore tucked her under his arm, steering her toward the door. “Ready for your tour?” It seemed that as soon as he had donned his mask, he was back in character, ready to perform before they were even in front of the cameras. Maybe it was the only way he could hold it together.

The tour wasover the top. Two officials turned up with an entire film crew who followed them around in a separate golf cart, despite cameras already filming them from every angle. She was pressed between Moses and Theodore in the back of the first golf cart, clutching a crystal champagne flute in one hand and a chocolate macaron in the other, her stomach too full of butterflies to consume either. Moses downed his own glass and then hers, and when he realised she wasn’t going to eat the macaron, he took that too. Theodore waved away the offer of more refreshments and pulled up the map of Ironside onto one of the dorm tablets, dropping it onto Isobel’s lap.

“Where to first?” he asked.

She chewed on her lip, tracing the roads and pathways, reading all the labels and quickly orienting herself with the layout. “Could we finish up here?” she asked, pointing to a small building marked The Chapel. “It would be nice to visit it and then walk home from there.”

“Absolutely,” one of the officials answered. “We’ll start at Ironside Row and go from there.”

They didn’t go into any of the buildings on Ironside Row—since they were still closed until the official start of the semester, but they cruised past the pillared, grand facades, reading the polished brass plaques over each of the entrances.

The Den.

Pixel Play.

The Hunt.

The Teller.

Trend or Die.

Reputation Race.

“What do all those signs mean?” Isobel asked, leaning over Theodore in an attempt to peer through the windows.

Theodore leaned back slightly, his hand falling to the base of her spine, hot and heavy, making her stomach squirm.

“You’ll have to wait and find out!” the official in the passenger seat exclaimed gleefully.

Isobel exchanged a look with Theodore, and they fell into companionable silence as they rolled all the way to the end of Ironside Row and then turned, heading back toward the main lake. They made a left, passing a long line of tall hedges.

“The Delta Maze,” one of the officials said. “Dorm D is surrounded by a maze, with most of the dorm underground and only the common areas above ground. There were height restrictions in this area, so we couldn’t build any high rises. And that’s still part of Jasmine Quarter.” The official pointed to the right, where an elaborate garden extended from the main lake. They looped Jasmin Quarter, moving to the other side, passing the dining hall and Market Street, the restricted areas by the entrance of the academy, and then they hugged the other side of Jasmine Quarter before branching off to the left and driving for a little while until they hit the fitness complex, which sprawled an impressive distance of interconnected buildings and outdoor areas.

“We have extensive spa and recovery facilities,” the official boasted. “As well as private climbing rooms, private training studios, a fake beach with a wave rider, a vertical wind tunnel for skydiving, a bouldering canyon with natural rock formations, biometric sleep pods, VR adventure rooms, and a vertical dance studio with hoops, poles, and silks.”

“No antigravity chambers?” Moses joked.

The officials laughed, the driver remarking, “Quite impressive, isn’t it?”

They did another loop, passing another maze on their way back to Jasmine Quarter. “The Beta Maze,” the officials explained, prattling on about all the engineering marvels that had been performed to build most of Dorms B and D underground. They travelled to the eastern point of the campus, passing Dorm O, which was not ensconced in a maze, and the library, which was a sprawling, four-level building hugged by a thick forest.

“And that brings us to the end of the tour!” the official announced, after cutting through a tree-lined road to end up at the chapel, not far from the library.

The chapel was a simple building, unlike every other structure they had seen. It had plain, whitewashed sandstone walls and a gently sloping roof of weathered tiles. The simple, white-painted entrance door was flanked by large, stained glass windows, impossible to see through. A narrow stone pathway stepped up to the front door from the cobbled road, forking off to wind through the cute, manicured garden to a second building attached to the side of the chapel. The gardens and the ivy climbing up the white stone produced a calming, tranquil air that had Isobel’s tense shoulders inching down slightly.

The film crew departed after dropping them at the chapel, surprising Isobel. She had expected everyone to follow them inside while she struggled to find a way to talk to Maya or Sophia privately. Moses caught her wrist before she stepped up to the door, allowing Theodore to go first. Moses stepped up close behind her, sandwiching her between him and his brother as they entered the cosy space. The scent of wood polish and beeswax was strong in the air as sunlight filtered through the stained glass to lighten up the small, semi-private prayer niches along the sides of the room.

There were five of them on each side, a small altar in each space, a candle set atop with matches beside it. Each little booth had a tall banner above it, depicting what Isobel could only guess was one of the Gifted gods.

“Carter,” Maya’s voice called out, and the woman appeared from behind a cupboard door. “Oh. Gods. It’s nice to see you.” She closed the cupboard with a snap and hurried over before pausing and holding up a finger. “Sophia will want to see you. Come next door, won’t you?”

Isobel nodded, nonplussed. Were there no cameras in the chapel? She couldn’t spot any.

Maya smiled, hurrying the rest of the way over and capturing Isobel’s hands. She squeezed them and then dropped one of them, using the other to pull Isobel toward a door at the back of the chapel.

“Hello to you both, of course,” she tossed over her shoulder, apparently talking to Theodore and Moses.

Moses scoffed quietly, half in amusement and half in surprise. Theodore stepped between Maya and Isobel before they could move more than a few steps, taking hold of both their arms and gently separating Maya’s grip from Isobel’s wrist. He dropped Maya’s arm immediately.

“Sorry,” he said plainly, looking about as apologetic as a stone.

“Oh.” Maya waved him off. “Not a problem. I’m sorry. Come on.”

She led them into the attached residence, which was small and cluttered, boxes overflowing with books and other objects.

“I apologise for the mess.” She spoke over her shoulder. “We only arrived today. They almost replaced me. I heard Professor West pulled some strings to keep me here. I’ll have to thank him later.”

“He’d prefer if you didn’t,” Theodore said, still in that emotionless voice.

“Well.” Maya eyed him, and then Moses. “Pass on the message, won’t you?”

“Will do,” Moses grunted.

“Isobel!” Sophia dropped a box onto the small dining table as they walked into the kitchen. She raced across the room and pulled Isobel into a hug that Theodore and Moses seemed to bear with gritted teeth. “You’re okay! We were so worried! I couldn’t text you all summer because the officials took our devices. They said they’d mail them here after we were cleared from questioning and everything, but so far nothing?—”

Maya pulled her daughter back, watching Moses and Theodore over Sophia’s head, her mahogany eyes weary. “Put the kettle on.” She gave Sophia a push toward the kitchen.

“It’s good to see you,” Isobel said as Sophia rolled her eyes at the looks on the Alphas’ faces. “I’m also happy you guys are okay.”

“Hello to you guys too,” Sophia said pointedly, flouncing past Theodore and Moses. Their eyes had already snapped back to Maya—presumably because she was standing closest to Isobel.

“Is there anything we can do to make you both more comfortable?” Maya asked them, picking up on their stony expressions and tense bodies.

“Yes, stop him.” Theodore pointed to the door, to where Luis had appeared, dropping a box and launching himself toward Isobel.

Maya deftly intercepted, picking him up and swinging him into her arms. He gripped her, unfazed, his huge eyes flicking between Isobel and the Alphas.

“Carter,” he squeaked, his glasses threatening to tip right off the end of his little nose. He still hadn’t grown into them. “You came to visit. I told them you’d come to visit today.”

“Yes, you did, mi Cielito.” Maya pinched his chin. “You’re very smart.”

Luis beamed. “I said the scary demons too?—”

Maya slapped a hand over Luis’ mouth, plopping him into one of the dining chairs without so much as an eye twitch.

“Did he just…,” Moses muttered, trailing off.

“Sure did, demon boy.” Isobel winked at Moses, who narrowed his eyes on her, catching her arm before she could skip away from him to sit at the table with Maya and Luis. “No cameras?” He directed the question to Maya over her head.

“No, not here or in the chapel. I convinced them it was against the Gifted religion.”

“Elijah said you were smart.” Moses tugged Isobel to the table, pulling out a chair for her and settling his arms on her shoulders when she sank down.

Theodore pulled a chair beside hers, sitting close and laying a large, possessive hand over her thigh. They were acting just as surrogates should—from Isobel’s understanding, anyway—but Maya observed it all with a keen eye.

“Tea, everyone?” Sophia called over her shoulder.

“Carter likes coffee,” Luis chirped, a smug look on his face. “You’d know that if you watched Ironside like I do.”

“And you two?” Sophie ignored her little brother, directing the question to Moses and Theodore. Although she added as an afterthought, “I watch the highlights.”

“Coffee for us,” Theodore answered, flashing Sophia one of his camera-ready, superstar smiles. She must have won some points with him for basically saving Isobel’s life in the chapel.

She blinked at him, seeming stunned for a moment, before shaking her head and gathering what she needed to fix their drinks.

“So, let’s cut to the chase.” Maya folded her arms over her chest. “You aren’t just here to check on us.”

“What makes you think that?” Moses challenged.

Maya sat back, tapping her bicep with a neatly manicured finger. She considered the three of them silently, and just when it seemed like she was about to say something, there was a knock on the door leading from the kitchen. Sophia moved to answer it, revealing a tidy little porch and a very tall Alpha.

“Hi,” Niko said. “I’m here for Carter.”

Maya’s lips curved. “Of course you are.” She stood, indicating a free chair, and Niko strode into the now-crowded room, dragging the chair to Isobel’s other side. He pushed his big thigh immediately against hers, jiggling it unconsciously, his arm stretching out across the back of her chair. Moses shoved his arm off, and he let his hand fall to her thigh instead.

Isobel cast him a concerned glance.

It wasn’t like Niko to insist on touching her, and this wasn’t a show of surrogacy for Maya, because Niko wasn’t supposed to be one of her surrogates and she doubted Maya could even see where his hand was resting beneath the table. Isobel subtly slipped her hand from her lap to cover his, and he immediately turned his palm, twisting their fingers together tightly. So tightly it was almost painful.

“Is this everyone now?” Maya asked, hiding her smile behind her cup of tea. Sophia set a cup of coffee in front of each of them, some of the lively energy dropping out of her as she nervously stood behind her brother’s chair and divided her attention between Moses—who was likely glowering over Isobel’s head—to Theodore—whose body felt far too tense to her right—to Niko, who was shifting and fidgeting in his chair.

“Unless you’re expecting anyone,” Moses answered.

His tone was far too combative, so Isobel leaned forward, clearing her throat. “You’re right. We did have another reason for visiting—but I would have visited anyway. I’ve been … compromised this summer. I didn’t have access to my phone and then I was too sick?—”

“Bond sick?” Maya inserted, her back straightening in alarm.

Instead of answering, Isobel sucked in a breath. “We think we can trust you.” She glanced at Sophia. “Can we?”

Maya exchanged a loaded look with her daughter, who nodded slightly. The Guardian heaved in a steadying breath, setting down her tea. “Let me take the leap first. My Alpha ability is seeing auras. The officials think it’s some wishy-washy nonsense, but it’s far more than that. I can see when people are linked—similar in nature, like you and Sophia, or like Kane and Hart.” She gestured between Theodore and Niko. “But I can also see when people are tied together, like the four of you.” She paused, making sure they were properly absorbing the weight of her statement before adding, “And when those ties are incomplete, as they are now.”

“Christ,” Isobel spluttered, at the cool, calm, and collected way Maya had just revealed that she already knew everything.

“I’ve told nobody,” Maya assured them. “Not even the bond specialist—though that woman has pure intentions, if you were wondering. I can’t give you specifics—this isn’t a mind-reading ability—but her soul is pure and well-meaning.”

“Tell us exactly what you think you know.” Niko’s demand was soft and polite, but it was still a demand.

“I know that Carter is half-bonded to you three,” Maya announced. “Plus Kalen West and Elijah Reed. I suspect Oscar Sato, Kilian Grey, and Cian Ashford as well—not because I’ve seen it, but because I do know some of the Ironside rumours, and your friends would be dead if they weren’t included in this bond, from how close they are to her. Alphas more than the other ranks cannot abide people touching their mates.”

“Why haven’t you told anybody?” Isobel asked. “Your life, your career, your position at Ironside, it would all be over if they found out you kept something like this from them. You could be imprisoned, or worse, for anti-loyalist behaviour.”

“Because I am a Guardian,” Maya returned calmly, watching Isobel with a steady expression. “The half-bonded and fully-bonded are the most coveted, most protected people of our religion. They are chosen by the gods.”

“Chosen for what?” Theodore sounded dubious.

“To serve the gods in whatever way the gods decide.” Maya shrugged. “That’s not for us to know. And it’s not something we have a choice in. But it’s believed that those who try to harm the bonded people will suffer the gods’ wrath—and they can be quite wrathful.”

“If they’re so wrathful, why are their people stuffed into settlements?” Moses asked casually, his fingers tapping agitatedly against Isobel’s collarbones.

“The gods do not exist to serve us.” Maya surveyed the four of them with a hint of exasperation. “We are talking about ancient, cognizant beings who haven’t been seen or heard of since ancient times—and even during ancient times, their goal was never to help us. All we have to go on are statues, carvings, paintings, and translated texts, and our main goal is just to not piss them off. The bonded were always thought to be their chosen, but if you want my honest opinion? Whoever decided Carter would be bonded to so many Alphas was fucking with us—excuse the language.”

“Well now this is a theory I can get behind.” Theodore sounded amused.

Isobel frowned. “Fucking with like … all Gifted people?”

“They do these things.” Maya waved a hand. “Always have. When they aren’t worshipped enough, they cause chaos, hoping to terrify us into compliance. We used to be their favourites, the bonded people?—”

“We?” Isobel interrupted, frowning. “You’re bonded? But your eyes …”

Maya smiled kindly as Isobel trailed off. “All Gifted are bonded people, Carter. The gods decided, one day, that they would bless a section of the human population, giving them abilities and soulmates, and then blessing them with gifts when they found their soulmates. The bonded were supposed to be their temple servants, but …” She lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “Humans have always been greedy and lazy, and jealous more than anything else. They started hunting the bonded in the 16th century, and this is the result of that.” She waved a hand at the table, not really indicating anything in particular. “So now I suspect the bonds are punishments more than anything, though it’s impossible to tell one way or another. Aphelina is just as likely to bless a couple with a bond to see love blossom as Moros is, just to see the couple fail to be together at the moment of the Tether’s death. The only thing I’m sure of is that disrespecting their chosen people will make them even angrier.”

“The gods are cruel and mean,” Sophia suddenly interrupted. “What’s new there? Can we go back to this clusterfuck of a bond? Are there more? Is Spade in on this too?”

“All the Alphas of Dorm A, including both professors,” Isobel informed them, seeing no point in lying. All Maya needed to do was catch sight of her standing near Mikel or Gabriel and she would know, and this fragile trust they had established between them would be broken.

Luis was counting slowly on his fingers, his brow furrowed in deep confusion. Sophia’s elegant brows had shot up to brush her fringe. Maya didn’t look surprised, but she did seem perplexed.

“I don’t see how this is going to work,” Maya said frankly. “Not with ten Alphas. To be completely honest, I don’t even see it working with ten Omegas, but especially with Alphas. We’re known to be more aggressive than the other ranks—and I’ve heard things about what happens when more than a few Alphas start to live together in groups.”

“Well …” Niko shifted, his fingers flexing in Isobel’s grip. “That’s unfortunate because we really need your help. If Isobel teleports to one of us at this academy, with cameras in the fucking bushes, we’re all done.”

Maya sighed, nodding her understanding. “Yes, that particular bond side effect might just be your downfall. Have you considered completing the bond?”

“With who?” Theodore gritted out.

“Anyone.” Maya’s eyes flashed at him, a subtle warning not to get too aggressive in her kitchen—likely for the sake of her children. “Maybe just one of you?”

“Would that even do anything?” Isobel asked.

“There was a case, actually …” Maya rose from the table suddenly, her attention distracted as she began to rummage through the boxes piled against the wall.

“Looking for your diary?” Sophia guessed, pointing to a box on the kitchen counter.

Maya crossed to the box and fished out a green notebook, flipping through the pages. “So I did a bit of research, trying to find examples of where a Tether might have attached to several Anchors, and I found this old newspaper article in the archives of the Ironside library. Yes, here.” She tapped a page in her notebook, her finger scrolling across her own handwriting as she sat back down.

“There was a man in the 1930s—they called him John—who was experiencing severe side effects from resisting a bond to one of his childhood friends—they called her Jane—because he was secretly in love with a man he was exchanging letters with from another settlement. It was all quite scandalous, as you might expect.” She briefly glanced at them over the top of her diary. “So John eventually bonded Jane, hoping to ease the side effects for both of them. They had a cutting ceremony where a doctor was called in to make small, surgical incisions to scar them. It was all the rage back then. He ignored all letters from the man he was truly in love with—who they called Dave in the article—in an attempt to be loyal to his new wife, but the bonding didn’t work. The side effects grew worse. People assumed it was because he was being disloyal to his wife, that he was committing some sort of soul infraction. But, you see, what happened …” She trailed down her notes. “Was that six months earlier, John and Jane had been visiting a family member in another settlement. That visit was when John and Dave met.

“On their last night, there was some sort of incident which Jane narrowly escaped from, and shortly after, Dave had a cardiac event and entered his Death Phase, Tethering himself to John and Jane. All of their eyes changed, but because of Jane’s incident, and because John and Dave were so in love, they resisted telling each other about their half-bonded status. None of them realised that there was a third person in their bond. And since Dave was the Tether, he unfortunately passed away before it was figured out.”

“Are you saying that we should mark up Isobel instead of each other?” Moses asked dryly. “Because I believe those instructions were already clear.”

Maya snapped her diary closed, placing it onto the table. “I’m saying that their side effects drastically changed when they did something with the bond. There’s a good chance that Isobel’s side effects will change if she completes the bond with someone. They might lessen.”

“That’s your only suggestion?” Niko asked, his frustration leaking through, though it was easy to tell from his tone that he was frustrated more at the situation than at the Guardian.

Maya picked up her tea again, sipping it delicately. “I’m afraid so. Bonding magic is incredibly complicated, but in some ways, it’s also very simple. If you want it to back off, you need to give it what it wants.”

“I’m sorry but—” Sophia sucked her lips together, apparently embarrassed by the way the words had just exploded out of her, before she continued in a more measured tone. “What’s the big deal? Just complete the bond with everyone. It’s not like any of you are free to go off and live your lives the way you want anymore. And if you complete the bond and one of you wins the Ironside Show, isn’t there some sort of rule that the person’s mate is considered an extension of their household?”

“We have other plans to stay together that don’t involve us irrevocably tying our souls together,” Moses shot back calmly.

“And because there’s one of Carter and ten of us,” Theodore added. “Not even the gods can make that math work.”

“Gods?” Sophia clucked her tongue. “No. But Sigmas? If anyone can anticipate and counteract the needs of ten aggro dudes, it’s a Sigma.”

Isobel snorted, and Sophia sent her a wink, flipping her shiny black bob in a flourish. “Far as I’m concerned, one Sigma is absolutely equal to ten Alphas.”

For the first time since entering the room, Moses’s grip on Isobel’s shoulders relaxed, and Theodore’s hold on her thigh eased, both of them seeming to deflate with a single breath. Even Niko flexed out his fingers, allowing hers a short break.

“I see we don’t have any arguments there,” Sophia preened, far too pleased with herself.

Luis grinned at her, like he was proud that she was proud, but didn’t fully understand what battle she had just won.

“You know we need to be more popular before we try anything like that.” Theodore shook his head. “Right now, it would be too easy for the officials to make us disappear without consequence while they experiment on this bond phenomenon.”

There wasn’t much for them to say after that. They needed to think about their options and discuss it as a group, so they thanked Maya and returned to the chapel. Sophia promised to text Isobel as soon as she had her phone back, and the four of them began walking back through the trees. They all pulled out their phones as Niko began sending a barrage of texts to the group chat, filling everyone in on what had happened.

After several minutes of walking in silence, a reply finally came through.

Kalen (admin): First of all, is this something you would consider, Isobel?

Her heart immediately jumped into her throat, everything within her screaming at her to say no, but she couldn’t allow her trauma with her father to inform all of her adult decisions, so instead, she forced herself to think about it logically. As they passed out of the thicker forest and headed toward the dining hall, which was welcoming scattered groups of students, Isobel finally responded.

Isobel: I would prefer to have a full bond than to be subject to questioning by the officials, but only if the person I am bonded to is willing and won’t resent me for it.

Kalen (admin): Is this something anyone else would consider?

Theodore was already tapping away at his screen.

Theodore: I have no issue with it.

Kilian: I’m okay with it.

Cian: I would also rather be bonded than the alternative.

Oscar: Same.

Moses: Same.

Niko: Same.

Gabriel: I won’t refuse.

Elijah: I won’t be refusing either.

Isobel almost tripped over her own feet, but managed to keep her shock under control, tucking her phone against her stomach as they passed a group of students. As they rounded the main lake, she pulled up her phone again.

Isobel: I know we agreed to tackle this as a group … but I’m finally starting to realise what that means. I’m grateful. Thank you.

Mikel (admin): That was the easy part, Carter.

Mikel (admin): Now we narrow it down, assuming you aren’t going to pick your favourite Alpha.

Isobel: I’d rather impale myself on one of the thousand pillars or iron gates around here.

Kilian: Why don’t we just draw a damn name out of a hat or something?

Cian: Yeah, a friendly game should settle this. What’s a little competition between Alphas?

Moses: Very funny.

Moses: Actually …

Cian: Now you want to compete for it, don’t you?

Elijah: Alphas are nothing if not predictable.

Kalen (admin): Nothing violent.

Gabriel: You never answered your own question of whether you would consider this, and neither did Mikel.

Kalen (admin): Everyone is aware.

Gabriel: Well now we’re all VERYaware.

Mikel (admin): Yes, thank you for that.

Isobel: It’s okay, I understand. Can I compete too?

Theodore: We’re rubbing off on you.

Kilian: Well, someone is, anyway.

Moses: Come again?

Kilian: I’m sure she will.

Isobel: Huh?

Oscar: Don’t be jealous, Kiljoy. The hunt hasn’t even started yet.

Mikel (admin): A hunt sounds like an exceptionally bad idea.

Oscar: Who wants to hunt?

Kilian: You only want to hunt because you think you’ll win.

Oscar: … My question stands.

Kilian: I might.

Theodore: Ugh. Yes. What does that say about me?

Niko: You don’t want to know. I’m in for a hunt. Sorry, Isobel.

Isobel: What is going on? What kind of hunt?

Elijah: A very literal one. You hide somewhere, and whoever finds you first wins.

Isobel: Last year nobody wanted a bond and now it’s a prize?

Elijah: If you had made it a competition earlier, it would have been a prize earlier.

Gabriel: Unlikely.

Gabriel: But not entirely untrue.

Isobel: You guys are insane.

Cian: You don’t want to play anymore?

Isobel: I never said that. What do I get if I win?

Niko: If none of us find you? That won’t happen.

Isobel: It might.

“It won’t.” Niko had spoken the answer out loud, his gaze clouded over with an emotion she couldn’t quite read as he watched her. “Not a chance.”