Bloodbound to the Witch Heir: Claimed By Four

Celeste’s POV

*****

I followed him outside.

Azrael.

Of course, I did.

The main reason I attended the academy’s general meeting was to see him and hear him explain what happened last night. I was supposed to be playing "sick" in my room anyway.

However, when we finally stepped out into the early afternoon sun, side by side and quiet—I panicked. He wasn’t saying anything yet and neither was I.

Where do I even begin? What if last night was simply a hallucination or something? Maybe he only bit me too hard while kissing and I imagined the pain. Ecstasy. The... The blood...

Fear gripped me like chains within seconds.

An image of Azrael’s form kneeling beside my limp body flashed through my head.

I can’t take this. I—

"Without reading your mind I can tell it’s loud right now." He suddenly mumbled, making me snap my neck to him. A small smirk curved the corner of his lips the second my gaze landed on his face. "Forgive my silence. I know you’re... Confused. Scared maybe—"

"That’ll be an understatement, Azrael," we made a stop under the old Blood Oak tree.

There was no one around for hundreds of yards. Nothing broke the serenity other than chirping from birds, some perched on the branches above us.

I let myself rest a palm on the bark, looking up at Azrael. "I’m plenty terrified about some things I remember last night. Even though it’s all blurry, I still have enough images to know it wasn’t pretty." A heavy breath was sucked into my lungs after all that.

Azrael stood calm before me, expression undisturbed. I hated how I couldn’t see his eyes to know how he felt—but I knew he didn’t like taking those glasses off in public.

So I waited.

"Little miss," he muttered, voice steady. "When you came into my room last night, I already had a feeling something would... Happen. We’ve been open about feelings—"

"Open?" I blinked, genuinely confused. "Me or you? Because since we met I’ve been the one trying to get you to open up."

That didn’t get a reaction from him. At least, not one that I noticed.

He paused, lips pressing into a thin line. Then—slowly, he looked all around us, not missing an angle.

After a few seconds, he brought his face back to me. His hands rose, fingers gripping the edges of his sunglasses.

My eyes widened. "What are you—?"

Too late.

The glasses came off, revealing his coal-red eyes to me. They burned like twin stars, boring into me like they wanted to dig out my soul.

"This," he pointed at his eyes. "This is fine. With you, at least. Only you." He took a step closer, gaze legitimately softening. "I’ve known since that night in the forest. And again during our walk at the Lupine Ball."

Silence was all I could offer him. I was too busy glancing behind him, just in case someone would walk in on us. On him.

I didn’t think anything disastrous would happen but he did make it seem like his eyes held chaos itself. And Azrael Vaelmont didn’t strike me as a man who’d lie about something so serious.

"As for last night," he let out a small breath. "All blame goes to me, Celeste. I shouldn’t have let things go too far. I should’ve... Resisted my impulses and let go before it escalated."

Impulses?

Uhm... What the heck was he talking about?

"I took you to your suite after ensuring you were alright." His right hand reached out, caressing my cheek. "Around midnight. Your friend was already asleep. And about the bite—"

"Yes, the bite." My voice was barely above a whisper. "Please, explain it. I know I wasn’t imagining things."

"You weren’t."

"And I’ve never heard anything about witches biting their partners so... Intensely," I added. "So enlighten me on what I felt at least."

I saw the way his jaw tightened. Subtle but visible. Like he was trying hard to hold back something.

Something he didn’t want me to know.

If that’s the case, I’ll—

"The bite was just that, little miss." He withdrew his palm from my face at last, head tilted slightly. "A bite. The bond must’ve pushed me to act in ways I wouldn’t have on a normal day."

That was it. He didn’t say anything else, eyes shining brightly as they stared at me.

He sounded honest. He seemed sincere. So—

—Why did a part of me still believe there was something more he wasn’t letting me know?

Eventually, I heaved heavily. "I–I believe you, Azrael." The words came out shuddering and uncertain. "The bonds have been reacting in crazy ways anyway. And then all the nerves from the Blood Eye pic that blew up..."

Maybe I really was overthinking things.

"I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding." Despite how soft his pitch was, his expression became more serious. "Now. Speaking of Blood Eye—there’s something you need to know about Lysandra."

Oh—

Furrowing my brows, I watched as he leaned closer. "Her friends sent that picture to Blood Eye yesterday."

My eyes widened, lips parting.

W–What the hell?

"I also doubt she got poisoned by Vein beasts." Azrael went on, tone laced with warning now. "I told them they shouldn’t try anything else—but I know their kind. They’ll always find a way."

This... This was—

Anger swelled in my chest, heavy and all-consuming. My fingers curled so hard that the nails dug into my palms. The wind increased in pace around us, blowing down leaves from the old Blood Oak tree.

Azrael looked around us, seeming surprised.

My magic.

It was reacting to my emotions again. Except this time I didn’t question it.

"She’s taking this bullying thing too far," I chuckled dryly, shaking my head. "Fuck it. If she’s truly up to something I say she brings it on."

For a split second, I saw something flicker in Azrael’s eyes.

Pride.

Next week was going to be bloody. And for the first time ever, I didn’t feel suffocated. I was ready to fight back with everything in me.