“Grab her, and don’t let go, she’s going to fight us on this with everything she has,” he instructed.
“Dean, there are proper procedures to do this,” Mr Cartwright objected. “If she had come to me …”
Dean had had enough. “Carla, what would happen if I broke this bracelet right now.”
Carla worried at the chain, blood now flowing freely down her hand. “No, Dean! You can’t! You mustn’t! Horrible things will happen if I take it off. Terrible things. People are going to die! I can’t let that happen.”
“So, if I said that it wouldn’t, that the bracelet was enchanted, would you have come to Mr. Cartwright to get it checked?” he demanded.
Carla flinched back from the teacher, suddenly taking in where she was and who she was with. He could see the fear ramp up. It also meant she was too distracted to continue punishing Quinn, who had fallen to the floor in pain.
“Of course I wouldn’t. I know it’s enchanted. It’s a curse. If I take it off, the curse will be unleashed and people will die. Quinn, come on, we need to run. Quinn …” she turned to her familiar, shocked to see him on the ground.
“Quinn!” she shouted, dropping beside him. “Oh, my beautiful wolf. What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Carla,” Dean said softly. “You did that. You were punishing him for not stopping me, for helping me get you here.”
“Quinn consented to bringing her?” Mr. Cartwright asked, while Carla fussed over her familiar, lifting his head onto her lap.
“It’s the curse,” she whimpered. “He touched the bracelet, and now the curse has hit him. This is all your fault.”
She raised a hand and threw magic at Dean. He had no idea what she’d done, but it flung him across the room and against the wall.
“That is enough!” roared Mr. Cartwright.
Carla froze.
Dean could hear her whimpering, but the only thing she moved were her eyes, which tracked back and forth frantically as if seeking a way out.
The teacher knelt beside her, lifting his hands around the bracelet and casting his magic against it. A blue light began to glow around the links, everyone gasping at the sight.
“It’s a friendship bracelet,” Quinn said as he struggled to sit up.
Dean knew how he felt. Two shifters helped him to his own feet, and he managed to stagger across the room to the wolf. He could feel his rapid healing already dealing with what he was sure was a fractured skull.
Melody rushed over to him, running her hands over his body, checking him for other injuries. It made his lion purr and he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her to reassure her.
“Carla,” the teacher said gently. “The spell on the bracelet is one for mind control. There is no curse present.”
Gently, he moved the chain around her wrist until the catch showed. Carla moaned and whimpered, unable to move, fresh tears falling down her face. Carefully, Mr Cartwright undid the catch and removed it, the blue light blinking out.
“The spell is broken, Carla. There is no curse, and your thoughts are no longer being manipulated. It was a spell to generate hate. I don’t know who it was directed against, but someone you previously liked became your archenemy. Does that ring any bells?”
He tucked the bracelet into his shirt pocket, and regarded Carla carefully. Free to move, her hands rose to her face and she sobbed into them.
“Melody,” she said, between heart breaking gasps. “I hate Melody.”
There were several gasps around the room.
The door flew open again, making everyone shout. Nick and Justin stood there, dragon scales slowly climbing their arms, their faces elongating and long canines protruding from darkened lips. Slitted pupils regarded them all with cold fury.
“What is going on?” Justin’s dragon asked, menacingly.
“Sorted,” Dean told them. “One of you needs to go get Mrs H. The other needs to get a nurse from healer hall.”
Melody stood and turned to them. “I’m fine, really. Angry at Shawna, and my heart is breaking for Carla and Quinn, but personally I’m fine. Dean might have a concussion though.”
Mr. Cartwright startled, looking up at him in concern.
“It’s healing,” Dean said, waving him off.
The dragons nodded and then jogged away, before Justin doubled back. Justin shoved a small paper bag and thrust it at the person closest to him. “Breakfast for Mel and Dean. Fucking feed my witch,” he growled, before leaving again.
Mr. Cartwright sighed, nodding at the student. The man came forward and handed the bag to Melody, who took out a foil package and passed it to him. Assured that Carla and Quinn were receiving the attention they needed from the teacher and other wolf shifters who came forward to help, Dean sat back on his heels, unwrapped the sandwich and began to devour it.
To his side, Melody did the same, the long moan of pleasure she gave made his cock harden.
Mate, mate, mate mate, chanted his lion. As if the beast needed further encouragement.
Dean ignored it and took another massive bite. Before he could take a third, however, Mrs. Hardinger and Toby arrived, pushing through the students to the front.
“In a nutshell, please?” she asked.
Fuck he loved her ‘get to the point’ attitude. She spoke like an alpha female, and his lion loved it. Loved her like a mother. All the shifters did.
Mr Cartwright reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver bracelet.
“Carla received a gift that was enchanted to influence her emotions and behaviours. The longer she wore it, the stronger the effect would have been, although it would need to be topped up on a regular basis.”
“When did she get it?” Mrs Hardinger asked Quinn.
“Months ago,” Quinn told her on a moan. “Shawna came and told her that she wanted to make amends. That she wanted to make peace with her and Melody and was going to give Melody a friendship bracelet too. Carla put it on straight away, they had lunch together, and
