“And you didn’t think that was unusual?” Mrs. Hardinger asked.
“I thought my witch was amazing and had forgiven the bitch, even though she didn’t deserve it.”
Dean smiled at him. Quinn was as far gone on Carla as a shifter could be. She might not be his mate, but he knew that the two were sexually active together. As his bonded witch, Carla was the next best thing.
“It was a couple of days before she started avoiding Melody, but all that time, Shawna and her friends were telling more and more stories about her. Making Melody sound like evil and trouble. And Carla seemed to believe them. I knew she was lying, I’m a truthfinder, but when I tried to talk to Carla about it later, she just said it was a witch thing, and that I wouldn’t get it.” Quinn looked at them helplessly. “She changed. Not just towards Melody, but towards me too. She started treating me like a servant or a pet. She was hanging with Shawna all the time, and just agreeing with everything they did or said. She told Shawna everything she knew about Melody, and Shawna just twisted it more and more to make things sound worse.”
“Alright, Quinn. I’ve heard enough for now. Let’s get a look at your wolf.”
Mrs Hardinger took his head in her hands and looked deep into her eyes. Quickly, Quinn’s turned golden, his wolf rising to the surface. Dean had seen this before, had even experienced it a time or two. Whatever the counsellor's magic was, it was able to reach their beasts like nothing else.
While she examined Quinn, the nurse arrived from the healing center and looked Carla over, but before she could heal Carla’s wrist, Mr. Cartwright stopped her.
“I’m sorry, but we need to wait a little longer. The evidence must be presented to the provost.”
“What evidence?” snapped a voice from the door. “What on earth is going on in this classroom.”
Fuck.
Dean had been hoping to avoid this scene. If what Nick had said earlier was true, then this was about to blow up in their faces.
29. Melody
The provost strode to the front of the room, looking at them all with a sneer.
“Melody? Are you causing trouble?” she asked snidely.
“No, provost. It’s actually Shawna Mullins who’s responsible for this mess,” Mr. Cartwright said, unknowingly putting the crosshairs of the provost’s anger on him.
“Provost,” interrupted the healer. “I really need you to examine Carla’s mind and wrist, and then I need to treat her. I will not condone making her wait in pain and distress any longer than necessary.”
Melody was sure another target just got painted.
“Very well,” the provost said. “While I do so, someone will explain what is going on.”
She placed her long, thin fingers on Carla’s temple, who whimpered. Quinn growled beside her until Mrs Hardinger gave him a tap on the nose with her finger.
Between Mrs Hardinger and Mr. Cartwright, they explained the situation. Melody noticed that Mr. Cartwright didn’t include Dean’s involvement. Just that Carla had been brought to him to be examined by her familiar. So, the man had some sense of danger after all.
“And the target of this spell was Melody?” the provost asked, looking at her with a frown.
“We were roommates when we arrived, before we bonded our shifters. Carla and I got along really well, but then suddenly it all changed and she started hanging around with a different group. If that was what Carla wanted, I wasn’t going to demean myself to get her back, so I let her be. She seemed to be happier.”
“And this was just a random attack?” the provost asked.
“Shawna has been here for a long time,” Dean interrupted, drawing her focus. “She keeps changing her subjects.”
“I fail to see the importance of this information,” the provost said, snidely.
“Bear with me. A few years ago, Shawna convinced herself that I was meant to be her shifter and did everything she could to not only bond me, but bring me into her bed. Our relationship didn’t last long, but she never stopped trying to get me back.” Dean cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed, but Melody didn’t dare go near him to comfort him.
“When Melody arrived, my lion went nuts for her and we challenged her. She threw us back on our ass pretty quickly, but Shawna claimed it wasn’t a proper challenge and had the bond broken. We had to wait a few days to try again, and Shawna tried constantly to get me to challenge her. My lion wasn’t having it, and as soon as we could try again, we did. This time, the bond was allowed to stand. Melody is the witch my lion half needs.”
There were several sighs from other witches, all of them looking at Dean in adoration, several of them giving Melody envious glances. Melody, however, was hoping that the provost didn’t notice his slip. But, of course, she did.
“Why did you have to wait a few days, why not challenge again immediately?” she asked, shrewdly.
“I had a cold,” Melody said, shrugging. “There were exams on and I was unwell. Plus, I wanted to make sure that there were no more challenges based around Dean not being recovered from the bond breaking. It was to give him a sporting chance, and to simplify the process.”
“And this Shawna is upset you stole her preferred shifter?”
Melody huffed, annoyed. She would not lose her cool. She couldn’t afford to, the provost had already taken a disliking to her and her familiars. “Dean wasn’t hers to steal. He came to me, not the other way around, I tried to avoid him. I was a new student, I didn’t want to rush into bonding with a shifter.”
“And yet, now you have three,” the provost sneered. She looked around the room, noting all the gazes upon them and collected herself. “Well, far be it from me to interfere in
