I am Sam
Chapter Sixteen

I can’t believe that Circen managed to pull me away from studying Necromancy and Evocation for this, a compulsory masquerade ball in honour of Ronan’s birthday. Sighing, I’m suddenly standing near the hall entrance, scanning around to see if I can spot Circen and Noah anywhere; those two have been inseparable since they completed their mate bond.

I’m about to turn around and leave when I suddenly feel his warm breath against the back of my neck,

“Why, in the name of fuck, would you wear a sinfully looking dress like that?” His voice is low and deep, commanding my attention when he speaks. Smirking, I turn around, only to be met with Caleb’s eyes staring down at me through his black masquerade mask.

“Well, look at you, a black-on-black tux for the occasion. Wearing your usual dark and dangerous look tonight, I see.” Wrapping his arm around my waist, he suddenly pulls me to his hard chest before dipping his head beside my ear.

“How’s the studying going tonight?” Smirking, I slowly tilt my head up to him,

“It would be much better if I didn’t have to be here.” Tilting my chin up to him, he gently rubs the pad of his thumb along my bottom plump lip.

“Oh well, you’ll have to put in some extra study time tonight.” And I know the moment his jaw clenches as his eyes are still on mine that Ronan’s eyes are on us from behind us.

The moment the devil speaks right behind me, a cold, brutal chill runs down my spine, one that Caleb instantly picks up on when my body tenses.

“Caleb,” Ronan addresses him so formally that I can’t help the instant eye roll. But Caleb merely smirks when he breaks eye contact with me, turns me around and pulls me to his chest. Wrapping his arms around me, he cocks a brow at Ronan,

“Ronan.” And I can’t help the corners of my mouth turning up into a satisfied grin when Ronan stares between us; I wonder if he realizes that the good little soldier he thought he had in Caleb is actually a deadly assassin who has very little time for him.

“I haven’t seen much of the two of you for the past three weeks, although sources tell me that things are going... according to plan.” And I swear it takes all of my inner strength not to have my wolf serge to the surface; she’s been relatively well-behaved lately. Still, she’s been clawing to the surface more often recently.

Caleb tightens his hold around my waist, indicating that he’s trying to keep me calm, stop me from saying something or doing something that might result in blowing our cover.

“Sasha keeps me extremely busy,” Caleb’s voice comes through low and to the point as he stares back at Ronan, who only smirks as a shimmer of his own monster resonates in his eyes.

“I can only imagine; she seems like quite a feisty one,” Turning his attention towards me, he raises a sinister eye at me, “Well, Sasha, aren’t you going to wish an old man a happy birthday?" His eyes are suddenly challenging, searching for any sign of me dropping my poise. Caleb suddenly begins rubbing slow circles against my arm, and as I swallow down the bile in my throat, I slowly force a smile up on the corners of my mouth,

“Happy birthday, Ronan.” I manage to say the words through a clenched jaw whilst holding my fake smile firmly in place; I’m even impressed with myself. He suddenly has a smug grin on his face as he cocks his brow at me,

“I’m happy to see things between you and Caleb have solidified as mates, especially with the next full moon only a week away.” My brows suddenly furrow at his words,

“I’m sorry, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, it means you won’t have to worry about going into heat again, which I’m sure will be a huge relief for you.” And I suddenly blink back the horrifying surprise in my eyes as my jaw goes slack; firstly, who does Ronan think he is, to even talk about something like that to me, here, of all places? But my heart rate suddenly escalates because I didn’t even think about that. Caleb and I haven’t been intimate, so my wolf will go into heat again under the full moon. Gulping down hard, it’s like Caleb suddenly picks up on the sudden shift in me, my anxieties suddenly wanting to explode from me. I’m about to have a mini panic attack when Caleb suddenly turns my face to him and claims my lips in a commanding way; it completely takes my breath away as I freeze into him; I don’t know what to think at this moment with him, I know it’s all for show, but whoah buddy.

Slowly releasing my lips; Caleb’s eyes are still on mine when he addresses Ronan,

“We’ve covered all that, haven't we, Sasha.” His eyes are piercing mine through his mask, and all I can do is stand there staring at him in shock; what does he mean we’ve got it all covered? We definitely do not have this part covered; how could I have been so stupid to think that we can fake being a mated couple when clearly one of the fundamentals of being mated is having sex? We’re so screwed.

I suddenly hear Ronan smirk when he mumbles, “Glad to hear it,” But my eyes are still on Caleb’s when Ronan finally turns and walks away,

“We have it covered?” I retort, suddenly gulping again, but Caleb merely nudges his nose against mine with a wicked grin,

“Well, let’s just say I have a plan,”

“What plan?” My voice suddenly hitching in my throat, but he merely dips his face forward as if he wants to kiss me again, this time I cup my hand over his mouth as I raise a suspicious brow at him,

“And what was that kiss just now? Are you going for an oscar performance or something?” The darkness in his eyes suddenly sparks with something else, his dragon as a wicked grin creeps up at the corners of his mouth,

“Just making it look convincing,” He purrs, and I’m about to retort when someone suddenly tugs on my arm, and I don’t even need to look to know that it’s Circen, but the moment my head does turn to look at her, I’m completely blown away by her stunning red dress, an instant radiating smile has her suddenly pulling me in for a warm hug,

“Girl, that shimmering dress is absolutely sinful, you know that,” She whispers beside my ear, and I can’t help the small smile suddenly having me blush.

“Says the one who looks like she’s just stepped off of a victorian model runway.” Scoffing, she slowly pulls away before looking over at Caleb and giving him a slight nod, and it’s strange how there isn’t any bad blood between them; even Noah has no problem with Caleb now; I guess that’s all due to Noah finally replaceing out who he is, and replaceing his mate at the same time, he looks at peace within himself, he’s not the same Noah as he was before though, he’s definitely a little bit more serious now, but every so often the goofy Noah I know and love slips out through the cracks, I appreciate those moments.

Pulling Circen to his side, Noah gives me a small smile and a nod,

“You look beautiful, Sasha.”

“Thank you, Noah, and you look very handsome as well; I guess everyone dressed up for the occasion tonight.” Slowly lifting my eyes to scan the room, I’m suddenly letting out a puff of air, “The hall looks like some fairytale wonderland; you two really outdid yourselves with the decor.” Looking between Noah and Circen, I suddenly see her beaming with a bright smile as she claps her hands together,

“You think so? Not too much?” Smirking, I smile as I shake my head,

“Not at all; it’s all breathtakingly beautiful; pity it has to be wasted on someone like Ronan, though.” And both of them suddenly snigger at my comment; Caleb wraps an arm around my waist, firmly pulling me to him; I’m suddenly furrowing my brows slightly; what’s up with him tonight? He’s really kicking up the possessive claiming act all of a sudden. But before I can give it any more thought, Circen suddenly pulls me from my own thoughts when she grabs my hand; her eyes are still on Caleb when she speaks,

“Mind if we borrow her for a little while?” A low rumble suddenly vibrates through his chest, colliding with my back, instantly having a slight shudder escaping my lips as I swallow down the instant lump forming in my throat; what’s up with him?

“I’ll go grab something to drink; want anything?” He purrs against my ear as he tightens his grip around my waist even more; the moment my but hits his hard-on, I’m suddenly choking on a breath that got hitched in my throat; pulling away, I suddenly spin around, staring him dead in the eye. Still, he merely gives me his dark hooded grin with a smirk before walking away toward the drinks table. What the actual... He’s never done that before; what’s up with him tonight?

“Come on,” Circen pipes up as she suddenly pulls me from my shocking thoughts in the direction of the dance floor; Noah is glued to her side as usual as all three of us make our way into the centre of the floor.

“Where’s Liam?” I ask them as we finally form a small circle,

“You know, since he shifted into his dragon and got back, he spends most of his time in his bedroom; he still doesn’t quite have a handle on his dragon yet.” Furrowing my brows in sympathetic understanding, I only nod because it’s true; since Liam got back a few days ago, he’s been incredibly distant. Apparently, his dragon is a bit of a wild card, so he keeps his distance from everyone. I’ve been desperate to go and see him, but he refuses to see anyone at all.

I’m still pretty lost in thinking about poor Liam when a song suddenly gets my attention; I recognize it straight away as it’s booming over the speakers; its Afterglow; my eyes fly up in surprise to Circen’s broad smile; she knows this is my favourite song, but considering that it’s a tight-lipped function, I’m surprised that she was able to convince Ronan to allow her to play any of our kind of music at all, by the look on her face though, it’s clear that rebel Circe has taken charge without confirming with the old dragon first. And don’t ask me why, but this realization suddenly has a broad smile beaming on my face as I start swaying my hips to the sound of the music; anything that pisses Ronan off is the epicentre of my happiness tonight.

By the time the third song ends, I’m so lost in the moment with my friends that I don’t notice when Atlas comes up right behind me,

“Mind if I have this dance?” Startled, I swing around as my eyes land on him; he’s wearing a black tux with a crisp white shirt underneath. His eyes are piercing mine, and it’s honestly the first thing he’s said to me in three weeks, so he shouldn’t be surprised when my jaw goes slack in response.

Cocking a brow, he smirks at me, “Well?”

I suddenly regain my composure when I slowly nod, “Sure, why not,” Before breaking eye contact with him, I’m completely confused by his sudden change of mood. The moment he takes my hand in his, wraps his other arm around the small of my back and pulls me close to him as if on queue, the next song starts to play, and I know this song, it’s called If you need me. And the words to the song strike a cord to my heart with each passing moment that we sway in each other’s arms; it feels like this song was written for us somehow; I’m suddenly looking up at him, my eyes searching his the moment he looks down at me, the buzz of electricity coursing through my body, an indication of our twin bond strengthening each other just by touching.

I so badly want to have that talk with him, the one I wanted to have three weeks ago when he got back; I hate how things have been between us. I’m about to say something to him, but he suddenly beats me to it as the song ends,

“It’s better this way,” His words are low as his eyes pierce mine, and a smile is about to creep up at the corners of my mouth; I’m thinking he’s about to continue by saying that us being close like this is better, but then he pulls the rug from right under me when he continues with, “Distancing myself from you and staying away.” It’s like a sudden stab to my heart when he says those words.

I’m suddenly pulling back as my brows furrow, clenching my jaw. I’m swallowing hard,

“It’s better this way?” I repeat his words to him as I suddenly frown, “Distancing yourself is better?” I feel like I’ve just been slapped in the face. Nodding, he clenches his jaw as he shrugs,

“Yeah, I mean, you’ve moved on with Caleb. I can’t believe you could get over Wolf so fast, but I suppose that’s how love works with wolves.” It happens instantly, and I can’t stop myself, the loud sound ringing out as I slap him. Everyone around us suddenly turns to stare at us, Atlas standing there staring hard at me as I glare at him, tears suddenly shimmering behind my eyes being fueled by anger and hurt. How dare he say something like that? If he cared at all, he would know; he would know me.

He’s about to say something when Caleb suddenly appears right beside me, he’s staring hard at Atlas, and this only irks Atlas all of a sudden as he scoffs,

“I suppose the truth hurts, doesn’t it, because let’s face it, you were so devoted to Wolf, and now... Taking a witch mate who isn’t even yours to take tells much about your character.” He sneers at me, and the tears suddenly begin to fall. Is he trying to say things just to hurt me? Is that his big plan?

Caleb suddenly steps in front of me and right in Atlas’s face; his eyes are hard and cold as he stares at him,

“You’re one to talk about taking a mate that’s not yours,” at that moment, Eris suddenly appears beside Atlas; she’s looking between Atlas and Caleb, a sinister grin creeping up at the corners of her mouth; she’s enjoying this little showdown.

Atlas glares at Caleb as he narrows his eyes, “I wasn’t talking to you, Caleb. I was talking to Sasha,” And the moment Atlas pushes against Caleb’s chest, a low dark chuckle suddenly rumbles through Caleb as he cocks his head, but he doesn’t step back. Atlas suddenly steps up to Caleb levelling his stare, “Did you hear what I just said?” He says again, pushing against Caleb’s chest; I suddenly look down at Caleb’s hand when it turns into a fist, his knuckles cracking as he does so. I’m about to say something to stop this sudden tension between them when Caleb leans forward and speaks in a low, threatening voice,

“If you plan on hitting me, make sure to make it count.” As those words leave his mouth Atlas suddenly loses it and pulls back his fist before connecting it with a loud thud to Caleb’s jaw. My jaw drops the moment Caleb takes a step back, but then he cocks his head, lifts the back of his hand to his mouth and wipes at the blood before smirking with a dark, sinister grin and licking at it. His grin suddenly broadens when his dark eyes lift up to Atlas.

It happens so quickly that I never see it coming until it’s already happened. Caleb’s fist collides with Atlas’s jaw, a loud crack echoes through the air and within a split second, Atlas is on the floor. My eyes widen in shock as I watch Atlas glare up at Caleb,

“You fucking broke my jaw, Caleb!” He shouts at him, but Caleb merely smirks before grabbing my hand, turning and pulling me along toward the doors. I keep turning my head back to look at Atlas; Eris is just standing there staring after Caleb; a devious little grin makes it quite clear that she replaces this very appealing, sick bitch.

I’m in too much shock right now to even think straight; Caleb punched Atlas once and broke his jaw. He moved so quickly that I pretty much missed it; how is that even possible?

The moment we get to his bedroom, he pulls me inside with him, shuts his door, and walks over to his cupboard before pulling out an old distressed Nirvana t-shirt and a pair of boxers, shoving them in my hands,

“Bathroom, change, now.” He orders me, and I’m suddenly moving in the direction of his bathroom before closing the door behind me; for a moment, I can just stand there and stare down at the clothes in my hands; what the hell just happened?

After a few minutes, I open the bathroom door; I’ve changed into the shirt and boxers; the boxers are too big for me, so I’ve had to fold them over a few times; I slowly make my way out into his room as I run a hand through my hair. He’s standing a few feet away from me when he looks up at me; his jaw suddenly clenches tight as his brows furrow,

“It’s not fucking helping.” He grumbles,

“What isn’t?” I ask, confused,

“You in my clothes, I thought if you were out of that dress, it would help, but it’s not; it’s just making it worse.”

“What is?” I’m suddenly more confused; he’s speaking in riddles; what on earth is up with him tonight?

“Nothing, it’s fine.” He mumbles as he shakes his head,

“Caleb, what the hell is going on with you tonight? You just broke Atlas’s jaw, I mean, I’m not saying he didn’t deserve to be punched in the face, but you broke his goddam jaw with one punch.” I retort as my voice suddenly begins escalating.

Grumbling Caleb suddenly has his hands running through his messy black hair,

“I fucking tried to hit him as softly as I could; okay, just stop talking right now, please.” He pinches his eyes shut as he pulls at his hair,

“Why? What’s wrong? Caleb?” I’m suddenly right in his face, and he instantly takes a step back, unexpectedly meeting the wall behind him.

“Sasha, not now, fuck.” He grumbles irritably, but I’m completely confused by how strangely he’s acting right now,

“No, I want to know what’s wrong with you. You’ve been acting strange all night, overly possessive, like how you kissed me; what the hell is going on with you?”

I suddenly gasp with a shriek when Caleb grips me around my waist and throat, swings me around and collides with me into the wall; his mouth suddenly claims mine profoundly and urgently, and his thumb stretches up, tugging down at my bottom jaw. The moment I don’t relent and open up to him, he suddenly bites down hard against my bottom lip, I instantly wince the moment I can taste blood, and I know he can taste it too, except it only excites him more. Gasping as my mouth finally opens and gives him access, he runs his tongue all along the seem of my bottom lip where just a moment ago he broke the skin.

Claiming my lips, his tongue suddenly dives into my mouth; he’s kissing me so hard that I can hardly breathe. His body has mine pinned against the wall, and I’m unable to move an inch; I’m trying to lift my hand up to push his face away, but he grips my wrist and shoves it against the wall hard as a sudden sharp pain shoots down my arm; he continues dominating my mouth relentlessly to the point that I'm panicking.

When he suddenly breaks the kiss pushing his forehead against mine, he groans loudly before pushing back and turning away from me,

“Get out!” He suddenly grumbles; I’m still completely dazed and out of breath when I mumble,

“W-what?”

“You need to get out, now. You can’t be in my room right now,”

“Caleb?” I'm still trying to think straight after what he just did, but when his deep voice booms, “Fucking get out, Sasha, please, just go!” I suddenly jump and do as he says, I quickly head for the door as tears spring from my eyes; slamming the door behind me, I freeze. I’m suddenly sobbing as I spin around to stare at the door. The moment I hear him pump his loud stereo to hard rock music, I clench my jaw as I stare hard at the door like it has eyes and can see me or something.

Wiping away my tears, I’m about to walk away when I notice someone standing a few feet away from me; turning my head, I’m instantly met with the sinister grin of Eris as she cocks a brow at me. Clenching my jaw, I’m suddenly glaring at her,

“What do you want?”

Smirking, she slowly starts coming closer before finally resting her shoulder against Caleb’s door frame,

“It feels like Deja Vu seeing you standing outside his door again.”

“Get lost, Eris; I’m sure you have better things to do than stalk me?”

“Oh, watching him kick you out never gets old, trust me.” I’m suddenly clenching my jaw as I narrow my eyes at her,

“Shouldn’t you be off fantasizing about becoming Queen or something?”

“I don’t need to fantasize, my dear; I know I’ll be Queen of Aeonian the moment Ronan steps down.” Scoffing, I roll my eyes at her,

“That’s great, well, if you’ll excuse me,” I say as I begin walking away in the direction of my own room when she suddenly calls out,

“Oh, and Sasha, the moment I become Queen, I’ll make sure to place a ban on all wolves in Aeonian, even witchy ones.” And I’m suddenly spinning around to glare at her, but she’s already heading down the stairs in the opposite direction.

Bitch.

Tightening my fists, I let out a disgruntled groan before turning back and continuing to my room; I can’t believe that Atlas would want someone like her as his mate; he would have to be ultimately bone idle to think that she would make a good Queen. And as for her being Caleb’s fated mate, I’m starting to question how fate would ever put someone like her with someone like him; she’s such a bitch.

I’m still stewing in my unsettling thoughts when I finally reach my room. Stretching my hand out to turn the door handle, I suddenly gasp the moment someone flings me around and shoves me back against the closed door. What the hell is it with people pushing me into hard surfaces tonight? My eyes suddenly lift up to replace Atlas staring hard at me, and I can’t help cocking my head with a smirk,

“I see you healed yourself.” His jaw is all healed; he must have obviously used his spirit healing on himself.

“No thanks to you’re boyfriend.” He snorts as he rolls his eyes,

“He’s not my... Urgh!” I suddenly grumble in annoyance as I roll my eyes at him, “What do you want, Atlas? Why are you here?”

“I want to know what’s happening between you and Caleb?”

“What do you mean, what’s happening between us? He claimed me as his mate three weeks ago; you were there, remember?” Smirking, he slowly shakes his head,

“You forget that we’re both spirit elements, Sasha, and just like you can see into people’s minds, so can I...” My brows suddenly furrow as I clench my jaw,

“How do you know I can...” And a broad smile suddenly spreads across his mouth,

“So it’s true, you can see into people’s minds.” My jaw suddenly snaps shut as I narrow my eyes at him, but I don’t say a word. “You see, each time Ronan forced us together to strengthen our twin powers these past three weeks, he also wanted me to fish inside your head to see whether or not you and Caleb have actually... you know...” Grimacing in disgust, I’m suddenly shaking my head,

“Eew, that’s disgusting; why would he ask you to do that?” Scoffing, he merely shrugs,

“Because he’s sick and twisted.” Raising a questioning brow at him, I’m suddenly smirking,

“And so, did you?”

“Did I what?” He repeats my question, raising a brow at me,

“Read my thoughts to replace out if we had sex?”

Grimacing, Atlas pinches his eyes shut as he shakes his head,

“No. That isn’t something I would want to see.” Scoffing, I suddenly roll my eyes at him,

“So what did you tell Ronan?”

“I just said that you had, and he believed me.”

“So you lied?” I retort with a smirk,

“So you two haven’t?” He responds with a questioning look. And I quickly realize that I'm busy getting myself stuck in the corner of twenty-one questions with him.

“I’m tired, Atlas. It’s been a long night, first the thing back in the hall, and then having a run-in with Eris...”

“Eris, what did she want with you?” He suddenly cuts me off,

“Oh, just to remind me that once she becomes Queen, she’ll get rid of me, nothing I wasn’t expecting.” And I watch as Atlas’s jaw ticks in irritation. Still, before he can say another word, I suddenly open my door handle before pushing him back and stepping into my room. He instantly gives me a cheeky smirk as he cocks a brow at me,

“Well, sleep tight, then.” Scoffing, I roll my eyes at him.

“Yeah, you too.” And with that, I shut the door in his face; I swear Atlas’s mood swings are giving me whiplash. As I sink down to the floor with my back against the door, I slowly let out a deep sigh when I hear him through the door on the other side,

“That’s a heavy sigh; wanna talk about it?” Narrowing my eyes in disbelief, I slowly turn my head to the side,

“Go to bed, Atlas.”

“What? It’s true; that was a heavy sigh.”

“What are you still doing outside my bedroom?”

“I’m just sitting here, thinking.” Scoffing, I’m suddenly rolling my eyes,

“Thinking about what?”

“Lasagne, actually.”

“What?” I quickly ask in confusion,

“Well, I didn’t eat anything tonight; I’m hungry, so...” Shaking my head in disbelief at him, I’m suddenly rubbing at my temples,

“I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

“Well, don’t respond then; instead, come down to the kitchen and grab some Lasagne with me?”

“I’m not going to the kitchen to grab lasagne with you, Atlas.”

“Why not?” He asks curiously,

“For starters, you’ve been a complete and utter asshole to me for the past three weeks, and then the thing back in the hall tonight, and second, I have a headache.” Smirking, he suddenly sighs,

“I know you do; I can feel it right through this door, but you know what will help with you’re headache? Lasagne.” Sighing, I slowly shake my head,

“What are you doing? I mean, with me right now, why are you all of a sudden talking to me?” There has to be more to this, especially since, for the past three weeks, all I got was the silent treatment.

“I guess I needed some common sense knocked into me about what an asshole I’ve been lately,” Smirking I suddenly have a smile creeping up at the corners of my mouth.

“Oh really, and did it work?” I ask, leaning my head against the door,

“Only one way to replace out.” He smirks,

“How?” I ask, narrowing my eyes suspiciously,

“Come and have some Lasagne with me in the kitchen.”

I keep quiet for a moment, thinking it over. I shouldn’t open this door; I should just tell Atlas to go away after how he’s been treating me. But... Maybe now is the time for us to have that talk? I mean, is it possible that we could at least try?

The moment I slowly open the door, he suddenly falls back down onto his back against the floor, looking up at me with hopeful eyes; he smirks,

“So, is that a yes?” Rolling my eyes with a sigh, I suddenly can’t help smiling,

“I’m only going to the kitchen because I’m actually hungry, not because you asked me to,” I say, rolling my eyes at him,

“Fair enough,” He says with a shrug.

And as I step over him and start heading down the long corridor, I suddenly hear him running to catch up to me,

“How’s about to help someone up next time,” He shrugs as he pushes his hands into his pockets,

“You’re a long way away from me helping you up, little brother,” Grimacing he suddenly shakes his head at me,

“Too soon.” And I can’t help but give him a sympathetic smile as we walk toward the kitchen.

Maybe, just maybe... I think to myself as I bite down against my bottom lip.