Chapter Eight — The Study of Mates.
Third-Person POV
The rest of the day went by quickly. Back at the dorm, Sera lay on her bed and looked toward the ceiling. There was a knock on the door. She knew it was Leona.
"Come in," she said, loud enough for Leona to hear. Leona opened the door and entered, moving her hand twice in the air, making a chair appear.
She then grabbed her phone and raised her eyebrow at Seraphine, begging her with puppy eyes to let her play music. Sera nodded, so she started playing Shawn Mendes' playlist.
"Okay, the assignment will be submitted on Monday, and before that, we need to have prepped everything—"
"How about we finish it on Sunday? We've made lots of progress. Just play music or something."
Leona laughed and nodded. "Alright then." She started playing Justin Bieber's tracks.
Soon, Sera started nodding her head to the beat, even singing some parts of the lyrics. She noted the songs in her head.
After a while, Leona left, and Alaric entered the room. He looked like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to start. He just went to the bathroom while Sera raised an eyebrow and turned back to rest.
The next morning, they both left for class, entering together.
The morning sun poured through the tall, stained-glass windows of the hall, scattering prismatic light across rows of wooden desks.
She pushed open the lecture room door, and the first thing she saw was Leona leaning so close to her notebook she looked like she was trying to merge with it.
The room buzzed with restless chatter—the kind that always filled the air before a lecture nobody wanted to attend.
The whispers started long before the class did—a low buzz of rumor and dread rippling across the hallways, lingering in the air like smoke.
Sera only needed to hear the subject once to know the day was about to be stupid. She sighed.
"You good?" Sera muttered as she slid into the seat beside her.
Leona was shocked that Seraphine asked about that but…
"No," Leona whispered urgently without looking up. "Absolutely not. They're going to talk about mate senses, and I do not need my brain reminding me I don't have a mate."
"You keep glancing at Seth," Sera deadpanned, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You're not single mentally."
Leona smacked her arm lightly, eyes widening. "Shh! I don't glance."
"You're right—you stare," Sera corrected. "There's a difference."
Leona made a strangled dying-cat noise as she hid her face behind her notebook. "If you embarrass me today, I will personally haunt your dreams for a year."
"Promise?"
Before Leona could throw her pen at her head, someone slid into the seat on Sera's other side.
Seth. Of course.
"Morning, mystery girl," he murmured, leaning an elbow casually on the desk.
Leona froze like prey caught in headlights.
Sera didn't even look up. "Do you not have other seats?"
"I do," he nodded. "Hundreds. But none of them have you in them."
Leona choked quietly like oxygen betrayed her. She was jealous. So jealous of Seth's attention to Sera.
Sera turned one unimpressed stare at him. "Try saying that again."
"Can't," he said, grin sliding wider. "Looks like I might not make it."
Before she could respond, the classroom door slammed shut, and the room fell silent.
Professor Elian strode in—ancient, long white robes, hair tied high, face carved like he had personally witnessed every bad mating decision since the dawn of time. Tall, broad-shouldered, and old enough that his eyes carried entire centuries of judgment. His wings—faint and spectral—shimmered behind him in shades of silver and smoke. His presence alone made the air feel heavier.
"Good morning, students," he said, his voice deep enough to make the desks vibrate. "I am Professor Elian Callistus. I will be your instructor for The Study of Soul Bonds and Eternal Mates."
Someone in the back snorted, quickly trying to cover it with a cough.
Callistus' gaze snapped to the offender. "Something amusing, Mr. Hart?"
The boy practically sank into his seat. "No, sir."
"Good," Callistus said dryly. "Because this subject determines your future—and possibly your sanity."
A nervous laugh scattered through the class.
He clapped once. Lights dimmed. A huge glowing diagram appeared behind him—two glimmering figures connected by a swirling thread of energy.
"In every realm," he began, pacing slowly, "the heart recognizes what the mind cannot yet understand."
Seth whispered, "I love this already."
Leona smiled.
Professor Elian tapped the glowing thread.
"Every sentient species has its own way of identifying a mate. For angels, it manifests as resonance—a shared divine frequency. You hear their soul before you recognize their face. Angels sense their mate through divine resonance—a pull in the grace, a compulsion toward protection."
Sera didn't mean to, but her eyes flicked toward Alaric.
He was already staring at her.
She looked away immediately, heat creeping up her neck. It was a weird feeling, but her face remained stoic. Seth saw her and raised an eyebrow.
A few students snickered. Alaric's lips curved faintly, though he tried to hide it. He had suspicions but wasn't sure yet.
"Elves," Elian continued, "hear music. Demons—"
His gaze swept the class briefly, and Sera felt a strange pulse under her skin—like someone lightly tugged a thread inside her chest.
"—recognize their mate by an ancient imprint of shadow and fire. A pull older than mortal language. Through heat—an inner flame that flares only in the presence of one soul compatible with their darkness."
Sera's heartbeat paused, stumbled, then restarted far too loudly. She forced her face neutral; her shadows hissed softly.
Callistus' eyes flicked to her. "Miss Seraphine, perhaps you'd like to demonstrate your skepticism in the form of a written essay?"
"No, thank you," Sera said, bored. "I'll just keep it internalized."
Callistus gave her a long, unimpressed stare before continuing. "As for Lycans—"
Seth stretched lazily in his seat, clearly waiting for this part.
"—they are bound by scent and instinct. A Lycan's wolf recognizes its mate long before the human mind does. It's primal. Irrefutable. Occasionally inconvenient."
Seth's wolf, Adam, practically purred in his head.
We already know who she is. Stop pretending you don't.
Seth clenched his jaw. Not now.
"Vampires," Callistus said, shifting tone, "bond through blood resonance—one taste, and their fates intertwine. But their royals can recognize through scent and feeling. Witches recognize their mates by aura alignment, fae through shared life threads, dragons through energy cycles… and so forth."
He paused. "In other words, the universe loves drama—or every creature has a fated mate out there. It's mostly one, but occasionally, it can be two."
That actually got a few laughs.
A girl in front raised her hand timidly. "Sir, um, what happens if… someone doesn't want a mate?"
Callistus' expression softened for a fraction of a second. "Then fate will test their patience until they do."
Sera slouched further in her chair. "Fantastic."
Leona scribbled frantically. "I was not mentally prepared for spiritual panic today."
"Weak hearts," Seth murmured, smirking.
Leona shot him a death glare she absolutely didn't mean. "Some of us don't walk around like mating pheromones in human form, thanks."
Seth blinked, then grinned. "So you noticed."
Leona turned red so fast Sera genuinely worried she would combust.
"Anyway," Seth whispered to Sera, "what's your mate sense supposed to be?"
Sera kept her voice steady. "Did you go deaf when the professor explained it? Besides, I don't believe in that stuff."
"Yeah, but that's for demons. You're more powerful than a regular demon. And everyone believes when it hits," he murmured.
She ignored him along with the phantom chill crawling up her spine.
The professor walked to the front again, folding his wings neatly. "Now that you've all been properly horrified, we will proceed with a demonstration."
"Demonstration?" someone echoed. "As in—"
"Yes," Callistus said. "A spell. Designed to reveal the soul threads between destined mates. It will not force bonds or emotions—merely identify them."
The air grew tense. Half the class gasped. Some shivered. Someone in the back swore loudly.
Students exchanged nervous glances. Sera frowned, unease curling low in her chest.
Callistus raised his hands, runes spiraling to life around him in blinding white light. His voice deepened, echoing in an ancient language.
"Revelare animas vinculis…"
The magic thrummed through the air like thunder. Arcs of gold, silver, crimson, and shadow burst from his palms—hundreds of glowing arrows streaking across the classroom like comets seeking targets.
One by one, the arrows struck students, glowing brighter when they connected to their match.
Sera clenched her jaw. It felt like someone was searching inside her chest—hunting, tugging, deciding.
She hated it.
Her shadows curled around her chair leg like instinctive defense.
Across the room, Alaric's tattoos flickered faintly, hidden under his sleeve. His eyes stayed on her like the world had narrowed to one point.
Elian spoke over the rising energy.
"Fate whispers first. A glance. A pull. A name you should not know. And when both souls recognize each other—"
The glow snapped bright.
"—the bond ignites."
Several students gasped. One girl burst into tears. Someone else looked like they wanted to flee the planet entirely.
Sera's breathing became… complicated. Like the universe was waiting for her to make a mistake.
A startled gasp rose from the room.
Two arrows shot across the air—one blazing with holy gold, the other pulsing with dark violet.
They collided midair, fused, and then shot straight into Sera's and Alaric's chests.
For a heartbeat, everything froze.
Sera's breath caught. The mark burned faintly against her sternum—not painful, but… warm.
Across the room, Alaric's eyes glowed faintly gold, and the corners of his mouth lifted like someone just confirmed what he already suspected.
Leona's gasp pulled Sera's attention—just in time to see two glowing blue arrows collide and pierce Leona and Seth.
"Oh my gods," Leona whispered, her face flaming. "Seth?"
Seth's grin spread slow and wolfish. "Guess the spell knows taste when it sees it."
Leona buried her face in her hands. "Oh my goddess," she whispered.
Professor Callistus smiled faintly. "And there we have it. The threads of fate, undeniable as always."
Sera stared at the glowing line still faintly connecting her chest to Alaric's. "No," she muttered. "Nope. Absolutely not. I don't need a mate or want one either."
"It's not broken," Alaric said quietly, rising from his seat. "It's divine law."
"Divine law can kiss my—" She stopped when Callistus cleared his throat loudly.
"Miss Seraphine," he warned. "Fate does not take kindly to insults."
"Neither do I," Sera muttered, but she sat back down anyway, crossing her arms.
Then the energy faded.
The room dropped back into normal silence, except no one breathed normally.
Elian clasped his hands. "Questions?"
A vampire boy raised his hand desperately. "How do we stop it?"
"You don't," Elian replied cheerfully. "It is fate."
Alaric watched her—the way her eyes flashed with resistance, the tension in her shoulders, the faint heat radiating from her. Every sign matched what he'd been feeling for days.
The warmth. The pull. The way his thoughts kept circling her no matter how much he prayed they wouldn't.
And now he had proof.
Proof of something that terrified him.
Heaven had ordered him to destroy the child of the devil.
And fate had decided to make her his mate.
Callistus clapped his hands once. "Excellent. Now, you will all be partnered with your identified mates for the next segment—to observe behavioral synchronization."
Sera's head shot up. "You're kidding."
"Do I appear to possess a sense of humor?" he asked.
Seth chuckled. "This class just got interesting."
"Shut up," Sera snapped.
Leona elbowed her gently. "It's not that bad. Maybe it's… destiny."
"Now you see," the professor said. "Denial is common. Acceptance is inevitable. Class dismissed." And he disappeared.
"Destiny…" Sera muttered, gathering her books the second the bell rang. She practically bolted for the door.
But Alaric was faster.
He cornered her in the hallway, one arm braced against the wall beside her head. His expression was unreadable, but his voice was soft—almost reverent.
"You felt it too," he said.
"I felt nothing," she said flatly. "You standing this close isn't helping."
His lips curved, but his eyes flickered with something darker. "You can deny it all you want, Seraphine. But your soul already knows mine."
She glared up at him. "My soul knows nothing. It's empty. Now get out of my way."
For a second, his composure cracked—a quiet laugh escaped him. But then it faded, replaced by something troubled.
"Sera," he said quietly, "you don't understand what this means. For me."
"Then enlighten me," she said, arms crossed. "Because all I see is a celestial mistake."
He exhaled slowly, voice barely audible. "I was sent here to find someone. Someone dangerous. A child of the devil."
Sera's heart skipped—but she hid it well. "So? Maybe you should focus on that."
His eyes met hers, heavy with something that looked almost like pain. "I did. And fate just tied me to her."
Her breath caught. "You're insane."
"Maybe," he said. "But you're still mine."
"Try saying that again, and I'll set you on fire," she hissed, pushing past him.
He let her go—for now—watching her retreat down the corridor, that faint golden mark still glowing beneath her skin.
Behind him, Seth leaned against the wall, smirking. "Rough day, angel boy?"
Alaric shot him a sharp glance. "Don't start."
"Oh, I won't," Seth said, grin widening. "Not when your demon girlfriend just found out she's your mate. Talk about forbidden romance."
Alaric's wings flickered faintly. "Focus on your own mate, wolf."
Seth chuckled. "Leona? Yeah. My wolf's already losing his mind. But me? I've got… other priorities."
Alaric frowned. "What are you planning?"
Seth's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Let's just say, Sera's more useful than she looks."
"Don't touch her."
"Relax," Seth said, hands raised. "I'm not the threat here, angel."
He pushed off the wall and sauntered down the hall, his wolf growling in his head.
She's ours, Adam said. Leona is ours.
Yeah, Seth replied quietly. Eventually.
And somewhere down the hall, Sera brushed her hand over her chest—over that faint, burning mark—and whispered to herself,
"This fate thing… it's a joke."
You say that and don't mean it. You figured out he was your mate a long time ago, but you refused it. This time, proof.
Seraphine hissed and rolled her eyes.
But the warmth refused to fade.