Mark's Forbidden Mate - Signed Paperback

Mark

Getting a full-ride to an elite paranormal college is no easy task. And keeping my grades high is a requirement if I want to maintain that scholarship. That means I don’t have time for parties, boys, or drama.

It also means I always get a room to myself so I can focus on my magical studies. So when I move in senior year to find a werewolf stinking up my room, things get a little tense. Not only is there no way to get rid of him, but he’s an idiot to boot.

However, when the full moon rises and he kisses me, my whole world is turned upside down.

Dustin

Werewolves don’t go to elite schools. We just aren’t academic types usually. So when I get in on a football scholarship, I have to work double time to keep my grades up and perform well on the field.

Senior year, I’m made captain of the team, and that comes with perks, like a room all to myself. Except when I arrive, it’s not empty. Instead, there’s a sassy male witch glaring at me every chance he gets.

It’s clear we hate one another, but there’s something I’m not telling him.

He’s my mate. He just doesn’t know it yet.

TROPES: standalone, gay for you/bi awakening, alpha wolf, roommate, enemies to lovers, witch x familiar, fated mates, forbidden love, forced proximity, found family, strict roles, and HEA.

One: Mark
Enchanting a small suitcase to hold an entire dorm room’s worth of supplies was easily the best summer project I’d ever spent time on. It wasn’t a particularly difficult piece of magic, but creating one so big provided a bit of a challenge. Not to mention, it was expensive to gather all the materials I needed. It wasn’t every day you just happened across a full liter of stardust. But I needed it to punch a hole in reality to create my little pocket dimension. After all, where is a boy supposed to store all his cute crop tops if not in the void?
Not that I’d ever get the chance to wear them this year. In fifteen minutes, I was teleporting to the mountains of West Virginia, where a tiny, elite paranormal university was nestled into a valley. It was called Widdershins Academy, and it was only for the best of the best. And since I’d gotten a full-ride there, that meant if I had anything less than a perfect GPA, I would lose my funding.
Now, my family wasn’t poor. Being from a long line of witches comes with its perks. However, an academy like Widdershins had no use for money. They charged tuition in years of service to the school. It wasn’t exactly slavery, but it wasn’t freedom either. And the last thing I wanted to do was be bound to that school for the next five to ten years every time they had an emergency.
That was just not my thing.
I was what you’d call a free spirit. In other words, I did what I damn well pleased and to hell with anyone who thought otherwise. I was far too young and gay to give a fuck what anyone thought about me.
However, unlike most witches, I didn’t let the power go to my head. Since I was a kid, my parents had been teaching me how to be responsible with my magic. Because, much like genies and wishes, magic wasn’t an exact art. It could go wrong. Terribly wrong if you weren’t careful. And there were plenty who had paid the ultimate price for not being careful.
But I was in school, and that kind of magic wasn’t something we studied. We did things like divination or conjuration or whatever. But lighting candles with a flick of your finger or telling the future weren’t really my focus. I was what they called a Spirit Witch. That meant I could do just about any kind of magic, but my power came from the universe itself. I could manipulate light, change electromagnetic fields, and even manipulate life itself.
“Are you almost done packing?” a familiar feminine voice called up the stairs. “Your ride is here.”
“Be down in a minute, Mom.”
I stuffed the last of my clothes into the void inside the suitcase. The books were already in there, not to mention an entire semester’s worth of supplies for my classes. I took one last look around the room, making sure I’d gotten everything. Just as I was ready to close the case, my gaze fell on the little wolf plushy that sat nestled between my pillows.
“Do you want to come with me, Artie?” I asked, picking up the fluffy toy I’d had for years.
He didn’t respond, of course, because he was a stuffed animal. I turned him over, playing with the fur on his ears. It felt a bit childish to be so attached to him, but I couldn’t help it. He’d been my only companion for a long time. After all, witch children didn’t go to public school or have neighborhood friends. Puberty was a dangerous time to have access to magic. So Artie was the only thing I had to talk to besides my parents. And who the hell wants to talk to their parents?
“Yeah, you’re coming with me,” I smiled, putting him gently into the void case. “It’s gonna be a lonely semester anyway with my capstone project. No friends or fun for me.”
With a sigh, I clicked the case closed and hefted it from the bed. I strained under the weight of it, grunting a bit as I carried it toward the door. That was the problem with using the void. It was oddly heavy.
“There you are,” my mother said as I came down the stairs with my case.
As always, she was dressed to the nines. It was two in the afternoon on a Wednesday, and she was wearing a long black dress fit for a ball. Her hair was done perfectly, and a diamond necklace hugged her neck. And, as always, there was a martini in her left hand. The woman loved to drink. Then again, she was also a gifted diviner of the future. If I had the power to see nearly everything that was going to happen to me, I’d drink, too.
Next to her stood a man in a uniform from the school. He was my ride. In fact, he’d already drawn out the teleportation sigil on the floor of the living room.
And my father? Well, he was nowhere to be seen as usual. He had a tendency only to show up when he could take credit for my successes or chastise me for my failures.
I didn’t miss him.
“Where’s all your luggage, darling?” my mother asked, glancing at the single suitcase I dropped to the floor beside me with a thud. “You’ll need more than that for the semester.”
“I enchanted it,” I replied with a smile. “Everything’s in there.”
She smiled back. “You’re getting better at shielding yourself from me. I didn’t have a clue.”
“I like to keep things interesting.”
“That’s for sure.” She took a sip of her martini before giving me a very delicate hug. “Now, have a good semester. I’ve seen that there’s going to be an outbreak of the flu in the second week that nobody will expect, so make sure you wash your hands and do a masking spell. You’ll need your strength for your capstone project.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Any guesses as to what it might be?”
She paused for a moment, furrowing her brows as she stared into my eyes. Hers were violet, just like mine. I felt a tinge on the back of my skull, but it went no further than that. My shielding really was getting better.
She shook her head, smiling again. “I have no idea.”
“Good. It’ll be a surprise then.”
“I love surprises. I haven’t had a good one in nearly thirty years.”
I hefted my suitcase up once again, stepping into the teleportation circle. “Ready?”
The man gave me a nod and stepped up beside me.
“I’ll tell your father you missed him,” my mother said as the man began to chant. The circle around us glowed with golden light, and I felt myself become suddenly lighter.
“Don’t bother,” I scoffed.
“Markus Altair! Don’t talk about your–”
But before she could finish, I felt the world drop out from under me. In a flash of golden light, I was plummeting through space and time at an astounding speed. Then, just as soon as it began, my feet hit solid ground again. I opened my eyes as warm sunshine spilled across my skin, taking in the massive circle of stones I now stood in.
“Welcome back to Widdershins, sir,” the teleporter nodded, tipping his hat.