Chapter 50

Valentin

Valentin felt his eyes slowly closing as he struggled to focus. Then someone slammed something on his desk. He snapped his eyes open to be face-to-face with his fiancée and future bride. She was glaring down at him with her golden eyes. Her long black hair was swishing around by her waist.

“Did you even hear anything I said?” she snapped.

Valentin rubbed his eyes. “No, I’m sorry. I—”

“I know I’m not your first choice,” Bella snarled, cutting him off. “But could you at least act like it.”

“What do you mean?” Valentin snapped back. I gestured towards where she was crowding his desk. Her shirt skirt was riding high up on her thighs. It was a sight that previously would’ve sent a shiver down his spine and a jolt to his cock. But now, since her, he was merely annoyed.

“You haven’t paid attention to anything I’ve said in the last hour,” Bella hissed. “It seems like you’re entirely uninterested in anything to do with wedding planning. Don’t tell me it’s not because of her because I know it is.”

Anger coursed through Valentin’s skin. He stood up at his desk abruptly, causing Bella to jolt back. He stood up straight, chin pointed up before he glared down at the student in front of him.

“I have chosen to marry you,” he grit out. “That should be enough for you. I am the Headmaster. I don’t have time for nuptial planning nor. do I give a fuck to do so.”

Bella gasped, face twisting into a frown from a scowl. “But—”

“Now get out of my office,” Valentin sat back down, definitive. “Before you make a fool of yourself again.”

Bella scowled at him one more time, waiting for him to say something through the silence. Then, she gathered the brochures and pamphlets she’d scattered across his desk and left the room in a huff. The door slammed behind her and Valentin sunk down in his seat.

He ran his hand over his face and sighed heavily. What the hell was he doing? He looked longingly at his phone, as if Victoria was going to call him and demand he break his pending marriage to Bella right now and marry her daughter.

Her secret daughter.

That no one else knew was her daughter.

His head pounded as he mulled that over. He thought of the way people were going to throw themselves at Zora’s feet once that tidbit of information got out. Especially, her three other marriage candidates. Another shiver of anger rolled through him as he thought of the High Alphas’ sons.

He’d never liked High Alpha Wolfham or High Alpha Moonraiser. They were arrogant and overly confident. They only managed to become High Alphas after the War due to their support of Victoria. Both packs had sent a fair amount of their people to fight for the Queen. Victoria then awarded the houses the title of High Alpha, much like the Lunerly house had been granted. In that award, she’d passed a sliver of her power to them, making them more powerful than the rest of the alphas. Victoria created the High Alphas.

Alpha Blythwitch was a great man, Valentin’s friend even. He was not given the title of High Alpha for political reasons. Some felt his role in the war was lesser than High Alpha Moonraiser or Wolfham. Valentin, being a key figure in the war as well, knew that Blythwitch was incidental in winning the war. However, he was a behind the scenes man and not the figurehead that he or Victoria were.

When he passed, Valentin was deeply upset. It was actually his idea for Victoria to take him under her wing. He considered it penance for not allowing the Blythwitch name to be ascended to a High Alpha. He regretted that decision he moment the Moonraiser and Wolfham sons came to the castle and brought Thorne into their little group.

Now, the Thorne he knew, the one that Alpha Blythwitch would’ve been proud of, was gone. He couldn’t help but resent the other two Alpha sons because of that.

All fucking three of them were now going to try and win Zora’s hand. The hand that belonged to him. Valentin was the original High Alpha. If anyone deserved her hand, it was him.

He carded a hand through his hair. It had become stringy and frizzy with it’s lack of care over the past few days. Between telling off Zora and announcing his formal bid to marry Bella, he’d had no time for himself.

He stood up from his chair with a huff. The surface of his desk looked like a paper bomb had gone off. He stared at it for a moment before giving up and yanking the door to his office open.

He needed a break. One that was certainly not going to come from the mountain of papers eating his desk.

He locked his office door and padded down the near empty halls of the Admissions building. It was near the end of the day when Bella had made her way to his office with her mountain of brochures. By the time she’d left, it was almost seven, leaving the halls with only a few straggling employees. They each curtly nodded to Valentin as he passed before making their way to the front door.

Valentin continued to the back of the building then wound his way down the dark spiral staircase to another large door. He inserted a beautiful gold key into the lock and twisted. The wood door creaked as it opened. Valentin entered and immediately waved his hand. A slew of sconces lit up the room as the lower Magiks ebbed out of Valentin’s hands. The room became illuminated in a matter of seconds.

In the center was a giant low lit pool with flowing green, blue water. There were twelve dials along the far side of the wall in various shapes. Valentin sighed as he reveled in the silence of the room. He shrugged off his suit jacket and hung it on a post then pulled the elegant robes he wore off his shoulders as well. Slowly, he shed all of his clothes until he was as naked as the day he was born. Then, with one giant breath, he dove into the green-blue waters.

The water was warm and soothing as it ran over his skin. He allowed himself to resurface and went over to where the dials were. He pulled and tugged on a few, sending foaming soap into the bath. Then, he swam across the bath to a ledge and slunk into it.

It was nice for Valentin to relax. He rarely had time to. Slowly, his eyes fluttered shut and he allowed himself to let the bubbles and water lap at his shoulders. It felt like the waves were kissing his collarbones, so gentle and light. It reminded him of another person’s touch.

Her hands, soft and bare. Uncalloused, from her life of not training. The curve of her arms resting gently on his own. The dig of her nails into his skin. The way he pressed her slowly into the floor with his hips, grinding his hips into hers as her mouth parted and back arched into him and—

“Fuck!” Valentin called into the room, eyes shooting open. He slammed his fists into the water out of frustration, sending water sloshing all over the rim of the bath. The silence in the room was ruined with his outburst.

Fucking Zora. She was under his skin in the worst way. His lower half ached with the sordid little fantasy he’d just imagined. Though, it wasn’t much of a fantasy. He put her in very compromising positions when he’d been training her.

He cursed and blessed himself for cutting that off. He tipped his head back to lean on the rim of the bath. He sighed and ran his hand over his face.

“Fuck,” he repeated, cursing himself more than his memory at that point.