Chapter 48:

Once we made it back to the academy and dismounted, we ended up going our separate ways for the day. As much as I would have loved to spend the rest of the day with him, I knew I probably had piles of classwork to catch up on, but he did still promise to meet up with me after dinner for some more training tonight. 

Walking back into the main hall, I quickly took the stairs up to my room, taking a breath in preparation for the onslaught that was bound to be Lexi wanting all the answers.

Popping the door open, I looked up to see Lexi lounging on her bed with a thick book open on her lap as she looked up at me. Those dark eyes took in every single little detail of my entire being before a slow, devious smile formed on her lips, and I instantly blushed, feeling like somehow she knew exactly what I had been up to last night... and this morning. 

"What?" I asked as she just grinned a little wider at me. 

"Don't pretend that we don't both know exactly what you've been up to, Ari." She giggled as she closed her book and sat up, giving me her complete, undivided attention now.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." I stumbled over my words as I shut the door behind me and set my backpack down on my bed. I knew it was a lame reply, because yes, I knew exactly what she was talking about, but I wasn't sure if I was actually ready to admit that aspect of my life to anyone else just yet. Nova jumped from my shoulders down onto my bed with a giggle of her own as she lounged across my bed, and I started sorting my things, putting everything back in their rightful place. 

Lexi snickered at my lame response before giving me another grin. "You must not have looked in the mirror yet this morning." She said, and I just turned to her with a raised eyebrow because, no, I hadn't really bothered to look in a mirror besides taming my wild hair. 

"No, why?" I asked as she shook her head at me.

"Because during one of your rides on that man, he got you." She tapped the side of her neck right under her ear, and from the heat in my cheeks, I was sure my face had turned entirely red at this point as I remembered that he had, in fact, gotten me last night. Then I flushed even hotter as I remembered exactly how damn good it had felt as he made that mark. 

"I knew it!" Lexi called as she laughed, and I instantly looked over at Nova, who was also giggling at me now. 

'You didn't think to tell me?' I questioned her as she just continued to giggle at me. 

'I thought you already knew. Plus, it's not something to be ashamed of, Ari. It's normal for mates to leave a mark like that when unbonded. It works as a way to warn others off of you. It's a physical mark to show Celestials, and a scent mark to warn off the other races. It's just simply another sign of affection. Fae and Vampirians do similar things. Fae will also bite to mark, only they'll do it continuously and leave a far darker, more painful mark. Vampirians take blood from each other. While Celestials don't typically show affection this way, in a place like this, where it's a combination of other races, they will as well in order for the others to know their partner is off limits.' 

'So, you're telling me that he essentially claimed my ass?' I asked, and she nodded slightly. That made me pause for a moment. I didn't quite know how to feel about that. I didn't particularly like the idea that he had just essentially claimed my ass without me knowing, but at the same time, I kinda loved the idea that he wanted to claim me as his.

'In simple terms, yes.'

"Okay, hold on. I'm gonna go get Genie. She would absolutely want to be in on this. Then you're going to spill everything." Lexi said as she got up to leave the room. 

"Wait, Lexi, what about all of my school work?" I called after her, and she just giggled.

"Don't worry, we'll get to that too." 

I fell back onto my bed with a sigh as I started gently scratching at the scales under Nova's chin. 'Why are you upset about him claiming you?' She asked, genuine curiosity shining in those bright violet eyes as she looked up at me.

'Because I'm not just some object for someone to essentially piss on and call theirs.'

'I think you misunderstood, Ari. It's not quite like that, sure, I can see where you're coming from with the whole scent thing, but you have to realize that's just a side effect of what actually happened. It was his natural instinct to do it out of passion, not specifically as a claim. Just like the other races, Beastials have heightened senses. Although, unlike the others, their alter form determines just how heightened those senses are. Xavier is a dragon. He can sense every single little change in you, just like I can. Those senses are what drove him to do that. It's why he actually placed his scent on you in every single spot possible. It's because he liked the way it mixed with yours. It's far more of an affectionate thing for our race rather than a territorial thing. That just happens to be a big perk of it in a place like this. If it were a true claim, like the other races use, it would be a far darker mark, and you would have noticed it because it would have hurt, considering that he would have continued marking that spot as often as possible.'

That made me pause once more as I thought it over for a few moments before pulling a small mirror out of the drawer of my nightstand and using it to look at the mark in question. It was honestly barely more red than the blushing skin around it, but it was there nonetheless. My hand strayed to it, gently rubbing over the mark, but it didn't even hurt in the slightest. He hadn't even left a true bruise, but my mind instantly strayed back to the events once more, recalling just how gently he had kissed that spot this morning, and I realized just how right Nova was. He had every single chance to make this mark into an actual claim, but he hadn't.

The door popped open once more as Lexi and Genie walked in, and I smiled at the pair of them. It was actually nice to finally be able to catch up with them on everything. Maybe it would help me sort out this huge shift in my life a little further. 

Both of them instantly came over to me, plopping down on either side of me as we all crowded in on my bed.

"You know, when Lexi told me that he had marked you, I was expecting a lot more of an actual mark from that man." Genie started, tilting her head slightly as I sat up a little further, tucking my legs under myself as I got more comfy for this conversation.

"To be fair, it is Xavier Knight. Does he really need to leave much of a mark to make a claim? Cause if I remember correctly, I'm almost positive that the whole student body is absolutely terrified of him." I retorted, and they both giggled at me. The last thing I needed was for them to figure out it was actually something far different than what they thought it was. 

"Yeah, the whole student body, except you." Lexi shot me a look, raising her eyebrow like I was actually about to challenge that statement, but I just smiled at her. "Now, I'll tell you this first, then you have to spill." She poked me in the arm. "And I mean every juicy detail." I just shook my head as I grinned at her. "Genie and I batted our eyes and convinced most of the teachers to waive your homework, so you only have a small stack that we could help you through in a couple of hours rather than a few days worth of homework. Other than that, all you have to do is study up on all the materials we've covered so far, and honestly, even that won't be too bad with both of us helping you out." 

"You guys are honestly the best. I really don't know what I would've done without you." I told them, looking between the two of them. 

"You're welcome. Now, you promised to spill, so spill." Genie's vivid green eyes brightened as she smiled at me. I just nodded before starting from the time that we had left for the camp, and told them everything that had happened since then, while obviously leaving out the topics of exactly how he had rescued me from the prison, and the fact that he was actually the prince of the royal Beastial line. 

"So now you're what? Like, actually in a relationship, or just fuck buddies?" Lexi asked, and I faltered for a moment, almost choking on a laugh. 

"Well, we're definitely not just fuck buddies, as you would say." I couldn't help but to burst out laughing at the fact that I even had to say that statement. "I would say it's more of an actual relationship, although neither of us has actually said it out loud, but I feel like actions in that regard speak far louder than words." I wasn't about to tell them that yes, we absolutely were in a relationship, considering by some twist of fate I was lucky enough to be that damn gorgeous man's mate, and we were both officially done fighting this draw between us. 

"Sooo, how was it?" Lexi asked, shouldering me into a giggling Genie as I blushed once more. 

"Fucking incredible." I felt my face heat as I looked down at my hands. 

"I told you. That man just has that whole commanding, I know exactly what I'm doing vibe, and I'm not afraid to show it." She replied, but not even she could hold back her laugh at her own words, and she had no idea just how right she was. "Girl, you need to own this shit. Not everyone around this place gets a guy like that, and there's nothing wrong with flaunting the fact that one of the scariest mother fuckers in this place chose you." 

"Well... If you insist." I challenged with a raised eyebrow, and they both leaned in closer once more. "You know that whole energy power he has?" Both of them sobered up very quickly at the mention of that, as they nodded to me. "Turns out that he has some serious control of that power, and when you add that into the mix, it sends a girl to a whole other level." I couldn't help but to just grin as they both openly gawked at me. 

"No fucking way." Lexi mumbled as Genie just looked me over like she was making sure I was still fine after everything, before she giggled as I just nodded.