The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 207

Lori’s Mate 11-1

The morning sun had climbed higher since the assembly began, casting long shadows across the eastern field. Iva stood among the first-year students, her gray uniform blending with the sea of gray around her. But her mind was not on Headmaster Attia’s words.

Her mind was on the thread.

The red thread glowed before her eyes-impossible and brilliant, visible only to her as the Goddess Messenger. It stretched from Lori’s chest, pulsing with warm light, weaving through the crowd like a river of destiny.

Iva’s heart beat loud in her ears.

*Today,* she thought. *Today I find him.*

She had promised Lori. Sworn on their friendship. She would not rest until she pinpointed her best friend’s fated mate. The Goddess had given her this gift for a reason, and she would use it.

She already imagined the squeals of happiness. Lori’s face lighting up. The tears. The hugs. The way her best friend would finally, finally see herself the way others saw her.

*Beautiful. Worthy. Deserving of love.*

Iva followed the thread with her eyes, tracking it as it wove between students, dipped around a professor, rose over a cluster of chattering wolves.

The thread pulled her gaze toward the front of the assembly.

Toward the podium.

Toward the man who stood there, speaking in low, measured tones about the upcoming exams and rules to be followed.

Iva’s blood turned to ice.

The thread stretched from Lori’s chest… and disappeared into the massive chest of the man at the podium.

Headmaster Attia?!

No.

Iva’s breath left her lungs in a rush. Her vision tunneled. The world around her faded to a blur of gray uniforms and morning light, leaving only him-only the towering figure with the caramel skin and the dark hair and the eyes that held centuries of secrets.

She lifted her gaze from his chest to his face.

And froze.

His eyes were already on her.

Not looking at the crowd. Not scanning the students. Fixed. On her. Those deep brown eyes, framed by

172

Lon’s Matelt.

long curly lashes, captured her gaze and held it with an intensity that made her stomach drop.

Clams

There was nothing warm in his look. Nothing welcoming. It was dominant and cold-the look of a predator who had spotted something unexpected and was deciding what to do about it.

Iva’s feet rooted to the grass. Her heart hammered against her ribs. Her lungs forgot how to work.

“It can’t be.”

The words whispered from her lips, barely a breath, lost in the space between heartbeats.

“She can’t be fated to him.”

Lori was sweet. Lori was nice. Lori was helpful and caring and warm. Lori shared her last piece of bread. Stayed up late to help friends study. Made terrible jokes and laughed at her own punchlines.

own.

Lori was sunshine and kindness and the softest heart Iva had ever known.

And the Goddess had mated her with him?

With Headmaster Attia?

The man who made students tremble with a single glance. Whose aura of domination crushed the air from the room. Who had spoken about death and sacrifices like he was discussing the weather.

*What is happening?*

Iva reached for her wolf, frantic, desperate.

“Avalon. Tell me this is a mistake. Tell me the thread is wrong. Tell me I’m seeing things.”

Avalon’s voice came slowly, carefully, weighted with something that sounded almost like sympathy.

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