The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 223

Claum

Fated Pair I-T

The next two days passed in a blur.

Lori moved through her classes like a ghost, present in body but absent in every other way. She took notes she wouldn’t read, answered questions she wouldn’t remember, and sat through lectures that washed over her like water over stone.

Her mind was elsewhere.

Always elsewhere.

With him.

She barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him-Headmaster Attia, standing at the front of the classroom, his dark eyes fixed on her, his deep voice saying her name. *Lorelei.* The memory made her chest ache and her stomach flutter in ways she couldn’t control.

Her wolf, Layla, was not in better condition. The pacing had stopped-replaced by a restless, watchful stillness that was somehow worse. Layla spent hours curled in the corner of Lori’s mind, her ears straining for sounds only she could hear.

“Waiting,” Layla had said when Lori asked what she was doing. “I am waiting for our mate.”

Iva tried to support her. She listened when Lori needed to talk, sat with her when she needed silence, held her hand when the fear became too much. She was a good friend-the best friend Lori had ever had.

But even Iva knew.

In the end, Lori would have to face this alone.

No amount of support could walk into that room for her. No amount of love could soften the blow if Attia decided she wasn’t enough. This was her burden to carry, her truth to confront, her future to claim or lose.

And so Lori waited.

She waited through the endless hours of the first day. Through the sleepless night that followed. Through the agonizing crawl of the second morning.

By the time the sun rose on the appointed day, she was drained-emotionally, physically, spiritually. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes. Her hands trembled when she reached for her tea.

But she was ready.

Or as ready as she would ever be.

Iva woke before dawn.

Her heart was already racing, the bond humming warm and insistent in her chest. Caleb was coming today. After days apart-after hours of phone calls and texts and restless nights-he would finally be here.

She pressed her hand to her chest and closed her eyes, reaching through the bond. She felt him instantly-

12

< Fated Pai-te

a warmth, a presence, a whisper of soon.

The morning passed in a haze of nervous energy. Iva attended her classes, but she couldn’t focus. Her mind was split between two tracks: Caleb’s arrival and Lori’s fate.

Last night, she and Caleb had rehearsed their approach.

Claim

They had discussed every angle, every possibility, every potential complication. Caleb would take the lead -he was the future king, after all, and his presence carried weight that Iva’s secret identity could not yet claim.

Later, Iva would be there to support Lori. To catch her if she fell.

It was the best they could do.

The summons came during lunch.

A school monitor-a young wolf with a pinched face and an official badge-approached their table just as Iva was lifting a piece of toast to her mouth.

“Miss Iva?” the monitor asked.

Iva set down her toast. “Yes?”

“You’ve been called to the headmaster’s office. Immediately. Please follow me.”

Around them, the canteen went quiet. Students turned to stare. Whispers rippled through the crowd like wind through grass.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify