The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 238

What Happens Next?-3

Claim

And somewhere in the back of the room, Daren shifted in his seat, confused and unsettled, completely unaware that he had just made a very powerful enemy.

The classroom had never felt so small.

Lori kept her eyes fixed on her notebook, but her gaze kept betraying her-drifting upward, searching, finding him every single time. And every single time their eyes met, her breath stopped.

It was like drowning and flying at the same time.

Her wolf, Layla, was howling inside her-a soundless, ecstatic cry that vibrated through Lori’s entire body.” Mate. He is looking at us. He is always looking.”

Lori tried to focus on the lecture. Attia was explaining something about defensive barriers, his deep voice filling the room, but she heard none of it. All she could do was drink him in with her eyes.

The way his broad shoulders moved beneath his shirt. The way his hands gestured when he emphasized a point. The way his dark hair fell across his forehead when he turned to write on the board.

She was drowning.

And she didn’t want to be saved.

Each time their gazes locked, something electric passed between them-a current that made her pulse race and her skin tingle. Attia’s expression remained neutral, professional, but his eyes… his eyes held a heat that contradicted every cold word from his lips.

*Stop staring,* she commanded herself. *You’re going to get caught. You’re going to make him uncomfortable. You’re going to-*

Their eyes met again.

Her thought dissolved.

Attia’s gaze lingered a heartbeat longer than necessary. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Then he looked away, continuing his lecture as if nothing had happened.

Lori pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart hammer against her ribs.

*This is torture,* she thought. *Beautiful, unbearable torture.*

When the bell finally rang, Lori nearly sobbed with relief.

Attia dismissed the class with a curt nod and walked out without looking back. His departure left a void in the room-a sudden absence of pressure that made Lori feel like she could finally breathe again.

She slumped in her seat, her head falling into her hands.

*Get it together,* she told herself. *You need to function. Otherwise you’ll fail your classes. You can’t think about him all the time. You can’t-*

1/2

What Happens Next? 3

“Lori? You okay?”

She looked up to find a classmate watching her with concern.

“Fine,” Lori lied, foreing a smile. “Just tired.”

She gathered her things and fled the classroom before anyone could ask more questions.

Claim

The hallway was crowded with students switching classes, their voices rising and falling in a chaotic symphony. Lori wove through the crowd, her mind still spinning, still stuck on dark eyes and broad shoulders and the way he had looked at her.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost walked past the group of girls huddled near the notice board.

“-cannot believe it,” one of them was saying, her voice high with excitement. “A position in the headmaster’s office? Do you know how good that would look on our resumes?”

“I heard the pay is incredible,” another added.

“Forget the pay. Do you know what kind of connections you’d make? The headmaster knows everyone.”

Lori’s steps slowed.

She drifted toward the notice board, pretending to read a posting about an upcoming seminar, but her ears were tuned entirely to the conversation.

“My friend Brentley-you know, the headmaster’s assistant? He said the position is temporary. Just a few weeks. But still-”

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