The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 244

First Day at Work-1

Claim

Lori had no idea what was brewing in her pack. No idea about the Alpha’s demands, her parents’ fears, or the storm gathering on the horizon. Her world had narrowed to a single point of focus.

Two days.

She had two days before she would walk into Headmaster Attia’s office and begin the strangest experiment of her life.

The thought made her stomach twist into knots.

“I can’t do this,” she said for the fifth time, pacing the length of Iva’s room. “I’m going to walk in there and forget how to speak. I’m going to trip over my own feet. I’m going to accidentally set something on fire.”

Iva watched from her bed, amused. “Why would you set something on fire?”

“I don’t know! It could happen!”

Iva laughed and patted the space beside her. “Come. Sit. Breathe.”

Lori flopped onto the bed, her head falling into her hands.

“Iva, I’m serious. Every time I’m near him, I lose about fifty IQ points. I can’t think. I can’t speak. I just… stare.”

“That’s called attraction, Lori. It’s normal.”

“Normal people don’t turn into mute idiots around their crushes.”

“Attia isn’t a crush. He’s your fated mate. There’s a difference.”

Lori lifted her head, her eyes wide. “That’s worse! That’s so much worse!”

Iva took her hands, forcing Lori to look at her.

“Listen to me,” Iva said, her voice firm. “You don’t need to be soared. What happened with me and Nick? That was one of the rare instances when a fated mate rejects another. It’s not the norm. Look at me and Caleb now-despite all our differences, despite the running and the fighting and the chaos, the bond brought us together and we are stronger than ever.”

Lori rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but you’re drop dead gorgeous and the big M.”

Iva swatted her arm. “Stop it.”

“I’m serious! You’re a future princess now. You’re beautiful. You’re powerful. I’m just… me.”

Iva shook her head. “You are not ‘just’ anything. You are Lori. You are kind and brave and smart. And you are exactly who the Goddess chose for him.”

Lori’s eyes glistened.

“Now,” Iva continued, a teasing smile creeping across her face, “enjoy.”

173

Fust Day at Work 1

“Enjoy?”

“The tension. The anticipation. The way your heart races every time you think about him.” Iva’s smile widened. “This is the good part, Lori, Before everything gets complicated. Just… let yourself feel it.”

Lori buried her face in her hands, but she was smiling.

Claim

Two days passed in a blur of nerves and preparation.

Lori rearranged her class schedule, shifting study blocks and lab sessions to accommodate her new role. Her professors were understanding-the headmaster’s request carried weight-but their curious looks made her skin prickle.

*Why you?* their eyes seemed to ask. *What makes you so special?*

She didn’t have an answer.

Not one she could give, anyway.

On the morning of her first day, she stood outside the headmaster’s office, her heart beating so loudly she was certain the entire floor could hear it.

She hadn’t had a single alone moment with Attia since that evening in her room. They had exchanged glances across the classroom, brushed past each other in corridors, felt the pull of the bond like a tide neither could resist.

But they hadn’t spoken.

Hadn’t touched.

Hadn’t been alone.

And now her entire body was trembling in anticipation, her mind already creating scenarios she had no business imagining.

*Stop it,* she commanded herself. *You’re here to work. To observe. Not to-*

The door opened.

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