Page 18 of Vayn

“According to the rules, you only have to guard her when she’s walking to and from her classes to her apartment. Or if she leaves campus. Yet, you sometimes stand in the shadows of her classroom, watching her during her lessons. You also stand in the shadows of the training room and watch while she trains. Your shadows even protect her, which they don’t have to. You do all of that for her, but you don’t want her, right?”

Was I already behaving like a mate to this half-human? No. That was impossible. I was merely doing my job.

“I was doing my job,” I replied. “My duty is to guard her. In order to get my wings back, I’ll do that. But that’s all I can do for her. I can’t be anything else to her. I refuse.”

“You have the right to refuse. I can’t make you claim her. And since her powers haven’t manifested, she can’t sense that you’re hers. If you want, you can reject her.”

I swallowed. “If I do that, she’ll feel the pain of being rejected.”

“Better she feels that pain now before she feels the bond of being your fated one. It’ll hurt worse if she allows that bond to snap into place, then you reject her. Don’t you think?”

I rubbed a hand through my hair. “If I reject her, will that interfere with me getting my wings?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“I need a definite answer.”

“No, it won’t interfere.”

Good. Still, I felt uneasy. My shadows were demanding to be set free, to go to her. They disapprove of me rejecting her. Shit, I don’t know if I approve of it either. But I can’t be with a human. I won’t. I held in my sigh.

“I’m only supposed to guard her until her powers manifest...” I start.

“Actually, if you want to get technical, the terms were to guard her until her powers manifested, then help her adjust to her life with new powers. Destiny may need you up until her graduation date. If she graduates without manifesting, then your job is done. You don’t have to guard an employee, which is what she’ll become after graduation. If her powers manifest before graduation, well, then you’ll have to reject her because she’ll sense the mating bond.”

What if her fangs and claws came in before her graduation, before my guardianship ended? Would I still reject her after protecting her for so long? And what if they came in after her graduation?

Would she come looking for me? Would I reject her when she found me? I don’t know. Shit, I don’t know anything. What I did know was that if she didn’t hate me already, she’d definitely hate me then.

“You look torn,” Alyk drawled. “How about you take a few days to think about it, then let me know.”

That sounded like a good idea. I nodded.

“Was there anything else you needed?” Alyk asked. “I’m kind of busy.”

“Who are her parents?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.”

There was a tick in the dean’s jaw. “If I say I don’t know, it means I don’t know.”

“Do you have an idea?”

For a second, the dean didn’t reply. “I might.”

“I want to hear it.”

“And I would tell it to you if you were willing to claim her. As her guardian, you don’t need to know.”

“I need to know what I’m dealing with. What if her powers manifest soon? I need to know how to handle her.”

“She doesn’t have destructive abilities. When her powers manifest, you should be able to handle it.”

“Damn it, Alyk, just tell me who her parents are.”

“Why should I tell you when she doesn’t even know yet?”