Today was the day. He could feel it in his soul. Fidelis checked his appearance in the mirror and smiled. He had slicked back his hair and felt that it gave him a roguish, yet handsome look. He glanced up when his door opened.
"Blainel, Sodalitas. You ready?"
"Yes, Your Highness," they answered together.
He smirked when they mock glared at each other.
"Behave you two." He cheerfully smiled at them and smiled even wider when they gave him sharp glances.
"Why are you in such a good mood?"
"Because, Sodalitas, today is the day I find her."
"How do you know that?"
"I can feel it," Fidelis stated as he grabbed his backpack and car keys.
He didn't say anything else as he left his room, his two friends following him. They arrived at the school in record time.
Fidelis turned to his friends. "Ready to go human?"
"Of course, Romeo."
"I agree with George," Blainel replied.
"That's right, Danny," Sodalitas added and high-fived Blainel.
"Let's head to first period," Fidelis ordered and exited the car, slinging his backpack over one shoulder.
The walk from student parking seemed to take forever because various students stopped the trio to say hi and to catch up on what they were doing during the summer. This was one time Fidelis wished that his human persona wasn't such a social butterfly.
Finally, they made it to first period. Fidelis looked around the room while absently stroking his fate mark. She was here, at least not yet. Disappointed, he went to the seat the teacher had assigned for the first week of school. Class seemed to drag by and finally it was time for second period. Fidelis greeted Mr. Hall and went to his seat toward the back of the room. He met Mr. Hall last year and enjoyed his class. He was happy to get to take another one from him.
"How is your mark?" whispered Sodalitas who sat to his right.
"Nothing right now. I think this class is going to be a bust, too," he couldn't help his gloomy tone. Was his instinct about today wrong?
"We still have five morre classes, plus lunch. Maybe she'll be in one of those," Blainel reminded him.
"Maybe," Fidelis murmured as he settled in for class.
Class had barely started when his mark began to throb. He sat up abruptly from his slouch, his eyes going to the door that was opening.
In walked the senior guidance counselor, Ms. Samantha Owens. She wasn't who he had eyes for. It was the beauty who walked in behind her. The throbbing in his wrist increased as his hungry gaze took in every inch of her. Her tan skin, braided black hair with red tints, and vivid violet eyes, all called to him. He could see she was nervous, and he frowned. He felt a surge of protectiveness toward her. He didn't want her to be scared. His eyes shifted from her to the guy next to her. The guy was tall, probably around 6 feet 2. His light brown hair was on the long side and pulled back into a ponytail.
What bothered him was how close the guy was to the girl. Were they together? His fists clenched in anger. No, his fated one couldn't be with anyone else. He would make sure, just in case. His mind was already churning with ideas on how to talk to the pair of them.
"Romeo," hissed Sodalitas. "Is that her?"
He nodded at his friend and saw out of the corner of his eye, Blainel's gaze sharpened as he coolly assessed the pair.
He focused on the pair when Mr. Hall told them where to sit. Fidelis was disappointed that they were toward the middle of the class and not the back where he was sitting. No matter. It would work out. His luck was usually pretty good when it came to getting what he wanted.
At the end of class, an opportunity presented itself when Mr. Hall asked him to escort the pair around the school. He rose from his seat and joined Mr. Hall at his desk.
"Miss Holland, Mr. Marks, please come here a moment."
Fidelis watched as the girl and her companion joined them at Mr. Hall's desk. The moment she was in front of him his fated mark went from throbbing to a fierce warmth. He smiled. He wasn't mistaken. She was his! She gasped and he frowned when the boy grabbed her hand and squeezed.
He wanted to chop the boy's hand off. How dare he touch Fidelis's fated mate? He tried to rein in his emotions. They were both human. They didn't know about marks or magic. He had to be in control. It took a few seconds, but he managed to calm his emotions. He felt her stare which he returned until she suddenly dropped her gaze. Her shyness was adorable.
"This is Romeo Lancaster. He will be your guide for today. Since you have the same schedule and lunch as him, I thought it'd be a good idea for you to shadow him. Also, Romeo is president of our National Honor Society and a model student. You can't do better than him," bragged Mr. Hall.
"Hello," Fidelis said and held out his hand.
She nervously took it. "Hi, I'm Sera Holland."
The contact between their hands increased the warmth of his mark. The old stories were right. The more physicality the better for fated mates. He held her hand longer than necessary before reluctantly letting go. The loss chilled his soul. He had to be smart about this. He didn't want to scare her away.
"Hi, I'm Al Marks," the boy said and held out his hand.
Fidelis shook it, even though he really didn't want to. This guy might be his rival for his mate's affection. He had to tread carefully.
"Well, let's go," he told them with a grin as he led the way to their third-period class. "So, you are new to Wise County?"
"Yes, we are," the boy called Al replied.
"Are you two together?" he bluntly asked Al.
Al laughed. "Nope. We're great friends. We've been friends since childhood. My dad works for Sera's dad. So we were raised together. We're close like siblings but that's it. I don't see her in any romantic way. My taste in girls is the opposite of her."
Fidelis slid a glance in Sera's way. She wasn't looking at them. Instead, her eyes were on the floor. That bothered him. Was she really that shy or was she playing coy?
"Where did you go to school before here?"
"We were homeschooled. We were supposed to be here last school year, but Sera was in an accident and ended up in a coma for a year."
"What?" Fidelis was shocked. "Is she okay?" He found himself whispering to Al, not wanting to upset Sera with his question.
"She's good. She made a complete recovery. The doctor cleared her to attend school and do her senior year."
Fidelis felt relief wash through him. His mate was okay! He collected himself and began explaining about the school and taking them to each class on their schedule. He didn't know if it was fate or his luck, but they had the same schedule as him. This would make things easier. He would be around her all day. He would be able to get closer to his mate. He was looking forward to it.
He managed to finish the tour in time for them to go to the last twenty minutes of third period.
"I'll stick next to you for the first week until you get acclimated," He promised as he knocked on the door and went inside.
Sera and Al came in behind him. He went to Ms. Shirley Pennington, their Pre-Calculus teacher, and introduced them to her. Ms. Pennington pointed out their seats and they sat down.
Fidelis took his seat in the back in between Sodalitas and Blainel. He took the note Blainel passed him and wrote down everything that happened. After Blainel read it, he passed it to Sodalitas. The last few minutes of class Ms. Pennington let them talk and he whispered his plans to his friends.
Lunch couldn't come fast enough. He wanted to introduce Sera and Al to his circle of friends and hopefully learn more about his fated mate.