"Pull yourself together, Knorah." She told herself as followed the pureblood dragon in front of her towards the scholars' offices. She knew the male in front of her was a pureblood because his energy was one color, in his case green, and it was in the outline form his beast. The massive energy beast curled itself around the male, its scaly tail that had spearhead-like spikes down to its tip wrapped itself around one leg and its razor sharp tipped wings tucked behind him almost dragging to the floor. The beast's head was curled and tucked on one of the male's shoulders as if it were trying to sleep but something was disturbing it because its ears kept on twitching back and forth. 

What a lazy beast. Knorah thought with a smile as she tried to make herself feel better but it wasn't working.

That was how she now saw everyone. She saw their deeper nature, not just the physical manifestation. One might say she saw their souls but not like the way a Mage of Spirit would see, summon and interact with them. She was what Professor Xandov called a Mage of Sight—which meant she just saw what others didn't without interacting with them. She also did a little digging on her own and discovered that Mage of Sight were also had the gift of foresight which she didn't.

Truth be told, she was confused with all of it. She didn't know what to believe and now that the professor was dead, she didn't even have anyone to talk to about it. Billie knew of it but Knorah didn't give her the details she had shared with the professor.

Noble Lund's presence beside her should have given her at least a tinge of confidence for what she was about to face but it didn't. Just thinking about the Leo Commander made her skin ripple with goose-bumps. She saw him, the true him and she was terrified of what he was.

He was the ultimate predator and he didn't even know it. The immense energy that was flaring out of him would have burnt her into crisp if it weren't for its vessel. He was sheer power incarnated.

He was the ultibreed, the final mental stage of a beast where both the male and the beast united to create one being that surpassed the expectations of every other beast alive.

She saw the ultibeast in him. His energy outlined each sinew muscle. She saw every retraction and coil of them. She saw the way its eyes blazed down at her. Unlike the dragon, the ultibreed was alert and seeking for any disturbance in the hall. It was as if the beast knew there was something wrong in that hallway and just needed to find out what it was.

Once she lived past the shock of the ultibreed, Knorah saw the other thing that almost stopped her heart where she stood. She saw the way the commander's energy burst from his heart and sought her out in gold-like strings twirling together in the air.

Knorah felt each part of her body go cold with fear and dread. For the first time ever since she got the sight, Knorah saw her energy strings burst out from her heart and intertwine with the commander's. Her energy was a rosy pink color...this was the first time she ever saw it.

The two energies combined to make a rose-gold like color that sealed her fate to the ultibreed before her. The hairs on the back on her neck rose with the static that the energies released. Her skin crept deliciously and her heart took on a new rhythm that was all about the commander. Their bodies synchronized as more threads escaped from their hearts and sewed them tightly together.

Did he know? She wondered feeling her palms sweaty suddenly.

Did he know that he had just established the mate bond with her? Was that the reason why he had called her so suddenly? She wondered what he was going to say. Was he glad that he had finally found his mate because she knew of the stories about the Royal Army warriors and how they were always in constant isolation that made it difficult for them to find their true mates?

They said that some of them lost their souls completely and lived for the hunts and missions that they were sent to do. They said the Royal Army warriors turned dark and gruesome and the beasts became more animal and sometimes had to be put down because they became dangerous.

One part of Knorah was glad that the commander wouldn't have such a lonely existence but the other part feared for what it meant for her and him together.

She was a light Fae Noble Daughter. Her father was almost as powerful as the High Lord of the Realm of Light. He also had the former King's favor because somehow they were distant relatives.

Knorah spent a lot of the light festivals at the Light Fortress with the royal family. She had occasionally found herself in the presence of Queen Alana and the other royal cousins so one would expect her to be mated to a more prominent bloodline.

Was she disappointed? No, she was ecstatic to learn that the vicious cycle was eventually going to be broken but she felt for the Commander. To her father, though he taught her to love everyone equally, she knew status played a great role in his life.

He was a pureblood light Fae with a set of neat wings to go with it. Her mother was a Mage of Light—similar to the Lord Mage. All that spoke of status. Her heart heaved in her ribs as they reached the office where the commander was. Being in the Royal Army was not enough for the likes of the circle Knorah belonged to.

She felt his presence before she even saw him.

The moment the dragon opened the door, power expanded out of its confinement. The commander was leaning on the heavy black desk with his arms crossed on his thick chest. He was all ripped and tanned with his thick light brown hair teasing his forehead and intense eyes that robbed the breath from her lungs. She never thought she would be attracted to a male in uniform but by the gods that honor uniform made him appear seductively forbidden!

She swallowed hard and her eyes tilted up to the massive beast within him, watching as he ignited with power and rolled his head back before roaring silently.

Fortunately, Knorah only had the sight—it didn't come with the audio so she couldn't hear when the beasts talked with their keepers.

Knorah hesitated moving forward as the Commander straightened up but her heart yanked her forward as the pink threads burst out from her once more. She groaned regrettably watching as the Commander's did the same thing. The tendrils of energy intertwined again, winding them even tighter together.

She couldn't pass the fact that he was brutally handsome, his piercing amber eyes so clear that she could make out the golden flecks deep within them. His build was perfect for him, making him stand out in the presence of all the other warriors there. He had a bigger body which she guessed was as a result of attaining the ultibreed. When he stood at full height, the top of Knorah's head reached the middle of his chest. Her mouth dried when he turned his entire attention to her, making her forget that they were a lot other people in that office.

"Knorah...Noble Daughter to Noble Kheelan of the Nevira District." He inclined his head to her to show her the respect she deserved as a Noble Daughter. If was as if he remembered his place in front of her and a distant look glazed his eyes.

"Commander Storm." Knorah gave him a little nod. Noble Lund ushered her to a sofa nearby and sat beside her.

She knew Noble Lund was there to protect her reputation because she was not allowed to appear unattended in front of commoners. Knorah spent long hot season afternoons learning about how Nobles should act and carry themselves in their library while everyone else went on vacations and had fun. Those included being invited to dinners for potential husbands, appearing in all the Noble events and always being polite and smiling even if her shoes were cutting the blood supply to her head!

"With your permission, Noble Lund, I would like to ask the Noble daughter some questions—" A growl of surprise escaped his lips and Knorah saw what was happening inside him. The energy that twirled from her to him was changing something in him and the ultibread was bursting with energy as if he was getting stronger by the moment. The commander was on the verge of transforming, his energy rippling and flaring in all directions.

She could tell that he had no clue what was happening which meant he didn't know what she was to him. She was both glad and disappointed. She was glad because it gave her more time to try and figure out how she was going to handle it but she was disappointed because while it took her just a few seconds to know who he was to him he completely ignored the signs.

"Are you alright, Commander?" Noble Lund peered at him with concern. Knorah knew if anything felt amiss to the Noble it would prompt him to take her out of that room without question.

Storm took a step back and tucked his hands behind him but it didn't help because Knorah watched in annoyance as more of the tendrils escaped from her to him and vice versa. She was surprised that only he was getting affected but she didn't feel anything changing within her. He turned to Commander Byron and gave him a little nod.

"Unfortunately the energies within this school have us a little out of our sorts." The pureblood Mage stated moving forward towards them. "We need to ask the Noble Daughter some questions concerning the deceased professor if you don't mind."

Noble Lund gave a nod. "Anything to help get his body down from the ceiling so that we can continue with the ceremony. Permission granted." He sat back as everyone turned to Knorah.

She hated eyes on her but she had no choice.

"Knorah, we heard that you had a close relationship with the professor, is that true?" Commander Byron asked her.

Knorah's eyes darted around the room and were snared by Commander Storm who had moved all the way to the back of the office as if distancing himself with her as if he finally realized that she was the one affecting him.

Rejection.

What felt like a hot blade, pierced through her heart that she found herself clutching her chest and moaning in pain. She pursed her lips and looked away. She had never felt such pain and it was physical. Rejection was the worst thing a mate could feel.

"Knorah?" Concern echoed in Commander Byron's voice.

"The professor was not only my academic adviser but more. He was like a father. He helped me a great deal when I reached my maturity age. I couldn't control my abilities and so he helped me." She answered in one breath. The pain faded into an ache thumping annoyingly in the background.

"And what abilities were these that you couldn't control?" Commander Byron asked and Knorah's head snapped up.

She remembered the professor warning her not to tell anyone about her abilities because he felt they would want to exploit them and also because they weren't fully understood.

"Uhm—I was born with heterochromia irises." She said then muttered. "Well of course you can see that, duh." In a louder voice she continued. "The blue one is from my mother and the hazel one is from my father. It is a very rare phenomenon and I remember my aunts scaring me when I was young telling me that I had absorbed my twin in my mother's stomach and that's why I had this—" She rolled her eyes and breathed in hard.

She was blabbering and she knew the Royal Army didn't have time for that but when she was nervous, she talked too much.

"Long story short, I lost my sight when I was in one of Professor Xandov's classes. It came back after a few hours and he thought he knew what it was so he tried to help me. For several weeks my sight kept on coming and going while he worked out on what was happening." She said.

"Did he ever find out why your sight was a problem?" Commander asked, his eyes narrowing at her as if he was peering into her soul, daring her to lie.

"No...he died before he could find out." She lied. The lies left her tongue feeling so bitter and heavy. "But I have never had the sightless moments again."

"Anything changed after that?"

Yeah, now I can see everyone's true energy auras and I can tell if you have bad energy in you or not. Knorah wished she could say that but she ended up just shaking her head. "Other than the fact that I can now tap into my Mage and Fae abilites--nothing has changed." She saw the Leo Commander cringe when she said Fae and pursed her lips before a retort escaped. Wow, everyone seemed to have their hostile views about the light Fae, she thought fervently.

"My brother left this for you." Aryella came forward and Knorah's heart calmed down.

She was always calm whenever she was in Aryella's presence. It could have been because of the blooms she always had in her hair or pinned to her clothes. She was a Mage of Flora which was an amazing trait.

Knorah loved Aryella from the moment she met her. She was like her nature. She was warm and soothing and whenever Knorah couldn't deal she went to see Aryella who owned a flower and herbs shop in the city center. She spent a lot of hours there, learning about the flowers and herbs Aryella sold. Sometimes she felt that the profession personally asked his sister to watch out for her for some reason.

Aryella held a gold and black intricately inscribed box. The detail on the vines and roses on it was wondrous! It looked like it took a while to make such a box but for the professor, nothing was impossible.

"What is it?" Knorah asked, afraid to even touch the box.

Aryella smiled and shook her head. "I have no idea but he sealed it with a spell; an infusia personifikary spell. Do you know what that is?"

Knorah recalled Professor Ellaine's lectures on the Evolution of Spells and Enchantments. "Yes, a blood spell cast on an object or entrance to only allow a certain person or people to access it."

Aryella smiled with approvable. "Yes. Did my brother ever perform such a spell with you?"

Knorah frowned. "No because I know the blood spell would need the presence of my blood but he never took my blood so he never performed that spell on me."

Aryella frowned in surprise suddenly then she extended the box to Knorah. "Please take this."

Knorah looked at the mysterious box. She didn't want to touch it but she felt as if it were calling to her. It was as if it were whispering to her, calming her down long enough to want to touch it. That box once belonged to Professor Xandov and if he wanted her to have it, it meant that he found something that could help her with her abilities.

She accepted the box. It was cool to touch and everyone was watching her as if expecting the damned thing to explode in her face. Noble Lund did a little shifting away from her which was good because she felt a little suffocated with him so close to her like that.

Nothing happened.

There were no flying sparks, no static rippling in her body, no crackling of energy in the air. Absolutely nothing happened.

She turned the box in her hands. There was something inside it and it slid from side to side as she moved the box around. She frowned pensively when she discovered there was no visible opening on it.

"It's sealed shut." She looked up at Aryella.

"I don't understand." Aryella spoke. "Something should have happened. Do you feel any different?"

Apart from the fact that Commander Storm is causing havoc in my body, there is nothing else I am feeling, Knorah wanted to blurt out but voted against it. "Nothing—"

Commander Storm's phone chimed and he answered it, his voice velvety and thick, travelling up and down her spine and causing her to momentarily forget where she was. She looked up at him surprised that even though he had just rejected her, he still controlled her body like a conductor in front of the orchestra.

"The Professor's body has returned to its pedestal but the energy cocoon is still around it." He announced then turned to Knorah. "It seems he wanted to make sure you received that box before he left this world."

"But I can't open it." Knorah shook the box in front of them.

"Though you can't open it, my brother wanted you to have it. It was his last dying wish. You will have to figure out how to open it on your own." Aryella sighed softly and went back to sit down.

Storm watched as Knorah gracefully traced her fingers against the vines and roses on the box. Confusion marred her beautiful face as she shook it against her ear to listen to the contents. Her tongue darted out and moistened her lips as she stole a look around her.

She was nervous being there. She was nervous being around him. He saw the way her eyes shifted from his to somewhere above him as if he had death hovering somewhere up there and she could see it.

Somehow Storm felt Knorah wasn't telling them the entire truth. Storm was convinced she saw more than she was telling them. He saw the way she narrowed her eyes when she looked at Byron and how she smirked silently when she looked at Alderon. A calm smile pasted itself on her face when she looked at Blaire but she tried her best to keep her eyes from him.

She always paled down when she gazed his way and took a step back. The funny thing was that he noticed that whenever she was around, he felt powerful. Energy surged and gushed in his veins fueling him up and readying him for a transformation. It was the reason why he took a step back and let Byron take over.

He could barely keep the transformation down. He was convinced that the professor's body returning to its pedestal had something to do with the fact that she had the box in her hands. So far, she was the main person in that mystery because if someone killed the professor for whatever artifact he was protecting from the deceased king Gregor, Knorah could be the next person of interest because of that box.

"What did you and the professor talk about when you met with him?" Storm found himself asking Knorah which caught her off-guard and she looked directly at him. He watched as her haunting eyes widened then she quickly looked away and cleared her throat.

"Uhm—life. He was convinced that I would turn out to be one of the best students in this school but it is such a shame that I can barely pass my Arts in Arms course." Self-loathing echoed in her voice. Even though she was nervous in front of them and cast her eyes down, her posture was still that of the perfect Noble Daughter. Her backbone was erect, her shoulders set and the angle of her profile perfect.

"Arts in Arms courses are not the easiest to pass." He assured her but he couldn't tell her that he was the best when it came to Arts in Arms. Thanks to the Lord Mage, all the new recruits took a course of Arts in Arms there before joining the Royal Army. This was because one of the professors in charge of the class happened to be the male Tyran always wanted in his army but Wruid refused with the reason that he was needed more at the university than the army.

Storm had seen the male in action and he was convinced that Wruid would have been a commander within a short period of time. He was very good.

She chuckled bitterly. "Thanks for your attempt in trying to make me feel like I am not the worst Mage to walk on this land but I am. You should see me erect my defense wall—it's as thin as wet toilet paper!"

"With enough practice, you will make it." Noble Lund patted Knorah softly and encouragingly on her shoulder and Storm felt something cold and dark rear its head deep inside him. He savored the coppery scent of blood as he pictured himself making a clean cut with his claws through the Noble's wrist.

"Commander?" Blaire's voice came through his blood and fury clouded mind. "Your claws are out."

Storm snapped back to reality and looked down at his hands. His claws had lengthened and tawny fur was already creeping up his arms. Storm crackled his neck from one side to the other and in a growl he said. "I need some air." He stalked out of the room before anyone could stop him.

He had no beast to take out hunting so he didn't understand that feeling. It was as though he was always on the edge. He knew being the ultibreed meant everything was amplified but it was never to the level that he couldn't control like at that moment.

As he moved further away from the office, the energy levels began to lower and he began to gain his senses back. The super strength he felt he had slowly melted away.

"What the fuck?" He breathed in hard and ran his hand through his hair. He felt as if he was losing control and it was because of her.

There was something in her that was triggering the ultibreed in him. May be her Fae side had some mystic ability to drive him crazy. He didn't even know what type of Mage she was. He thought he heard it all until he learned a new attribute that day.

For all he knew, she could be like Nia, King Jax's mate who was bestialmund siren which meant she was able to control inner beasts of people and animals. Maybe Knorah was a beastialmund Mage.

"You look confused. What happened?" Shancy asked Storm when she and Tyfera met up with him in the hallway.

"Is there a beastialmund Mage attribute?" He asked Shancy whose eyebrows snapped up in surprise.

"And what might that be?" Shancy asked.

"A Mage who can control the inner beast of people and animals?"

Shancy chuckled but she had no idea that Storm was being serious. That was how he felt whenever he was in close proximity with Knorah. He felt out of control and a swell of power that wanted to burst out of him, turning him into ashes with its intensity.

"There is nothing like that." Shancy assured Storm. "However, there are some Mage who can tap into beasts and animals psychic link and communicate with them—like the Lord Mage. Why, do you feel like someone is trying to control you?"

Storm couldn't explain it and shook his head lightly, dismissing the issue for the time being. "I hope you have interrogated the High Priest."

Tyfera nodded. "The male had nothing to offer short of he was humiliated by the way we man-handled him and that we should pray to the Heavens that no misfortune befall on us because he is a holy man."

Storm felt his lips spread in a wolfish grin. The male could bring it on. He failed to understand that the males and females who made up the Royal Mage Army were the type that even the Heavens wouldn't want thus the Heavens wouldn't judge. "Keep an eye on him. I don't trust him. Also, make sure that there is security for the professor's body twenty-four-seven."

"Done...by the way, what did the Noble Daughter tell you?" Tyfera suddenly asked before Storm could leave.

"Nothing for now...but I have a feeling she knows more than she is letting us believe. We will watch over her for these few days, see if the murderer would show up."

Both Shancy and Tyfera nodded and Storm walked away.

He walked past the amazed students who crowded around whispering and sharing the news of what happened that morning. The rest of the Nobles were taken to safety somewhere else.

No one had attempted to move the professor's body from the hall because it still had the protective cocoon around it. The guards had to take everyone out and close the doors because the students started taking photos of the phenomenon and posting it online. Remington and Blaze stood outside the hallway making sure no one sneaked in.

Finally, Storm made it outside and the cold winds hit him hard. The sudden change in temperatures made his skin crawl. His boots crunched with purpose on the snow as he turned away from the cleared path in front of him and started for the snow caked woodlands surrounding the school.

His body was already expanding before he even stepped into the cover of the trees. Fur rippled around his body, muscles stretched and expanded as they accommodated the transformation. His skull felt as if it were on fire as his jaws dislocated and bone lengthened in order to accommodate the muzzle.

Storm groaned in pain. It was the type of pain that would never go away. Muscles tore and bones popped before rearranging. It was something he was always going to experience with every change for the rest of his life. The only good side of it was that the pain was forgettable once he was the full ultibreed.

Large paw-prints appeared on the snow as Storm ventured deeper into the trees. He needed to hunt in order to sate whatever havoc that was happening within him. This was the first time ever since had his ultibreed transformation that he felt the need to go and hunt. He always wanted to feel more in control as an ultibreed but that wasn't the case and it was even worse now that he was in that university.

He hoped Byron and the other Mage found what was making them feel that way before they all lost control and failed to complete the mission. So far they didn't have any solid leads but Storm wanted to return to the professor's office and see if there was something they missed. Also they had other people to interrogate such as the scholars. They needed to know if anyone had seen the professor right before he was murdered. They needed to know the last person the professor talked to or met before he died.

Storm went deeper into the trees catching the whiff of a buck just a few yards from where he was. The infra-red sight that he developed when he transformed allowed him to see the heat being released in the environment by the animal. He let his animal instincts carry him forward to the buck, chasing after it in the trees as it zig-zagged it tried its hardest to evade the impending death.

Storm's heart pumped adrenaline-laced blood through his veins, keeping him alert and excited at the same time. This was the side of him that let him embrace the true power inside of him but it was a power he had yet to fully understand. He wasn't human but neither was he an animal.

He was a superior being, a combination of primal instinct, intelligence and reasoning. He understood how both natures worked and he had to balance them in great harmony in order to have an advantage over them but fear always impeded him from fully taking the ultibreed form.

Storm pounced on the buck, piercing his razor sharp teeth deep into its throat. A last cry of plea escaped the buck's throat as its life drained from him. Storm tasted the coppery liquid in his mouth and it ignited the beast side that was now infused in him. He was giddy with the thrill of the kill. It was euphoric; a part of him that he had long forgotten existed but now wanted to come out.

Blood dripped on the snow as the buck's eyes rolled back and faded. Hot air burst from Storm's mouth. He reared his head back and roared into the skies, announcing his triumph, of the trophy lying dead on his feet.

He was a pureblood Leo. He was an ultibreed and that made him feel like a king in those lands...but whenever that feeling came to him, a pair of scared and unmatched eyes came along with it.

If Knorah was as rusty as she proclaimed to be then she must have cast an enchantment on him without knowing. Storm just couldn't shake away the nagging feeling at the back of his head telling him that she and him were going to cross paths more than he was uncomfortable to accept.

THIS IS THE ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 6. IT IS COMPLETE AND FREE TO READ IN INKITT. ENJOY... Username: Faddiemanzi 

https://www.inkitt.com/stories/romance/900022