I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into the hallway.

Not because of the silence. Not because of the stares.

Because of the heat.

It started low in my stomach. A dull ache, then a burn. The kind that crawled up my spine whenever Kael was close.

It had gotten worse.

Every time I caught a whiff of his scent, the world blurred. My body betrayed me. My knees weakened. My breath shortened.

The mate bond wasn’t subtle.

It didn’t wait for permission. It just lit a fire under my skin and made me want things I shouldn’t want.

I rounded the corner and he was there. Leaning against the railing outside the dorm entrance, his hoodie low, one hand in his pocket. Like he hadn’t threatened to tear the school apart just hours ago.

Kael looked up the moment I saw him.

And my body reacted like it had a mind of its own.

My thighs pressed together. My pulse kicked up.

He didn’t move. Just watched.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, voice tighter than I meant.

“Didn’t ask for your permission,” he replied.

I tried to walk past him. He caught my wrist gently. Not forceful. But it stopped me like a command.

“You feel it,” he said quietly.

I yanked my hand free. “What do you want, Kael?”

He didn’t answer. Not with words.

He just pushed the door open behind me and nodded toward the stairwell.

We ended up in an empty common room, lights off, blinds half-drawn. I should’ve turned and walked back out.

But I didn’t.

Because the moment the door shut behind us, the air shifted.

He didn’t touch me. He didn’t speak.

He stared.

And I felt it again. The pull. The need. The deep, maddening ache between my legs that made me feel like I was coming undone in slow motion.

Kael closed the distance.

He didn’t kiss me.

He sank to his knees in front of me.

“What are you—”

My words cut off when his hands gripped the back of my thighs and dragged me closer to the wall.

He pushed my hoodie up. Pulled my shorts down.

No hesitation. No soft words.

Just hunger.

His mouth found me instantly.

Heat exploded through me.

I grabbed the edge of the wall behind me to stay upright. My head dropped back as his tongue moved—slow, precise, like he’d done this before, like he already knew what I liked.

He held my thighs open with both hands and didn’t let me close them, no matter how much I trembled.

He didn’t look up.

Didn’t speak.

He just kept going. Tasting me. Sucking gently, then harder, teasing with the edge of his teeth.

When one finger slid inside me, my breath hitched.

When a second joined it, curling just right,

I almost cried out.

“Ka..ka..Kael…” I let you barely able to breathe properly from all the gasping.

My body clenched around him, hips rolling into his mouth.

His pace didn’t change. Not once.

When the pressure built too high to bear, when my legs buckled, he caught me. Held me through it.

I came with his name trapped behind my teeth, my throat raw with the force of it.

Still, he didn’t stop.

He let me ride it out, every twitch, every gasp.

Only when I finally sagged back against the wall, legs shaking, did he pull back.

Kael sat back on his heels, breathing slow and deep.

He lifted his fingers—wet, glistening—and brought them to his nose.

Then his lips.

He smelled them like he was savoring the finest thing he’d ever tasted.

“I’m not washing this hand,” he said. “Ever.”

My heart stuttered.

“You taste like mine,” he added, voice low. “Like something I’d kill to keep.”

I couldn’t speak.

I could barely think.

And he didn’t kiss me. Not once.

He stood. Looked down at me.

Then turned and left.

Like it had been for him, not me.

But it had been for both of us.

And I knew I’d never forget the way he looked when he walked away.

Selene struck later that night.

I heard her before I saw her. That annoying, fake laugh she used when she wanted attention.

I was walking down the courtyard path alone, hoodie pulled tight. Still shaken from what Kael had done. Still aching.

She stepped out from the shadows with her friends.

Her smile was tight. Calculated.

“I hear Kael’s been busy tonight,” she said.

I kept walking.

She followed.

“Tell me, did he kiss you?”

I said nothing.

“Because I know what his lips feel like when he’s not pretending,” she added, pulling her blazer open just enough to reveal her lacy bra.

She leaned against the post beside the path, letting her fingers trace down her chest.

“He used to lose control when I wore red.”

I turned to leave.

She caught my arm.

I looked down at her hand. Slowly.

She let go.

Then spat, “You’ll never win. He’s not allowed to have you.”

“I don’t need to win,” I said. “I just need him to stop pretending.”

Selene’s face cracked.

And that was the beginning of her downfall.

By morning, the rumor had spread.

Selene’s revenge was quiet, vicious, and perfectly executed.

The school bulletin lit up with an anonymous “tip”about an omega “seducing” Kael Blackthorn in the dorms.

The whispers followed me down every hallway. The way girls looked at me like I’d infected their fantasy. The way boys stared like they were picturing what Kael already had.

Someone stuck a note on my locker:

Blackthorn’s Whore

I tore it off, shoved it into my pocket, and walked straight to the library where I went to hide from the noise. The back aisle. No one came here unless they wanted to be ignored.

Then, the bell rang and I had to return back to class.

I didn’t make it past the stairs before Elias blocked the hallway, his blazer unbuttoned, tie loose, eyes scanning me like I was on a menu.

He didn’t speak. Just stepped behind me and rested a hand on the shelf beside my head.

“You look flustered,” he said. “Bad night?”

I glared. “Move.”

He didn’t.

“You know,” he said, stepping closer, “Kael might be enjoying himself, but he won’t claim you. Not fully. Not in front of the elders. Not with the packs watching.”

“And you would?” I shot back.

Elias smiled slowly. “I already did once.”

His hand brushed my hip.

I didn’t move.

He leaned in.

His lips hovered, barely an inch from mine. I felt his breath, warm and slow.

His hand cupped the back of my neck. “Let me remind you what it felt like.”

He kissed me again.

This time, I didn’t flinch.

His mouth was slick and hot, tongue teasing mine, full of calculated heat. My pulse thumped wildly.

But it wasn’t the same.

It wasn’t Kael.

Still, for a second, it was easier to let it happen than to fight everything spinning around me.

Then the library door opened behind us.

It was Kael.

I broke the kiss.

His expression wasn’t just anger. It was betrayal.

Heat. Jealousy he couldn’t hide, but he didn’t yell.

He just walked past Elias, grabbed me by the wrist, again, and pulled me down the hall without a word.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, yanking free when we rounded the corner.

Kael didn’t answer.

“I didn’t ask him to kiss me.”

He turned. “You didn’t stop him either.”

My hands balled into fists. “I’m not yours to control.”

He stepped in close. “The bond says otherwise.”

His voice cracked on that last word.

I looked up, and for a second, Kael wasn’t the cold Alpha heir. He looked… confused. Vulnerable.

“I don’t know how to stop wanting you,” he said quietly. “But I can’t afford to need you, Lena. Not like this.”

Before I could reply, a soft voice interrupted from behind us.

“Kael.”

That bitch! Selene.

Her uniform was unbuttoned slightly. Her hair loose. One hand casually holding a tablet to her chest, just enough cleavage visible to make her intention clear.

“Can we talk?” she asked, stepping closer. “Alone.”

I started to leave.

Kael didn’t stop me, but I didn’t walk far. I paused just around the corner.

Selene’s voice floated through. “You know you don’t have to pretend with me.”

Kael said nothing.

“I saw what she did to you. Omegas are always desperate for power. But you? You’re stronger than that.”

A pause. Then:

“You remember what I taste like,” she added softly. “Don’t you?”

Another silence.

Then Kael’s voice, hard and sharp: “Don’t touch me again.”

“You don’t mean that”

“I do.” His tone was brutal.

“Selene, I will never want you the way you want me. So stop trying.”

I stepped away before she could see me.

But I didn’t miss the sound of something small shattering against the floor.

Selene’s pride.

When I returned to my dorm later that night, the summons were waiting.

The Head Alpha of the tri-pack alliance had arrived on campus.

And he wanted to meet me.

By name.

And I stood there, heart pounding, completely lost in the chaos I couldn’t seem to control.

“Who do I choose?”