Elias’s hand slid around my waist before I could stop him. One second we were standing by the courtyard fountain, the next his mouth was on mine.

The kiss was nothing like Kael’s.

It wasn’t brutal or hungry. It was smooth, practiced, like he’d been waiting for the exact moment I’d finally let him. His tongue brushed against mine, coaxing me to open up, slow and deliberate. Heat pooled low in my stomach, and for a moment, I let him.

Maybe it was the way he held me, gentle, steady. Maybe it was the ache in my chest from Kael ignoring me since that night. Or maybe it was because, for once, I wanted to feel like I had a choice.

But then it hit me.

A growl, low and vicious, echoed inside my head. My wolf.

She recoiled from Elias’s scent, snapping, snarling, clawing at me from the inside. His touch burned, not with pleasure but with rejection. My heart kicked into a painful rhythm. My lips froze.

I shoved him back with more force than I meant to. He stumbled, eyes wide with confusion, licking his lips as if he could still taste me.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

“You kissed me back,” he said, his voice steadier than it should’ve been. “Don’t act like you didn’t.”

“I…” My voice cracked. I couldn’t finish.

Because he wasn’t wrong. For a second, I hadn’t stopped him. For a second, I’d wanted to feel wanted by someone who didn’t terrify me.

Elias’s gaze softened. He stepped closer, fingers brushing my arm. “Lena, you don’t belong to him. You know that, right? Kael’s poison. You don’t have to let him own you.”

Before I could reply, a flicker of movement caught my eye.

High above, on the rooftop of the east wing, a shadow stood against the evening light. Broad shoulders, sharp jawline, eyes glowing faintly even from this distance.

Kael.

Watching.

Even from here, I could hear it, the guttural, animalistic sound rattling from his throat. He wasn’t just looking. He was growling.

My pulse skipped. I opened my mouth, but Kael turned and vanished into the night.

Elias noticed the way my face drained of color. He followed my gaze, but the rooftop was already empty.

“Was it him?” Elias asked, voice rough.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

The rumors spread faster than fire on dry leaves.

By morning, students were whispering in the hallways, their phones buzzing with messages. I caught fragments as I passed.

“Kael marked her—”

“—she begged for it—”

“Elias too? What a slut—”

“—if Selene finds out—”

Selene didn’t need to find out. She already knew.

I spotted her leaning against the lockers with a sly smile, flipping her hair as she handed a folded note to a trembling sophomore. The girl looked pale, nodded quickly, and hurried off.

Selene’s eyes met mine across the hallway.

She smirked.

Whatever she was planning, I knew it wasn’t good.

By the time combat theory rolled around, my nerves were shredded. I slid into my usual seat, keeping my head down. Kael sat across the room. He didn’t look at me. Not once.

The absence of his gaze cut deeper than if he’d glared.

Professor Vale’s voice droned on about rogue pack strategies, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. Kael’s jaw flexed as he took notes. His fingers tapped against the desk, restless. He looked… bored. Detached.

I hated it.

I hated that I wanted him to look at me. To acknowledge me. Even if it was anger, even if it was possession, anything but this icy indifference.

Elias, seated beside me, nudged my notebook with his pen. A simple word scrawled across the margin: You okay?

I forced a smile I didn’t feel.

But inside, my chest was caving in.

The first cramp hit during the lecture.

It started low, deep in my stomach, then spread like wildfire through every nerve. My thighs clenched. Heat flushed my skin. My breath quickened.

Not now. Please, not now.

I pressed my knees together under the desk, gripping the edge hard enough to splinter wood. Sweat dampened the back of my neck.

Vale’s voice blurred into static. The smell of Kael faint, masculine, biting, carried across the room, threading into my bloodstream. My wolf whined, clawing, desperate.

My heat. It was starting.

I shoved my chair back, ignoring the sudden stares. My notebook clattered to the floor, but I didn’t stop. I bolted for the door, every step a battle not to collapse.

“Lena?” Elias’s voice called, but it was distant.

I barely made it into the hallway before my legs wobbled. My breath hitched in ragged bursts. I needed air. I needed cold. I needed—

“Move.”

Kael’s voice cut through the haze.

I stumbled, then froze as his hand wrapped around my wrist. His grip was firm, commanding, dragging me down the hall before anyone could follow. My body reacted instantly to his touch, the burning in my veins sharpening into something unbearable.

We burst through the back doors of the academy and into the forest. The cool night air hit me, but it wasn’t enough. My body was already on fire.

Kael shoved me gently against a tree, his breath hot against my ear. His eyes burned, his chest heaving like he was holding himself back from tearing me apart.

“You should’ve stayed away from him,” he said, voice low, furious, trembling. “Now look at you.”

My nails dug into the bark. “This is your fault.”

“No,” he growled, his forehead pressing to mine. “This is the bond. And you’re mine, Lena. Not his.”

His scent wrapped around me, suffocating and addictive all at once. My knees weakened, my lips parted, and for one terrifying second, I wanted him to finish what he’d started the night he first touched me.

But before I could answer, his mouth brushed the curve of my neck, right where the mark burned hottest.

And I shattered.