The air in Silverfang felt heavier after Kael’s confession.

Everywhere I went, whispers chased me like shadows. Some said I had seduced him, others swore I was already pregnant with his heir, and a few whispered the word no one dared say out loud, mate.

I kept my head down in lectures, ignored the stares in the cafeteria, and skipped training altogether. Every glance felt like a knife. Every snicker echoed like truth.

And every time Kael entered a room, the bond flared beneath my skin, reminding me he wasn’t just near, he was watching. Always watching.

But it wasn’t him who found me first.

Elias cornered me outside the west quad, where the marble fountain stood half-frozen under the weak autumn sun. He didn’t look like the polished Beta heir today. His shirt was wrinkled, tie loose, eyes darkened with sleeplessness.

“You’re avoiding me,” he said.

“I’m avoiding everyone.”

His jaw clenched. “Not me. You’re avoiding me.”

I folded my arms. “What do you want, Elias?”

His gaze swept my face, softer now, like he was searching for something he’d lost.

“I want you to see there’s another choice,” he said. “You don’t have to accept this bond.”

My stomach twisted. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“It can.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Bonds can break. Or bend. You’re not trapped unless you let him trap you.”

My wolf stirred uneasily.

“You think Kael’s protecting you?” Elias continued. “He’s not. He’s claiming you because he can. Because it’s instinct. I’m not like him. I’d choose you.”

My breath caught.

“I’d choose you in front of the council. In front of the packs. I wouldn’t hide you. I wouldn’t make you feel like his dirty secret.”

He meant every word. I could see it in his eyes—fierce, desperate, unflinching.

But when he reached for my hand, heat surged in my chest, violent and painful. My wolf snarled, rejecting him again.

I yanked back, gasping.

Elias’s face hardened. “Why are you fighting me?”

“Because it hurts,” I snapped. “Because my body knows what my heart doesn’t want to admit.”

His mouth curled into a bitter smile. “Then I’ll make your heart listen.”

Before I could react, his lips crashed against mine. This kiss wasn’t gentle or hesitant, it was demanding, rough, his hand gripping the back of my neck, holding me in place.

I fought it. My fists pushed against his chest, my wolf howled in protest, but part of me sank into it anyway. Part of me wanted to believe him.

And that’s when Kael arrived.

The sound of a growl tore across the quad, sharp enough to silence the fountain’s trickle.

Elias ripped his mouth from mine just as Kael’s hand clamped around his collar and slammed him against the fountain wall. Water splashed. Students screamed.

Kael’s eyes glowed silver, teeth bared, chest heaving with barely contained fury.

“You touched her again,” Kael snarled.

Elias didn’t flinch. He smirked, even as Kael’s grip tightened. “Maybe because she let me.”

My stomach dropped.

Kael’s fist drew back. His knuckles cracked against Elias’s jaw with a sickening sound.

Gasps erupted around us. Phones lifted. Students were filming, whispering, feeding on the chaos.

“Kael, stop!” I shouted, grabbing his arm.

He ignored me. Another punch landed, harder. Elias spat blood and laughed through it.

“This is what he is,” Elias hissed, voice echoing for everyone to hear. “A beast who can’t control himself.”

Kael’s fist rose again—

And the dean’s voice cut through the crowd like a whip.

“Enough!”

The courtyard froze. Professors pushed through the circle, security wolves shifting at the edges, growls rumbling low.

Kael let Elias drop. He stood over him, chest heaving, jaw tight, fists bloody.

Elias wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, blood smearing across his cheek. He smirked at me.

“See? He doesn’t love you. He only knows how to own you.”

The aftermath was worse than the fight.

We were dragged into the disciplinary chamber, a cold marble room lined with portraits of past Alphas, their painted eyes judging every breath.

The dean’s voice echoed off the stone. “Physical violence in the open courtyard. Disorderly conduct. Disgrace to the academy’s reputation. You both know the punishment.”

Kael didn’t look away. “Put it all on me.”

Elias coughed a laugh, leaning against the wall. “Of course he’d say that. Because he thinks he can protect her forever.”

The dean’s gaze flicked between them, then landed on me. “You were present, Miss Ashbourne. What is your role in this?”

I froze. Every stare burned through me.

“I—” My voice cracked. “I didn’t start it. I didn’t want this.”

But no one believed me.

In the end, Kael was sentenced to double training duty and restricted movement after dusk. Elias was issued a formal warning. And me?

I was stripped of my dorm privileges. Banished to the academy’s old training barracks on the far edge of campus. Alone.

That night, I lay on a stiff cot, staring at the cracked ceiling beams. My body still burned where Elias had touched me. My wolf still snarled at the memory. And Kael’s bloodied fists haunted my mind.

The door creaked.

I sat up fast, but it was only him.

Kael slipped inside, his shoulders filling the doorway, his shirt still damp with sweat from extra drills.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” I whispered.

“I don’t care.”

He closed the door softly behind him.

For a long moment, he didn’t move. He just stood there, watching me like I might vanish if he blinked. His chest rose and fell, heavy with exhaustion and something else—something rawer.

“I told them it was all me,” he said. “I thought they’d go easier on you.”

I swallowed. “It doesn’t matter. They want me gone, Kael. No matter what we do.”

He moved closer, crouched beside the cot. His hand brushed my knee, tentative, almost careful.

“You’re mine,” he said, voice low. “And I don’t care who knows it anymore.”

My breath hitched.

He didn’t kiss me. He didn’t even touch me further. He just leaned his forehead against my thigh, eyes closed, shoulders trembling.

It was the closest thing to breaking I had ever seen from him.

And it broke me too.