The barracks creaked with every gust of wind. They weren’t made for students, they were relics from some forgotten training era, walls lined with dust and cracked weapons racks, the scent of mold bleeding through the stone. My cot sagged in the middle, thin blanket useless against the chill.

This was my punishment. Isolation. Humiliation dressed up as discipline.

But I wasn’t alone.

Kael lay on the floor beside my cot, arms folded behind his head, broad shoulders pressed into the wooden boards like it was nothing. His chest rose and fell steady, though I knew he wasn’t asleep.

“I told you not to stay,” I whispered into the dark.

His voice was calm, but it carried a rough edge. “And I told you I don’t care.”

“You’ll get caught.”

“Let them catch me.”

I rolled onto my side, studying the faint outline of his face in the moonlight that slipped through the broken window slats. His jaw was tight, lips set, eyes fixed on the ceiling like the weight of the academy itself was pressing down on him.

“Why are you doing this?” My voice cracked.

He turned his head toward me. His eyes gleamed silver in the dim light. “Because I can’t stand the thought of you here alone. Because if you’re punished, I should be punished too.”

I swallowed hard, pulling the blanket tighter. “You don’t even like me.”

His laugh was short, humorless. “If that’s what you need to believe, fine.”

Silence stretched between us. My wolf paced inside me, restless, hungry. Every inch of my body was aware of him, his scent, his heat, the way even lying on the floor he seemed to fill the whole room.

“You drive me insane,” I admitted quietly.

His gaze locked on mine. “Good.”

The night deepened. Hours passed, but neither of us moved.

When the chill became too sharp, Kael finally sat up. He peeled off his hoodie and tossed it over me. His scent clung to the fabric, heady and warm.

I pulled it close to my chest before I could stop myself.

His eyes lingered on me, heavy and unflinching. Then, without warning, he knelt beside the cot, one hand braced on the frame, the other settling on the mattress near my hip.

I froze.

“You think I don’t feel what this bond is doing to you?” he asked, voice low, rough with restraint. “I hear your heart race every time I’m near. I smell the heat on your skin. Do you know what that does to me?”

My breath hitched. “Kael—”

He slid the blanket aside and tugged my knees apart with slow, deliberate force. His hand cupped my thigh, firm and claiming.

“Tell me to stop,” he said.

I couldn’t.

Not when my body burned for him more than it burned for air.

His mouth pressed against my inner thigh, slow, hot kisses trailing higher. My back arched against the cot as his tongue slid over my clit, unrelenting, precise, like he already knew exactly how to undo me.

I bit down on a moan, fists clutching the thin blanket, but it tore from my throat anyway.

Kael’s fingers slid inside me, curling deep, syncing with the rhythm of his tongue. His growl vibrated against my skin when I clenched around him.

This wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t about me. It was about him, staking a claim, reminding me who I belonged to, even if I refused to admit it.

And gods help me, I let him.

The world blurred until there was only the slick heat of his tongue, the stretch of his fingers, the aching pressure building until it shattered me into pieces.

I cried out, body trembling, eyes squeezing shut as release tore through me.

Kael didn’t stop. He dragged it out, licked me clean, fingers moving lazily until I was too weak to push him away.

Finally, he pulled back, breathing heavy. He raised his hand to his mouth, sniffing his fingers with a slow, deliberate inhale. His eyes met mine, glowing silver, mouth curving into a dangerous smile.

“I’ll never wash this hand,” he murmured. “So I can always remember how you taste.”

Shame and heat tangled in my chest. My face burned, my thighs still quivering. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to throw him out.

But when he sat back on his heels, chest rising and falling with that wild hunger, all I wanted was more.

I pulled the blanket back up, hiding my face. “You can’t keep doing this.”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “Then stop letting me.”

“You’re insane.”

“Only for you.”

I hated how the words made my stomach twist.

Kael stood, brushing dust from his jeans. He didn’t leave, though. He paced the length of the barracks once, twice, then stopped at the window, hands gripping the frame. His shoulders were taut, his back rigid.

“You think I don’t know what this bond will cost me?” he said, voice raw. “You think I don’t know I’ll lose everything if I choose you? But I don’t care anymore, Lena. I’m already yours.”

The words hung in the cold air.

I sat up slowly, heart thundering. “You can’t just say things like that.”

“It’s not a choice,” he said. He turned, eyes glowing, expression fierce and vulnerable all at once. “I can’t unfeel it. I can’t walk away. And if anyone tries to take you, I’ll—” He cut himself off, chest heaving. “I’ll burn this whole place down.”

The silence after was suffocating.

And for the first time since arriving at Silverfang, I realized Kael wasn’t just my bond. He was my danger.

My greatest threat.

And maybe the only one who could save me.