Alera's POVI froze.What should I say? His eyes were serious—piercing. He didn’t look like the Rayvan who bullied me. His gaze was sharp and focused, as if I was the center of his universe, the only thing he could see.“Say it, Alera,” he asked, voice softer now. He glanced to his left and right, making sure no one was listening to our conversation.“Ray... maybe you already know. Lycans can sense each other, right?”“It’s not just sensing, Alera,” Rayvan cut in.“I didn’t just recognize your scent. That scent pulls me in. And I hate it. That’s why I need you to tell me—where are you from? Who are you really?”I took a breath, trying to steady the chaos in my chest. His intense gaze made me restless.Did he not realize? Just one look from him could shatter my walls. And then there was his scent—haunting me since the very beginning. Like a magnet. Relentless.“I’m a Rogue now. I even wanted to bury my past. Living as a human... isn’t that so bad?”I smiled. If he looked closely, he wo
Rayvan's POV I didn’t understand why—just for today—I had no desire to deal with Alera. I had sworn to make her life miserable, to make her leave Lycanridge once and for all. I was supposed to hate her. She was the reason I lost my dream of being the best player on campus' basketball team.And yet... today, something inside me softened.Just as I was heading back to class, a mysterious scent cut through my hesitation.Lyra."Rayvan," she greeted me, her smile effortlessly captivating. Everyone knew Lyra as the kind girl, always friendly to anyone."Hi, Lyra. Nice seeing you too," I replied.That smile stayed on her lips."I heard the basketball team is having a small celebration at a coffee shop. I got invited. Are you coming too?"I nodded. Even though I hadn’t played in the last match, all team members had been invited."Yeah," I answered shortly."Um, do you know where Brew & Bloom is?"I nodded again. "Yeah..." My words trailed off.Was she asking me to pick her up? I’d never gon
Rayvan's POV"We are bound by the past, Ray. We were meant to be. Our souls will always be tied together, no matter what stands in the way."The voice echoed, growing louder. I felt drawn toward it, compelled to find the source. But the closer I tried to get, the farther away it drifted.I ran after it. My foot caught on something, and I fell.The voice returned, hauntingly familiar. I looked up. A faint image of a woman’s face appeared in the dark sky.She looked distant, almost blurred, yet even through the haze, her beauty stood out. Who was she? I couldn't tell. The vision faded.My eyes opened slowly.It wasn't the dark sky I was staring at, just the ceiling of my dorm room.A strange, intense dream.I rubbed my face and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was already late. I had class later this afternoon.I sat up, still trying to make sense of the dream. Who was that girl? Could she be my mate?Then I remembered: I still hadn’t asked my parents about the Shadowbane Pack
Rayvan’s POVThe girl named Lyra was watching me from a distance.Perhaps she sensed who I was—one of her kind. A Lycan.Her gaze didn’t waver, not even for a second.As if I were the only point of focus in her universe.Her footsteps were barely audible, yet somehow I turned my head.Not because of the sound—but because her scent arrived first,slipping quietly into the air like a whisper.Something inside me tensed,as if an ancient instinct had just awakened.To be honest, it’s hard for me to be drawn to any girl—unless she’s truly special.Unless she holds something no other woman has.But Lyra…There was something about her.Something hidden.Something dark, perhaps unreachable.And somehow, she didn’t feel like a stranger.“Look at the new student over there—she’s gorgeous. All the guys are staring,” Samantha whispered, nudging Lilian.Jealousy was thinly veiled in the way the cheerleaders looked at her.It’s only natural. Those who consider themselves popular, beautiful, the ce
Alera's POVI glanced around. That scent—strong and undeniable. Rayvan was nearby. I narrowed my eyes and spotted a shadow behind the bushes.“Who’s there?”Rayvan stepped out, holding a basketball. I was right. He was around. Had he followed me?“Sorry, my ball rolled over here. Uh, am I interrupting something?”His eyes flicked between us, his expression not as unreadable as usual.“No, Ray. Want to join us? Maybe we can go over the topic together.” Richard smiled, easy and welcoming.I stayed silent. I didn’t want to discuss anything with Rayvan right now. We never saw eye to eye, and talking to him would only end in another clash.But that scent... it calmed something inside me, and hurt me all the same. It reminded me of how the person behind that scent had treated me—cold, cruel.“No, Richard. This is your group project. It has nothing to do with me.”Rayvan’s voice was flat. He shot me a look—sharp, cutting, almost hateful—before walking away without another word.“Ever since t
Rayvan’s POVI couldn’t focus on watching my teammates practicing on the indoor basketball court. Richard was absent from training. I just remembered—he had promised to meet Alera to work on an essay in the back garden.Once again, that annoying girl crossed my mind.I had more than enough reasons to hate her. She didn’t just accidentally overhear our conversation about bribing the rival team to lose. Yes, it was cheating and wrong—but she had no right to spread it all over campus.How could she write down everything in that damned diary of hers? She wrote about the moment we caught her eavesdropping, described the whole cheating plan in detail. It was almost like she meant to leave her diary behind in the library. One of the students found it—and then the secret blew up, spreading from one mouth to another.The basketball coach couldn’t accept what had happened. And because she wrote my name in that cursed diary, I was accused of being the mastermind. Even though it was a team decis