I turned toward the school building immediately, my body already moving, already tracking. But something felt off. It wasn’t just the heat in her scent..it was the way it danced with something else. A thread of male energy. Not mine. Not familiar. Wrong. The anger started deep in my gut and rose like smoke up my spine. I tried to mindlink her immediately. Kitten, I said through the link. Where are you? Can you hear me? Are you okay? Nothing. Lyra, I tried again, pushing harder, narrowing my focus, forcing my energy toward her. Talk to me. Now. Still nothing. I stopped just outside the front entrance, my hand clenching into a fist around the sleeve of her sweater. No response. No connection. Just a wall of silence where her mind should’ve been. Either she was blocking me, unconscious, or too overwhelmed to hear. None of those options sat well with me. My legs were already moving before I realized it, storming through the double doors of the school building, eyes scan
~Damon~ The car smelled like her. Even with the windows cracked and the engine humming, her scent lingered on the leather like a fucking reminder. My cock was still sore from how good she sucked my dick. My palm still tingled from how hard I grabbed her hair. The Bluetooth crackled, then connected. “You’ve got three minutes,” I said, putting the call on speaker as I adjusted the steering wheel and leaned back into the seat. My voice was clipped, controlled, sharp enough to draw blood. “Say something useful.” The man on the other end stammered. Of course he did. “Alpha Damon—sir—we’ve received word that the Riker Pack’s West Guard has doubled in size overnight. They’re claiming it’s routine, but our scouts believe they’re planning a move—possibly a direct breach across the Redwood Creek line. And that’s not all. There’s—” “I know what they’re planning,” I snapped, cutting him off. “They’ve been sniffing around my land like mongrels for weeks. Testing us. Testing me.
“Your scent,” he murmured. “It’s not clean. It’s not pure anymore. You reek of Alpha cum He said it like it was a compliment. Like I should be proud of it. And the worst part? The absolute worst part? My body reacted to it. My skin got hotter. I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, to remind him I had a whole Alpha Daddy who could snap his neck like a pencil and not even flinch—but he didn’t let me. Of course he didn’t. Because apparently this boy was allergic to boundaries and full of sin. “You’ve been fucked,” he went on, voice lower now, crueler, like he wanted to carve the truth into me with every word. “And not just once. No, I can smell it on you. He’s been inside you more than once. He’s filled you up. Claimed you. Knot or no knot, doesn’t matter. Your body belongs to him now. And yet—” He leaned in close, way too close, and my back hit the locker behind me with a soft thud. His eyes dragged down my body, slow and smug and invasive, until they landed right where
~Lyra~ I blinked so hard I nearly knocked my contact lens out, and I swear for a second, I forgot how to fucking breathe. Because no. No. There was no way. There was no damn way the universe had the audacity, the absolute fuck-you nerve to put him in my path again, not after everything that happened, not after that party, not after Damon literally threatened to dismember anyone who looked at me too long. I mean, what the actual hell? This boy, this walking red flag of sex and danger and smug grins, was standing right in front of me in the same damn uniform as me, like this was some kind of joke. Like the universe thought it’d be funny to drop him in my school like a grenade inside a pencil case. And oh my God, he was smiling. The same fucking smile. The one he gave me right before he leaned in that night and sniffed me like I was a hot plate of jollof rice. What kind of psycho does that? Who does that at a party? And now? Now he had the audacity—the unholy confidence—
He leaned in closer, one hand resting on my thigh, slowly sliding upward until his palm was pressed firmly just below the hem of my skirt. “And then when I finally had you…” he murmured. “When I finally tasted you, fucked you, felt you pulsing around me and begging for more… I knew I could never go back. Camilla was a mistake. A placeholder. A distraction. You? You’re mine. My mate. My obsession. My Omega. My dirty little secret that I’m never giving back.” I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. My body was already trembling again. He leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “You were made for me,” he whispered. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving that.” And I swear, right then, I nearly came. “Fuck… that’s so hot,” I breathed, thighs clenching hard under my skirt. “I wanna fuck you right now. I don’t care if we’re in the parking lot. I want you to bend me over the dashboard and make me scream your name in front of the whole damn school.” His hand squee
~Lyra~ We pulled up in front of the school, but I didn’t move. The car was still running. My chest was still tight. And even though the sun was up and teenagers were filing through the gates with backpacks and half-finished homework, I was still sitting here, thighs pressed together, mouth sore, and brain foggy from everything he made me feel. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Camilla had said. Not just the insults. Not just the jealousy. But that one line—“I’m human.” I turned toward him slowly. “Damon,” I said quietly, the word still sticky on my lips after everything we’d done, “Camilla said she was human. What does that mean?” He didn’t answer right away. He stared straight ahead, his jaw locked, his hand still on the wheel like he was forcing himself to stay calm. I could see the way his chest moved—slow breaths like he was preparing to rip open a chapter of his past that he probably hadn’t told anyone. “What does it mean?” I asked again, softer now. “That she’s