Campus Wilds

The scent of honeysuckle and amber grows stronger in the cramped dorm room, like incense slowly unfurling its tendrils despite the open window. Sebastian's nostrils flare as he catches another wave of Lyric's pheromones as she backs toward the bathroom door, her suppressants clearly failing, his pupils dilating until the stormy gray of his irises is nearly swallowed by black. His jaw locks, tendons standing out along his neck as he pretends to organize his textbooks—a task he's been attempting for the past twenty minutes without making any progress. Down the hall, Lyric locks the bathroom door behind her with trembling fingers, pressing her back against it. She slides down until she's sitting on the cold tile, knees pulled to her chest. The mirror shows her flushed face, copper-red wisps escaping her braid, stuck to her damp neck. Part of her wants to fling the door open and let nature take its course; the other part—the part that came to college with dreams beyond being claimed—dig

The scent of Lyric's heat seeps through the cramped dorm room like rising floodwater, the suppressants she's been doubling for weeks now finally giving way completely. Her body had been sending warning signals—random flushes, heightened sensitivity, dreams that left her sheets damp—but nothing prepared her for this moment of total surrender. Lyric lies awake in her narrow dorm bed, sheets twisted around her legs, listening to Riley's steady breathing from across the room. The digital clock reads 3:17 AM. Her skin feels electric, too sensitive against even the soft cotton of her sleep shirt. She slides a hesitant hand beneath the waistband of her shorts, finding herself already slick and swollen. A small gasp escapes her lips as her fingers make contact, and she freezes, glancing toward Sebastian asleep on his bed. Her honeysuckle and amber scent intensifies immediately, filling the small space between them. She's never dared to be so bold with others in the room, but her heat-addle

The scent of burnt sugar and cinnamon hangs in the air, betraying Lyric's frustration before anyone even enters the room. Her heat has receded to a dull throb after this morning's encounter with Sebastian, but the memory of his mouth between her thighs makes concentration nearly impossible. The textbook splayed open before her—Advanced Theories of Elemental Magic—might as well be written in ancient runes for all she's absorbing. Outside, twilight paints Silverpoint's campus in shades of lavender and gold. Students drift across the quad in small clusters, their laughter floating up through the half-open window. Lyric's fingernails tap an anxious rhythm against the page as she reads the same paragraph for the sixth time. She doesn't hear Sebastian approach their door, but she feels him—a sudden tightening in her chest, a prickling awareness that spreads across her skin. Her body recognizes him before her mind does, responding to his proximity with a rush of warmth that pools low in he

Lyric quivers in the suffocating shadow of his dominance—not with fear, but with awakening. Her Omega instincts quiver with uncertainty, amber eyes questioning as they lock onto his storm-gray ones. "Mating? What do you mean?" she whispers, even as her body betrays her with want. He places a large hand low on her belly, possessive and promising, as he inhales deeply at her neck. "With any luck," he growls against her skin, "you'll give me a pup." The color drains from Lyric's face as Sebastian's words penetrate the fog of pleasure still clouding her mind. A pup. The possibility hangs in the air between them, suddenly more substantial than the physical connection binding their bodies together. Her amber eyes widen with dawning horror as her hands press instinctively against Sebastian's chest, creating what little distance the knot allows between them. "No," she whispers, her voice trembling. "No, I can't—I'm not ready for that." The honeysuckle notes in her scent sour with fear, the