Five

Kai POV

Anger didn’t come close to describing what I felt after Vespa walked out of that restaurant. My one chance to speak to her had vanished in seconds, thanks to my brothers and my spoiled cousin.

“Get out of here, Nebula,” I said, my voice sharp enough to cut through the table chatter around us. “You’ve done enough.”

Nebula rolled her eyes and dropped into the booth Vespa had just vacated, crossing one leg over the other as if she owned the place. “Relax, Kai. I’m still your favorite cousin. You’re really choosing some random human over family?”

She rested her manicured hand over my clenched fist and tried to pry it open.

I pulled away.

Her lips curled. “Sensitive today.”

The waiter arrived with a tray and started placing plates on the table. Burgers, fries, and milkshakes landed in front of us while the tension at the booth made the air thick. None of us touched the food.

Nebula grabbed Ziah’s glass and took a long drink.

“This is ridiculous,” she continued. “Grandma told you to keep your eye on the prize. Instead you’re acting like simps over a girl who embarrassed herself in an airport.”

“Enough,” I said.

She leaned back, unfazed. “You’re supposed to be the serious one, Kai. If Zeke or fuckboy Ziah were chasing a human girl, I wouldn’t even blink.”

Across the table, Ziah tugged his man-bun tighter.

Zeke stared down at his plate.

Neither of them denied it.

That was the problem.

Vespa had gotten under my skin in a way I couldn’t explain. At first glance she looked ordinary. Short, strawberry-blonde pixie cut, glasses, quiet posture. The kind of girl most people would overlook.

Look again and the truth hit harder.

She had presence.

Even when she was furious, she carried herself with a raw edge that drew attention whether she wanted it or not. My wolf had noticed the moment she collapsed into my arms at the airport.

The connection hadn’t faded since.

“I’m going after her,” I said finally.

Zeke’s head lifted.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Ziah leaned forward. “Oh please. Since when do you ask permission?”

“I’m serious,” I continued. “Stay away from her.”

Ziah laughed under his breath. “You’re claiming territory now?”

“Drop it,” I said.

A group of students at the next table started whispering and glancing toward us. Three Lycan heirs arguing in public wasn’t exactly subtle.

Zeke leaned forward, his voice low but firm. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“I saw her first,” I replied.

“That’s not how this works.”

“Then explain how it works,” Ziah said. “Because from where I’m sitting, all three of us walked out of that restaurant wanting the same woman.”

The table went quiet.

Even Nebula stopped chewing.

Zeke looked from me to Ziah, his expression tightening. “You’re both joking.”

“I’m not,” Ziah said.

Neither was I.

Nebula slammed her hand on the table, her eyes lighting up with malicious excitement. “Oh my god. Are you idiots actually fighting over the same girl?”

“Stay out of this,” Zeke said.

“Oh no, I’m very invested now,” she replied, leaning forward. “Three future Alphas chasing one human girl. Grandma is going to lose her mind.”

The waiter walked past again and hesitated when he noticed none of the food had been touched.

“Everything alright here?”

“Perfect,” Ziah said smoothly.

The waiter left quickly.

Zeke looked back at me. “You’re not thinking clearly.”

“I am.”

Ziah leaned back in his chair. “This is incredible. We’re supposed to be competing for the Alpha throne one day, and now we’re competing over a girl too.”

“It’s not a competition,” I said.

“It is now.”

Nebula pulled out her phone and started typing.

“What are you doing?” Zeke asked.

“Oh nothing,” she said sweetly. “Just wondering how Grandma will react when she hears that her precious grandsons are about to start a civil war over a human.”

“Put the phone down,” I said.

She smirked but didn’t press send.

Ziah watched me closely. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Zeke rubbed his temples. “This makes no sense.”

“It does to my wolf,” I said.

Both of them went still.

Nebula’s eyes widened.

“What did you just say?”

Ziah leaned forward.

“Say that again.”

“My wolf recognizes her,” I said slowly.

The words settled over the table.

Ziah stood.

“No,” he said. “That’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because my wolf reacted to her too.”

Zeke pushed his plate aside.

“That’s not coincidence.”

Nebula let out a sharp laugh. “Oh this is even better.”

Zeke looked between us, his expression darkening.

“My wolf sensed her too.”

Silence dropped over the booth.

Nebula’s mouth slowly stretched into a delighted grin.

“You three absolute idiots,” she said. “You just admitted the same thing.”

Ziah ran a hand over his face. “That’s impossible.”

“Is it?” Nebula asked.

Zeke looked at me.

Then at Ziah.

And finally said the word none of us wanted to say.

“Mate.”

The word landed like a bomb.

Nebula burst into hysterical laughter. “Grandma is going to burn this campus to the ground.”

No one laughed with her.

Because we all knew the truth now.

Three Alpha heirs.

One mate.

A human.

And pack law forbade everything about it.