LOGINCALEB’S POVWatching Ragnar kiss Thalia was pure, unadulterated torture.Seeing his hands near her, seeing the way she eventually stopped resisting and let him close—it made a wild, dangerous surge of jealousy explode in my chest. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to storm across the training room, grab Ragnar by his throat, and pry them apart by force. But I couldn't move. I had absolutely no right to step in. I was the one who had brought her nothing but tears, terror, and pain. So, before they could notice me standing in the shadows, I turned around silently and walked away. I climbed the stone stairs all the way to the high rooftop of the main building, needing the biting morning air to cool the fire in my blood.I stood at the edge of the roof, my eyes fixed on the shimmering, translucent barrier that locked us in. Suddenly, the phone in my pocket began to vibrate. Ever since the board opened up the internal lines for emergency use, I had access to my device again. I p
RAGNAR’S POVWhile I was down in that freezing water, the physical numbness was nothing compared to the sharp, tearing pain in my chest.There was a dark truth I had not told Thalia yet. In my pack, if an Alpha wolf finds his true mate and does not mark or claim her within two months, the bond begins to turn sour. The rejection poisons the soul. It causes a constant, dull ache in the heart, and eventually, the Alpha will go completely, violently feral.The two-month mark was dangerously close. I wanted her so badly it physically hurt. Every time I looked at her, my wolf roared beneath my skin, begging to tear through and take what was ours.But no matter how much she froze me out, I swore to myself that I would always stay right by her side to help her anyway. Once we dragged ourselves out of the pool, Miss Lyra gave us no warmth and no rest. She stood over us like a tyrant. “Do not even think about sleeping,” she commanded, her sharp voice echoing off the damp stone walls. “You wi
THALIA’S POVMiss Lyra did not waste any time. The moment the general assembly was dismissed, she led the six of us away from the main field, taking us to a private, enclosed courtyard hidden deep within the training complex. The stone walls here were high and thick, completely cutting us off from the rest of the school. The atmosphere between us was suffocating. Devon kept his distance, nursing his bruised ego and glaring at me from the corner of his eye. Caleb stood like a frozen statue, his dark eyes fixed entirely on the stone floor, while Ragnar kept trying to catch my eye. I stubbornly ignored all of them.Finally, I couldn't take the quiet anymore. I stepped forward and looked directly at our instructor. “Why did you pick the six of us, Miss Lyra? What is the actual reason?”Miss Lyra didn't even look back at me as she took off her heavy outer cloak. “You do not need to ask questions, Thalia,” she said smoothly, her voice chillingly calm. “You will find out exactly why you ar
THALIA’S POVThat night, I limped back to the dorm room carrying a body full of bruises that stubbornly refused to heal. Every single breath felt like inhaling shards of broken glass, a brutal reminder of Miss Lyra’s Alpha speed and strength.I sat on the edge of the mattress, flinching violently as Eileen gently pressed a damp, cold cloth against the cut on my cheek. I hissed in pain, my fingers gripping the bedsheets until my knuckles turned stark white.“Quiet down,” Eileen whispered frantically, her eyes wide with a mix of worry and awe. “The entire hall is quiet. We don't need anyone realizing how badly she thrashed you.”She pulled the cloth away, revealing the dark purple staining my skin. For the next hour, we spoke in hushed tones about everything that had transpired inside Miss Lyra’s private chambers. I recounted the terrifying way the senior board member had forced me into a corner, and exactly what she had said about training me to assume whatever dormant entity was hidi
THALIA’S POV“What exactly are you all doing out here?” Miss Lyra’s sharp voice sliced through the heavy silence of the alleyway.My heart plummeted into my stomach. Instinctively, I tucked my injured arm behind my back, hiding the makeshift handkerchief bandage and the wet, smeared blood on my skin.Ragnar stepped squarely in front of me, his massive frame blocking her view as much as possible. “We were just heading back to the dorms, Miss Lyra,” he said, his voice forced and tight. “Thalia wasn’t feeling well after the gathering on the field.”“Yes, exactly!” Eileen chimed in quickly, her voice a pitch too high as she fidgeted with her sleeves. “She got a bit dizzy from the heat, so we brought her back here for some quiet air.”Miss Lyra didn't buy a single word. She didn’t even look at them. Her icy, calculating gaze remained locked on me, cutting right past Ragnar’s shoulder. “Save your breath, Norales. I have been standing here long enough to see precisely what happened.”She too
RAGNAR’S POVAfter I refused to hit Thalia, she closed the book and then looked at all three of us. “Come on, let's go.” Thalia led us quickly through the shadows, moving toward the very back of the school grounds. She chose a hidden spot right against the pulsing edge of the barrier where the stone walls of the old building blocked us from the main courtyard. No one could see us here.Eileen looked around nervously, her hands shaking as she hugged herself. “I feel like we are committing a crime right now,” she muttered under her breath.Jamie nodded beside her, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “For once, I actually agree with Eileen. This is a very bad idea.”Thalia ignored them both. She turned around to face me, her jaw set firmly. “Hit me, Ragnar,” she commanded again.I took a step back, shaking my head instantly. “No. Absolutely not. I am not going to hit you, Thalia. I cannot hurt my own mate. Do not ask me to do that.”Thalia stepped into my space, reaching up to hold
THALIA’S POVMy hands shook so violently that I could barely open the wooden door of my wardrobe. It was strictly forbidden to possess any outside communication devices within the academy walls, but I had smuggled in a secret phone before leaving home, keeping it hidden away for an absolute emerge
THALIA’S POVThe resounding slam of the heavy wooden door still echoed in my ears long after Ragnar had vanished down the corridor. I stood frozen against the cold stone wall, his parting words clawing at the edges of my mind.Before I could even begin to process the tangled mess of my feelings, th
THALIA’S POV“Who the hell locked us in here?” Eileen’s voice echoed against the damp stone walls, shaking with fear.I didn't answer right away. I stared at the huge iron doors of the underground cemetery, my mind spinning. “I don't know,” I whispered, rubbing my arms because it was freezing down
THALIA’S POVI hadn't meant to say what I did to Ragnar but it just came out. I wanted to apologize, to say sorry but he was hiding things from me. And right now, I felt like even Caleb was hiding things from me. A lot was happening at the same time and I hated it. I saw the pain in Ragnar's eyes







