CHAPTER 21: The fight

Raymond stood in front of the mirror, the faint hum of the fluorescent light buzzing above him. Droplets of water slid down his temples, tracing the sharp angles of his jaw and dripping onto the sink below. His reflection looked nothing short of unrecognizable, eyes darker than usual, veins standing out against his skin, pulsing with a tension he couldn’t shake.

He could feel it, his heat was close.

And this time, it hit harder than before.

A slow exhale left his chest as he gripped the edge of the sink, knuckles whitening. The familiar burn coiled deep in his gut, spreading through his veins like wildfire. It wasn’t pain exactly, it was a pull, primal and restless, demanding, clawing at the edges of his restraint. Every breath felt heavier, every heartbeat louder.

His reflection flickered under the bathroom’s dim light, and for a moment, he almost didn’t recognize himself. There was something feral in his eyes, something that whispered of the Alpha blood roaring inside him.

He turned on the faucet again and splashed his face with water, hoping the cold would calm him. It didn’t. The heat under his skin was relentless, his body aching with a need he couldn’t satisfy. Not like this. Not without his mate.

Being an unmated Alpha came with its curse. When the heat struck, his body demanded connection, completion that only a true mate could offer. Any other contact was hollow, temporary, fleeting. He had tried repeatedly out of desperation. It didn’t work. The emptiness afterward was worse than the ache itself.

He brushed his teeth, his motions sharp and impatient, then stepped under the shower. Cold water rushed over him, soaking his hair, his shoulders, his back. The chill made him shudder, but the tension in his body refused to ease. Every nerve remained alive, alert, strung tight as a bowstring.

When he stepped out, steam clouded the mirror. He wiped it with a towel and caught a glimpse of his reflection again. The veins on his neck throbbed visibly. His breathing was shallow, uneven.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked into his room. The faint scent that met him made him freeze mid-step.

Alicia.

Her scent lingered in the air, soft, clean, with that underlying sweetness that always got under his skin. He closed his eyes for a second and inhaled deeply, and before he realized it, he had taken another breath. And another.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He shouldn’t be reacting this way. He shouldn’t be craving a scent that wasn’t his mate’s. Yet the air in the room seemed to hum with her presence, wrapping around him like invisible silk. His heart thudded once, hard.

He dragged a hand through his damp hair, shaking the thought away, but the tension only thickened. His instincts stirred, Alpha instincts, sharp and demanding. He clenched his jaw. No. Not her.

Needing distraction, he moved to the window and looked out. The woods stretched beyond the dormitory, quiet under the fading light. Then movement caught his eye, a figure slipping between the trees, fast and deliberate.

A woman.

Raymond’s gaze sharpened. Even from a distance, he recognized the walk. The tilt of her shoulders. The rhythm of her steps. Natasha.

His instincts flared. He didn’t need to question it. Natasha had been a problem, sneaking around, meeting with people secretly.

He turned away, walked to the closet, and dressed quickly, black shirt, jeans and boots.His movements were precise, but his mind raced ahead, every muscle tuned to tension.

He stepped out of the room, heading down the hallway, ignoring the way other students turned to look at him. His aura was heavy tonight, Alpha dominance pouring off him like heat waves. People sensed it and stepped aside.

By the time he reached the first floor, his expression had hardened into stone. He moved straight toward the porter’s desk.

“Did you see anyone enter this dorm who doesn’t live here?” His voice was calm, but there was steel underneath it.

Thomas barely lifted his head, giving a slow shake. “No.”

Raymond stared at him for a beat too long, then turned on his heel. The answer didn’t sit right with him. Something was off.

He paused in the hallway, letting his senses stretch. The world around him dimmed, every sound sharpening, footsteps, whispers, the faint hum of electricity through the walls. Then he heard it.

A voice.

Alicia’s.

Faint, distant but unmistakable. His head turned slightly, his pulse steady but heavy. And then another voice cut in, colder, darker.

“I told you to wait for my command. You don’t listen to me. What should I do with you?”

A pause. Then another voice, female, sharp and bitter: “We won’t let her have what’s supposed to be mine. Get closer to Alicia, and we’ll strike.”

Raymond’s blood iced. The growl that tore through his throat was silent but lethal.

He didn’t wait to hear more.

In a blur, he was moving, each step deliberate, each breath controlled fury. He reached the storage room and kicked the door open with a single strike. The door crashed inward, splintering at the hinges.

Two figures whipped around.

One he didn’t recognize. The other wore a dark hood, face hidden in shadow.

“What’s happening here?” His voice came low, dangerous. The air itself seemed to tighten around him.

Neither spoke.

Raymond’s patience snapped. In a blink, he crossed the room, his movements too fast for human eyes. He grabbed the nearest girl by the neck and slammed her into the wall. The impact shook dust from the ceiling. The hooded one darted toward the window, but Raymond moved faster.

He flung the girl in his grip across the room, her body hitting the opposite wall with enough force to crack the plaster. Before she hit the floor, he was already at the window, catching the hooded figure mid-leap.

She screamed as he hurled her backward through the glass. The window shattered, scattering fragments into the night as the body tumbled down the side of the building.

A snarl ripped from his throat, low, guttural, restrained. Not a howl, not yet. He couldn’t afford the humans to hear. But the growl was loud enough to send a shiver through the floorboards.

The air smelled of fear now. And blood.

He turned, his eyes narrowing on the girl sprawled on the floor. Blood trickled from the side of her head, staining the tiles.

“What were you planning to do to Alicia?” His tone dropped to a growl, the kind that could freeze a heartbeat.

She groaned, her eyes flickering with defiance. Then, she laughed. A harsh, broken sound.

Raymond’s restraint thinned to a thread. He took a step closer, crouching down, his voice barely a whisper. “You think I won’t end you here?”

She moved fast, too fast. Her bones cracked, her body twisting. Fur sprouted along her arms. Within seconds, a large brown wolf stood in front of him, hackles raised, teeth bared.

Raymond’s lips curved into something dark. “So that’s how it is.”

The wolf lunged.

They collided with a thunderous crash, both hitting the floor hard. Raymond grunted, gripping her fur as she tried to sink her teeth into his shoulder. He rolled, twisting, forcing her off balance. The room shook with the force of their struggle.

The wolf’s jaws snapped inches from his face, but before she could strike again, a heavy blow landed across her flank. She yelped and fell back, skidding across the floor.

Raymond turned sharply and saw Kevin.

For a heartbeat, neither spoke.

“I was doing fine without your help,” Raymond said, his voice rough with adrenaline.

Kevin raised a brow, wiping blood from his knuckles. “You’re welcome.”

Raymond’s glare could have cut through steel. He was seconds away from shifting, the energy inside him boiling over. The she-wolf staggered to her feet, snarling weakly.

Then chaos.

The she-wolf lunged again, and the three of them, Raymond, Kevin, and the wolf crashed into the open doorway. They tumbled into the hallway, scattering the crowd of students who had gathered. Gasps, whispers, the sharp scent of fear filled the air.

The wolf skidded, sniffed the air once and froze.

Her gaze darted down the hallway. Blood dripping from her wounds, she bolted toward Kevin’s room door. Her claws scraped against the tiles, leaving streaks of red behind.

And then, in a voice that echoed in Raymond’s head not aloud but through the pack link, she whispered one name.

Alicia…

The sound made his stomach drop.

He sprinted after her, but the pack watchers were already arriving, men in black uniforms, their presence commanding. They intercepted the she-wolf, tackling her to the ground before she could reach the door. Her claws raked across the wood once, leaving deep, jagged lines.

Raymond stopped, breathing hard, watching as they restrained her. Blood smeared the floor, and the metallic scent filled his senses. The watchers dragged her away, their boots echoing down the corridor.

The onlookers scattered, whispers rising and falling like waves.

Raymond’s chest heaved as he turned back toward Kevin’s door. Kevin stood there, staring ahead, his hand on the knob. When he pushed it open, Raymond’s gaze followed and then he saw her.

Alicia.

Standing in the doorway, eyes wide, confusion and fear mingling in her expression.

For a moment, the chaos around him faded.

She looked so small there. And yet something about her, her stillness, her defiance, the way her gaze met his hit him deeper than he expected.

His wolf stirred, quiet but certain.

‘She’s safe’.

His wolf hadn’t spoken in years. It was faint, almost disbelieving.

Raymond’s throat tightened. He didn’t understand it, why his wolf reacted to her, why his instincts seemed to anchor around her presence. He forced a breath and muttered under his breath, “Yes, she is.”

The tension in his veins pulsed again, but this time it wasn’t just the heat. It was something else, something raw and unfamiliar.

He tore his gaze away, his expression hardening.

He could still feel the tremor of power under his skin from the fight. The strength he’d shown tonight… It wasn't normal. Especially not for an unmated Alpha at the edge of his heat. He should’ve been weaker, slower. But instead, he felt sharper than ever.

It unsettled him.

A voice cut through his thoughts, calm, deep, authoritative.

‘The pack meeting will be held in the next thirty minutes’.

The Chancellor.

Raymond straightened, jaw tightening. Duty called, even when his body screamed otherwise.

He gave Kevin one last glance, then looked at Alicia again. Her eyes followed him, wide and questioning. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to. He saw the confusion, the questions.

He forced himself to turn away and started down the hallway.

The corridor was silent now, except for the faint sound of his boots against the floor and the distant murmur of the watchers finishing their cleanup. The night outside called to him, cool, dark, endless.

He stepped out of the dormitory, inhaled the crisp air, and let his control settle back into place.

The pack house waited beyond the woods.

But he knew one thing for certain:

whatever storm had started tonight at the College… it wasn’t over.

And this time, there would be no hiding from it.