MasukKAELWhatever discovery Cassidan had found would have to wait. We had bigger problems that needed an immediate solution.“Cassidan,” I cut him off. “Put whatever you’ve found aside. We’ve got a bigger problem.”The first thing I wanted to do was rub the accuracy of my instincts in their faces. Every time I sensed something and spoke up, they shrugged me off as paranoid.If only they had listened earlier. Who knew what the principal had planned.I had Damon tell Cassidan everything he’d just told me.The books nearly fell from Cassidan’s hands when Damon finished. I matched his stunned look, though part of me had already guessed Damon’s news and so I tamped down surprise.“We have to hurry back to the dorm,” I said, then told Cassidan about the task the principal had assigned.“If this is true,” Cassidan said, thumb brushing his upper lip, “then this has to be a scheme between him and Gerald.”“Very likely. Come on, let’s move. We don’t have time to waste,” I said.“Hold on, I’ve got t
115—KaelSeeing the distorted look on Damon's face made my skin crawl. The way he ran in and almost bumped into me, his appearance distraught. "Damon!" I clamped my hands down on his shoulders, holding him in place. "What's chasing you?!" I asked, my voice hasty, my eyes darting behind him, searching for whatever or whoever was chasing him. "Damon calm down and talk to me!" I tried holding his gaze but his eyeballs had become like a pendulum in that moment, flickering under momentum. His eyes finally found mine. "You were right all along, Kael, I'm sorry—I'm sorry we didn't believe you." His let out. My hands slowly dropped from his shoulders. I didn't need to ask to know what was going on. The answers were written all over his features. "What did you hear?" I asked, my toes on the edge. He swallowed, clenching his lips before he said"I saw him, Gerald, he's not who he thinks he is."I nodded to him to keep going, bracing myself for what I was about to hear. "I saw Gerald wit
114—DamonThe air felt taut, every fibre in my system burning with intensity. I held the pose long enough until I was sure Gerald had disappeared. I raised my head slightly above the pillar—emptiness, he was gone. "What the—" My voice trailed off into the distance. My eyes bulged, my heart palpitated faster in my chest. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. "Or was this some sort of dream?" I pinched the skin around my wrist to ensure this was reality. I forced the bile in my throat, snaking its way down to create a pit in my stomach. I got up and immediately headed for the dorm room, hoping and praying that I would meet my brothers. I couldn't shake the image of Gerald standing rigidly on both feet—no faltering—no signs of weakness or that he suffered deadly injuries to his body just days ago. Worse, the image of Principal Horrow flinching before Gerald was burrowed into my mind like screws. Hastening my pace towards the dorm, the sound of the distant voices in the cour
KAEL I didn’t know how I’d made it back to the academy. My body was still buzzing with the remnants of the forest, the storm, and the bond pulsing through me like molten fire. Every step I took toward the dorm felt heavy, loaded with urgency. Elara’ small weight in my arms was grounding, her pulse faint but steady. She was quiet. Unusually quiet. I could feel her defiance, simmering just under the surface, but she allowed me to carry her. That alone made my wolf stir, claws unsheathed, restless. Protect. Protect. Protect. The dorm came into view, windows dimly glowing. I could feel every shadow as though it whispered secrets. My hand tightened slightly around Riven’s waist, just enough to remind her—and myself—who I was. The bond pulsed beneath my skin, sharp and hot, telling me she was aware of every thought in my head. I didn’t dare let her see the fire in my eyes. Not fully. Not yet. We stepped into the hallway. I could feel the tension coil around me even before I saw him.
KAEL I couldn’t breathe.Not properly. Not when she was there, standing just beyond the firelight, shadowed, trembling, but daring. Daring to look at me. Daring to know that I had exploded, torn into my brothers, torn into the very air with my fury, and she had heard it all.My wolf growled low in my chest, every hair on my body rising, claws scraping invisible surfaces. Protect. Protect. Protect. It wasn’t just instinct anymore—it was blood, it was fire, it was hunger that had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with ownership.She turned slightly, and my stomach twisted. Elara. My Elara. My Riven. My mate. And yet… the word tasted strange on my tongue, too sacred to speak aloud. And here she was, defiant, fiery, refusing to cower, refusing to apologize, refusing to let me take control.I wanted to drag her to me. Hold her until she understood that no one—not Gerald, not anyone—could touch her, could look at her the way I had. I could feel Gerald’s presence like a thorn u
CASSIDAN I had never felt a night so heavy.Rain still clung to the forest leaves outside, dripping onto the ground with a slow, persistent rhythm, but inside the small room, the air was thicker. Charged. Kael’s fury radiated like heat from molten rock, Damon’s restraint was taut like a bowstring ready to snap, and I—well, I was caught somewhere between reason and rage.“She should’ve never been pushed this far!” Kael’s voice was a low growl, teeth bared, eyes flickering gold at intervals as if his wolf demanded blood. “Do you hear me? Never!”I rubbed my temples, trying to focus. “Kael, yelling isn’t going to fix this. She’s alive, that’s what matters.”“Alive?” Kael spat, his words sharp, slicing the air. “Alive doesn’t mean she isn’t dying inside! Alive doesn’t mean she’s not screaming while we argue like idiots over a ritual we barely understood!”Damon stepped in, slow and deliberate. “We didn’t know the bond would react like this. None of us did. Kael, you can’t—”“Don’t!” Kael







