Jason's POV The silence stretches between us like a chasm. Avalon stares at me, his face pale in the lamplight, while I hold his phone with Kaelen's message still glowing on the screen. *"Missing you. Where are you? Want to see you."* The words feel like acid in my throat. After everything we just shared, after the way he touched me, the way he whispered my name like a prayer—this is what I find. Evidence that I'm not the only one he's been intimate with. Evidence that maybe I never mattered at all. "Jason," Avalon says softly, reaching for me. "Let me explain." I step back, still naked, still vulnerable, clutching his phone like evidence of a crime. "Explain what? That you've been fucking us both? That everything you just said to me was a lie?" "It's not like that." "Then what is it like?" My voice cracks, and I hate how desperate I sound. "Because right now it looks like you've been playing games with both of us." He stares at me, his mouth opening and closing like he's tryi
Avalon's POVThe weight of the agreement burns in my jacket pocket as I walk through the academy corridors toward Jason's dorm. My father's signature is still drying on the parchment, sealing both my future and Jason's fate. But right now, all I can think about is the way Jason looked at me earlier—trusting, desperate, choosing me over Ivan.I pause outside his door, my hand hovering over the wood. Everything I've worked for, everything I've sacrificed, comes down to this moment. The deal with my father. The promise to deliver Jason. The conditions I negotiated to protect him.The door opens before I can knock."Avalon," Jason says, and there's surprise in his voice. "I didn't expect to see you tonight.""I wanted to check on you," I say, stepping inside. "After what happened with Brett today."His room is smaller than mine, simpler. The bed is unmade, clothes scattered across the floor. He looks tired, worn down by everything that's happened. The split lip from Brett's attack has swo
Lord Ravenscrest's POVThe crystal decanter sits between us on my desk, the amber liquid catching the firelight as I pour two glasses of whiskey. Elder Matthias looks older than his years, grief etched into every line of his face. His son's death has aged him overnight."You understand my position," I say, sliding one glass across the polished mahogany. "The Council needs results. The omega's location, his weaknesses, his connections. My sources tell me he's vulnerable now, isolated."Matthias takes the glass but doesn't drink. His hands shake slightly as he holds it. "My son is dead, Ravenscrest. Dead because of this obsession with the omega boy.""Your son was a valuable asset," I reply carefully. "His loss is regrettable, but it doesn't change our objectives.""Doesn't it?" He looks up at me, and I see something dangerous in his eyes. Something that looks like defiance.I keep my expression neutral. "What are you suggesting?""I'm suggesting that this vendetta against the omega has
Jason's POVThe announcement about Liam's death echoes in my head as I walk through the empty corridors after the assembly. Another student dead. Another life cut short in this place that's supposed to be safe. I keep thinking about his throat being cut, about the blood, about how easily someone can just... disappear.But what's really bothering me is the figure I saw last night. Someone in a hood, watching my room. Watching me. I couldn't make out who it was, but the way they moved, the way they stood... it felt familiar somehow.I'm so lost in thought that I almost miss them until it's too late."Well, well. Look what we have here."Brett steps out from behind a pillar, flanked by two other guys I recognize as Ivan's usual crew. My stomach drops. Brett has always been the worst of Ivan's betas - cruel where Ivan is calculating, stupid where Ivan is strategic."Where's your protection now, omega?" Brett sneers, cracking his knuckles.The word hits me like a physical blow. "I'm not—"
Ivan's POVI'm waiting in the shadows when Liam emerges from Kaelen's dorm, adjusting his clothes with that smug expression he always wears after getting what he wants. The hallway is empty, most students asleep, but I've been watching. Waiting.Something about tonight feels wrong. The way Kaelen looked during combat training yesterday. The way he's been avoiding us all since the bond broke. The way he keeps staring at Jason with something that looks like hatred.I step out of the shadows and grab Liam's arm, pulling him into an empty classroom. He stumbles, still loose-limbed from whatever just happened upstairs."What the hell—" he starts, but stops when he sees the knife in my hand."We need to talk," I say quietly, pressing the blade to his throat. Not hard enough to cut, but hard enough to get his attention."Ivan, what are you doing?" His voice is higher now, scared."What were you doing in Kaelen's room?""Nothing. Just talking."I press the knife a little harder, and a thin li
Kaelen's POVThree bottles of stolen whiskey later, and the pain is still there. Raw and throbbing in my chest like an open wound. Avalon sits across from me on his dorm room floor, his back against the bed, golden hair falling into his eyes as he tips the bottle to his lips."You were right," he slurs, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "About everything. About my father. About the Council. About me being selfish."I don't want his apologies. I want him to hurt the way I'm hurting. I want him to feel what it's like to be forgotten, to be replaced, to be nothing more than a convenience."Drink," I say, pushing the bottle toward him. "Stop talking."He obeys, taking another long pull. His cheeks are flushed, his movements clumsy. Good. I need him drunk. I need him vulnerable. I need him to stop thinking about Jason for five fucking minutes."I miss it," he mumbles, staring at the amber liquid. "The bond. I miss feeling connected to something. To someone.""To Jason, you mean."