Rhea

The blare of my alarm had no business being that aggressive. I groaned, smacking at the screen until it shut up. Since when did I even set it? Great. I was officially losing my damn mind.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and last night came crashing back like a freight train. Me standing toe-to-toe with the quads. Me snapping back, walking out on four of the most dangerous, emotionally constipated Alphas in Lycandra. Bold move? Definitely. Stupid? …Probably.

Did I regret it? Sort of.

They were my future alphas—possibly my mates. Disrespecting them wasn’t exactly on the safe choices list. But I wasn’t going to stand there like some trembling she-wolf while they threw accusations around like confetti at a pack wedding. Mate bond or not, there’s no future without trust. They needed to hear it, and I was the only one with enough spine to say it.

Still, my head throbbed—a mix of crying, screaming into a pillow, and emotionally combusting in record time. But skipping class? Not happening. Potential Luna or not, I wasn’t about to slack off and hand Tessa and her pack of vultures more ammunition. Let them whisper. I earned my scholarship here at Silver Ridge Academy. I wasn’t a fucking charity case.

Dragging myself into the shower, I did the bare minimum: washed, dried, moisturized, mascara, gloss. No theatrics. My reflection looked back at me, pale but steady. Alive. Surviving.

I pulled on a fitted lilac crop top, high-waisted black jeans, ankle boots. Easy. Practical. Defiant. I left my silver hair down in loose waves brushing my waist. Normally I would’ve braided it, but the idea of putting my throat on display—of walking around with a bare, unmarked neck—screamed vulnerability. Or worse: invitation. And I wasn’t in the mood to watch four Alpha meltdowns over the fact that no one had marked me yet.

The runes etched into the room’s wooden beams hummed faintly as I passed, glowing soft silver in rhythm with my heartbeat. They always did that when emotions spiked—reminders that truth mattered here, that lies frayed the wards. Yeah, thanks for the lecture, Academy. Already knew.

I grabbed my bag, the weight of textbooks grounding me more than I cared to admit. Whatever else the Moon Goddess thought she had planned for me, I wasn’t about to let her take this—my education, my earned place here.

Then came the knock.

Sharp. Final. Not the kind of knock that asked permission.

Every muscle in my body locked. I already knew who it was before I even reached for the handle.

Jaxon’s POV

I’d been up before the sun. My body stayed in bed, but Blaze hadn’t shut the hell up all night.

Go to her. Touch her. She’s ours.

Rhea’s tear-streaked face haunted me every time I closed my eyes. Her scent—roses cut with tuberose—still clung to my skin. Sweet, stubborn, sharp enough to make me ache. Every inhale felt like punishment, like a reminder that I’d fucked up. That we’d fucked up. And that I wanted to rip apart whatever had made her cry—even if that meant tearing into myself.

Quick shower. Black joggers. Crew neck. Didn’t bother drying my hair. My wolf didn’t care about neat. Blaze only cared about one thing: her.

I was halfway down the corridor before my brain caught up to what my body was doing. Figures—my brothers had already beaten me to her door.

They stood there like sentries in front of the polished oak carved with warded sigils. The silver runes glowed faintly, feeding off the emotions bleeding into the hall. Our dominance was fucking choking the air.

“What took you so long?” Callum’s voice was clipped, flat. He didn’t even look at me, just stared at the door like he could burn it down with his will alone. The alpha tone rolled out of him anyway, sharp and commanding—even when he was seconds from cracking.

“Didn’t sleep,” I muttered. My voice was rough, gravel in my throat. “Kept seeing her face.”

Seth leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, but his jaw was so tight the muscle jumped. Rory paced like a caged animal, running a hand over the back of his neck. He looked like he hadn’t blinked all damn night.

“She’s not answering,” Rory said, jerking his chin at the door like he’d bust it off the hinges if someone didn’t stop him.

“We give her space,” Callum cut in, sharp. “We can’t push. Not today.”

Seth dragged a hand through his already-messy hair, his usual smirk nowhere in sight. “I hate this.” His wolf, Scar, simmered right under his skin—restless, twitching.

“We all do,” Rory said, his voice lower than usual.

“She doesn’t trust us.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them. They hung there, heavy, bitter, true. I swallowed the burn in my throat. “Can’t blame her.”

“She will,” Callum said, finally turning his gaze on us. His storm-grey stare was steady, ironclad. “We just have to prove she can.”

And fuck me, he was right. We’d messed up. We’d gone too far, pushed too hard. We looked like the same bastards she’d feared we were.

But this wasn’t over. Not for us.

Grovelling? Yeah, I could do grovelling. Hell, I’d crawl if it meant she’d stop looking at me like I was the monster under her bed.

Because she was mine. Ours. And I’d burn the world down before I let her slip through our fingers.

Rory’s POV

I’d been pacing the damn hallway for twenty minutes straight, and Lex was pacing right alongside me inside my head. Tail lashing, teeth bared, restless as hell.

The longer we waited, the worse the itch got. I wasn’t built for this—standing still, pretending patience. I wanted to see her. Needed to see her. Even if it was only for a second. Even if she slammed the door in my face again.

Before I could knock one more time, the latch clicked.

The door cracked open.

And fuck me sideways.

She stepped out like a vision designed to wreck me on sight. Black jeans hugging every curve like they’d been stitched straight onto her skin, lilac top cropped just enough to tease, her silver hair loose around her shoulders, tumbling down her back like moonlight. Effortless. Dangerous. Beautiful.

My cock twitched instantly. Lex rumbled approval.

Ours.

Beside me, Jaxon shifted on his feet, too sharp, too tense for his usual swagger. Seth muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a prayer, the cocky bastard. Even Callum—stoic, unshakable Callum—let out the smallest exhale, a flicker of something in his eyes that betrayed how hard he was holding it together.

She gave us a faint smile. Soft. Careful. Like she was offering us the bare minimum so she wouldn’t have to give us more.

“Morning,” she said, her voice light, almost breezy, though her grip tightened on the strap of her bag. “I was about to come down.”

Callum stepped forward immediately, filling the space like he was carved out of dominance itself. “Good morning, little Luna,” he said, voice steady, low, his words threaded with the kind of command that could quiet a room of Alphas. “We just wanted to make sure you ate before heading to the academy.”

She nodded, but she didn’t meet our eyes.

And there it was—the knife twist.

She was still hurting.

Her shoulders stayed tight, her smile faded too fast, and she angled her body just slightly away from us. Most people wouldn’t have caught it, but to me? It was a neon fucking sign.

She wasn’t letting us in. Not yet.

Lex snarled in my chest, restless, demanding we fix it. I shoved a hand through my hair, forcing a grin I didn’t feel. I wanted to tease her, to poke and prod until she rolled those eyes and snapped back like the firecracker she was. Anything to break through that wall she was putting up between us.

But she just stood there, cautious, guarded, ready to bolt.

And for once in my life, I didn’t have a joke.

I only had the weight of what we’d done and the gnawing fear that maybe—just maybe—she’d never forgive us.