Rhea

Twigs snapped under my boots as I pushed harder, lungs searing, heart racing.

The runes embedded in the tree trunks shimmered faintly as I passed, silver lines pulsing in rhythm with my pulse. The wards didn’t lie; the Alphas were near, and their dominance was already leaking into the air like smoke before fire.

And then I saw them.

Four shadows waiting at the break of the trees where the forest spilled into the Academy courtyard.

Callum. Jaxon. Rory. Seth.

They weren’t moving. Just standing there—too still, too controlled, too dangerous. But their eyes…

Moon Goddess. Their eyes were burning.

I slowed, breath ragged, every instinct screaming at me to run back the way I came. But there was no point. They’d drag me back before I hit the next tree.

So I lifted my chin, forced my legs to keep moving, and stepped out of the trees.

Silence fell over the courtyard. Students scattered fast, sensing the storm brewing. I couldn’t blame them.

“Where were you?” Callum’s voice cut through the quiet. Deep. Even. But iron-hard.

My throat went dry. “Class.”

Jaxon’s laugh was sharp, humourless. “Try again, sunshine.”

The tether snapped taut between us, the bond punishing me for lying. I winced, clenching my fists. “I—needed air.”

“Air smells a lot like another wolf,” Seth said lazily, but his smirk didn’t reach his eyes. His fingers tapped against his thigh, restless, his wolf leaking through the cracks.

My heart stopped.

Fuck.

Jaxon stepped forward, predator slow, his dominance slamming down so hard the runes in the courtyard flared, glowing bright silver against the stone. “You reek of him.”

“Ethan,” Rory added, his voice sharper than I’d ever heard it. “You smell like him, Princess.”

Heat climbed my throat. Guilt. Anger. Fear. All tangled. “He’s my friend.”

Callum’s storm-grey gaze pinned me, steady, unyielding. “Friends don’t cling to you hard enough for their scent to bleed into your skin.”

“It was a hug,” I snapped. “A fucking hug. Not that it’s any of your business how I say goodbye to someone who’s been in my life for years.”

Jaxon growled, low and lethal, making the earth vibrate under my feet. “Everything about you is our business.”

My wolf strained at my chest, desperate to answer his dominance. I shoved her back down, shaking my head. “No. That’s not how this works. You don’t get to cage me every time someone breathes in my direction.”

“Watch your tone,” Rory hissed, stepping forward. His usual grin was gone, replaced with something sharp and cutting.

“Or what?” I snapped, my voice breaking. “You’ll prove me right? That all I am to you is property? A Luna to be shown off but never trusted?”

Their silence was deafening. Their dominance pressed heavier, runes sparking brighter, crackling like lightning across stone.

“You don’t get it,” I whispered, chest tight. “You’ve had each other your whole lives. I’ve had no one. And every time I start to think maybe, maybe this bond is real—maybe you won’t leave me—you remind me how easy it would be. How easy it’s always been for people to decide I’m not enough.”

Seth’s smirk faltered. Rory’s fists clenched. Jaxon’s jaw ticked. Callum’s breath came sharp through his nose.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “I told you I’d try. I am trying. But if you want this to work, if you want me—then you have to trust me.”

Silence stretched, thick and suffocating.

Callum’s eyes locked on mine, unreadable. “And if trust means letting another wolf touch you?”

I lifted my chin, even as my stomach twisted. “Then trust means believing I know where the line is. And believing I’d never cross it.”

For a moment, none of them moved. The weight of four Alphas pressed down, heavy as stone. My chest burned. My hands shook. But I didn’t back down.

Finally, Callum exhaled, slow. “We hate it.”

“I know.”

“But,” he continued, voice low, “if you’re willing to try… so are we.”

Jaxon’s glare was still dark, sharp, hungry. But he didn’t argue. Rory muttered a curse under his breath. Seth ran a hand through his hair and chuckled, but it was humourless.

The runes dimmed, silver glow fading back into stillness.

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

Maybe we weren’t fixed. Maybe this was just another crack waiting to split wide open. But for the first time since this bond slammed into my life, I felt like I’d finally drawn a line.

And they’d actually heard me.