chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: The Rules I Cannot Break.

Duaine’s Standpoint

Rules are plain.

They don't bend, they don't give in, they don't care who you are. You must follow them, or you get smashed by them. This is how I keep things in line for fifteen years in Silver Crest Pack, sharp, clear, tough.

Then she came in, like a storm in a bad dress and strong ways.

I knew her scent before her face  sweet and bold. That smell woke up something old in me, something I thought I shut down long ago.

The library was too silent for a place full of young wolves. I just came to pick up a file left by someone who teaches here. I did not plan to find her there, taking up space on a seat like it was hers, head down, her eyes closed, face red. Her skirt was up a bit too high, dirt on her leg. She seemed asleep, or so she let on.

Either way, she looked like trouble.

I stepped closer, the scent pulling me in. My fingers twitched. I’ve buried warriors who bled at my feet without blinking. But this… girl?

She moved when I got near, eyes wide open green, wild, too bold.

“You can't be here,” I said straight.

Her look met mine and tightened. “You too,” she shot back.

She had no idea who I was. That should have amused me. It didn’t. It irritated the hell out of me.

“Get up,” I said sharply. “This area is reserved for faculty. Students are not allowed in the west wing.”

She got up slow, not giving in. She moved smooth, full of herself.

“You don’t need to act like you rule this place,” she noted.

“I do.”

A look passed in her eyes maybe knowing, maybe a dare, or both. Then it hit me hard.

Mate.

That word rang in my head, my bones, everywhere. My wolf inside howled, eager to get out. Her eyes got big. She heard it too.

She stepped back, breathing hard. “No,” she breathed out.

And then she ran.

I didn’t stop her. I couldn’t. My body was frozen, not from shock, but from rage. The Moon Goddess had cursed me. Nineteen. She couldn’t be more than nineteen. A child. A student.

My student.

I bit down, my jaw hurt. My hands turned into fists. I had stayed away from this. Said no to many planned mate links, looked away from chances, kept myself under control.

And now, fate linked me to a spoiled, bold young one with green eyes and no care for rules?

Just great.

*****

Later, I was at my desk, looking at her name, Lessie Green. She came from a "small Pack" no one knew. All fake stuff in her file smooth, but fake.

I could feel the lie when she first spoke.

What was she running from?

Why did I care?

I shut the drawer hard. My claws peeking out. This girl, whoever she was, had broken down my strong stand of fifteen years with just her smell.

This was not going to go well.

And I knew I was too deep in already.

****

The mansion was quiet when I returned.

Too quiet.

I dropped my keys and loosened my shirt. My shoulders hurt. Not from fighting or stress. From holding back.

She had been everywhere today in the hallways, in my lecture, even in the damn library where she had no right being.

And now, she was in my head.

Lessie.

Her name floated around like a soft, staying smoke.

No, I said inside as I walked to my room and slammed the door.

She is ours, my wolf said, not calm at all. He was on edge all day.

“She's a kid,” I pulled off my tie. “Just a young one.”

She's nineteen. Okay by all Packs.

“She's rash.”

She's strong. Lovely. Ours.

I ran a hand through my hair, going into the bath. My face in the mirror jaw locked, eyes weary, grey in my hair shining under the warm light.

“She looks like trouble, Cairo.”

She smells like sweet flowers and fire. His voice was low. And she's stronger than you think. You saw it in her look.

I let the water run hot. Steam rose, heavy. But still, she was there.

“She's my student,” I said, more to myself now.

So? We have crossed tougher lines before.

“I set those rules now. I made them. I don't break them.”

You said we'd never miss out on a mate again. That day you left Kiera. If we got another shot, we'd take it.

I stopped.

Kiera.

That name had not come up for years.

I gripped the sink hard till my hands were white.

“That was before,” I said. “Before I knew the Goddess had a weird way of doing things.”

“She’s not a mistake.” Cairo hissed. “You’re just scared.”

“I’m not scared,” I snapped. “I’m calculating. I’m logical. I know better than to fall into heat just because fate says so.”

You want her.

“I want a quiet shower and a night without your damn voice in my head.”

You’re lying.

I yanked my shirt off and threw it toward the hamper, then stepped into the shower. The scalding water hit my skin, but it didn’t burn half as much as the thought of her soft voice saying my name would.

A knock came on the door, soft but insistent. I didn’t need to ask who it was. The maids didn’t knock more than once.

“Yes?” I barked.

The door creaked open. 

“Alpha,” the maid said, 

“Your dinner is served. Shall I bring it to your study?”

“No,” I muttered, eyes closed under the spray. “I’ll eat in the dining hall.”

The door closed again.

She’ll be thinking about you too, Cairo said after a moment.

I slammed my fist against the marble wall. “I don’t care.”

You do. You just don’t want to.

I let the water beat against me until my skin turned raw.

And still, all I could think about was her.

Her scent.

Her eyes.

Her mouth when she snapped at me like she had no idea who I was and no fear either.

She’s going to destroy you, Cairo said softly.

“No,” I said aloud. “I’ll destroy this bond before it even starts.”

But even as I said it, I knew I was lying.

****

The clock went tick like a bomb was set.

1:23 a.m.

I was lying down, eyes wide, looking up at the ceiling as if it knew why the Moon Goddess put this curse on me.

The sheets felt cold. The room was darker than it usually was, but Cairo’s voice was loud and clear in my head.

She belongs to us. Stop the fight. Take the bond.

“No,” I said in a low voice.

You felt it. She isn’t like the rest.

“She’s trouble. She’s young, thinks too much of herself, and takes too many risks.”

She’s your mate.

“I don't want it.”

You do. You can’t deny it.

I turned, put the pillow over my head, and squeezed my jaw till it cracked. Outside, the shadows moved. I had never felt the room so tight.

“She's just a kid,” I whispered. “She knows nothing of duty or giving up things.”

But she left all she knew to find her mate. Looks like someone else I know.

I threw the pillow far across the room.

“Shut up.”

Make me.

I sat up, hands tight on the sheets. My body was stiff from not moving, but my head was loud. Cairo wouldn't stop. Each hour, each darn second, he was in there saying…

Her voice. Her smell. Her spark. Her lips.

By 3:47 a.m., I was walking around the room.

By 5:00 a.m., I'd taken another cold shower.

By 6:30 a.m., Cairo was finally silent. I pulled the covers over myself with a small smile, certain he must have worn himself out.

I let out a breath, let my eyes close. Just when I thought I could finally rest after all of Cairo’s drama, a sharp sound jolted me up.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The loud beep of my alarm cut through the room like a loud shot. I sat up fast, took the clock and looked at the red numbers.

7:00 a.m.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” I yelled.

Quiet.

“Cairo! You kept me up all night thinking of that kid, and now you’re silent?”

Still no sound.

“I should tear you out,” I said, moving to the closet, shirt off, very tired, and very mad. “All these years, I finally sleep a bit, and you pick now to pull me into a bond with a spoiled, hard-headed-”

Nothing.

“Now you stop talking?” I put on a black shirt and closed the closet hard. “How easy. Coward.”

Cairo stayed quiet.

That made me even madder.

My eyes stung, and I felt the weight of no sleep, but I had to get going. I was Alpha Duaine Bert. Teacher. Leader. Keeper of rules.

And now?

Now I was a man awake all night, followed by the smell of a girl I should have said no to the second the word mate hit my ears.

I fixed my tie, looking in the mirror. My jaw was locked, my eyes looked cold.

“Stay quiet today,” I said low to Cairo. “Or I swear to the Moon Goddess, I’ll find a witch strong enough to make you shut up for good.”

Still quiet.

I grabbed my keys.