Chapter 5

(KAIROS)

Transferring schools in the middle of the semester was not on my bucket list year, but having an insufferable elder brother pushed me to. 

Arriving at the vast campus, my wolf suddenly went wild. Fighting for dominance. And that was the exact moment I sighted her. Dark hair, deep brown eyes that left me hypnotised. Her scent was akin to honey and vanilla. It was hard keeping my wolf at bay. 

“Mate.”

The sound rumbled from the depths of me. I stared at her from a distance, waiting. The mate pull isn’t felt by one mate. It’s felt by two, so normally her gaze was supposed to find mine but that never happened.

I kept my distance, trying to figure out what might be wrong. Then she ditched her boyfriend and chose me during the spar. 

I thought she finally felt it, but was soon proved otherwise. I kept my face void of emotions and kept watching her. Up until she came to sit next to me in the infirmary, looking like she had something to say but before she could get those words out. Bryan barged in. Irritation hit me instantly.

He charged at me. I saw the punch coming from three feet away, his fist wound back with fury. I could have dodged it easily. Instead, I let it land, felt the corner of my mouth split open. I tasted blood on my tongue almost immediately.

"Stay away from her!" Bryan roared, his chest heaving, eyes wild. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, touching another man's mate!"

I straightened slowly, wiping the blood from my lip with the back of my hand, studying him with more curiosity than anger.

Another man's mate.

My wolf stirred low in my chest in fury. Bryan had just addressed Isolde as his mate. To us, this was a challenge. Isolde was my mate, my wolf and I could feel the bond even though she was yet to show any sign of feeling that pull herself. 

Something was wrong. If she was my mate, there was no reason why she didn't want to acknowledge the bond. I stared at her. Why hadn't she said anything? 

I didn't get the time to clear the confusion in my mind when voices rose outside the infirmary. Students began gathering by the door drawn by the noise of Bryan's outburst. Soon, there was a crowd of students watching, whispering loudly and taking photos of us.

It didn't take long for two teachers to push through the crowd and grab Bryan by both arms.

"This is the second time today, you're breaking the rules, Thorne," one of them said, his voice cold. "You're coming with us."

Bryan thrashed against their grip, twisting to point at Isolde. 

“You're just going to watch them drag me away!” He yelled at Isolde.

But her gaze remained calm. She made no move to save him. I sat back, watching the exchange.

“Tell them! Tell them he attacked me first!" He made another desperate attempt to get her to speak up for him.

She merely looked past him and pointed at the camera at the infirmary entrance door.

“What do you want me to say, Bryan?” She raised a brow. "The camera recorded everything. It'll show you stormed in here and threw the first punch. I have no reason to lie when such evidence exists.”

Bryan's face went through several colors at once, red fading into something paler almost like he couldn’t believe she didn't take his side.

“Enough of your nonsense, Thorne,” the pissed off teachers warned, dragging him out. His shouts of protest fading until none of it could be heard. Students began filing out, rushing after him with disappointed murmurs, clearly hoping for more of a show. 

The girl I'd seen next to Isolde yesterday, Freya, if I’m not mistaken, lingered by the doorway longer than the rest, staring at Isolde with a stunned expression.

From nowhere, Isolde slid off the exam table she’d lifted herself onto during the whole drama and walked over to me, reaching for my injured arm before I could even understand what she was trying to do.

"Let me see," she said, turning my forearm over gently, examining the claw marks Bryan left.

I let her, mostly out of surprise. This close, her fingers were careful, almost tender, tracing along the edge of the wound without pressing too hard. Having her this close, my wolf howled in my head at the close proximity.

“Mate!” He gnawed at my skin. But even with how close we were, she didn't seem to feel the pull. That frustrated me terribly.

“Did she even know who her real mate was?”

Once the last student cleared out of the hallway, Freya ultimately turned and walked away. Isolde glanced at the door, then let go of my hand and stepped back.

She was using me!

I caught her wrist before she could put more distance between us, pulling her forward until she stood close enough that I could see every flicker of expression crossing her face.

"Isolde." I looked down at her, searching. "Are you using me? Are you using me to make your mate jealous?” I asked.

Addressing another wolf as her mate was painful but at the same time I wanted to see how she'd answer. I wanted to know if there was any part of her that recognized our bond.

She didn't flinch nor didn't look away. 

"Does it matter? We can help each other." Her voice came out detached. Nothing in her tone suggested she meant anything beyond exactly what she said.

I understood what she was offering, a mutual arrangement, her jealousy scheme against Bryan traded for whatever benefit she thought I'd get out of it. 

She had no idea how useful that closeness could actually be to me, not just as a shield against whatever game she was playing with her fake mate, but against my own brother, whose interest in her pack's territory had been growing rapidly.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. It was an old necklace worth millions and only worn by Lunas. She placed it carefully into my palm, closing my fingers over it.

"To show you I'm serious," she said, "will you come to the Claiming Moon Ceremony with me?"

I turned the necklace over. Looked up at her, then down at the necklace. Her face was void of any emotions, just calm. Her dark brown eyes peered into mine.

"Fine." I kept studying her face as I said it. "But my brother will be there too. You'll need to make this convincing."

Her expression shifted instantly, all that careful composure cracking at once. Color drained from her face, her eyes going wide, fear flashed her features.

"Your brother is still alive?"