Cheating.

Rose's POV

"Hale. Stay."

My blood turned to ice in an instant. The command sliced through the air like a silver blade, halting me mid-stride as I tried to slip out with the rest of the class. My backpack was halfway slung over my shoulder, and I froze, every muscle locking up. The door clicked shut behind the last student—a beta named Marcus, who shot me a quick, pitying glance over his shoulder before vanishing into the corridor.

The lecture hall, usually buzzing with the low hum of pack chatter and the rustle of notes, fell into an oppressive silence. It felt too small now, the high vaulted ceilings and stone walls closing in like the jaws of a trap. The air was thick with the lingering scents of the other wolves—musk, sweat, and that faint undercurrent of lunar anticipation—but overriding it all was him. Professor Jason Voss. The alpha who ruled Raven Academy with an iron fist wrapped in velvet.

I didn't dare turn around right away. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat that echoed in my ears. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What did he know? How much? I swallowed hard, forcing myself to pivot slowly, my sneakers squeaking faintly on the polished floor. The room was dimly lit by the flickering gas lamps along the walls, casting long shadows that danced like restless spirits. Outside the arched windows, the fog rolled in from the surrounding hills, shrouding the academy grounds in mystery.

Raven Academy wasn't just any school; it was a fortress for our kind, hidden from human eyes, where young werewolves learned to control their beasts while navigating the cutthroat politics of pack life. And at its heart was Voss, professor, enforcer, alpha supreme.

He didn't look up at first, his attention fixed on the stack of papers spread across his massive oak desk at the front of the room. Those long, elegant fingers—fingers that could shift into claws in a heartbeat—flipped through them methodically, almost leisurely. My papers. The assignment on ancient blood rites and mating hierarchies. The one I'd cheated on. My stomach twisted into knots. I'd been so desperate.

My family back home was barely scraping by; low-ranking omegas like us didn't get second chances. A scholarship to Raven was my ticket out of that life, but the workload... it was crushing. The rites were so complex, layered with forbidden lore that twisted my brain into pretzels. So I'd sneaked into the restricted library under the cover of a new moon, copied passages from those dusty grimoires, and tweaked them just enough to make them mine. Or so I'd thought.

Finally, he lifted his gaze. Those silver eyes—stormy, piercing, like moonlight glinting off a frozen lake—pinned me in place. No warmth there. No flicker of humanity. Just cold, calculating intensity that made my inner wolf whimper and curl up in submission.

Jason Voss was breathtaking, the kind of handsome that bordered on otherworldly. Chiseled jawline sharp enough to cut glass, raven-black hair that fell in controlled waves over his forehead, broad shoulders straining against the crisp white shirt he wore, sleeves rolled up to reveal corded forearms marked with faint scars from old battles.

Every guy in the academy adored him, drooled over him in the locker rooms after pack runs or in hushed whispers during meals. They fantasized about catching his eye, about being the one to melt that icy exterior. But not me. I'd always kept my distance, knowing better than to poke the beast. Until now.

"Sit," he commanded, gesturing to the chair directly opposite his desk with a casual flick of his wrist. His voice was a low rumble, smooth as silk but edged with that alpha growl that vibrated through the air and straight into my bones.

I obeyed without thinking, my legs carrying me forward on autopilot. Each step echoed louder than the last, amplifying my dread. My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, a mix of fear and something traitorously eager. Submit, it whined. Bare your neck. He's alpha. He's power. I perched on the edge of the chair, my hands clenched in my lap to hide the tremble. Up close, he was even more overwhelming.

His scent hit me like a wave—pine forests after a heavy rain, smoky embers from a dying fire, and that raw, primal alpha musk that made my pulse thunder and my mouth go dry as sandpaper. It was intoxicating, wrapping around me like invisible chains. I forced myself to meet his eyes, but it felt like staring into an abyss that could swallow me whole.

"Do you know why you're here, Rose?" His tone was almost conversational, but there was a dangerous undercurrent, like the calm before a storm.

I nodded jerkily, then shook my head, words failing me for a second. "The... the assignment, Professor?" My voice came out weaker than I'd intended, cracking on the last syllable. Anger bubbled up beneath the fear—anger at myself for being so stupid, for thinking I could get away with it. Why had I risked everything? But there was resentment too, aimed at him. At the way he lorded over us all, untouchable and perfect, making the rest of us feel like insignificant pups.

A ghost of a smile tugged at his perfect lips, but it didn't reach his eyes. It only made him look more predatory. He slid my essay across the desk toward me, the pages marked up with bold red circles around the incriminating passages. Beside it, he placed an ancient grimoire—one of the forbidden ones from the restricted section—open to the exact pages I'd plagiarized from. Word for word. My heart plummeted into my stomach, a cold weight that made me nauseous.

"Cheating," he stated flatly, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers under his chin. "In my class. At my academy. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? That I couldn't trace every stolen phrase back to its source? I'm not some beta instructor you can fool with half-assed alterations, pup."

Panic clawed at my throat, sharp and unrelenting. My hands shook as I stared at the evidence, my mind racing for excuses. "Professor Voss, I—I didn't mean to. It was a mistake. I was just... overwhelmed. The rites are so complex, and I panicked. My family—they're counting on me. I can't afford to fail." The words tumbled out in a rush, laced with desperation. Inside, my wolf howled in terror, pacing back and forth in the confines of my mind, urging me to flee or submit completely.