Rory's POV “Where are you coming from, Aurora?” The voice struck me, slicing the silence of the corridor in half.I froze, my shoes glued to the floor, my body betraying me before my mind caught up. Slowly, like a puppet unwillingly pulled by invisible strings, I turned around and there he stood, Blackfang.His presence alone was devastating for me, tall and immovable, his eyes left nowhere to hide. The weight of his gaze pinned me in place, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe.God. I was dead.“I—” The syllable stuck to my tongue, clumsy, brittle. My chest tightened. I had to answer, had to say something. Anything. “I’m coming from Alpha Dante’s office.”The words tumbled out faster than my breath. I swallowed hard, desperate to keep the tremor out of my voice. “He’s… he’s not in. He left.”The sharp narrowing of Blackfang’s eyes made the air heavier. He tilted his head slightly, the motion deceptively casual, but I could see the suspicion threading itself into every angle of his ex
Rory's POV His tongue delved hotly into my mouth, stealing what little breath I had left as his hand pressed firmly against my back, pulling me flush against the heat of him, and the closeness made my entire body ache in ways I didn’t have the strength to fight. Everywhere he touched felt claimed, possessed. His hands trailed down the sides of my hips mapping my curves as if they belonged to him. My breath hitched when his fingers slid lower, brushing the side of my thighs, igniting a shiver that rolled through me like a tremor. "AHH!!" A helpless sound escaped me, half gasp, half moan and I hated how much it betrayed me. But before the moment could burn deeper, before I could lose myself completely in the heat of him, a sharp knock broke through the haze. I startled violently, pushing against him with a force that came more from panic than strength. He let me go, though his eyes burned with the heat of what had almost happened. My hands flew to the front of my dress, fumbling
Rory's POV Dante’s voice carried a dark tension that unsettled me.“What do you mean,” he asked quietly, his gaze drilling into mine, “when you said other times? What other times, Aurora?”I felt my throat go dry. The words had slipped from my lips before I had truly thought them through, and now there he was, every inch of him watching, pressing, demanding an answer. His office was far too small to hold both his presence and my composure.I clasped my hands together in my lap, my fingers worrying at one another, but my eyes never left his. “I meant…” My breath stammered out as though I had to push it through a cage. “I meant like you’re afraid of something you feel… but you feel it anyway.”Silence followed as Dante’s jaw tightened. He leaned back slightly, though his eyes remained on me, merciless. The gray in them was darker than before pressing hard. “You think you know what you’re saying.”“I do.” My voice was fragile, but I forced it out anyway.He gave a hollow laugh, one with
Rory's POV “Aurora Blackfang, Professor Dante wants you in his office.”The voice slit through the murmurs of the classroom vividly.I turned my head toward the doorway where a woman in her late forties stood, her eyes sweeping across the room as though she were weighing the weight of her words. She didn’t wait for a reply. With the swish of her skirt, she walked out.All eyes turned to me. My name, spoken like that full, formal, stretched heavy with authority to the walls of the classroom.For a moment, I couldn’t move. My heart thrummed wildly against my ribs, and a cold shiver worked its way up my spine. Then I exhaled, nodding faintly at Tessa. Her brows knit together, worry flashing in her eyes, but she gave me the smallest encouraging smile.I pushed myself to my feet, gathering the weight of every stare, and walked out.The hallway felt too long. Each step ringing in my ears, carrying the feeling of anticipation I didn’t want to admit was there.By the time I reached Professor
Rory's POV Few minutes later after Dante left, the students poured in one by one back into the classroom with darting glances, all of it pressing against my skin like gnats in the summer air. My pulse hadn’t slowed from the encounter with Briar earlier, nor from Dante’s words that still rang inside my skull like a bell I couldn’t stop hearing. I had barely settled into the metal chair, gathering my thoughts when the sharp crack of a hand slamming against my desk jolted me upright. The sound echoed too loudly in the quieting classroom. My eyes shot up, locking onto one of Briar’s minions, the taller one with black hair with a permanent sneer in her mouth and fire burning too brightly in her eyes. “What the hell is this supposed to mean?” I asked flatly, refusing to flinch under the heat of her anger. Her lips rolled up. “How could you ruin today’s training, huh? Do you think everything revolves around you, you bitch?” The insult didn’t sting, not anymore. I had grown a skin too
Rory's POV “Part of me coming here is because of you.” His words hung in the stillness of the classroom, spoken with such calm certainty that for a moment, I thought I had misheard him.I looked up sharply, my heart stumbling in my chest. Dante’s gaze was unwavering. His posture didn’t change.“What?” My voice cracked slightly.“Part of me coming here…” His eyes narrowed, almost like he was weighing each word before releasing it. “…is because of you.”I stared at him, unable to breathe. My mind twisted, scrambling for meaning.“You knew me?” I asked, my words choking on my throat..He didn’t look away. “I’ve known you before you were born.”The air punched out of my lungs. “Huh?” I gasped, the sound ungraceful.How could that even make sense?He leaned back slightly, his arms folding across his chest calmly. “I knew your father longer,” he said, his tone quiet but steeped in something… sorrow? Regret? “He used to be a friend.”“Until no more,” he added, his voice lower now.“Until no