Chapter 55**Ronan's POV**The headaches started on Tuesday.Sharp, stabbing pains that felt like someone was driving nails through my skull. I'd wake up clutching my head, my sheets soaked with sweat, my wolf howling inside my mind like he was being tortured.Because he was.Every day since I'd rejected Evangeline again, my wolf had been fighting me. Clawing at my control. Demanding I fix what I'd broken. But I couldn't. Wouldn't. I had duty. Obligations. A future that didn't include her.So I suffered.Wednesday brought fever. I sat through classes with my skin burning, my vision blurry, pretending everything was fine. Teachers asked if I needed to go to the nurse. Classmates whispered about how pale I looked. But I forced myself to stay upright, to keep functioning.A future Alpha didn't show weakness. Not ever.Thursday, my hands started shaking.I tried to hide it during lunch, keeping my hands under the table while Celeste talked about wedding venues. But when I reached for my w
Chapter 54**Evangeline's POV**Monday arrived like a storm cloud. I'd barely slept after finding the black rose on my windowsill, and my nerves felt raw and exposed. Every shadow in my apartment had looked like a threat. Every creak of the old building had made my heart race.The silver pendant Maeve had given me hung heavy around my neck, hidden beneath my shirt. It had grown warm during the night, pulsing with an energy that felt protective. Whatever was hunting me, the charm was working overtime to keep me safe.I grabbed my bag and headed for school, my feet dragging with exhaustion. The hallways of Blackclaw Academy buzzed with the usual Monday morning chaos. Students rushed to lockers, teachers called out reminders about assignments, and somewhere in this maze of normalcy, someone wanted me dead.The thought made my stomach twist with fear.Lunch period couldn't come fast enough. By the time the bell rang, I was shaking with hunger and anxiety. I hadn't eaten breakfast, too ner
Chapter 53**Ronan's POV**The restaurant was everything Celeste loved - expensive, exclusive, and full of people who mattered. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting rainbow patterns on white tablecloths. Soft classical music played in the background, barely audible over the quiet conversations of the wealthy elite.I sat across from her at our corner table, watching her perfect smile as she talked about something I wasn't really hearing. My mind kept drifting to last night. To standing in the rain outside Evangeline's apartment like some kind of stalker."Ronan?" Celeste's voice cut through my thoughts. "You're not listening to me."I blinked and focused on her face. Beautiful, composed, everything a future Luna should be. Everything I was supposed to want."Sorry," I said. "Just tired."She reached across the table and placed her hand over mine. Her skin was warm and soft, manicured nails painted the perfect shade of pink. But her grip was firm, possessive, like she was
Chapter 52**Evangeline's POV**My tiny apartment felt like a prison cell. The walls pressed in on me from all sides, making it hard to breathe. I'd been pacing the same three steps back and forth for hours, my bare feet wearing a path in the old carpet.The council meeting felt like it happened years ago instead of just this morning. Everything had changed so fast. One moment I thought I was going to be expelled, thrown out with nothing. The next, Ronan was standing up for me like some kind of hero.Then he'd crushed me all over again."Don't read anything into it."The words played on repeat in my head, each time cutting deeper than the last. I pressed my hands against my ears, trying to make them stop, but they were burned into my memory now."I would have done the same for any pack member."I sank onto my bed, pulling my knees to my chest. The springs creaked under my weight, the sound lonely in the quiet room. Outside, rain started to fall against my window, soft at first, then h
Chapter 51**Ronan's POV**The Nightbane castle sat on a cliff overlooking the sea, its dark stones worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain. I'd grown up in these halls, but coming home today felt different. Wrong. Like I was walking into a trap instead of sanctuary.My hands shook as I parked my motorcycle in the courtyard. The engine's roar died away, leaving only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks below. Even that familiar noise couldn't calm the storm raging inside my chest.I'd defended her. I'd stood up in front of the entire council and protected Evangeline from Celeste's lies. The memory made my wolf pace restlessly, pleased with what we'd done. But the human part of me knew there would be consequences.There always were.The castle's heavy doors opened before I could knock. Marcus, our family's head butler, stood in the entrance with his usual stoic expression."Your father is waiting in his study," he said without greeting. "He's been expecting you."My stomach
Chapter 50**Celeste's POV**The council chamber doors slammed behind me with a sound like thunder. My hands shook with rage as I stormed down the hallway, my heels clicking against the stone floor like gunshots. Blood roared in my ears, drowning out everything else.She was still here. That pathetic omega was still walking the halls of my school, breathing my air, existing in my world.I'd had her. The perfect trap. Witnesses ready to testify. Evidence that should have sealed her fate. Everything should have worked. Everything should have ended with Evangeline Cross dragged away in shame, never to be seen again.But Ronan had ruined it all.My chest burned with a pain so sharp it felt like someone had driven a knife between my ribs. The boy I loved, the boy who was supposed to be mine, had chosen to defend her. Had stood there in front of the entire council and made me look like a fool.Students whispered as I passed them in the hallway. I could feel their stares burning into my back