Chapter 2

EVANGELINE POINT OF VIEW

The moment stretches between us like a wire pulled tight. Ronan's storm-gray eyes bore into mine across the cafeteria. Something electric shoots through my chest. It starts small, like a spark, then grows until it feels like lightning racing through my veins.

My wolf suddenly comes alive inside me. She's been quiet for so long, barely more than a whisper. Now she's howling with joy. Clawing at my insides. Begging to be let out.

*Mate.* The word echoes in my mind like a prayer.

My hands start shaking. I grip the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turn white. This can't be happening. Not to me. Not with him.

But I can feel it. This invisible thread connecting us. Pulling us together. Making my heart beat in time with his.

Ronan's face goes completely pale. His fork clatters to his plate with a sound that seems to echo forever. His friends turn to look at him with confusion.

"Ronan?" one of them says. "What's wrong?"

He doesn't answer. Can't answer. His eyes are still locked on mine. I see the exact moment he realizes what's happening. See the recognition hit him like a physical blow.

The bond flares stronger. Hotter. It burns through my chest and spreads outward until every nerve ending in my body is on fire. I've never felt anything like this. Never imagined anything could be this intense.

My wolf is going crazy. She wants to run to him. To claim him. To mark him as ours.

But my human side knows better. Knows this is impossible. Wrong. A cosmic joke that will destroy us both.

Ronan pushes back from his table so hard his chair scrapes against the platform. The sound is like nails on a chalkboard. Every eye in the cafeteria turns to watch him.

"No," he whispers. But in the dead silence, everyone hears it.

The bond pulses between us. Demanding. Insistent. It wants us to go to each other. To touch. To complete what the Moon Goddess started.

I try to stand. My legs shake so badly I almost fall. Luna grabs my arm to steady me.

"Evangeline," she breathes. "What's happening?"

I can't speak. Can't think. The bond is too strong. Too overwhelming. It's drowning out everything else.

Ronan's friends are talking to him now. Their voices urgent and worried. But he's not listening. He's staring at me like I'm a disease he's caught. Like I'm poison in his veins.

"This isn't real," he says louder. His voice carries across the silent cafeteria. "This can't be real."

Students start whispering. Pointing. Some of them stand up to get a better look. The smart ones start recording with their phones.

My face burns with shame. Everyone is watching. Everyone knows what's happening. The future Alpha and the nobody Omega. Bound together by fate.

It's a nightmare come to life.

Ronan takes a step down from his platform. Then another. Each step brings him closer to me. The bond sings with approval. My wolf practically purrs.

But his face... his face is twisted with disgust. With horror. Like approaching me is the worst thing he's ever had to do.

"Stay back," I whisper. But my voice is too quiet. Too weak.

He keeps walking. Stalking toward me like a predator approaching wounded prey. His friends follow behind him. The entire cafeteria watches in fascination.

I want to run. Want to disappear. But the bond holds me in place. Makes it impossible to move away from him.

He stops three feet from my table. Close enough that I can smell his scent. Pine and rain and something wild that makes my mouth water. The bond thrums with satisfaction.

Up close, he's even more beautiful. Even more devastating. His jaw is clenched tight. A muscle ticks in his cheek. His hands are balled into fists at his sides.

"You," he says. His voice is low. Dangerous. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," I whisper.

"Liar." The word hits like a slap. "You did something. Used some kind of magic. Some trick."

Tears burn behind my eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The bond," he snarls. "You forced it somehow. Manipulated it."

Everyone gasps. The word 'bond' ripples through the crowd like wildfire. Now they all know for sure. The future Alpha has been mated to an Omega nobody.

"I didn't," I say desperately. "I swear I didn't."

He leans closer. Close enough that his breath touches my face. The bond screams with joy at his nearness. My wolf begs me to reach out and touch him.

"Listen carefully," he says. His voice is quiet but everyone strains to hear. "I don't know what game you're playing. What lies you've told yourself. But this thing between us? It's not real."

Each word is a knife to my heart. The bond writhes in agony. My wolf whimpers like she's been kicked.

"It is real," I breathe. "You feel it too. I know you do."

Something flickers in his eyes. Pain, maybe. Or regret. But then it's gone, replaced by cold fury.

"I feel nothing," he lies. "Nothing at all."

But the bond betrays him. I can sense his emotions through it. The confusion. The denial. The way his wolf is fighting him, trying to force him toward me.

"You're lying," I whisper.

His face twists with rage. "I am Ronan Nightbane, future Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack. I was born to lead. To rule. To mate with someone worthy of my bloodline."

The words hit like physical blows. Each one designed to cut deeper than the last.

"And you," he continues, his voice rising so everyone can hear, "are nothing. Less than nothing. A weak little Omega who doesn't even have a real pack to claim her."

Gasps echo through the cafeteria. Some students laugh. Others look uncomfortable but don't speak up.

"You think the Moon Goddess would pair me with trash like you?" he asks. "You think I would ever lower myself to claim something so pathetic?"

My vision blurs with tears. The bond is screaming now. Begging me to make this stop. To fix whatever's broken between us.

But I can't. There's nothing to fix. This is who he really is. Who I really am. The distance between us might as well be an ocean.

"I reject you," he says clearly. Loudly. Making sure everyone hears. "I, Ronan Nightbane, reject the false bond between us. I reject any claim you think you have on me."

The words hit like lightning. The bond convulses. Twists. Begins to tear apart at the edges.

But it doesn't break. Can't break. Real bonds forged by the Moon Goddess are stronger than words. Stronger than denial.

Ronan's eyes widen when he realizes the bond is still there. Still pulsing between us. Weaker now, but not gone.

"Why isn't it working?" he demands.

I touch my chest where the bond sits like a living thing. It's wounded now. Bleeding. But still alive.

"Because it's real," I whisper. "Whether you want it or not."

Fury twists his features. He looks like he wants to hurt me. To make me pay for existing. For ruining his perfect life.

"Then I'll make it clear another way," he says.

He turns to address the entire cafeteria. His voice carries to every corner of the room.

"Let me be perfectly clear," he announces. "This girl means nothing to me. She is nothing to me. An Omega with delusions of grandeur who thinks she can force herself into my life."

The crowd murmurs. Some nod in agreement. Others look uncomfortable but say nothing.

"If anyone here thinks there's something between us," he continues, "you're wrong. Dead wrong. I would never sully my bloodline with something so inferior."

Each word is designed to destroy me. To humiliate me in front of everyone. To make sure I know exactly where I stand in his world.

"She's not my mate," he says with finality. "She's not my anything. She's just a sad little girl who needs to learn her place."

The silence that follows is deafening. Hundreds of students stare at me with pity. With disgust. With relief that they're not in my position.

I want to sink through the floor. Want to disappear completely. The shame is so intense it feels like drowning.

Ronan turns back to me. His gray eyes are cold as winter steel.

"Stay away from me," he says quietly. "Stay away from my friends. Stay away from anything that belongs to me. If you don't, I'll make your life here so miserable you'll beg to leave."

He straightens and walks back to his table. His friends follow like loyal dogs. The crowd slowly returns to their conversations, but the whispers are all about me. About what just happened.

I sit there shaking. The bond pulses weakly in my chest like a dying animal. My wolf curls up in a corner of my mind and whimpers.

Luna puts her hand on my shoulder. "Evangeline..."

"Don't," I choke out. "Please don't."

I can't handle sympathy right now. Can't handle anything. The humiliation is too fresh. Too raw.

Students keep staring. Keep whispering. Some openly laugh at my misery. Others record everything on their phones, probably already posting it online.

By tonight, everyone will know. The Omega who thought she could claim an Alpha. The nobody who got put in her place.

I stand up on shaking legs. My food sits untouched on my tray. The smell makes me sick now.

"I need to go," I whisper to Luna.

"Where?"

"I don't know. Anywhere but here."

I dump my tray and walk toward the exit. Every step feels like walking through quicksand. Heavy. Difficult. Wrong.

The bond tugs at me, begging me to go back. To fix this somehow. But there's nothing to fix. Ronan made his choice. Made it clear for everyone to see.

I push through the doors and stumble into the hallway. My chest feels like it's caving in. Like someone reached inside and tore out my heart.

The bond is still there. Wounded and bleeding but alive. A constant reminder of what I almost had. What I lost before I even really had it.

I lean against the cold stone wall and finally let the tears fall. They come in waves, each one more painful than the last.

Somewhere behind me, I can still feel him. Still feel the pull of our connection. My wolf whines and paces, not understanding why we left our mate behind.

But he's not our mate anymore. He made that clear.

He's nothing to me.

And I'm nothing to him.