LOGINElara's POV I was barely through the dorm room door when Freya grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto her bed like whatever she was about to say could not wait another second and the world would end if she didn't get it out immediately."I'm now dating Rory," she said, and then immediately covered her mouth with both hands like saying it out loud made it too real to handle, like she needed a moment to catch up to her own news.I stared at her. "Okay tell me everything."That was all the permission she needed.Freya launched into the full story, barely stopping to breathe, talking about how he had been waiting exactly where she told him to meet her, how he looked when he saw her walking toward him, how he said her name before she even reached him like he had been practicing it or thinking about it all day. She talked about the conversation they had, how easy it felt from the very first moment, how she kept waiting for it to get awkward the way these things sometimes did and it never
Ravin's POV The Silver Crest Council of Alphas met in a hall that smelled like old wood and old power, the kind of place where decisions had been made for generations and the walls had absorbed all of it. I walked in and took my seat without ceremony, without acknowledgment beyond what was necessary, and waited for the meeting to begin.The other Alphas were already there, some of them I knew well, some I knew by reputation only. All of them had the same look, that particular tension that came from being pushed past the point of patience by someone who had no regard for the order that held everything together.It didn't take long before the name came up."Kol."Alpha of the Vespera Pack, and apparently determined to make everyone in the region understand exactly how little he respected the lines that had been established long before either of us were born. The reports coming in were consistent — stolen border lines, warriors killed for crossing paths that had never been disputed be
Elara's POV I waited until we were alone enough in the classroom before I leaned over to Freya and asked the question that had been sitting on the tip of my tongue since the moment I saw her eyes go to that doorway the day before."Are you dating Rory?"Freya looked at me, and for a second she did that thing where she was deciding how much to say, that small pause she always took before she committed to an answer. Like she was weighing what I could handle versus what she actually wanted to tell me."Not yet," she said finally, but the way she said it carried so much more than those two words. Not yet meant something was coming, something decided, something already in motion that she had been keeping quietly to herself."But?" I pressed.Freya straightened her things on the desk in front of her, casual, unbothered, like she wasn't about to say what she was clearly about to say. "I'm giving him my answer tonight. I told him to meet me after class."I stared at her. "You've already been
Elara's POV Mr. Logan announced the final house standings the next morning, gathering everyone in the main hall before classes started so the results could be made official and everyone could stop speculating. The energy in the room was completely different from the day before — quieter, more tense, everyone waiting to hear where their house had placed and whether all that effort over the past few days had actually counted for anything.People were whispering around us, making last minute predictions, changing their minds, changing them back. Freya was standing straight with her arms folded, trying to look unbothered, which she absolutely was not. Nyx was doing what Nyx always did, standing quietly and observing everything without giving anything away. I was just standing between them waiting, thinking about nothing in particular, which was nice for a change.House Stormrider took first place.The Stormrider section erupted immediately, people jumping up and hugging each other, that
Nyx's POVI pulled Michael into the corner the second I was sure nobody had followed us, my back against the wall and my eyes still on the path we had just come from, checking, making absolutely sure we were alone."What were you thinking?" I turned to face him, keeping my voice low. "You just walked up and grabbed my hand like that, right there in front of everyone."He didn't look particularly sorry about it, leaning against the wall next to me with that calm expression that made it very hard to stay annoyed at him for anything."I know, and I'm sorry." He lifted one shoulder slightly. "I saw you trying to leave and I just didn't want to wait anymore. The games felt like they were going on forever and I missed you.""That's not an excuse.""I know it's not, I'm not using it as one, I'm just telling you what happened."I looked at him for a moment, trying to hold onto the irritation, but it was already slipping away. That was the problem with Michael, he never got defensive, never m
Elara's POV The games were wrapping up and everyone was gathering around the main field for the grand finale, the energy in the crowd was something else entirely — people were shouting, waving their house colours, pushing to get a better view of where Mr. Logan was going to make the final announcement. This was the moment that mattered most. Everything that had happened over the past few days, every competition, every point earned, every match won or lost, had all been leading to this one moment right here.It was the kind of atmosphere that made you feel like something important was about to happen even if you already knew it was just a school competition. The noise, the colours, the way everyone around you was invested in the outcome — it got to you whether you wanted it to or not.Mr. Logan was moving through the crowd with his clipboard tucked under his arm, checking his notes one last time before stepping forward. You could see the anticipation on people's faces everywhere you
Elara's POVWe pulled apart slowly, and for a moment neither of us said anything, the garden quiet around us in a way that felt deliberate, like the world had decided to give us a second to catch up with what had just happened. I could feel the warmth of where his hand had been against my face eve
Ravin's POV She was already waiting by the oak when I arrived, and that surprised me slightly, not that she was there but that she had beaten me to it, standing with her arms loosely crossed and her eyes on the treeline beyond the garden fence like she had been thinking about something and had not
Elara's POVI noticed it for the first time on Wednesday, and it was the kind of thing you only caught if you were already paying attention, which I told myself I was not, not really.Ravin had been in class all morning, sitting in his usual spot with that settled unhurried energy he carried everyw
Ravin's POV I was angry at myself the entire ride back to Darkhowl.Not at anything that had happened, nothing had gone wrong, and that was precisely the problem. I had sat in a garden with a girl for over an hour and talked about things I did not talk about with anyone, listened to her speak abou







