CHAPTER 2 Part 2: The Obsession

​Jake turned slowly, his towering, heavily muscled frame tensing as his green eyes darkened into a dangerous, predatory shade of emerald. The Lycan blood inside him boiled, reacting instantly to the mocking aura of the rival Alpha.

​"Back off, Cole," Jake growled, his voice a low, vibrating warning. "My focus is exactly where it needs to be."

​"Is it?" Cole chuckled, tossing the ball casually against Jake's chest. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like the great future Alpha of the Crescent Pack is losing his grip. You're distracted. And in our world, a distracted Alpha is a dead one."

​"Hey! Less talking, more running!" the head coach shouted from across the court, blowing his whistle sharply. "Jake, get your head in the game!"

​Cole gave Jake a mocking, two-finger salute, a slow, arrogant smirk spreading across his handsome face before he turned on his heel to rejoin the line.

​Jake stood frozen for a beat, his chest heaving. Cole thought he was distracted by his father's threats. But Cole was wrong. Jake didn't care about the ancient laws of the pack. The only thing that had been torturing his mind for the past twelve hours was the memory of a girl.

​He could still feel the phantom electric shock that had paralyzed his entire nervous system the moment she ran into him. When she had touched him, the suffocating pressure of his responsibilities had vanished, replaced by a fierce, terrifyingly possessive instinct. His wolf didn't want the crown. His wolf wanted her.

​But she had vanished into the darkness, leaving him with nothing but the scent of fresh rain and cotton burned into his memory.

​As soon as the coach blew the final whistle, Jake ripped off his practice jersey, threw a towel over his broad, tanned shoulders, and marched straight to the athletic department's main office to find Marcus, a low-ranking wolf who worked the student desk.

​"Marcus," Jake said, leaning forward, his massive shadow completely engulfing the desk as a subtle wave of pure Alpha authority rolled off his shoulders. "I need a favor. Last night, around ten, near the back exit. A girl. She was carrying a stack of heavy textbooks. Big, oversized gray hoodie. Dirty blonde hair. Striking blue eyes. Find out who she is, what her schedule is, and where she's supposed to be right now. I'm not asking."

​The low-ranking wolf swallowed hard, his instincts screaming at him to submit. Within less than two minutes, the keys were clacking rapidly.

​"H-here," Marcus stammered, pointing at the glowing monitor. "Avery Vance. Major in Classical Literature. Her morning lecture just started forty-five minutes ago in the West Hall, Room 302. It ends... in exactly ten minutes."

​Jake stared at the small, digital ID photo on the screen. Even through the low-resolution image, those piercing blue eyes seemed to look right through him. A dark, predatory smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

​The grand wooden doors of West Hall, Room 302, remained tightly shut, but the low murmur of a professor wrapping up a lecture could be heard from the corridor.

​Jake leaned his tall, muscular frame against the cold stone wall directly opposite the classroom exit, his arms crossed over his chest. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his athletic gear; he was still wearing his black university track pants and a sleeveless training shirt that put his intricately sculpted, heavily tattooed arms on full display. Passing female students slowed their pace, whispering and giggling, but Jake didn't look at a single one of them. His entire existence was narrowed down to that single wooden door.

​Inside his chest, his wolf began to growl, a low, eager vibration of anticipation.

​She's coming, the beast whispered within his consciousness.

​A second later, the heavy brass handle turned. The doors swung open, and a flood of tired, chattering university students began to pour out into the hallway. Jake’s green eyes scanned the crowd like a hawk hunting its prey.

​And then, he saw her.

​Avery walked out near the back of the crowd, her head down, her hands clutching her heavy textbooks tightly against her chest. She looked entirely ordinary, entirely human. But as she took three steps into the hallway, she instinctively raised her head.

​Her deep blue eyes locked directly with his piercing green ones.

​Avery froze in her tracks, her breath hitching audibly as the crowd of students parted naturally around her. For a split second, a flash of pure, unadulterated panic crossed her features. She looked at him like she was looking at a ghost—or a predator that had finally cornered its prey.