Chapter 22 Bloom

The school hallways had never felt so narrow. The air had never felt so thin. From the first class of the day to the last, I could feel Cassian’s restless, oppressive aura pressing against my back with every step I took.

Whenever I passed him, I refused to look his way. It was the defense mechanism I knew best. Pretend he didn’t exist. Cassian, however, didn’t take his eyes off me once. Not even when Fiona was standing beside him.

Every time we crossed paths in the hallway, I saw his jaw tighten. I could tell from the way his eyes flashed and then went distant that Axel was raging somewhere inside him, desperate to tear through whatever restraints were holding him back.

I didn’t give an inch.

He has a girlfriend, for the Goddess’s sake.

At lunch, I sat outside near the cafeteria doors with Ivy, Kai, and a few other people from our class.

My laughter rang across the courtyard after one of Kai’s ridiculous jokes, and despite myself, my gaze drifted toward a table farther away. Cassian was sitting with Fiona.

She was stroking his arm while talking about something, but Cassian wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were locked directly on me. The anger burning in them was impossible to miss. The fact that I was laughing with other people -that I could enjoy myself without him- was driving him insane.

He squeezed the plastic water bottle in his hand so hard that the crunch of it folding in on itself almost reached our table. His unstable behavior was starting to get on my last nerve. Still, I couldn’t deny the dark satisfaction I felt at seeing his reaction.

The ride back to the pack house after school was torture. The silence inside the SUV was so deadly that even Kai didn’t dare turn on the radio. Cassian sat in the front this time. To avoid the looks he kept shooting at me through the rearview mirror, I rested my head against the window and stared outside.

The moment the SUV stopped in front of the pack house, I opened the door without waiting for Ivy or Kai and headed inside. I’d barely reached a quiet, dimly lit section of the hallway when I heard those familiar, heavy footsteps behind me.

Before I could get away, a strong hand closed around my wrist. Cassian pulled me toward him and spun me around. My back hit the wooden wall.

By the time I caught my breath, he was already standing in front of me, his body blocking every possible escape.

“Stop ignoring me, Bloom,” he said through clenched teeth.

His voice was so rough, so deep, that my chest tightened despite my anger.

“Those fake laughs you’ve been forcing all day. The way you look at me like I’m a stranger.” His eyes burned into mine. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

“I’m not doing anything, Alpha,” I replied, forcing my tone to remain mocking and distant. I placed both hands against his chest and tried to push him away. It was like trying to move a wall made of stone.

“I’m simply respecting boundaries. You know, those things you care so much about. The ones you keep hiding behind.”

I pushed against him again.

“Now move. I’m going to my room.”

“No, you’re not.”

He leaned closer. His breath brushed my lips, and the dangerous heat between us immediately sparked back to life.

“You don’t get to look at me like that. You don’t get to laugh with everyone else and then turn your back on me.”

“I don’t owe you anything, Cassian.”

My voice sharpened.

“I’ll laugh with whoever I want, and I’ll turn my back on whoever I want.”

I glared up at him.

“Go stand beside your girlfriend. What are you doing here with me?”

Every word we threw at each other seemed to turn into electricity wherever our bodies touched. Cassian parted his lips, clearly ready to fire something back. Then he froze. His icy blue eyes went blank in an instant.

All the anger, desire, and restless energy disappeared from his expression. His pupils widened. For a second, it looked as though his soul had been pulled from his body. Every instinct inside me snapped to attention. I opened my senses.

Then I remembered the mental communication network wolves used among themselves. Someone was reaching him through the mind-link. A few seconds later, awareness returned to Cassian’s eyes.

But this time, the darkness inside him had completely broken through. Axel’s fury poured from every line of his body. Cassian’s posture shifted into that of a lethal warrior.

“We’re under attack.”

His voice rumbled like thunder through the forest.

“The southern border. Rogues.”

“I’m coming with you.”

There wasn’t even a second of hesitation. The jealousy, the anger, the entire fight between us vanished. This was no longer about wounded pride. This was about survival. Cassian turned, ready to argue.

Then he saw the determination in my eyes and realized we didn’t have time. We burst through the doors of the pack house and sprinted toward the pine trees marking the southern border.

My heartbeat raced against the pounding of my feet on the ground. By the time we reached the boundary, the entire area had descended into chaos. Three patrol wolves were trapped in the middle of a storm of snarls and snapping jaws. Five enormous rogues faced them, their eyes wild and foam dripping from their mouths.

Our wolves were injured. But they refused to retreat. Cassian didn’t slow down. Not even for a second. His clothes tore from his body as he shifted mid-run. A massive white wolf exploded into his place. Axel.

I stopped breathing. His fur was pure white, gradually darkening toward the ends until black framed his body like the edge of night. It was the first time I’d ever seen him. For one stunned second, I could only stare.

Then I realized my mouth had fallen open and forced myself to move. This is not the time to be impressed. Axel launched himself through the air and crashed directly into one of the rogues. The forest filled with the savage sounds of teeth tearing into flesh and bones snapping beneath powerful jaws.

I couldn’t fully shift into a wolf, but my senses and reflexes were at their peak. One of the rogues was preparing to attack a patrol wolf from behind. I lunged toward it.

My hand closed around a thick, pointed branch on the ground. Without slowing down, I drove it hard into the rogue’s chest. It howled in pain and spun toward me. I barely avoided its claws, throwing myself to the side and rolling across the grass.

The fight became a desperate struggle for survival. Five rogues. Three wounded patrol wolves. Axel tearing through two enemies at once. Even while fighting, his eyes kept finding me. Checking me. Making sure I was still alive. The blood soaking into the forest floor erased every trace of the argument we’d had in the hallway.

Here, we weren’t two people caught in a mess of jealousy and desire. We were allies fighting on the same side. When the battle finally ended, a deep silence settled over the forest. The rogues lay motionless on the ground.

The patrol wolves stood around them, panting heavily and licking at their wounds. Axel shook himself as though trying to fling the blood from his fur. A few seconds later, he shifted back into Cassian.

He retrieved one of the spare sets of clothing hidden at strategic points around the border and dressed quickly. When he looked at me, he was still struggling to suppress the savage expression on his face. Neither of us spoke.

We headed straight for Alpha Ronan’s office to report what had happened. When we knocked and entered, the Alpha was already waiting behind his desk. Cassian explained the attack, how the five rogues had moved in an organized formation, and how I had joined the fight.

Alpha Ronan listened in silence. His gaze moved over the blood staining my clothes. Then he released a long breath. “You both did well,” he said, satisfaction carrying through his deep voice. “But this attack proves we made the right decision bringing you here, Bloom.”

His expression hardened. “Go clean up and rest.”

The moment Cassian and I stepped back into the dim hallway, the silence returned. Heavy. Lethal. He walked me all the way to my room. When I stopped in front of the door, Cassian stood directly behind me, closing the distance between us completely.

I could feel his heat against my back. The scent of blueberries and juniper surrounded me. I turned and looked straight into his face. Axel’s wildness still burned in his eyes, darkening his expression and sharpening every line of his features.

Cassian opened his mouth as though he was finally going to say something. His jaw tightened. I didn’t give him the chance. I held his gaze with icy determination, reminding him of the invisible wall between us.

Then I opened my door, stepped inside without a word, and shut it in his face. Leaning back against the wood, I heard his deep breath from the other side. A few seconds later, his footsteps moved away. We might be able to fight side by side on the battlefield.

But everywhere else... We had boundaries to maintain.