Chapter 3

Lena's (Bell's, Kessie's) POV

University Dorm, Moonveil

Sunlight stabbed through the blinds like a rude alarm. I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow. Nyra, my wolf, grumbled somewhere deep inside, her voice a low, lazy growl of annoyance.

“Ugh. Five more minutes.”

I stretched, yawned, and slowly sat up. The bedsprings creaked beneath me as I blinked at the hazy light pouring through the window. Everything ached, from my calves to my soul.

Last night had a grip on me I couldn’t shake.

His voice. His scent.

The heat of his gaze when he stared like I was the only thing that existed.

Arlo Arithon.

I swung my legs out of bed and mumbled, “Nope. Not thinking about him.”

I looked around the room. Ivy’s bed was empty again. Figures. She always bounced out like a sunbeam before I even had time to hit snooze.

“Some best friend,” I teased under my breath, padding toward the bathroom.

The hot water steamed the mirror as I stepped into the shower, letting it roll over my skin. But even the heat didn’t wash away him. His scent still felt like it clung to my skin, like the burn of good whiskey and deep forest musk. My body remembered the way he looked at me. The way he didn’t touch me but held me with just his eyes.

Nyra stirred again, agitated. His wolf saw us. Knew us. Kael remembers.

I pressed my forehead to the wall.

“Arlo doesn’t know who I am. And he never will.”

I dressed in black ripped jeans, a cropped oatmeal sweater, and tied my hair into a messy puff of curls. I tugged on my boots and stood before the mirror.

“You’re not just Bells. You’re not just Lena. You’re Kessie Croft,” I whispered. “You survived too much to fall now. You built your name in shadows. And you don’t let one Alpha undo you.”

It wasn’t just a pep talk. It was my Spell of survival. My daily shield.

.

.

Some hours Later, it was my Afternoon class and I survived lectures on caffeine and stubbornness. My phone buzzed five times with emails and calls from Lucan, my VP at Lunaris Lineage, probably wondering why I skipped today’s investor check-in.

I didn’t care.

Today, I was Lena. A human and a student. A nobody. And I liked it that way.

Arlo’s face kept flashing in my mind during lecture, though. It wasn’t fair. I should’ve walked away last night without a second thought. But the pull between us? It was unnatural.

Fated.

Nyra knew.

I didn’t want to believe in fate anymore.

.

.

Evening – Dorm Room

The second I stepped through the door, I was hit with the scent of curling iron and perfume.

“I was about to call campus security,” Ivy joked, twirling her curls in front of the mirror with nothing but a towel on.

I tossed my bag onto the bed. “Three classes, two assignments, and a latte I didn’t finish. I survived.”

“Tragic,” she said, completely unserious. “Guess who had a night last night?”

I kicked off my boots and flopped onto my bed. “You’re going to tell me whether I guess or not.”

She grinned. “He was so hot. Tall, broad, and had this energy. Like, ‘I own the room and I probably bite’ kind of energy.”

I choked on a laugh. “You’ve been watching too many supernatural shows.”

“Don’t judge my taste in men or in fiction. Anyway, his name was Briar. Gave me enough tips to buy a new corset and maybe half a textbook.”

I smiled. “Look at you, thriving.”

“And he was polite, too! Not a single handsy move.” She paused. “Okay, a little handsy, but in a respectful, I’d-let-him-destroy-me kind of way.”

I snorted. “Classy.”

“I mean… maybe a little hip sway. But nothing X-rated. I keep it professional.” She looked smug. “Mostly.”

“And what about you?” she asked. “Any private shows last night?”

I hesitated, tugging a pillow against my chest.

“Yeah,” I said finally. “One. He asked for my name. Wanted my number.”

Ivy gasped like I told her I’d danced for a prince. “And?! Did you give it to him?!”

“No.”

She gawked at me like I’d committed a crime.

“Bells, what the hell?! Why not?”

“Because I don’t do that. You know I don’t give out my number to clients.”

“He wasn’t just a client. You literally just said he asked your name. That means he wasn’t a creep!”

“Exactly. Which is why I don’t want him following me home.”

She groaned and flopped onto her bed dramatically. “You’re so disciplined it hurts.”

“I’m not there to be picked up,” I said. “I dance. I leave. No numbers. No hookups. No mess.”

Ivy sat up, resting her chin in her palm. “You ever gonna let someone in?”

The question caught me off guard. My fingers twisted in the hem of my sleeve.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “Maybe. One day. When it’s right.”

She nodded, not pushing. That’s what I loved about Ivy. She respected boundaries. Even if she didn’t always understand mine.

An Hour Later, Getting Ready for The Club, We both started getting dressed. Ivy was humming while zipping up a red vinyl skirt. I went for black lace and thigh-high boots. Simple, stunning, deadly.

“So,” Ivy said, applying mascara, “you know what I’m buying with last night’s tip money?”

“What?”

“Lunaris Lineage heels. The new obsidian pair with the moon-charm ankle straps.”

I grinned before I could stop myself. “You and those designs.”

“They’re flawless. Elegant but edgy. And the mystery CEO? Iconic. No photos. No name. Just legend.”

“Maybe they’re not ready to be known.”

“Maybe they’re Batman in heels. You think it’s a guy or a woman?”

I shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“It always matters when fashion is involved,” she said.

I hid my smile. If only she knew the legend was sitting six feet across the room, eating gummy bears and gluing rhinestones to her eyeliner.

“I’m gonna own a brand like that one day,” she said, twirling. “Mark my words.”

“You will,” I said, meaning it.

Ivy had fire. Drive. She just needed the right spark. And no idea that she shared a dorm with the very CEO she idolized.

Maybe that was for the best.

The Backstage at the club pulsed with heat and strobe lights. Ivy bounced to the beat in front of the mirror, while I sat quietly, brushing shimmer onto my cheekbones.

He better don't come here today if he keeps coming back, I might stop working here.

Arlo didn’t know who I was. Didn’t know that the girl who danced for him last night was the same heiress his company wanted a contract with. Didn’t know that the Omega he was craving was born of Alpha blood and I didn’t plan on telling him because if Arlo Arithon ever found out who Bells really was...He wouldn’t just want me.

He’d claim me and I wasn’t ready to be claimed. Not yet.