2 ~ Breaking The Wolfless

THIRD PERSON’S LIMITED POV (AURELIAN)

Dylan approached them with perfect confidence, his expensive clothes and easy posture marking him as someone who belonged.

He had been at the academy for weeks already, long enough to establish himself as a wealthy merchant’s son from a distant but respectable pack. But only if the young alphas knew who he really was and what he wanted.

Dylan’s eyes met Aurelian’s for the briefest moment—a flicker of recognition that no one else would catch—before he turned his full attention to Rhydian.

“It’s not right for an Alpha to dirty his hands.”

Rhydian stopped, though he didn’t release Aurelian’s collar. “Dylan, I’m just removing trash that shouldn’t have been admitted in the first place.”

“My father always says scholarship students either prove themselves worthy or fail out naturally within the first semester.” Dylan’s voice was smooth. “No need to dirty your hands personally, Rhydian. Let the academy’s standards handle it.”

Something shifted in Rhydian’s expression when Dylan spoke. The aggressive tension in his shoulders eased slightly, and his grip on Aurelian’s collar loosened. He’d been interested in Dylan for weeks—that much was obvious in the way his attention focused completely on the other wolf.

“I suppose you’re right,” Rhydian said slowly. He released Aurelian with a slight shove that sent him stumbling. “It’ll be more satisfying watching him realize he doesn’t belong than just throwing him out immediately.”

Dylan extended his hand with a small smile. Rhydian took it without hesitation, their fingers linking with the ease of familiarity.

As they walked back toward the academy together, Tavian fell into step beside them. But just before they disappeared around the corner, Tavian glanced back at Aurelian with an assessing look that was far too sharp for comfort.

‘That one sees too much,’ Aurelian thought. ‘Be careful with him.’

He made his way back to the hallway, his papers still scattered across the floor. He knelt down and began gathering his scattered orientation materials. His hands were steady even though his heart was pounding.

First contact had gone better than expected. They had noticed him. Rhydian reacted to his scent and had shown exactly the kind of confused aggression that meant what Kaidora predicted would happen.

“Excuse me.”

Aurelian looked up to find Astarian standing over him.

Astarian knelt down beside him and began helping to collect the papers without being asked. His movements were careful, respectful even. When he handed Aurelian the orientation packet, his expression held genuine regret.

“I’m sorry about Rhydian,” Astarian said quietly. “He’s… protective of the academy’s reputation. Territorial about who belongs here. But he’s not usually quite that harsh.”

Aurelian took the papers with a mumbled thank you, keeping his eyes down. But he was watching Astarian through his lashes, noting every detail of this interaction.

Then Astarian smiled—warm and without a trace of cruelty.

“Don’t let him scare you off,” he continued. “The academy actually needs more wolves who aren’t afraid to be here despite the barriers. It takes courage to accept a scholarship knowing how some people will treat you. I respect that.”

The gentleness in his voice was unexpected. It would be easier if they were all like Rhydian—simple to hate, simple to destroy. But Astarian’s kindness was a different kind of weapon. It complicated things in ways Aurelian hadn’t fully prepared for.

He crushed the uncomfortable feeling immediately. Kindness didn’t erase bloodlines. Didn’t bring back the dead. Didn’t change what Astarian’s father had done to his mother.

“Thank you,” Aurelian whispered, his voice carefully small and grateful.

Astarian stood and offered his hand to help Aurelian up. Aurelian took it, letting Astarian pull him to his feet. The touch was brief but genuine.

“If anyone gives you trouble, let me know,” Astarian said. Then he jogged back to catch up with the others, glancing back once more with something that might have been concerning.

Aurelian stood alone in the hallway as the crowd dispersed, the spectacle over. Students returned to their conversations and their phones, already forgetting the wolfless scholarship student who had been humiliated in front of everyone.

He allowed himself a moment—just one—to drop the mask.

His posture straightened. The fear disappeared from his expression.

Rhydian Frost. Tavian Ashborne. Astarian Grey.

Twenty years of training in secret with Kaidora, learning to control powers the world had forgotten omegas ever possessed. Twenty years of watching from the shadows as these three boys grew up privileged and protected, never knowing what their fathers had stolen from the world.

Through the tall windows, Aurelian could see the forest in the distance. Somewhere far beyond those trees was the Lunar Temple where his mother had died. Where his people had been slaughtered. Where his entire clan had been erased from existence so thoroughly that the world had forgotten they had ever lived.

But now, he knew everything.

Aurelian adjusted his backpack and gathered the last of his scattered papers. He looked once more in the direction the heirs had gone, and something cold and patient settled into his chest.

‘Smile while you can,’ he thought, his expression hardening into something that would have terrified anyone who saw it. ‘By the time I’m done, that kindness will be the last thing you remember before the darkness takes you.’

‘Just like it took my mother.’

Aurelian walked deeper into the academy, his footsteps silent on the marble floor.

The revenge began today.

And none of them would see it coming until it was far too late.

~~~~~

The classroom filled quickly, students claiming their usual seat. Aurelian slipped through the door and chose a desk near the middle.

“Hi,” he said quietly to the beta girl sitting beside him.

She glanced at him, then away, pulling her bag closer as if he might contaminate it. No response.

Aurelian tried the alpha boy on his other side. “I’m Aurelian. First day—”

The boy put in earbuds without looking up from his phone.

The door slammed open.

Rhydian entered first, flanked by Tavian and Astarian. The entire class shifted—backs straightening, whispers starting, attention magnetizing toward the three heirs.

Rhydian’s icy blue eyes swept the room and locked onto Aurelian. His expression went cold. “You’re in my seat.”

Aurelian blinked.

Rhydian crossed the distance in three strides, grabbed Aurelian by the front of his shirt, and hauled him out of the chair. Aurelian hit the floor hard.

The class erupted in laughter and cheers.

Rhydian didn’t acknowledge them. He pointed at the now-empty desk. “Never should you sit here, wolfless piece of shit.”

Aurelian gathered his things before Rhydian’s expensive shoe came down deliberately on his fingers where they gripped a notebook.

Pain shot through his hand. He bit back a gasp, refusing to give Rhydian the satisfaction. The pressure increased. Bones grinding. Then Rhydian lifted his foot and walked away as if nothing had happened.

“Settle down, settle down!”

Miss Stella swept into the classroom, her arms full of materials. She was young for a teacher, a beta with nervous energy that made her seem perpetually flustered.

Everyone scrambled to their seats. Rhydian dropped onto his seat. Tavian took the seat beside him. Astarian sat near the window, his expression thoughtful as he watched Aurelian finally find a seat at the back of the class.