CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

His Secret

     I'd never done anything like it before; I didn't even know I could.

The three attackers stayed down. One groaned and tried to sit up before dropping back again.

     I scrambled to my feet, ready to run, when a voice came from the trees to my right—calm, controlled, cold.

“Now I know why you've been pretending to be weak.”

 I spun around so fast my boots slipped on the dirt.

      Lorenzo Valenti, one of the three apex Alphas of the Academy, stood at the edge of the trees. His long brown hair was tied back in a messy bun, bare arms covered in dark tattoos. He watched me like he had already decided I belonged to him. Even from several steps away, I caught his scent: summer, citrus, ash, and very bad decisions.

      He didn't move closer at first, just stood there calm, measuring every flicker of power still leaking from my skin. The last of the gold light under my skin faded, but I knew he had seen it—every bit of it.

My hands were shaking. Dirt and blood stuck to my palms, and my side throbbed where the boot had landed. The three boys who attacked me were still on the ground; one of them groaned and tried to roll over, while the others didn’t move much.

        Lorenzo didn’t look at them; his eyes stayed on me. He just stood there, calm, measuring me, and I could feel the weight of his stare. It pressed against the power still buzzing under my skin.

“How long?” he asked.

His voice was quiet, controlled. It carried me away.

I swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      He tilted his head a little, looking increasingly suspicious. “Don’t waste my time. How long have you been hiding that?”

“I wasn’t hiding anything.” The lie came out fast—too fast. “They jumped me. I defended myself. That’s all.”

“That’s not all.” He took one slow step forward. “I’ve watched weak wolves fight before. That wasn’t weakness. That was something else.”

       My wolf stirred hard. She didn’t like him this close—or maybe she liked it too much. I shoved her down and locked my knees so I wouldn’t step back.

“I got lucky,” I said.

“No.” He shook his head once. “You lost control. And when you did, something came out that shouldn’t be possible for someone in your position.”

I wiped my palms on my pants. Dirt streaked across the fabric.

“What do you want?”

“Answers.” He glanced at the boys on the ground, then back at me. “Who else knows?”

“No one.”

“You’re lying again.”

“I’m not.”

      He moved closer. Not rushing, just closing the space until I could smell him—clean soap and something darker underneath, like pine and cold air. My wolf pushed against my ribs; I held her.

     “The note in your locker,” he said, “that wasn’t from them.” He nodded toward the boys. “Someone else already knows—or at least suspects. The message was a warning or a threat. Either way, you’re not as invisible as you thought.”

My stomach dropped. “You know about the note?”

     “I know a lot of things that happen in this school.” His eyes stayed steady on mine. “Now tell me the truth: how long has your wolf been like this?”

I stayed quiet. Every instinct screamed at me to keep my mouth shut. One word from him, and Elena would find out. The Alpha of my pack would find out. I would lose the thin protection I had left.

He waited. He didn’t fill the silence, just stared at me.

Finally, I said, “Since my birthday. The one after I turned eighteen.”

“Months, then.”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve been forcing it down this whole time.”

I nodded once.

“Why?”

    “Because I’m not supposed to have it.” The words came out rougher than I meant. “I’m the adopted one who carries bags and keeps quiet. If they knew…”

“They would use you or break you.” He finished it for me. “Or both.”

I didn’t answer.

      He looked at the boys again; one of them was starting to push himself up on his elbows. The Alpha’s voice dropped even lower.

“Stay down.”

The boy froze.

Then the Alpha turned back to me. “What exactly is your wolf?”

“I don’t know.”

“Try harder.”

    “I mean it. I don’t know. It’s stronger than it should be, faster, and that… thing that happened just now? That’s never happened before. I didn’t even know I could do it.”

He studied my face like he was checking for another lie. After a few seconds, he seemed to accept it.

     “You’re untrained,” he said. “Raw. That makes you dangerous—to yourself and to everyone around you.”

“I can control it.”

“You just proved you can’t.”

The truth of that hit harder than the kicks had. I looked down at my hands; they were still trembling.

 He took another step. Now he was close enough that I had to tip my head back to keep his eyes.      

     The dominance coming off him was thick. It pressed against my wolf until she went quiet in a different way—not forced down, but still, waiting.

“Your secret is mine now,” he said, possessively. “Not the school’s, not your sister’s. Mine.”

I stared at him. “Why?” 

“Because I decided it is.” Simple and final. “If anyone else finds out before I’m ready, it will be because I allowed it. Until then, you keep your mouth shut and you do exactly what I tell you.”

“And if I don’t?”

     His expression didn’t change. “Then I walk into the main hall tomorrow morning and tell everyone what I saw tonight, including the part where you put three ranked students on the ground without even shifting properly. How long do you think you’d last after that?”

Not long. We both knew it.

I clenched my fists. “You can’t just—”

“I can.” He cut me off without raising his voice. “I am one of the three. No one questions me when I decide something is my business, and you are now my business.”

     The boy on the ground groaned again. The Alpha didn’t even look at him.

“They’re going to talk,” I said.

“No, they’re not.” He finally glanced their way. “They jumped a student on the path after dark. That alone is enough to get them suspended if I report it. They’ll keep quiet if they want to stay here. I’ll make sure of it.”

       I hated how easily he said it, like fixing this was nothing.

He looked back at me. “The note was only the start. Someone is already digging. Instructors are noticing you; students are watching. You felt it today. Don’t pretend you didn’t.”

I stayed silent; he was right.

     “From now on, you don’t walk alone after dark,” he said. “You don’t take side paths. You don’t try to handle anything by yourself. And every evening after the last class, you report to me.”

       My head snapped up. “What?”

“You heard me. Every evening, same place. You tell me if anything strange happens, if anyone approaches you, if your wolf rises again. Everything.”

“I have duties. Elena—”

“I don’t care about Elena.” His voice stayed flat. “You’ll make time. If you skip even one night, I stop protecting this secret. Clear?”

I wanted to tell him to go to hell. With the words on my tongue, I swallowed them back down. He held all the power here, and we both knew it.

“Clear,” I said.

     He watched me for another long moment. Then he stepped back, just far enough that I could breathe again.

“Get back to the dorms and clean yourself up. If anyone asks about the dirt or the bruises, you fell on the path—nothing more.”

I nodded once.

    He turned like the conversation was finished. I thought he was going to leave me there with the three boys still on the ground. Instead, he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

   “One more thing,” he said, almost casually. “The handwriting on that note? I’ve seen it before.”

My chest tightened as he met my gaze, cold and deliberate.

“And if I’m right about who wrote it... you’re already in far more danger than you realize.”

     He walked into the trees without waiting for an answer. I stood there alone, heart still slamming, power still humming under my skin like it wanted another way out.

Behind me, one of the boys finally sat up all the way and stared at me with wide, scared eyes.

I turned and ran.