"Darius never takes his eyes off me-whether I want it or not."
The days after the Wicke estate were a blur of whispers and watchful eyes.
No matter where I walked-through the Academy's stone corridors with their flickering torchlight, across the training grounds where morning mist clung to the grass, or even in the hushed sanctuary of the library with its towering shelves and leather-bound tomes-there was always a pair of golden eyes tracking my every movement.
Darius Fenrir.
He haunted the edges of my vision like a wraith in expensive clothes. Stationed against archways with his arms crossed, leaning against the carved stone pillars that supported the Academy's ancient walls, or simply standing motionless in courtyards where the afternoon sun caught the amber highlights in his dark hair.
He didn't speak. He didn't approach. He didn't need to.
His presence was a weight I carried everywhere-heavy as chainmail, suffocating as a burial shroud. Those molten gold eyes followed me like a shadow cast by firelight, burning hotter than the forge flames in the Academy's smithy, sharp enough to pierce through stone walls and heavy wooden doors.
It was maddening. It was impossible to ignore. And worst of all, it was beginning to affect my wolf in ways that made my skin crawl with unwanted heat.
Every time I caught sight of him-tall and proud and radiating that casual dominance that came as naturally to him as breathing-my wolf quivered beneath my skin. Half-thrilled by the intensity of his attention, half-terrified of what it meant. The mate bond stretched between us like a chain forged in starfire, tugging at something deep in my chest with every glance, every breath, every heartbeat.
It reminded me constantly of what I'd refused. What I'd denied. What part of me still craved despite everything.
The Academy's daily rhythms continued around us-students hurrying between lessons with their arms full of parchment and quills, instructors calling out corrections during sword practice, the distant sound of horses whinnying in the stables. But underneath it all was this electric tension, this awareness that every wolf in the vicinity could sense the push and pull between an Alpha and his rejected mate.
When Gideon appeared at my side in the main courtyard, his arrival as sudden and predatory as a hawk swooping down on prey, I felt Darius's presence before I even turned around. The Alpha's dominance rolled across the cobblestones like thunder before a storm-unseen but undeniable, raising the hair on my arms and making my wolf press against my ribs in anxious recognition.
Gideon's grin was sharp as a blade in the autumn sunlight, his dark hair perfectly styled despite the breeze that sent fallen leaves skittering across the stones. He positioned himself just close enough to be intimate without crossing into impropriety, his expensive clothes immaculate as always.
"Still pretending he doesn't own you?" His voice was velvet over steel, pitched low enough that only I could hear. The words slid between my ribs like a dagger finding its mark. "His wolf says otherwise."
My stomach twisted into knots. Behind me, I could practically feel Darius's gaze boring holes through Gideon's skull, could sense the way his hands had probably clenched into fists, the way his jaw would be tight with barely restrained violence. My own wolf snapped back in reflexive defiance, but I couldn't deny the truth of Gideon's observation.
The mate bond thrummed with Darius's fury, his possessiveness, his desperate need to cross the courtyard and bodily remove the rival Alpha from my vicinity. It was primitive, instinctive, and absolutely infuriating in how it made my pulse quicken.
I forced steel into my spine, lifting my chin with all the pride I could muster. "I don't belong to anyone."
Gideon's chuckle was dark honey over broken glass. He leaned closer, testing the boundaries of propriety, his breath warm against my cheek as students moved past us on their way to afternoon lessons. "Then perhaps you should prove it."
The words had barely left his lips when a growl ripped across the training field-low, dangerous, vibrating through the air like the rumble of an approaching avalanche. It wasn't spoken aloud, but it didn't need to be. Every wolf within a hundred yards felt the warning resonating in their bones, raising hackles and sending lesser predators scurrying for cover.
Darius.
I turned despite myself, my gaze finding him immediately across the expanse of packed earth and practice weapons. He stood at the far edge of the field where students were running sword drills, his posture deceptively casual against the wooden fence that separated the training grounds from the Academy proper.
But there was nothing casual about the way power radiated from him like heat from a forge. His arms were crossed over his chest, the fine fabric of his doublet stretched taut across broad shoulders. His expression was carefully neutral, but his eyes-those burning gold eyes that had haunted my dreams-were locked entirely on us with laser focus.
His wolf strained against his human skin so close to the surface that the very air around him seemed to shimmer with contained violence. I could see it in the rigid line of his shoulders, the way his nostrils flared slightly as he scented the wind, the barely perceptible tremor in his hands that spoke of claws desperate to extend.
My chest tightened, heat rising beneath my skin like fever. Guilt gnawed at my insides with sharp teeth-because part of me, some traitorous corner of my heart, wanted nothing more than to step away from Gideon. To cross the courtyard and ease the terrible tension that snapped through our bond like lightning during a storm.
But pride rooted me in place like iron stakes driven deep into stone.
If I bent now, if I let Darius dictate who could stand at my side, speak to me, breathe the same air as me-I'd be no better than the weak, submissive girl I'd sworn never to become. I'd be exactly what everyone expected: a female wolf who existed solely at the pleasure of whatever Alpha claimed her.
The thought made my wolf snarl with offense.
"Elara." Caleb's steady voice cut through my spiraling thoughts like a sword through silk. I blinked, realizing I'd somehow made it to the library without conscious thought, my feet carrying me automatically toward the sanctuary of books and silence.
He appeared at my side with a tray laden with leather-bound texts and rolled parchments, setting them down on one of the heavy wooden tables with careful precision. The late afternoon light filtered through tall windows, casting everything in shades of amber and gold.
"Don't let them break you," he said quietly, his tone as steady and reliable as granite foundations. "Either of them."
I met his brown eyes-warm, concerned, completely free of the hunger or expectation that seemed to follow me everywhere else. For a moment, the suffocating weight in my chest eased slightly. Caleb looked at me like I was a person, not a prize to be won or a problem to be solved.
"Gideon is dangerous." He spoke matter-of-factly, as if discussing the weather or the Academy's dinner menu. "This isn't just posturing or rivalry. If you give him an opening, he'll take everything you have and leave you with nothing."
"And Darius?" The question scraped against my throat like broken glass.
Caleb hesitated, his fingers drumming once against the worn wood of the table. Then his mouth pressed into a thin line, the expression of someone delivering unwelcome but necessary truth.
"Darius already thinks you're his. The mate bond makes it impossible for him to see you any other way." His voice was gentle but implacable. "The only question is whether you'll let him prove it... or fight him until it destroys you both."
The words hit me like a physical blow. My chest ached, my wolf howling inside me with a sound like wind through empty places. The bond burned like molten gold in my veins, painful in its intensity, impossible to ignore or deny.
That night, sleep eluded me like smoke through fingers. I lay in my narrow dormitory bed, staring up at the stone ceiling where shadows danced in the light from the banked fire. Outside my window, the Academy grounds were silver-washed under moonlight, peaceful and beautiful and completely at odds with the turmoil churning inside me.
When his voice slipped into my mind, it was so sudden and unexpected that I nearly fell from the bed entirely.
Deep, ragged, trembling with barely contained rage, it resonated through our bond like the tolling of a funeral bell.
"If he touches you, I'll burn his world down."