Kael arrived at Elysium Academy early the next morning, but the unusual energy in the halls was immediate. Students, shifters, sirens, and even a few timid cats, cheered as he passed, offering nods of exaggerated respect and praise.
"Alpha Kael, incredible work!"
"That's how you handle a distraction, sir!"
"Oracle Moon dominance!"
Kael was initially baffled. He hadn't done anything to warrant this level of spontaneous adoration since his victory in the inter-pack trials last year.
He had expected wariness and suspicion after his public, near-physical rejection of Lyrana in the gym and his conflicting defense of her in the library. Instead, he was being hailed as a conquering hero.
He went through his morning classes, the whispers and admiring looks persisting. He maintained his granite expression, simply accepting the validation as his due, but a deep, cold knot of unease began to form in his stomach. What had he done to earn this praise?
The situation escalated at lunch. Kael was seated at his usual, commanding table when Professor Fae, the history instructor who had humiliated Lyrana with the water bucket, approached with a beaming smile and a slight, deferential bow.
"Alpha Kael," the Professor began, rubbing his hands together. "I must commend you. The Academy is grateful for your swift action in maintaining the prestige of our student body.
The disruption has ceased, and the ambiance is much improved. Thank you for sending away the little water outcast."
Kael froze, the fork halfway to his mouth. Sent away the outcast? The phrase chilled him to the core. He hadn't seen Lyrana today, not in class, not in the halls. He had assumed she was simply avoiding him, tending to the arm he knew he had broken.
Kael set his fork down with a loud, ringing clank that silenced the surrounding tables.
"What are you talking about, Professor?" Kael's voice was a low, dangerous rumble. "I sent no one away."
"Oh, come now, Alpha," the Professor chuckled nervously. "Your Betas were quite thorough yesterday evening. A lesson, was it? The creature hasn't been seen since.
A decisive move, if I may say so. Very effective."
Kael felt a terrifying, white-hot rush of blood in his ears. Yesterday evening. The time he had lied to Rhys, asserting Lyrana was his property and daring anyone to touch her.
Rhys had taken that lie, twisted it, and used it as Kael's direct command.
Kael's golden eyes swept across the dining hall. He searched the faces of his pack, his gaze settling on Rhys, who was sitting a few seats down, picking at his food with a tight, satisfied smirk.
The truth hit Kael with the force of a physical blow: Rhys had heard his lie and acted to "prove him right," cementing the Alpha's reputation at the cost of Lyrana's safety.
Kael didn't say a word to the stunned Professor.
He stood up, his enormous frame radiating a fury so intense that every shifter nearby instinctively tensed, ready to flee.
He moved on instinct, crossing the floor in three predatory strides. He reached Rhys's table, leaned over the Beta, and seized the collar of his uniform jacket in a single, iron grip.
He lifted Rhys clean out of his chair, hoisting him until Rhys's feet dangled uselessly above the floor.
"You miserable piece of filth!" Kael snarled, his voice a low, terrifying growl that resonated with raw Alpha power. "What did you do to her?"
Rhys gasped for air, his smirk dissolving into fear, but he maintained a sliver of defiance.
"A-Alpha, we were just... we were just following your orders! You said she was your property, that you needed to break her!"
Kael's face was inches from Rhys's.
His gold eyes were blazing with a primal rage that was rarely seen. "I told you she was mine! I told you not to touch her!"
"But you hated her!" Rhys choked out, the crucial question tearing its way past his fear. "You said you despise her! Why does it matter to you?"
The question snapped Kael's last thread of control. Rhys had confronted the fragile, forbidden truth Kael was trying to bury: that he didn't hate her. He had almost kissed her. He had felt guilt over breaking her arm. He had fed her.
The rage was no longer about Rhys's betrayal; it was about the sickening realization that his own pride, his own calculated cruelty, had directly led to Lyrana's brutalization.
With a furious roar, Kael slammed Rhys against the nearest table, sending plates and cutlery flying. He released the collar, stepped back, and then, with the full, devastating force of a cornered Alpha, he punched Rhys squarely in the face.
The sound was sickeningly loud, a crack of bone against bone that echoed through the stunned dining hall. Rhys's head snapped back, and his body crumpled, hitting the floor with a heavy, unconscious thud. Blood immediately welled up from his nose and split lip, pooling onto the highly polished marble floor.
Kael stood over his second-in-command, chest heaving, his powerful fists clenched, golden eyes blazing with untamed emotion. The entire student body was frozen in silence. No one dared move.
They had just witnessed the Alpha heir lash out not with cold authority, but with terrifying, primal violence, and all of it was because of the little water nymph.
Kael didn't spare a glance for the unconscious Beta. He looked past the shocked faces, past the silence, all the way to the door. Lyrana was gone, and it was entirely his fault.
He had to find her. Now.