Tessa grabbed my arm the second we rounded the corner toward the campus courtyard.

"Stop," she ordered, leaning close. Her eyes narrowed as she pulled my wrist toward her face, inhaling deeply. "Explain that."

I tried to tug my arm back, heat rising quickly up my neck. "Explain what? Tessa, class starts in ten minutes."

"Don't play dumb with me, Elara. That’s pure Alpha cedar and crushed pine. You smell like Rowan." She pinned me with a sharp look. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing," I stammered, looking anywhere but at her. "We talked. That’s all."

"You talked, and his scent is practically branded into your body?" Tessa raised an eyebrow. "You’re lying. Your heart is hammering right now."

Before I could invent a better excuse, a sudden commotion across the stone courtyard cut me off.

A crowd had formed near the fountain, students circling around a massive display of crimson roses. Silas Voss stood in the center, wearing a tailored black jacket and a smug grin. When he saw me, his smile widened, and he gestured toward the velvet box resting on a pedestal beside him.

"Elara!" Silas’s voice echoed across the quad, loud enough to draw every eye in the vicinity. "I told you I wasn't going to give up easily."

Whispers rippled through the gathered pack members. Silas walked forward, holding a silver pendant carved with the Voss family crest.

"I figured I'd make my intentions unmistakable," Silas said, stopping three paces from me. "Be my date to the Solstice Gala. Accept my courtship."

Tessa groaned under her breath. "He is unbelievable."

I opened my mouth to shut him down, but the heavy press of an Alpha aura swept across the open courtyard before I could speak. The temperature seemed to drop instantly.

Rowan stepped out from the library colonnade.

His eyes locked onto Silas with lethal focus. Within seconds he had crossed the distance and positioned himself squarely between Silas and me, cutting off Silas’s line of sight.

"She isn't going anywhere with you," Rowan said. His voice was quiet, but it carried the absolute weight of command. "Take your flowers and get out of here, Voss."

Silas didn't back down. His grin turned razor-sharp as he looked past Rowan's shoulder at me.

"I'm not asking you, Rowan," Silas said smoothly. "Elara has a voice. Why don't you let her speak for herself?"

"I speak for this family," Rowan replied, his jaw set like iron. "And she doesn't want you near her."

Silas let out a mocking laugh that carried across the hushed crowd. "Family? You're just her brother, Rowan. You don't own her. You can't decide who she chooses."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Several students took a cautious step back. Rowan's hands clenched at his sides, the muscles in his back bunching beneath his dark jacket. He looked furious.

"I’m protecting my sister," Rowan spat, the words sounding forced, dragged through grit. "Which is my duty. Move along before I make you."

Watching Rowan stand there, rigid and territorial, sent an unexpected jolt through my chest. He was furious, out of pure, unadulterated jealousy. He couldn't hide it, no matter how hard he clung to the family excuse.

A part of me felt a sick rush of satisfaction seeing him this close to losing control.

"Silas," I said, stepping out from behind Rowan's shadow.

Rowan turned his head slightly, his gaze dark and warning.

"Thank you for the gesture," I told Silas, keeping my voice firm and clear for the crowd to hear. "But the answer is no. I’m not going to the gala with you, and I’m not accepting your courtship. Please take your things."

Silas’s smile finally vanished. He glanced between Rowan and me, irritation twitching at his jaw, before he snatched the pendant box and turned on his heel.

The crowd began to disperse, murmuring in disappointment that a fight hadn't broken out.

I turned toward Rowan, expecting him to say something. But he wasn't looking at me with relief. His expression had shuttered completely, cold and distant.

"You took too long to answer him," Rowan said flatly.

"What?" I frowned. "I turned him down."

"You hesitated." His tone was harsh, defensive. "If you're that tempted by a Voss, do it somewhere off-campus where it doesn't reflect on the pack."

"Rowan, that's completely unfair—"

"I don't care," he cut in, refusing to meet my eyes. "Just don't make a fool of yourself."

Without another word, he turned and walked away, his long strides carrying him toward the administrative building.

***

By midnight, the family estate was completely silent.

I couldn't sleep. Rowan’s cold dismissal in the courtyard kept replaying in my head, mixing with the restless pulse in my veins. The monthly moon bond was nearing its peak, and every nerve ending felt raw and overly sensitive.

Needing a glass of water, I slipped into the dim hallway.

A thin strip of golden light spilled from beneath the door of Rowan's private study. As I drew closer, a low, ragged sound caught my attention.

I froze.

Through the crack of the unlatched door, I heard heavy, ragged breathing, followed by a fractured whisper.

"Elara..."

My heart stopped.

I leaned in slightly, looking through the narrow gap.

Rowan was sitting back against the edge of his heavy mahogany desk. His shirt was unbuttoned and open, his chest slick with sweat. In one trembling hand, he held a crumpled photograph of me from last summer, along with a stack of old notes I had left on his desk over the years.

His other hand was wrapped tightly around his thick, weeping cock, stroking in rough, violent pumps.

"Fuck," he groaned, his head falling back against the desk lamp's warm glow. His hips jerked upward into his fist, desperate and completely out of control. "Elara... damn it, Elara..."

He wasn't the composed future Alpha who commanded respect from everyone. He looked wrecked, completely consumed as his knuckles whitened against his shaft, pumping himself with a frantic, punishing rhythm that showed just how deeply he was unraveling.

Seeing him like that shattered every doubt I had carried.

He didn't see me as a sister. He never had. He wanted me with an intensity that terrified him, an obsession he tried so hard to choke down behind cold glares and sharp orders.

My breath grew shallow, heat flooding straight between my thighs.

Every instinct screamed at me to push the door open, to walk inside and let him take what he was clearly dying for. But the reality of our lives crashed down just as fast. My adoptive parents had taken me in when I had nothing. They loved us both. If we crossed this line, we would tear this entire house apart.

I pulled back from the door, my steps silent on the carpet as I retreated down the corridor and slipped back into my bedroom.

Closing the door behind me, I collapsed against the wood, trembling from head to toe. The moon bond flared violently inside my chest, echoing Rowan's raw heat like a fever. I could still hear his rough groans, could still picture his thick cock sliding through his fist as he called my name.

My hand slid down my stomach, pushing past the waistband of my shorts.

"Rowan," I whimpered into the dark.

I slipped two fingers between my folds, slick and soaking wet, rubbing hard against my clit. I arched my back against the locked door, moving my fingers in fast, desperate circles, matching the frantic rhythm I had just witnessed. In my mind, it wasn't my fingers touching me—it was his rough, possessive hands, pinning me against that desk, claiming every inch he had forbidden himself from touching.

The orgasm ripped through me within minutes, intense enough to leave me gasping for air against the cold wood floor.

I lay there in the quiet room, trying to steady my breathing, when the floorboards in the hallway gave a faint creak.

I held my breath.

A shadow fell across the crack beneath my bedroom door, blocking the dim hall light.

Someone was standing right outside.

Rowan was there. I could sense his heavy presence, lingering just inches away through the thin wood. He stood in absolute silence, waiting, hesitating in the dark.

He didn't knock.

The whispers started before I even reached my locker.

Every corridor felt narrower than usual, choked with lingering stares and pointed smirks. Whenever I turned my head, people ducked behind their lockers or exchanged sharp glances. By the time I sat down in my first class, I caught two girls behind me leaning across the aisle, their voices barely dropped to a murmur.

"Did you hear what Tessa said yesterday? Elara was drenched in his scent."

"Her own brother? That is sick. She really thinks she can sleep her way into the Alpha seat."

My stomach dropped through the floor. Someone had stood near the courtyard hedges when Tessa confronted me yesterday morning. They had taken her words and twisted them into an outright scandal.

By noon, the gossip had mutated into a firestorm across campus.

I tried to cut through the athletic wing to reach the rear exit, wanting nothing more than to slip away before the lunch rush. But as I rounded the hallway leading to the abandoned locker rooms, footsteps crowded behind me.

Before I could turn, two pairs of hands shoved me forward.

I stumbled over the threshold into the dark, damp locker room, catching myself against a rusted bench. The heavy door slammed shut behind me, the lock clicking into place.

Brielle stood near the center, flanked by three girls from her inner circle. Her arms were folded across her chest, her lips curved into a smug, venomous smile.

"Look at our little home-wrecker," Brielle said, stepping forward. "Running away so soon, Elara?"

"Move, Brielle," I said, keeping my voice as steady as my racing pulse allowed. "I don't know what lies you've been spreading, but I haven't done anything."

"Lies?" One of the girls behind her scoffed. "The whole pack knows you're sniffing around Rowan. You've been waiting for a chance to spread your legs."

Brielle pulled a pair of heavy shears from her jacket pocket. The metal blades caught the dim fluorescent bulb above us with a dull gleam.

"You need to be taught where you belong," Brielle said.

"Back off!" I lunged toward the door, but the two girls grabbed my arms, slamming me hard against the metal lockers.

I struggled, kicking and thrashing, but they pinned my wrists behind my back. Brielle walked up, grabbed a handful of my hair, and yanked my head backward.

"Hold her still," Brielle snapped.

The shears crunched through the strands near my scalp. Clumps of dark hair fell around my face, scattering across the grimy tile floor. Nausea churned in my throat as I fought against their grip, but another girl reached forward, grabbing the collar of my uniform shirt and ripping it down the front. The fabric tore with a loud, sickening shred, exposing my camisole.

Then a kick landed behind my knees. My legs gave out, and I slammed onto the hard concrete.

"Admit what you are," Brielle demanded, stepping over me and pressing the toe of her leather boot directly against my collarbone. "Say it out loud. Tell us you're a shameless whore."

Tears pricked my eyes, but I glared up at her through my ruined hair. "I haven't ruined anything between anyone—"

Brielle ground the sole of her boot down, cutting off my breath. "Say it! And lick the dirt off my shoes while you're down there, you filthy stray."

"Go to hell," I choked out.

Brielle sneered, pulling her phone from her pocket and tapping the screen before shoving it inches from my face. "You really thought you had a chance with him, didn't you? Look at this."

On the screen was an official pack social announcement, stamped with the elder council’s seal. A formal portrait of Rowan stood beside Celine Beaumont, their names linked beneath the headline: *Official Betrothal of the Future Alpha.*

The date stamped beneath was this morning.

"He's engaged, Elara," Brielle taunted, crouching down so her spiteful whisper scraped against my ear. "To a real lady with pedigree. You aren't family, and you aren't his mate. You're just a pathetic pet the Hale family picked up off the street out of pity. Nothing more."

The words felt like blunt knives tearing into my chest. Inside me, my wolf roared in a violent tempest of panic and fury. The moon bond, still surging from the night before, thrashed against my ribs, clawing to burst free. My vision flickered with red, my breathing turning into short, fractured gasps as the humiliation threatened to tear my mind apart.

Suddenly, the locker room door rattled with violent force.

The latch broke with a sharp crack, and the door swung open.

Silas Voss stood in the entryway. His dark eyes took in the scene—the torn clothes, the chopped locks of hair on the floor, and Brielle towering over me.

"Get out," Silas commanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register.

Brielle blinked, startled. "Silas—"

"I said get the fuck out before I snap your neck," Silas snarled, his fangs lengthening as his aura flooded the room with sudden, crushing force.

The girls backed away immediately. Brielle shot me one last hateful glare, pocketed her shears, and hurried past him into the hall with her friends, their hurried footsteps fading down the corridor.

I slumped against the cold lockers, trembling violently, trying to pull the shredded pieces of my shirt together over my chest. Relief briefly touched my mind—until Silas turned back around.

He closed the door and turned the deadbolt.

A cold dread pooled in my gut. Silas turned to face me, his gaze dragging over my exposed skin, my bare collarbone, and the tears wet on my cheeks. His expression was hungry.

"Look at you," Silas murmured, his voice thick as he stepped toward me. "They really broke you down, didn't they?"

"Silas, no..." I scrambled backward against the floor, but my back hit the steel lockers. "Stay away from me."

"Why?" He dropped to his knees in front of me, grabbing both of my wrists and pinning them against the floor above my head with one broad hand. "You turned me down yesterday in front of everyone. But look where keeping yourself pure for Rowan got you."

"Let go of me!" I screamed, thrashing beneath his weight.

Silas didn't listen. He tore the remaining fabric of my collar away, his other hand gripping my waist roughly, dragging me flat against the dusty floor. He leaned over me, his hips pressing heavily between my thighs, pinning my legs so I couldn't kick.

Tears streamed down my temples as I sobbed, begging him to stop, but the sound only seemed to feed his excitement. A low, ragged laugh rumbled in his chest. He shoved his face into the hollow of my neck, inhaling deeply, groaning as his teeth scraped against my tender skin.

He was getting off on my helplessness, relishing every shudder and every choked sob that left my lips.

"Rowan isn't coming to save you," Silas whispered against my throat, opening his jaw wide, his canines extending toward my scent gland to force the bond. "He belongs to Celine now."

The dark pulled hard at the edges of my mind. My strength completely vanished, my body growing numb under the weight of his grip. I closed my eyes, sinking into despair, waiting for the fatal bite that would ruin my life forever.

Then the concrete wall shook.

The heavy steel door didn't just swing open—it was ripped off its hinges, flying across the room and crashing into a row of lockers with a deafening boom.

A suffocating Alpha aura slammed through the space.

Silas barely had time to look up before a massive hand seized the back of his neck, hoisting him off me and hurling him across the concrete floor. Silas skidded hard into the far benches, spitting blood.

Rowan stood over him like an executioner. His eyes burned with terrifying fury. He closed the distance in an instant, driving his fist into Silas's jaw with a sickening crunch, then smashing him into the wall until Silas went limp and collapsed onto the tiles.

I tried to keep my eyes open. I tried to focus on Rowan as he turned back toward me, but the room spun violently. The darkness swallowed me whole, and my head dropped against the floor.

When I briefly drifted back to the surface of consciousness, I was no longer on the cold floor.

Rowan’s arms were wrapped firmly around me, lifting my bruised, trembling body against his chest. His dark jacket was wrapped tightly around my torn clothes, shielding me from the world.

He carried me out through the shattered doorway, through the quiet halls of the school, not saying a single word. His heartbeat hammered furiously against my ear, hard and terrifyingly fast, carrying me away into the blinding afternoon light.