Chapter 12-Sten
The next day passed unbearably slowly.
I skipped my final class entirely because staying away from her any longer felt physically impossible.
That alone should have concerned me.
It didn’t.
I watched from the shadows near the eastern corridors while graduate students filtered from afternoon lectures in clusters.
And then—there she was.
Luna.
Warmth spread instantly through my chest.
She wore one of those oversized sweaters again—the cream-colored one that slipped slightly off one shoulder whenever she adjusted her bag.
Soft.
Pretty.
Mine.
The thought came naturally now.
Dangerously naturally.
I almost revealed myself immediately.
Thought maybe we could eat together.
Spend the afternoon together.
Maybe steal another kiss somewhere hidden.
Fuck.
Just remembering her mouth made my cock twitch.
Then she pulled her phone from her pocket.
And smiled.
Brightly.
My entire mood darkened instantly.
“Hi,” she answered breathlessly.
Breathlessly?
Why the fuck was she breathless?
Jealousy hit hard and ugly.
A wildfire beneath my skin.
Not a good look.
Blue suited me far better than green.
Still—the possessive fury rising inside me cared very little for aesthetics.
“Really?” she gasped softly into the phone. “Oh my gods, I can’t wait to see you.”
My jaw tightened dangerously.
Who.
The.
Fuck.
Was she talking to?
“That’s amazing! Yes, I’ll absolutely be at the festival.”
Festival?
My stomach twisted violently.
By the time she hung up, she was glowing with happiness.
And suddenly every irrational fear inside me sharpened into claws.
Had she invited another male?
Did she regret kissing me already?
Had I imagined the connection between us?
The jealousy made me careless.
Too focused on her.
Too distracted to notice danger approaching.
By the time I saw Gunner moving toward her, it was already too late.
Amrin turned directly into him.
The Wolf barely moved while she stumbled backward from the impact, nearly falling onto her perfect ass.
“Oh, watch it, Witch,” he snarled.
“S-sorry,” she said quickly, visibly shrinking.
Instantly, rage detonated inside me.
Then Gunner leaned closer.
“No shit you’re sorry.” His gaze dragged over her body obscenely. “But I see you, flaunting that fat ass and those tits around like you’re begging to get bent over.”
Something inside me snapped.
It just broke.
Totally.
Completely.
Mine.
The thought roared through my skull with violent finality.
I launched from the shadows before logic could intervene.
My fist collided with Gunner’s jaw hard enough to send the Wolf flying backward into his packmates.
“Don’t ever fucking touch her,” I snarled.
Gunner spat blood onto the stone floor and slowly rose.
His eyes shifted immediately.
Lupine.
Predatory.
Hatred flared between us instantly, old and instinctive and ancient in ways the stupid animal likely didn’t even understand.
Our bloodlines had despised each other for centuries.
He simply lacked the intelligence to know why.
“Oh, it’s on, Blue Boy,” he growled as his face partially shifted into a horror-flick worthy, gory facsimile of a Wolfman hybrid.
“Sten!” Amrin screamed.
I tilted my head slightly so she’d know I heard her, but I never took my eyes off Gunner.
Never opened myself to attack.
Amrin grabbed my shirt from behind, panic radiating off her in waves.
My tail wrapped instinctively around her waist, lifting her backward gently out of danger before setting her safely behind me.
I would protect her first.
Always.
“You know,” Gunner snarled, circling, “ever since I got here there’s been something about you that makes my Wolf salivate.”
“Maybe invest in a bib,” I growled.
He lunged.
I ducked his strike and drove my fist into his gut hard enough to crack ribs.
The corridor erupted into chaos.
Students screamed.
Magic flashed.
Gunner’s claws tore across my arm and pain blossomed instantly.
Good.
Pain sharpened focus.
I grinned.
The Wolf snarled harder.
We crashed through an art installation floating above the hallway, shattering enchanted glass everywhere.
“Stop this violence immediately!”
Professor Kenna’s voice struck like divine punishment.
Magic slammed into me instantly.
Silver-green bindings wrapped around my chest and arms before hurling me backward into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
Across the corridor, Gunner suffered the same fate—except the idiot remained partially shifted with his torn pants exposing everyone to the deeply unfortunate sight of his half-formed Wolf cock.
“Oh my gods!”
“What the hell is that thing?”
I almost laughed.
Honestly, someone should photograph it for supernatural social media.
Humiliation builds character.
Then I looked toward Amrin.
And froze.
She was shaking.
Not afraid.
Not hurt.
Furious.
At me.
The realization hit instantly.
And gods help me—
It was unbelievably hot.
“Sten!”
“Amrin,” I murmured automatically, my voice roughened from adrenaline and lingering rage.
My Luna looked ready to commit actual murder.
Her cheeks were flushed pink beneath the torchlight lining the corridor, lips parted with sharp breaths as her chest rose and fell beneath that oversized cream sweater I’d spent entirely too much time imagining removing from her body.
Fuck.
Even angry she was beautiful.
Especially when she was angry.
The lights overhead flickered softly across her pale skin while little blue sparks danced wildly around her fingertips, snapping through the air like miniature bolts of lightning.
I froze.
That—that was new.
Not illusion magic.
Not emotional bleed-off.
Raw lunar energy.
My energy.
Recognition slammed through me so hard it nearly knocked the breath from my lungs.
Mine.
The possessive thought came immediately afterward, dark and instinctive and terrifyingly pleased by the sight of her magic reacting to me.
To us.
Her eyes locked onto mine across the ruined hallway.
Moonbeam pale.
Bright with fury.
And beneath it—concern.
For me.
Not fear.
Not disgust.
Concern.
Even after watching me nearly beat a Werewolf unconscious in broad daylight.
Gods.
I was done for.
Completely.
Professor Kenna’s silver-green bindings tightened painfully around my chest, finally dragging my attention away from Amrin and back toward the present disaster.
The corridor looked like a war zone.
Broken glass glittered across ancient stone floors. Destroyed enchanted sculptures sparked weakly from the ceiling where Gunner and I had smashed through the floating display.
Several graduate students still crowded the edges of the hallway whispering excitedly while pretending not to stare at the Wolf’s still partially exposed dick.
Honestly, that part remained funny.
Gunner, unfortunately, did not share my amusement.
“This freak attacked me!” he snarled as the professor hauled us both forward through the hall toward the administrative tower.
“Oh shut the fuck up,” I muttered.
Professor Kenna stopped so abruptly both magical restraints jerked tight enough to nearly dislocate my shoulder.
The professor turned slowly.
Dangerously slowly.
Her dark robes shifted around her like living shadow while rune-light glimmered faintly beneath her skin.
For one deeply humbling moment, I remembered exactly why even ancient Monsters obeyed this woman.
“You will both,” she said with terrifying calm, “cease speaking immediately.”
Silence dropped instantly.
Even Gunner obeyed.
Smart Wolf.
The walk toward the professor’s office felt endless.
Students practically melted out of doorways and classrooms to watch us pass. Whispers followed behind us like wildfire.
“Was that Sten?”
“Gunner got his ass kicked—”
“Did you see the professor’s face?”
“Ohmygods, Gunner’s dick was hanging out—”
“That Witch from the Cordoza Coven was there too—”
Mine.
The thought flashed hot through my skull again at the mention of Amrin.
Professor Kenna’s office sat at the highest point of the western tower overlooking the black cliffs of Asgarheim.
The chamber itself resembled less of an office and more of an ancient war room—towering shelves filled with grimoires, celestial maps floating beneath enchanted glass, ley line models suspended in glowing silver threads from the ceiling.
Power saturated the air.
Old power.
The kind that pressed instinctively against your throat and demanded respect.
The second the doors slammed shut behind us, Professor Kenna released the magical restraints.
Gunner immediately straightened with a snarl.
I remained leaning casually against the wall despite the lingering ache in my ribs.
The professor turned toward us slowly.
“You two,” she said softly, “have managed to destroy Institute property, terrify several first-year graduate students, violate conduct regulations, and disrupt an active lecture corridor.”
Gunner crossed his arms aggressively.
“He hit me first.”
Professor Kenna’s gaze shifted toward him.
“And you sexually harassed a fellow student.”
Silence.
The Wolf actually looked startled she knew.
Idiot.
Runevald knew everything.
“You will not,” she continued sharply, “speak to any student of this Institute in such a manner again, Mr. McFadden. Do I make myself clear?”
Gunner’s jaw tightened.
“Yes, professor.”
“Good.” Her gaze slid toward me. “And you.”
I lifted one brow.
“You are not some common brute lurking in alleyways,” she said coldly. “You are a graduate student of the Asgarheim Runevald Institute, not a territorial beast fighting over scraps.”
The irony of that statement nearly made me laugh.
Because that was exactly what I was.
Territorial.
Violently so.
“She’s my—”
“No,” Professor Kenna snapped instantly, power cracking through the room hard enough to rattle glass. “You will not finish that sentence.”
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The professor knew.
Or suspected.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“You will both begin acting with the decorum expected of advanced students within these halls,” she continued. “This is not a battlefield. Nor is it some barbaric courting ritual.”
Gunner muttered something under his breath.
Professor Kenna’s eyes flashed green.
The Wolf immediately shut his mouth.
Smart again.
“You,” she said, pointing toward him, “will issue a formal apology to Miss Cordoza before the end of the evening.”
Gunner looked horrified.
I looked delighted.
“And you, Mr. Blau—”
I stiffened instantly at the name.
Shit.
Professor Kenna’s expression remained unreadable.
“Will refrain from turning every perceived slight into physical violence.”
I said nothing.
Mostly because I had absolutely no intention of doing that.
If anything, the incident with Gunner had only confirmed how quickly I was willing to destroy anyone who threatened Amrin.
The realization should have concerned me more.
Instead, all I could think about was the look on Luna’s face when I stepped between her and danger.
Mine.
Again.
Always.
Professor Kenna studied me carefully for several long seconds.
Then sighed softly.
“Twelve hours of reconstruction duty,” she announced. “Both of you.”
“What?” Gunner barked.
“You destroyed the corridor together,” she replied smoothly. “You will repair it together.”
The Wolf looked personally victimized by this.
Excellent.
“And if either of you engages in another altercation before the Spring Equinox Festival,” Professor Kenna added quietly, “I will personally ensure you spend the remainder of the semester scrubbing grundlewog pens beneath the eastern cliffs.”
Horror flashed across Gunner’s face.
Honestly?
That threat worked on me too.
Those little bastards bit.
Hard.
“Dismissed,” the professor said finally.
Gunner stormed out immediately.
I lingered.
Professor Kenna looked unsurprised.
“You wish to ask about Miss Cordoza,” she said calmly.
My jaw tightened.
“I wish to know if she’s all right.”
The professor watched me in silence long enough to become irritating.
“She is unharmed.”
Relief hit instantly.
Too strongly.
Professor Kenna definitely noticed.
Dangerous woman.
“She was upset,” I admitted carefully.
The corners of the professor’s mouth curved faintly.
“Mm.”
That sound alone made me suspicious.
“What?”
“She was not upset that you defended her.”
Warmth spread violently through my chest.
“She was upset,” Professor Kenna continued, “because you frightened her.”
Ice replaced the warmth instantly.
Fuck.
The word landed hard.
Because yes.
Of course I frightened her.
I was a fucking Monster.
I’d nearly torn apart a Werewolf in front of half the Institute over a few filthy comments.
And worse?
I would do it again.
Professor Kenna’s gaze softened slightly.
“Control, Mr. Blau,” she said quietly. “Possession without restraint becomes destruction.”
The words settled heavily into my bones.
Because deep down?
I knew she was right.
The terrifying part was—I wasn’t entirely sure I cared anymore.
Cleaning up the mess we’d made after the hall had been cleared was tedious work.
Especially after Professor Kenna forbade the use of magic to make the repairs.
Five hours of wood and nails, plaster and paint, working side by side with that oversized lapdog and I was practically vibrating out of my skin.
Later that night—alone in my quarters with the memory of her mouth tormenting me and jealousy still simmering hot beneath my skin—I finally gave up pretending restraint existed anymore.
I stripped my hoodie off and sank heavily onto the edge of my bed, breathing hard while thoughts of Amrin consumed every inch of me.
The sweater slipping off her shoulder.
Her flushed cheeks.
The way she’d moaned into my mouth beneath the moonlight.
“Fuck, Luna,” I groaned.
My hand wrapped around my cock through my sweats first, already painfully hard.
One thought of her and I was wrecked.
I imagined those soft thighs spread beneath me.
Imagined her pale eyes staring up while I kissed her senseless.
Imagined hearing her say my name again in that breathless little voice.
Need hit viciously.
I shoved my sweats down just enough to free my cock and gripped myself hard, head falling back as pleasure surged instantly through me.
Gods.
Everything about her made me lose control.
My hand stroked faster while my tail lashed violently behind me.
I imagined burying my face between her thighs.
Tasting her.
Listening to those sweet sounds she made only for me.
Mine.
The word echoed through me with every rough stroke.
Mate.
The realization no longer frightened me.
It only made me harder.
And when I finally came with her name growled low and broken from my throat beneath the glowing auroras outside my windows—I knew with terrifying certainty there was absolutely no saving me from this female anymore.