Chapter 6
ELOWEN
Outside, late September is painting the campus in golds and ambers. The trees haven’t fully turned yet, but the promise is there in the cooler mornings, the earlier darkness, the quality of light that’s distinctly autumn.
In the Academy, something has shifted.
I feel it before I see it: an undercurrent in the air, subtle but persistent. The building hums the way it always does, but the rhythm is off.
I notice it first in my morning class.
The seminar room is half-full when I arrive, students scattered across the rows in their usual clusters.
I take my seat at the side, the same spot I've claimed since the term began. But today, when I settle in, the beta beside me glances over. Her name is Lauren. We nod in passing, attend some lectures together, but haven’t progressed to making conversation.
Until now.
"You're working on the greenhouse, right?" she asks.
I pause, notebook halfway out of my bag. "Yes, I used to help my–"
"With Calder Ashford and Tyler Vale?"
"Yes." I don’t know where she is going with this.
But the professor arrives and she returns to her notes.
I try to do the same. But the awareness lingers, a gentle pressure I can't quite shake. I catch another student two rows up glancing back at me then looking away. I tell myself it’s nothing.
But by the time I reach the dining hall for lunch, the pattern is unmistakable.
Conversations pause a half-second too long when I pass. Glances linger, then slide away when I meet them. Not hostile. Just aware.
I take my tray to a quiet table near the window and sit, forcing myself to move at my usual pace. Rushing would feel like an apology, and I have nothing to apologize for.
Then Sophie slides onto the seat opposite me and rests her elbows on the table. “I know what you’re doing,” she says. “You think that because you’re fixing up the greenhouse, Calder will look at you.”
She tries to intimidate me by locking eyes and sitting up straight, giving herself the height advantage. But Grandma always said that bullies are cowards.
“Define ‘look at me’.” I stare right back at her.
“Don’t pretend you’re innocent, new girl. I’m not as gullible as Calder.”
“If you think Calder is gullible, why aren’t you sitting with him right now?”
She blinks at me while she processes what I just said. Then she stands up, the chair sliding out behind her, and leans closer. “Stay away from him.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll make you wish you never came to Elderwood.” She walks away and doesn’t look back.
I eat slowly, aware of the room around me but refusing to shrink under it. The food tastes the same. The light through the windows is just as warm. Nothing has actually changed.
Except me.
By the time afternoon settles, I've made my decision.
The greenhouse is already occupied when I arrive.
Calder is near the center table, adjusting a tray of seedlings under the light. He looks up when I enter, his gaze sharp in a way that has nothing to do with dominance and everything to do with awareness.
"People are watching," I say quietly.
He nods once. "I know." No alarm. No irritation. Just acknowledgement.
"Does it bother you?"
His gaze meets mine, steady. "No."
I set my bag on the bench and pull on my gloves, rolling the cuffs down with practiced ease. The soil in the new trays needs turning, labels need updating, and there's a section near the back wall that still needs clearing.
“I spoke to Sophie at lunchtime.”
Calder’s gaze snaps my way. “What about? Or do I not want to know?”
I give him a small smile. “She gave me a friendly warning to stay away from you.”
He stares outside through the foggy glass, his chest rising and falling steadily. “I’m sorry, Elowen. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Look…” This is going to be hard, but I’m going to say it once and then let it go. “If the greenhouse is interfering in your relationship, I understand if you don’t want to keep coming here.”
He smiles, and my heart performs a backflip. “Firstly, I’m not in a relationship… with anyone. Secondly, wild horses couldn’t keep me away from the greenhouse. Or from–”
Tyler arrives then, his toolbox slung over his shoulder.
"Is it just me," he says lightly, "or does it feel like the greenhouse got promoted?"
A borderline smile threatens to break free. "People noticed," I say. “We’re now official.” My eyes meet Calder’s, and Tyler’s gaze hops back and forth between the two of us.
"Official greenhouse owners or official friends?" He sets the toolbox down with a soft thud.
"Do friends need to be official?" I ask.
"I thought Juniper might be a little less picky if we say it out loud." He grins, his head disappearing under the workbench to look for the cat. “Did you hear that, Juniper? We’re here to stay.”
Here to stay. That’s all I need.
A knock sounds at my door as I'm getting ready for bed.
I open it to find Lila holding a plate covered in foil.
"Brownies," she says without preamble. "Well, brownie-adjacent baked goods. I'm still learning." She offers the plate. "Can I come in for like two seconds?"
I step aside.
She enters, perching on the edge of my desk chair, tucking her legs under her. Tonight's outfit: oversized gray sweater with a hood, sleep shorts, the same fuzzy fox socks.
"I just wanted to check you're okay.”
“I’m fine.” I feel my eyebrows sliding up quizzically. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Hmm…” Lila taps her bottom lip, trying not to grin. “Let me think. Of all the alphas you could’ve gotten to help you rebuild the greenhouse, you chose Calder Ashford and Tyler Vale.”
“I didn’t choose them,” I blurt out without thinking. “No, that sounds wrong. We gravitated towards the greenhouse, and then we kind of… lingered.”
She smiles. “You don't have to explain anything to me. Or anyone else for that matter. But you realize they’re both hot, right?”
I swallow hard, heat spreading from my neck upwards whilst simultaneously pooling in my belly. That’s what this is really about.
“Hey.” Lila grabs my hand and squeezes it. “I’m only a teensy bit jealous.” She pinches the thumb and forefinger of her free hand together to demonstrate, giggling. “But seriously, I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. And I promise I won’t ask for details. Or maybe I will.”
I can’t help smiling. "Thanks for the warning."
"No problem. Also, no pressure to perform. You're terrible at it anyway."
I snort before I can stop myself. “Do you… Do you know Sophie?”
Frown lines appear between Lila’s eyebrows. “Sophie Parry? Wealthy family? Clothes my mom would consider appropriate attire for alpha-hunting. Everyone knows her. Why?”
I bite my bottom lip. “No reason.” I don’t want to add to whatever gossip Sophie is already spreading.
“Ah.” Lila inclines her head at me like a puppy. “You think she has her eyes on Calder Ashford. Makes sense, I guess. But, trust me, that ship was never going to sail no matter how hard she blew.”
I chuckle. “I have no idea what any of that means but thank you.”
She crosses my room and opens the door. "You’re welcome. Also, eat the brownies. They're either really good or moderately poisonous. You’re my guinea pig."
Then she’s gone.
We settle into a routine of spending Saturdays together in the greenhouse, me tending to the new seeds that have started to grow, Calder and Tyler fixing shelves, rehanging cabinet doors, and repairing workbenches.
My body still reacts to their scents whenever we’re together; my heart has made up a dance routine reserved especially for them, and my legs tremble like I ran a half-marathon to get here instead of crossing campus at a leisurely stroll. But I’m getting better at hiding it.
I think.
So, maybe Lila was wrong about my inability to perform.
I’m walking back from the greenhouse one Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks later, when Mira calls. I instinctively hang back and watch Calder and Tyler’s backs receding towards the building when I answer.
“Hello, Grandma.”
“Elowen, sweetheart, just calling to see how the greenhouse is coming on.”
“It’s looking good, Grandma. The seeds are thriving, there’s a cat…
” The two alphas turn around and wave before they disappear into the quad, and my heart performs a dance-contest-worthy backflip in response.
I turn around and face the greenhouse while I wait for it to regulate.
“Some other students have volunteered for maintenance. I can’t wait for you to see it. ”
The pause that follows is so long I wonder if she was even listening. Then she says, “I’m glad you found it, Elowen.”
I smile. “I think it found me.” I don’t add that I couldn’t walk away from it now, any more than I could stop breathing.
“How is…” she begins and then hesitates. She isn’t calling about the greenhouse at all. It was a softener before she gets to the point, something Mira has never struggled with in the past. “How is the atmosphere there at Elderwood?”
My stomach clenches. What has she heard? Has someone told her about Sophie? Has Sophie somehow located my grandmother and told her about me? It’s irrational and highly unlikely, but now that I’ve thought of it, I can’t seem to un-think it.
“What do you mean?” I don’t manage to hide the tremor in my voice.
“Gideon Stockwell was on a radio talk show this morning. I’ve seen him on TV too. The man will talk to anyone who will listen, and it seems that plenty of people are willing to listen to his conspiracy theories.”
“Conspiracy theories?” I feel bad that I’ve become so consumed by the greenhouse, or more importantly, spending time with Calder and Tyler, that I’d forgotten all about Gideon Stockwell and the omegas who died.
“He is adamant that his sister didn’t die of natural causes.” Grandma doesn’t elaborate.
“I spoke to him shortly after I arrived. But I haven’t seen him since.”
“Have you had a health check yet?” she asks.
I don’t recall Grandma ever seeing a doctor, she prefers homeopathic remedies to regular medication, and the question lands like a pebble in a pond. “Not yet. But I will.”