Chapter 19 #2
"No one you need to concern yourself with." Knox steps in front of Caspian, adding another layer of protection between me and Chase. His voice is completely flat, utterly emotionless, but somehow that makes him sound more dangerous than if he'd been openly threatening.
"A student who shifts during a full moon is exactly my concern," Chase says smoothly. He's still trying to see around the wall of males blocking me from his view. "Especially one who seems to have three protectors forming defensive positions. That's unusual pack behavior for Academy students."
My heart starts racing because Nico could tell Chase everything right now.
He could mention my silver fur and turn me over to the Council and finally get whatever revenge he's been planning since he betrayed me.
I watch him with growing dread, waiting for him to speak and destroy whatever fragile protection these males are offering.
But Nico just crosses his arms and stares at Chase with an expression of complete boredom, like this whole situation is beneath his notice. "We're Pack Dynamics students. We practice protective formations as part of our coursework. Is there a problem with that, Enforcer Valemont?"
The casual lie comes so smoothly I almost believe it myself. Why is he protecting me? What changed between filming my humiliation and now?
"She's under my protection," Caspian says, and his voice has gone even deeper with Alpha authority bleeding through into his human form.
I can actually feel something settle in the air when he says it, like pack magic settling into place and making his claim official.
"If the Council has questions about any student under my protection, they can schedule a formal inquiry through proper channels.
Until then, she's not answering anything without Academy representation present. "
Chase's eyes narrow dangerously. "You're claiming responsibility for her? Caspian Jett, heir to one of the oldest Alpha bloodlines in the region, publicly claiming a random student?"
"I'm claiming responsibility for a member of my pack," Caspian says, and he doesn't back down even slightly under Chase's stare.
"My family are substantial donors to this Academy, as I'm sure you're aware.
I'm quite certain Headmaster Owen would be interested to hear about Council enforcers harassing students on school grounds without proper authorization or supervision. "
The threat is barely veiled and I can see Chase processing it, weighing whether pushing this is worth making an enemy of the Jett family.
For a long moment, no one moves. Chase stands there assessing the situation with cold calculation, looking at three males who are clearly ready to fight him if he pushes this any further.
Looking at me behind them, still shaking from my first shift and barely able to stand without support.
I can see him trying to decide if whatever he thinks he saw is worth pushing through three protective wolves to confirm.
I should feel something about Caspian claiming me publicly like this. I should process what that means, what he just risked by putting himself between me and the Council. But I'm too exhausted, too scared, too confused to think beyond the immediate threat of Chase discovering what I am.
Finally Chase takes a step back, though his expression makes it clear this isn't over. "This isn't the end of this conversation. I'll be watching all of you very closely from now on."
"You do that," Knox says, his voice still completely flat and somehow all the more menacing for it.
Chase gives us one more long assessing look before turning and disappearing back into the trees. The second he's out of sight, all three males visibly relax slightly, though none of them drop their defensive positions until we can't hear his footsteps anymore and his scent has faded.
"We need to move," Caspian says quietly, urgently. "Now. Before he changes his mind and comes back with backup."
"Wait," Nico says, and there's something in his voice that makes everyone freeze. He's looking at me with an expression I can't read. "We should just tell him. Tell Chase what she is. Let the Council handle this."
My blood runs cold. There it is. The betrayal I was waiting for.
But before I can even process the fear, Knox moves. He's right in Nico's face, close enough that Nico actually flinches back. "If you say one word about what you saw tonight," Knox growls, his voice low and dangerous, "I'll kill you. Do you understand me?"
"Knox," Caspian starts, but Knox doesn't look away from Nico.
"I'm not joking. One word to anyone about what color her wolf is, and you're dead." There's no heat in Knox's voice, no anger, just cold statement of fact. "She's pack now. Caspian just claimed her. That means she's under our protection whether you like it or not."
Nico stares at Knox for a long moment, and I can see something shifting in his expression. The broken bond between us pulls tight under my ribs and I realize he can feel it too, that uncomfortable aching connection that formed wrong and won't go away. Finally he looks away from Knox and back at me.
"I wasn't going to tell him," he says quietly. "I just wanted to see if you two were actually serious about protecting her."
"We're serious," Caspian says. "Now move. We need to get back before anyone else comes looking."
They help me walk back toward the Academy, Caspian keeping one arm around my waist while Knox and Nico flank us.
My legs barely work and I'm shaking from exhaustion and shock and the aftermath of my first shift.
I have so many questions but can barely string thoughts together well enough to form them.
The walk back feels longer than it should. Every step is an effort and without Caspian holding me up I would have collapsed several times. The cold is getting through now that the adrenaline is fading. I'm shivering in my shorts and jacket.
When we're far enough from where we encountered Chase that his scent has completely faded, Caspian finally speaks again.
"You shifted silver."
It's not a question but I nod anyway, too tired to do anything else.
"Do you understand what that means?"
"The Council hunted silver wolves to extinction," I manage through chattering teeth. "They think we're too dangerous to let live."
"They're not entirely wrong," Knox says from my right side.
His voice is still flat but there's something almost protective in how he's positioning himself.
"Silver wolves are more powerful than normal shifters.
Stronger, faster, harder to kill. And you're broadcasting power you don't even know how to use yet. "
"Which is exactly why the Council wanted them all dead," Caspian adds grimly. "They don't like anything they can't control, and silver wolves are notoriously difficult to control."
"Chase saw something," I say, because I need to know how much danger I'm in. "I could tell by how he was looking at me. He knows there's something different."
"But he didn't see enough to be sure," Nico says from my left.
He's being careful to keep some distance even while walking beside us, aware of my wariness.
"If he'd actually seen silver fur clearly, he would have taken you in for questioning immediately.
Council protocol wouldn't have let him walk away without confirming. "
That should make me feel better but it doesn't. Chase suspects something, and that's almost as dangerous as him knowing for certain.
We make it back to the Academy grounds without running into anyone else. The building is dark and quiet, everyone asleep and unaware of what just happened in the forest. The males walk me all the way to my dorm building and only then does Caspian finally let go of me.
"Get some sleep," he says, steadying me when I sway without his support. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."
"Why?" The question comes out before I can stop it, before I can think better of asking. "Why did you protect me? All of you? I'm nothing to you. I'm just the girl you've been trying to break for weeks."
Caspian and Knox exchange a look I can't read even after everything that just happened. Nico won't meet my eyes and I can feel guilt bleeding through the broken bond between us.
"You're pack now," Caspian finally says, and there's something in his voice that sounds almost surprised, like he's still processing this himself. "Whether any of us planned for it or not. I claimed you in front of a Council enforcer. That makes you mine to protect."
"But why claim me at all? You could have just walked away and let Chase take me. Would have solved your problem."
"You're not a problem to be solved," Caspian says, and he sounds almost angry about it. "You're pack. That's what matters."
He turns and walks away before I can respond, Knox following him without a word. Nico hesitates, looks like he wants to say something, but then just shakes his head and leaves too.
I make it up to my room on shaking legs.
Lily is still asleep, completely unaware that I just shifted for the first time, nearly got discovered by the Council, got claimed by an Alpha, and had three males protect me for reasons I don't fully understand.
I collapse into bed without even taking off my jacket.
My whole body aches in ways I've never experienced before.
Every muscle, every bone, every inch of skin feels wrong and sore and exhausted.
My mind is spinning with everything that just happened.
Caspian claimed me. Knox threatened to kill Nico to protect me.
Nico, who betrayed me so thoroughly just days ago, just lied to a Council enforcer to keep me safe.
Nothing makes sense anymore. Everything has changed in the space of one night.
I shifted into a silver wolf, the kind that's supposed to be extinct, the kind the Council kills on sight.
And three males who should have either turned me in or walked away instead formed a protective wall between me and a Council enforcer who could have ended me with one word to his superiors.
I close my eyes but sleep doesn't come easily.
How can it, when my whole world just turned upside down and I have no idea which way is up anymore?
When I can still feel the echo of bones breaking and reforming?
When I can still smell Chase's suspicion and Caspian's determination and Knox's threat and Nico's confusion?
When I finally do sleep, I dream of running through the forest on four silver legs, and I can't tell if it's a nightmare or something else entirely.