Chapter 24 #2
"Because I've been watching you for a while." His pale eyes hold mine. "Seeing you walk across campus alone. Train alone. Take on everything by yourself when you don't have to."
My stomach tightens. "You've been following me?"
"Watching. There's a difference." Something shifts in his expression. "Making sure no one gets too close. Making sure Chase doesn't corner you somewhere without witnesses."
"Why would you do that?"
The question hangs between us. Knox is silent for a long moment.
"Because you shouldn't be alone out here," he finally says. "And because I already am."
Understanding crashes through me. Knox, the dangerous loner everyone fears and avoids. Who trains alone, eats alone, exists on the edges because that's where he's safest. He gets it. Gets what it's like to need solitude while simultaneously hating it.
"So you're just going to keep shadowing me around campus?"
The corner of his mouth lifts. Almost a smile. "Already doing it. Just making it official now."
He leaves without another word. I stand alone in the training hall, muscles aching, sweat cooling on my skin, and realize Knox has been protecting me from the shadows for weeks.
I should be unnerved.
Instead, something in my chest settles.
I leave the library at ten with three books on shifter history tucked under my arm.
The campus is quiet at this hour, most students asleep or at least in their dorms. I should be exhausted but my mind is too wired for sleep. Between Chase's inquiry, Caspian's public protection, and Knox's offer to shadow me, I can't stop my thoughts from spinning.
I'm halfway across the quad when the awareness hits me.
Being watched. Multiple directions. Not threatening but present, like invisible threads connecting me to points around the campus perimeter.
I slow my pace, scanning the shadows. There. To my left, near the old chapel. Movement in the darkness that resolves into Knox's distinctive silhouette. He's not hiding, not trying to be invisible. Just there. Watching.
Near the fountain where Dominion usually gathers, Caspian leans against the stone edge with several pack members around him. He's in conversation but his attention isn't on them. I feel his awareness of me like weight, the pack claim tracking my movement even while he pretends to focus elsewhere.
And behind me, near the library entrance I just left, another presence. Nico. Hovering at distance because the broken bond between us makes it painful to get closer, but unable to stay completely away.
Three males. Three different positions. All of them aware of exactly where I am.
None of this is coordinated. They're not working together, not operating as a unit. This is pure instinct, wolves positioning themselves to protect what's theirs even while pretending not to care.
I keep walking, fascinated by how they move with me. Knox shifts position as I cross the quad, maintaining the same distance. Julian tracks my progress from his window. Caspian's conversation continues but his posture stays alert. Even Nico follows at his careful distance.
Then Chase appears.
He exits the administration building, moving in my direction with purpose. The reaction from the three males is instantaneous.
Knox steps out of the shadows, no longer hiding. His position shifts to cut off one angle of approach.
Caspian stands from the fountain edge, conversation with his pack forgotten. His Alpha presence rolls out across the quad like a wave.
Even Nico steps forward, broken bond or not, positioning himself between me and the threat.
They're closing gaps. Eliminating access routes. Creating a protective perimeter around me without a single word spoken between them. It's so smooth it looks choreographed, but I know it's not. This is wolf instinct recognizing threat.
Chase sees it immediately.
His stride falters. His eyes track from me to Knox on my left, to Caspian ahead, to Nico behind. Three males surrounding me, covering approach vectors, operating as a unit even though they shouldn't be.
His expression darkens with understanding.
He's not just facing one protective mate anymore. He's facing three, and they're already functioning as a pack despite the incomplete bonds, despite the territorial disputes, despite everything that should be keeping them apart.
Chase changes direction and walks away without speaking, without approaching, without testing the defensive formation they've created around me.
I stand in the center of this protective circle I didn't ask for and didn't plan. The realization settles heavy in my chest.
They're becoming a pack whether any of us intend it or not.
I keep walking and the three shadows move with me, adjusting position to maintain coverage. Knox in the darkness. Caspian openly following. Nico at careful distance.
Pack instinct overriding individual resistance. Protection becoming automatic despite every reason to stay apart.
Chase noticed. Taking me now means going through all three of them.
I make it back to my dorm and close the door quietly. Lily is asleep. I change in the darkness and slip under my covers.
The mate bond with Julian hums under my ribs. I can feel his restlessness even from across campus. Caspian's pack claim pulls steady. Knox somewhere in the shadows. Nico at his painful distance.
Everything is shifting. Enemies becoming allies. Individual protection becoming coordinated defense.
Chase knows it now. Hunting me just became a fight against three wolves instead of one.