Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Iwake to sunlight streaming through the window and my body finally cool.
The heat broke sometime during the night. I can still feel the residual ache deep in my bones, the exhaustion that comes from fighting biology all night, but the desperate burning is gone. My skin doesn't feel too tight anymore and I can think clearly for the first time since it started.
Lily's bed across the room is still empty. I don't blame her for not coming back yet.
I drag myself to the shower and stand under the hot water until my muscles stop trembling. When I catch my reflection in the mirror, I look like I've been through a war. Dark circles under my eyes, hollows in my cheeks, skin pale despite the flush that's finally fading.
I'm going to have to face them all eventually.
I dress in jeans and a sweater, pull my hair back, and try to look like someone who hasn't spent last night in heat-driven madness. It doesn't really work but it's the best I can manage.
The hallway outside my room is mercifully empty. I make it down the stairs without running into anyone, but the moment I push through the main doors into the quad, I hear them.
Whispers. Following me like a shadow.
"That's her."
"Last night."
"Someone saw Caspian Jett running from the girls' dorm. Literally running."
"No way. Why would he..."
"You know why."
I keep my head up and keep walking. Let them whisper. Let them speculate. They don't know what actually happened and I'm not about to enlighten them.
The dining hall is packed for breakfast and the noise hits me like a physical wall. I barely touched food yesterday and my stomach twists with hunger, but the thought of walking through that crowd makes my skin crawl.
I'm still standing in the doorway trying to make myself move when someone brushes past me.
Sera Whitlock.
She stops, turns back, and her eyes rake over me with cold assessment. "Well. Look who finally emerged."
I don't respond. Just try to step around her.
She moves to block my path. "Is it true?"
"Is what true?"
"Someone saw Caspian leaving your building in the middle of the night." Her voice is perfectly measured but I can see the fury simmering beneath it. "Your building. After midnight."
"I don't know what they saw."
"Don't play stupid." She steps closer and I catch the scent of her wolf, bristling just beneath her skin. Her control is impressive but barely holding. "He was supposed to be mine. We've been promised since we were children. And you think you can just show up and take him?"
"I didn't take anyone."
"Then why was he in your dorm?" Her voice drops to a hiss and I see it now - her pupils dilating, her breathing getting shallow, the muscles in her jaw tightening as she fights for control.
Her wolf is right there beneath her skin, wanting out, wanting to tear into me for touching what she considers hers.
"That's between him and me."
Wrong answer. Her hand moves fast and for a second I think she's going to hit me again, but she stops herself. Her fingers tremble with the effort and I catch the edge of a snarl before she pulls it back.
"You're making a mistake," she says, and her voice is shaking now, the careful control slipping.
Her hands clench into fists at her sides and I can see her fighting it - the wolf pushing against her human skin, demanding she defend her territory.
"I don't know what you are or what game you're playing, but Caspian belongs with his own kind.
Not some pack less nobody who doesn't even know basic hierarchy. "
"Maybe you should take that up with Caspian."
Her chest is heaving like she's been running. A low sound rumbles in her throat, not quite a growl but close, and her canines catch the light for just a second before she pulls herself back.
"Stay away from him," she finally manages through clenched teeth. "This is your last warning."
She turns and walks into the dining hall, her friends materializing around her like bodyguards. I watch her go and try to calm my racing heart.
I take a breath and follow her inside.
The whispers get louder the moment I enter. I keep my eyes down and head for the food line, hyper-aware of every gaze tracking my movement. Someone at a nearby table is watching a video on their phone and I catch a glimpse of the screen before they tilt it away.
Footage of Caspian descending the wall of my building last night. Someone filmed him climbing down in the darkness.
Of course they did.
I fill my plate with food I'm not sure I can eat and turn to find a seat. The far corner table is empty and I'm heading for it when I feel him.
Caspian.
I look up and find him at the Dominion table, surrounded by his usual group. His eyes are already on me and when our gazes meet, the corner of his mouth lifts in a small smirk. He remembers. Remembers every second of that night, what his hands felt like, what I sounded like when I came.
Heat creeps up my neck but I don't look away.
Someone at his table says something and he responds without breaking eye contact with me. Then he stands, picks up his tray, and walks across the dining hall.
The whispers stop entirely.
Caspian Jett doesn't leave the Dominion table during meals. He doesn't sit with random students. He definitely doesn't cross the room in front of everyone to sit with the pack less new girl.
But he does it anyway.
He sets his tray down across from me and drops into the chair like he owns it. "Morning."
I stare at him. "What are you doing?"
"Having breakfast." He takes a bite of toast. "Sleep well?"
"Caspian, everyone is watching."
"I know." He glances around the room, taking his time, making sure everyone sees him seeing them. "Let them."
"You can't just..."
"Can't what? Sit with you?" His eyes find mine again. "I think I just did."
"Sera's going to kill me."
"Sera doesn't get a say in who I sit with." He says it loud enough that it carries to nearby tables. Making a point. Claiming territory in the most public way possible.
My hands are shaking slightly and I put my fork down before I drop it. "This is a mistake."
"No, it's not." He reaches across the table and touches my hand briefly. Just his fingers brushing mine for a second, but the contact sends sparks up my arm. "How are you feeling? Really."
"Exhausted. Hungry. Overwhelmed."
"That's normal after heat." His voice drops lower, meant just for me. "It takes a toll on your body."
"You would know?"
"I'm Alpha. I pay attention to pack dynamics." He leans back in his chair, casually oozing confidence like he doesn't have the entire dining hall staring at us. "And you're part of a pack now, whether you wanted it or not."
"Because you claimed me in front of Chase."
"Because you're mine to protect." He pauses. "Among other things."
The weight of that statement settles between us. Mine. He's not just talking about a pack protection anymore and we both know it.
I force myself to eat something. The food tastes like cardboard but I manage a few bites while Caspian watches me with unsettling focus.
"You need to eat more than that," he says.
"I'm trying."
"Try harder. You're going to need your strength."
"For what?"
"For everything that comes next." He stands, picks up his tray. "I have class. Walk you there after?"
"I can walk myself."
"I know. But I'm asking anyway." He waits patiently, letting me choose.
I nod. Small concession but it feels enormous.
He smirks and walks away, back to his table where his Dominion members are staring at him like he's lost his mind. I watch him go and try to ignore the weight of every eye in the room now focused on me.
I just became the center of campus politics and I didn't even do anything.
History class is torture.
Julian stands at the front of the room lecturing about territorial expansion and I sit in the back row trying to focus on his words instead of the mate bond humming between us.
Last night's heat flooding through our connection must have been torture for him.
I felt his restraint pulling tight through the bond, how he fought to stay away even while feeling everything I was experiencing.
Even now I can sense the residual tension in him, the careful control he's maintaining.
His eyes sweep the room and pause on me for just a fraction of a second longer than anyone else. No one would notice unless they were looking for it.
I notice. And the bond flares in response.
"The Council's formation in 1847 marked a significant shift," he says, voice perfectly measured and professional. "Prior to centralized authority, the pack territories operated independently with varying degrees of success."
The lecture continues and I take notes mechanically, writing down dates and names without really processing them. All I can think about is how he felt me through the bond. How he knows exactly what happened with Caspian even though I haven't said a word.
When class ends, I'm the first one out the door.
I make it halfway down the hall before I hear footsteps behind me.
"Miss Bardot."
I stop and turn. Julian is standing a careful distance away, briefcase in hand, every inch the professional professor. But I can see the tension in his shoulders, the tightness around his eyes.
"I need to discuss your last essay," he says, loud enough for passing students to hear. Perfectly normal professor-student interaction. "My office. Twenty minutes."
He doesn't wait for an answer, just walks past me toward the faculty wing. But as he passes, I catch his scent and feel the bond pull tight between us.
Twenty minutes later I'm standing outside his office door, hyperaware of every student passing in the hallway. This is dangerous. Being alone with him in his office when the bond is this active, when I can still feel the echo of last night's heat thrumming between us.
I knock.
"Come in."