Anya pulled her small, practical sedan into the student parking lot near the edge of the Sterling University campus. She hadn't been here in months, not since the rebellion and Kael's initial demotion. She quickly shed the rigid navy blue corporate uniform she wore earlier, changing into a simple pair of jeans and a loose-fitting grey sweater.
The air on campus was thick with a lively, careless energy that felt entirely different to the cold, antiseptic silence of King's Corporation. Students sprawled on the manicured lawn, music thrummed distantly from a shared dorm, and the greasy, comforting smell of cheap cafeteria fries drifted on the autumn breeze. It was a world of exams, late-night study sessions, and existential debates
Anya took a deep breath, she missed this.
A strange mix of acute nostalgia and profound sadness washed over her. It was a life she belonged to, yet could no longer touch.
She scanned the benches near the main café. There, sitting cross-legged and instantly recognizable, was Betty. With her bright pink sneakers and easy smile, Betty looked like the poster child for carefree youth. As soon as Betty spotted her, she rocketed to her feet, waving excitedly.
Anya managed a genuine, if brittle, smile and started walking toward her.
Betty practically tackled Anya with a tight hug, forcing a muffled laugh from Anya's chest.
"Anya! You're alive!" Betty pulled back, holding Anya at arm's length, her smile fading as she took in the exhaustion underlying Anya's careful facade.
"I'm fine, Betts. Just busy," Anya said, trying to infuse warmth into her tired voice.
"Busy? You look like you haven't slept since the syllabus dropped last spring," Betty countered, her tone shifting from playful to genuinely worried. Betty pulled Anya toward a quieter, sun-dappled bench. "Seriously, I left you about twenty messages. You didn't even answer my texts when… when your mom…" Betty trailed off, her eyes filling with instant remorse.
The rebellion that had killed her mother had happened months ago, but the grief was still a raw, gaping wound.
"I'm so sorry, Anya. We all miss her," Betty whispered, gently squeezing her hand.
Anya pulled her hand away, focusing instead on the lie she had rehearsed for this life. "It's fine, Betty. It's better now. Look, I'm sorry I ghosted, but things were just chaos at home. My father and I had a huge falling out after Mom died. I just needed to be completely independent."
Betty frowned "A fight? You two were inseparable! Was it about college? Did he cut off your funds?"
"Something like that," Anya evaded, picking at a loose thread on her jeans. "He wanted me to stay close, lean on him. I refused. I took this job at King's Corporation to pay my own way. Total independence."
"Well, you look like they're running you ragged for a paycheck," Betty said, her concern deepening, but she respected Anya's evasiveness. "Just promise me you're taking care of yourself. I worry, you know?"
"So, King's Corporation," Betty said, leaning back against the bench, sipping a canned iced coffee. "That must be intense. Running errands for, like, millionaires."
"It's… very demanding," Anya sighed, choosing her words carefully. "My boss expects perfection, and I have to be available twenty-four/seven. It's hard to balance with studies."
"Demanding is one thing, Anya, but this sounds like slaving," Betty pressed. "You're eighteen. You should be drinking too much coffee for all-nighters, not working sixty hours a week for some corporate monster."
"He's not a monster," Anya defended automatically, then mentally checked herself. He is the very definition of a monster. "He's just… intense. The company is dealing with some major legal challenges right now, so the pressure is huge."
Betty scoffed. "Legal challenges? Is that why your dad was on TV this morning, talking about the company's dirty secrets? He looked so serious! He said they're hiding things, something about historical land."
Anya's stomach clenched. Her father, Malik, was pressing his public war. "He and my boss are old rivals. They don't see eye to eye on… business ethics." Anya had to pivot the conversation quickly. "But that's why I need to ask you about the next semester."
"Oh, thank God! A normal topic!" Betty cheered. "Yeah, I already signed up for the advanced Political Science seminar—the one we talked about. You have to enroll, Anya. It closes next week."
"I don't know, Betts," Anya confessed, feeling the suffocating weight of Kael's control and her new fate. "I'm still technically a secretary, even if I'm on… enforced time off right now. If Kael tells me to stay, I have to stay. My job is more important than school right now."
Betty frowned deeply. "More important? Than your actual future? Anya, you're too smart to be stuck running around an office! Look, your mom loved this place. She wanted you to finish." Betty paused, then spoke the honest truth. "Go home. Make up with your dad. He might be controlling, but at least he's family. Quit that company and come back to school where you belong."
"You don't understand. This job isn't just about the money," Anya insisted, knowing she was failing to explain the depth of her duty to Kael. "It's about responsibility. I can't just walk away from it."
"Responsibility to whom? To some CEO who treats you like trash?" Betty shook her head. "Come on, forget the serious stuff for a minute. Did you hear about Professor Jenkins? He wore two different shoes to class yesterday, and didn't even notice!"
Anya genuinely laughed, the sound rusty but real. They spent the next fifteen minutes talking about silly campus gossip and minor disasters, the light, youthful moments providing a temporary salve to the raw nerves of her werewolf life.
After the laughter died down, Betty leaned in, a mischievous smirk spreading across her face.
"Okay, back to the serious stuff, but only briefly. The really serious stuff," Betty whispered conspiratorially. "Your mysterious CEO boss. Kael. Be honest."
Anya almost choked on the last sip of her coffee. "Betty! What about him?"
"Oh, don't be coy! Is he young and hot, or old and cranky?" Betty giggled, nudging her side. "He's running one of the biggest corporations in the city. He has to be something."
"He's young," Anya admitted, her voice flat. Thinking about him, she could feel the sudden, distant pull of the mate bond "And he's… demanding. And cruel. He's the reason I'm so exhausted, Betty."
Betty's eyes widened with false horror. "Cruel? Oh, that just makes him hotter! The brooding CEO boss! Like something out of a trashy novel!" She laughed. "Does he wear those perfect suits? Does he ever lose his temper? Tell me the gossip!"
"He wears suits, yes. And he never, ever loses his temper," Anya lied, recalling the primal shift in his eyes just hours earlier. "He's a man who lives entirely for control."
"Yikes. Sounds like a robot," Betty said, disappointed. "But seriously, all that pressure and all that control… you two must have some insane tension!"
Anya stood up abruptly, unable to hold the facade any longer. "Betty, stop."
Betty's expression softened, the playful teasing vanishing as she took in Anya's genuine distress.
"I'm sorry, Anya. I'm just trying to make you laugh. But look, this isn't a joke anymore. I miss you. You disappeared after the funeral. No replies, no visits, no calls. Your voice message even made you sound robotic." Betty's face was serious. "I feel like this job is swallowing you whole, and it's been months since your mom died. You need people, Anya."
Anya looked down, guilt and despair mixing inside her. She wanted to explain the Pack, the Alpha, the fight, the debt, and the mate bond, but she couldn't.
"I know, Betts. I promise I'll be better," Anya whispered. She then remembered the last events at King's Corps "Things at work might… change soon. I don't know what's coming, but…"
Betty immediately sensed the shift in the atmosphere. "Whatever happens, you're not alone. I'm here. If you need a place to crash, if you need someone to help you quit that awful job and go back to your dad, call me. Immediately."
"Thank you, Betty." Anya hugged her friend tightly, genuinely grateful for the brief return to normalcy. She felt lighter, the burden of her supernatural life momentarily lifted.
As Anya walked back toward the parking lot, the weight of the moment evaporated, replaced by a deep sense of dread. She knew the conversation with Betty was a fantasy. She couldn't go back to her father, She couldn't quit Kael.