By morning, everyone knew the Alpha heir had rejected his mate.
I heard the whispers before I even opened my dorm room door. Low voices carried down the hallway, punctuated by giggles and gasps. My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, still raw from last night, still confused about why we'd let our mate walk away.
He's not our mate, I reminded her. He made that clear.
She whimpered in response.
I grabbed my bag and stepped into the corridor. The conversation three doors down cut off immediately. Two girls I didn't know stared at me, their eyes wide with poorly concealed shock.
"Morning," I said flatly.
They scattered like I'd growled at them.
Great. This was going to be a fantastic day.
The walk to the main building felt like running a gauntlet. Students lined the pathways, clustered in groups, all of them watching. Their voices followed me like a shadow.
"That's her."
"Can you believe it?"
"Pathetic."
"I heard she actually thought he'd accept her."
"Unwanted by her own mate. That's got to sting."
I kept my chin up and my eyes forward. My wolf wanted to snarl at them, to show teeth and make them back down. But I didn't have fangs yet. Didn't have claws. I was still learning how to even feel her presence without panicking.
So I walked. One foot in front of the other. Pretending their words didn't cut.
The courtyard was worse. More students. More stares. A group of Alphas near the fountain stopped mid-conversation to watch me pass. One of them, a guy with a scar across his jaw, whistled low.
"Rejected before she even shifted properly," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's got to be a record."
His friends laughed.
My hands clenched around my bag straps. Keep walking. Don't react. Don't give them the satisfaction.
But my wolf snarled inside my head, furious and protective even if I wouldn't let her be.
I made it to the main entrance before I saw him.
Darius stood near the doors, surrounded by his usual crowd. The blonde from last night clung to his arm, all smiles and perfect hair. He looked completely unbothered, like last night hadn't happened at all.
Like I didn't exist.
The bond tugged painfully in my chest. My wolf whined, wanting to go to him, wanting to fix whatever was broken between us.
But I forced myself to turn away. Forced my feet to carry me past him without a word.
"Elara!"
I stopped. Turned.
Celeste jogged up to me, slightly out of breath. "Hey. I've been looking for you."
"Why?"
She fell into step beside me as I headed toward the academic building. "Because I figured you could use a friendly face after... you know."
"After everyone found out I'm the wolfless loser who got rejected by the Alpha heir?" I kept my voice neutral. "Yeah. Subtle, aren't they?"
"They're idiots." Celeste glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. "For what it's worth, half of them are just jealous."
"Jealous of what? Being humiliated?"
"Jealous that Darius even noticed you in the first place." She shrugged. "Most of these girls have been throwing themselves at him for years. The fact that the bond chose you? That's got to drive them crazy."
I didn't know what to say to that. The bond hadn't chosen me. It had cursed me.
We climbed the stairs to the second floor where my first class was supposed to be. Students crowded the hallway, switching books at their lockers, laughing with friends. Normal Academy life.
Except everyone went quiet when they saw me.
The whispers started up again.
"Is that really her?"
"She doesn't even look like much."
"What did Darius see in her?"
"He didn't see anything. That's why he rejected her."
Celeste tensed beside me. "Ignore them."
"I am."
But it was harder than I wanted to admit. Every word felt like a tiny knife, slicing deeper than the last. I'd spent my whole life being invisible, being overlooked. Now I was the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.
We reached my classroom, and Celeste squeezed my shoulder. "You're stronger than this. Don't let them break you."
"I won't," I said.
But even as I said it, I wondered if I was lying.
The morning dragged. Every class was the same. Stares. Whispers. Professors who pretended not to notice but definitely did. I sat in the back, kept my head down, and counted the minutes until I could escape.
Lunch was going to be a nightmare.
I considered skipping it entirely, but my wolf was restless and hungry, and I needed to eat if I was going to survive the afternoon. So I made my way to the dining hall, bracing myself for round two.
The noise hit me first. Hundreds of voices echoing off the high ceilings, silverware clattering, chairs scraping. I grabbed a tray and loaded it with food I probably wouldn't eat, then scanned the room for somewhere safe to sit.
Celeste waved from a table near the windows. Alone, thank god.
I wove through the crowd, ignoring the looks, and dropped into the seat across from her.
"Survived the morning?" she asked.
"Barely."
She pushed a bottle of water toward me. "It'll get better. Give it a few days. They'll find someone else to talk about."
"Or Darius will do something else humiliating and they'll never shut up."
Celeste winced. "Fair point."
I picked at my food, not really tasting it. Across the room, I could see Darius at the Alpha table, the blonde still glued to his side. She laughed at something he said, touching his arm, leaning in close.
The bond twisted painfully.
My wolf growled.
"Stop looking at him," Celeste said gently.
"I'm not."
"You are. And it's only going to make it worse."
She was right. I forced my eyes away, focusing on my tray instead. But I could still feel him. The bond hummed between us like a live wire, impossible to ignore no matter how hard I tried.
"Strength is my only answer," I muttered.
"What?"
I looked up at Celeste. "Strength. That's all I've got. If I let this break me, I'll never survive here."
She studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Then don't let it break you."
"I don't plan to."
But even as I said it, I felt the weight of every stare, every whisper, every cruel word pressing down on me. How long could I keep pretending it didn't hurt?
After lunch, I had a free period. Most students used it to study or hang out in the common areas, but I needed air. Space. Somewhere I could breathe without feeling like the walls were closing in.
I headed outside, following a path that led away from the main buildings toward the forest edge. The campus backed up against miles of protected wilderness, and students were allowed to walk the perimeter trails as long as they didn't go too deep.
The trees provided cover. Shade. Privacy.
I found a bench near a small clearing and sat down, letting the quiet settle over me. My wolf stretched inside my mind, testing her boundaries, getting used to existing.
Can we run? she asked.
Not yet. We haven't shifted.
When?
I don't know.
She huffed, frustrated. I didn't blame her. I was frustrated too.
The sound of footsteps on gravel made me tense.
I turned, half expecting to see Celeste or some nosy student who'd followed me. But the figure emerging from the tree line wasn't someone I recognized.
He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Dark hair fell across his forehead in calculated disarray, and his smile was sharp enough to cut. He wore the Academy uniform, but something about the way he carried himself screamed danger.
My wolf perked up, wary.
He leaned against a pillar near the trail entrance, arms crossed, watching me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.
"You're Elara Bennett," he said. Not a question.
"And you are?"
His smile widened. "Gideon Wicke. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I'm guessing you've had enough false pleasantries for one day."
I stood slowly, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "If you're here to gawk at the rejected mate, you're late. Everyone else already got their fill this morning."
"Actually, I'm here because I think you're interesting."
"Interesting." I repeated the word like it tasted bad. "Right."
He pushed off the pillar and walked closer. Not threatening, exactly, but deliberate. Like he knew exactly how much space to take up to make me notice.
"You stood up to Darius," he said. "Twice, from what I heard. Once in the courtyard when you first arrived, and again last night when he dragged you outside."
"Word travels fast."
"Always does when it involves the Alpha heir." Gideon stopped a few feet away, still smiling that sharp, dangerous smile. "Most people would have rolled over and shown their throat. But you didn't."
"Is there a point to this conversation?"
"Just making an observation." He tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve. "You're not what I expected."
"And what did you expect?"
"Someone broken. Someone weak." His eyes glinted. "But you're not, are you? You're angry."
My wolf bristled. He was too perceptive. Too aware.
"I don't have time for this," I said, moving to walk past him.
He stepped into my path.
Not blocking me, exactly. Just... there. Close enough that I could smell the faint scent of pine and something darker. Close enough that my wolf sat up and paid attention.
"What if I told you," Gideon said softly, "that Darius isn't the only wolf at this Academy worth knowing?"
"I'd say I'm not interested in knowing any wolves right now."
"Not even one who could make him regret what he did to you?"
That made me pause.
Gideon's smile turned smug, like he knew he'd caught my interest. "Darius Fenrir thinks he's untouchable. The future Alpha. The golden boy. Everyone bows to him, scared of what he might do if they don't."
"And you're different?"
"I'm not scared of him." Gideon leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to something almost conspiratorial. "And I don't think you are either."
He was right. I wasn't scared of Darius. I was hurt. Angry. Humiliated.
But not scared.
Gideon straightened, his expression shifting to something almost friendly. "Look, I know you've had a rough couple of days. I'm not trying to add to that. I just think you could use an ally. Someone who isn't going to pity you or treat you like you're made of glass."
"And you're volunteering?"
"I'm offering."
I should have walked away. Should have told him to leave me alone and gone back to my dorm. But there was something about the way he looked at me. Like I was a person, not a mistake. Like I mattered.
It had been a long time since anyone looked at me that way.
Gideon extended his hand toward me, palm up. An invitation, not a demand.
"Walk with me, Elara," he said, his smirk softening into something almost genuine.
My wolf growled a warning.
But I looked at his hand, then at his face, and wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was exactly what I needed right now.
An ally.
Or a distraction.
Or something far more dangerous than I realized.