LOGINElara's POVI found Ravin after class and pulled him aside before he could disappear anywhere, steering him into a quieter corner of the corridor where nobody was going to walk into the middle of what I had to say. He followed without asking questions, which told me he already had some idea of what was coming."You could have just told me," I said, keeping my voice low but making sure he understood I was not calm about this. "About the bloodline. About why you and Lyris were so comfortable with each other. If you had just said something from the beginning I would have had zero reason to be upset about any of it."Ravin looked at me with that steady expression he had, the one that never gave too much away, that particular patience he got when he was listening properly and had decided not to interrupt until I was done."I didn't think it was necessary," he said."You didn't think it was necessary," I repeated. "Ravin, I spent days watching the two of you smiling at each other in class
Lyris POV "I know part of the reason you've been giving me a hard time lately is because of Ravin."I said it directly, watching her face as it landed. Not accusatory, not confrontational, just honest. She deserved that much and I wasn't going to waste her time or mine by tiptoeing around the obvious.She didn't deny it. Something shifted behind her eyes but she stayed quiet, which told me she was listening properly, taking it in rather than preparing a defence."I'm not going to tell you you're wrong for feeling that way," I continued, keeping my voice even. "But I want you to understand why Ravin and I got close, because you deserve the actual reason and not whatever you've been sitting with in your head."She was watching me carefully now, that particular stillness she got when something mattered enough to actually pay attention to, when she had decided to hear something out rather than dismiss it. I could see her holding herself still, making space for what was coming."We share
Elara's POVI was sitting at my desk during lunch with my books open in front of me, doing a very convincing impression of someone actually reading them. The classroom was mostly empty, people drifting off to the dining hall or outside to make the most of the break, and I was enjoying the rare quiet of it, the kind that didn't happen often in a building full of people, when I felt it.Warmth behind me. Then lips on the side of my neck, slow and deliberate, like there was nowhere more important to be right now.I didn't jump, which I was proud of, i also didn't immediately pull away, which I was slightly less proud of but completely unsurprised by."I miss you," Ravin said, his voice low near my ear, and I could feel him smiling against my skin which was genuinely unfair given that we were in a school and I was supposed to be reading and there were other people in this building even if they weren't in this particular room right now."You literally saw me this morning.""That was hours
Elara's POV"Can we talk? Just for a moment."Lyris was standing directly in my path, that direct gaze of hers leaving very little room for pretending I hadn't noticed her. Which I did and clearly she noticed me too."I'm on my way to dinner," I said, keeping my voice somewhere between neutral and polite, "we can talk later.""Please." Something genuine came through in how she said it, not dramatic, just honest, the kind of please that meant exactly what it sounded like and wasn't asking for more than a moment.I was still deciding how to respond, running through the options in my head, when Freya stepped in beside me like she had been standing there the whole time waiting for exactly this moment, perfectly timed and completely unbothered about it."She'll catch you after dinner." Freya's tone was pleasant but final, the kind that didn't leave room for negotiation or follow-up questions. "We're heading down now."Lyris looked between us for a second and then nodded, stepping aside wit
Elara's POVFreya came back to the dorm with a different energy about her.I noticed it the moment she walked through the door, that particular glow that had nothing to do with the time of day or how much sleep she had gotten, that specific kind of quiet happiness that settled on a person after something significant had happened and they hadn't fully processed it yet. She looked lighter somehow, like something she had been carrying had been set down somewhere and she hadn't picked it back up yet. Even the way she moved into the room was different, slower, more settled in herself, like she was still somewhere in her head replaying whatever had just happened and didn't mind being there.She dropped her bag on the floor, sat down on her bed, looked at me directly, and said it plainly."I just had sex with Rory."I smiled.Freya looked at my smile. Then she looked at it more carefully, studying it the way she studied things when she was trying to work something out, reading it for what i
Freya's POV Rory met me outside the classroom with that easy calm he always had and said he had somewhere specific in mind, and I followed him without asking too many questions because that was the kind of trust that had built up between us without either of us deciding it should. We moved through the school corridors together and I noticed people noticing us, that particular awareness of being seen with someone that I had stopped being self-conscious about.When he stopped in front of Mr. Logan's office and produced a key I looked at him."Why are we in a teacher's office?"He unlocked the door and pushed it open, glancing back at me with that look he had, the one that was slightly amused and completely unbothered."It's not school hours and Mr. Logan isn't here, he keeps a spare set of keys with me because I'm a house captain, for situations where the sports equipment needs accessing or the facilities need to be opened up, he trusts me with it."I looked at the open door and then
Elara's POVI noticed him during second period.He was sitting three rows ahead of me and two seats to the left, not doing anything particularly noticeable. Just sitting there, head slightly angled toward the front of the class, pen moving across his notebook. But there was something about the way
Ravin's POVI told myself I was gathering information.That was what I called it the first night I stood in the treeline beyond the academy fence and watched the students move between buildings. I came back the second night. And the third.By the fourth I had her routine mapped. She left the dormit
Elara's POVI heard them before the bus doors even opened.The moment I stepped off at Draven Wolf Academy the noise changed, dropping into something lower and more pointed. Students who had stayed behind were gathered near the entrance and every single one of them was looking at me.I kept walking
Ravin's POVThe pull hit me without warning, right in the middle of watching two of my warriors settle a dispute on the training ground.My hand was at my chest before I understood why, and my wolf went completely still inside me, the way it only did when something had its full attention. I had fel







