Page 7 of The Forbidden Alpha

“You look like you didn’t sleep,” Trent noted. Before I could snap back, the heavy iron bells of the cathedral tower rang out. As if this place needed help with the Gothic vibe.

“Torture o’clock,” Mavy chirped, hooking her arm through mine.

The air grew thin as we walked past the oak doors of the Sciences wing. Shane came into view, leaning against the stone walls. He was flanked by his usual shadows: Liam at his left, blond and deceptively calm. He nodded. To his right was Devin, a wall of muscle and barely contained violence, already the enforcer he was born to be.

Shane didn’t look at his friends. Obsidian tracked me.

He handed Mavy her bag, his focus darting to her with a rare flash of softness. “Thank you, brother,” she said, kissing his cheek. I felt a familiar shudder crawl down my spine. Their closeness was a beautiful, twisted thing I couldn’t understand. Even when my sister lived, we never got along. He’d changed into his uniform—shirt untucked and tie missing—with black silk beneath his charcoal blazer to set him apart as a Prince.

Mavy disappeared into the first door, but as I tried to follow, Shane’s hand shot out, slamming against the doorframe. He didn’t move. He just stood there, blocking the way, his head tilting as he caught my scent. He leaned down until his face was inches away from mine. My lashes fluttered as I pretended his cedar and sandalwood scent didn’t just beckon, but repelled me.

“What were you doing in the woods, Ady?” His voice was low, meant only for me. His friends watched in silence that felt heavy with expectation.

He leaned in closer, his nose brushing the shell of my ear. “You should be more careful, Princess. Not everyone would just watch from the shadows while you stood there naked. Did you think the trees would hide you as you changed into your uniform? Or were you hoping someone would see?”

My blood ran cold. He had seen me. He had watched me strip off my clothes and stand vulnerable in the creek.

“I was running,” I whispered, refusing to look at him. It was eerie how he knew where I’d been. He got his answer, but didn’t remove his hand.

“I didn’t…”

“Run faster next time.” He finally pulled his hand back.

I sputtered a response, but he’d already decided he was done with me. I was left glaring at his back as he disappeared into the lecture hall.

Right, I’d do that just so he could have more time to torment me.

I scoffed as I followed him into the lecture hall. The atmosphere in here was even worse. Elites were from ranked families. Put them into a room and there was a hierarchy even here with Shane at the top. Assigned seats meant there was nowhere for me to run, trapped between the window to my left and Shane to my right. I put my bag on the table before taking my seat and staring outside. The biting chill of the morning seeped through the glass—a welcoming distraction from the suffocating heat radiating from the seat beside me. The desk was the same unforgiving obsidian as the gates and cold enough to make my bones ache.

“Are you avoiding me, Ady?” he whispered the nickname, his voice was hypnotic.

“I didn’t know you were someone who owned my attention, Shane.”

He chuckled, a low sound that made me the punchline of a joke I hadn’t heard yet.

“And stop calling me that. Only friends can call me Ady.”

“Are you excited to be leaving Half Moon?” He ignored me and didn’t wait for an answer. I flinched as his fingers brushed a stray lock from my face, his touch lingering on the sensitive skin behind my ear. No matter how many times he touched me, I couldn’t get used to it. My eyes darted to the first row of seats where Mavy sat. The Mating Festival. The words hung in the air, a death sentence I wasn’t ready to serve. The one thing I begged the Goddess for was freedom. I’d do anything to leave Half Moon Kingdom. Permanently. Not for some forced archaic mating ritual.

“When it comes to your sister, I don’t have a choice,” I murmured. My shoulders tensed—at the audacity and the possibility someone might see.

His chest rumbled with a low, predatory chuckle. I went rigid as his finger traced a slow, possessive line down the column of my neck. I shuddered as goosebumps broke out along my skin from the weight of his attention.

He leaned in, his breath tickling my skin. “You smell like the forest. Like something that needs to be hunted.”

I pulled away, catching Beka’s lethal glare from across the aisle as my temple pressed against the cool glass of the window. If looks could kill, I’d be a splash of blood and bone on the Academy floor. Her cloying floral scent reaching out to stab me. It didn’t belong in the woods, but in a glass bottle on a vanity. My ears warmed at the hushed whispers behind me.

“Let’s talk after the last bell,” he murmured.

“I’m going home with Mavy.”

“I only need a few minutes, Princess. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

Only after I gave a stiff nod did he finally retreat, leaning back with a look of smug satisfaction. He stretched his legs out beneath the table as the professor came in.

***

Later in the Great Hall, I walked away from the salad bar with my free plate. Everything down to the food I ate was a gift.