CHAPTER 27: _ ALL FOR HER

Duskwind Academy is a fortress masquerading as a school, and Darien Bellamy is trudging straight into its heart.

He should be in class right now, bored out of his skull and possibly dodging flirtatious notes folded into birds by some overexcited psychic she-wolf with a crush—but instead, he’s on a mission. An unnecessary, annoying, entirely idiotic mission.

For a girl.

"No. A mate." Kairos corrects again.

"Shut up, Kairos," Darien mutters under his breath as he rounds the corner toward the high council wing, brushing past a second-year who flattens himself against the wall like Darien carries plague and status in equal measure.

"If you had defended her, you wouldn’t have had to go through this," Kairos growls in his mind.

Really? So it’s his fault now?!

Darien grits his teeth. "Her uniform was ruined because she pissed Morgan off," he hisses. "She deserved it."

And yet you’re walking through hell to get her a replacement, Kairos sing-songs smugly.

Darien growls audibly this time. The same corridor he’s walked a hundred times feels suffocating now. It’s too bright, too cold, too judgmental. Just like the man he’s about to see.

Headmaster Halric Varrow.

He stops in front of the oak door carved with the Duskwind crest: a rearing wolf crowned by a moon. He resists the urge to roll his eyes. As if the Headmaster needed more help with his ego.

Darien knocks once and waits a moment.

Then a grating voice calls, "Enter."

Darien pushes open the door and steps inside.

The office is annoyingly spotless with shelves on every wall. A fireplace glows gently despite the heat, and in the center of it all, seated at a massive desk, is the Headmaster.

The man looks like a fox that made a deal with the devil and lived to talk about it. He’s got silver hair, always smiling like he knows something damning, and eyes that shines with deceit

"Darien Bellamy," he drawls, setting his pen down. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I thought you had lectures this morning. Have you come bearing urgent news from the Alpha, or perhaps a favor to request?"

Darien forces a polite smile. "I need an extra uniform."

Halric blinks. Then smiles wider. "For yourself? You know, Lord Darien, you need only send word. I’d have it delivered with your lunch."

Darien forces a breath. "It’s not for me."

That gets Halric’s full attention.

"Oh?" he says, voice lifted in interest. "Then... who?"

Darien’s jaw ticks. Don’t say it. Don’t say her name. Say literally anything else.

"It’s for a girl," he mutters.

Smooth.

Halric’s grin deepens like he’s just found the next week’s gossip column.

"Well, well, well. Has one of our refined ladies finally caught Darien Bellamy’s eye?" He waggles his brows. "I had my bets on Evana. Or perhaps Lira, though she’s entangled with your brother, isn’t she?"

A girl who is entangled with another of his brothers... that only only reminds him of her. Why the hell does everything remind him of her?!

Darien’s eyes narrow, and his paranoia takes control, making him snap, "It’s not for a LOVER!"

Halric blinks, startled, and Darien can feel even Kairos smacking his furry forehead. Argh, by the Moon! That Heidi is making him lose his damn mind!

He isn’t even the one who bullied her, and yet, it is he going through all of this.

Darien grimaces, pressing his lips together. "Apologies. That came out... wrong."

The Headmaster’s smile thins mischievously. "Touchy subject, I see."

Darien wants to strangle himself.

"It’s for a low-rank student," he says through clenched teeth. "An Omega. She’s... involved in an investigation."

"Oh?" Halric purrs, sitting slowly. "How curious. I hadn’t heard of any investigations requiring... Omegas."

Darien remains still. The man knows everything that happens in Duskwind. If he hasn’t heard, it’s because Darien and his mother made damn sure he didn’t.

"She’s assisting privately."

Halric drums his fingers against the desk. "I see. Well, who better than you to handle such... sensitive matters. I’ll let my assistant know. You may retrieve the uniform from the east wing storage."

He begins scribbling a note, already reaching for the desk phone

Darien is skeptical. He glances toward the corner of the room where a slender orb floats. It’s an innocuous little surveillance stone, a relic bought from witches. And hell, it probably blabs more than the man himself. He knows how this works. Varrow doesn’t need to send a message. The moment Darien’s footsteps echoed in the corridor, his father probably already knew.

No. This can’t get back to the Alpha. He can’t have Heidi questioned over a damn uniform. His mother can’t know he went through all of this stress for a damn Omega.

Thus, he takes a step forward and bends menacingly over the man’s desk. "I need your silence."

Varrow pauses, squinting his eyes. "I beg your pardon?"

"Don’t play dumb, Varrow. You report everything to my father."

Varrow blinks, then chuckles lightly. "Now, now. That’s a serious accusation, Bellamy."

"I’m serious. This doesn’t go in any report. Not in a letter. Not in a whisper and you’re one of the Alpha’s moles."

Varrow doesn’t flinch. He just raises a brow. "Your father is the Alpha. I serve the pack."

"You spy for him."

"I serve," the man corrects with a grin. "What happens to fall into my ears while I do so... is simply duty."

Darien knots his brows. "Then do your duty... and forget this happened."

The headmaster frowns, smoothing his lapel. "And why, pray tell, should I risk transparency for... a uniform?"

Darien lets his eyes flare, the blue psychic light flickering in them just enough to make the crystal on Varrow’s desk tremble. "Because you know what I can do with just a thought. And I know your secrets are as deep as your flattery."

Darien doesn’t like threatening people. But he’s very, very good at it.

Varrow pales slightly. There it is... that flicker of fear.

"I’m not asking for your loyalty. I’m asking for discretion," Darien finishes, rising from the desk. "Just this once."

After a deathly silence, "Very well. Consider it a sealed request." the man clicks a small bell, summoning a red-haired assistant from the adjacent room.

"Escort Darien Bellamy to uniform storage. He’s collecting something."

With that, Darien nods once, turns on his heel, and follows the assistant without another word.

He’s out of the office before realizing what he’s just done – challenging Headmaster Halric Varrow because... Darien shuts his lids, unable to even consider the heights of his stupidity...

... all that because of a pesky little Omega called Heidi. Oh, he’s going to be the death of her.