CHAPTER 285: PHEROMONES SPIKE

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Chapter 285

~Valerie’s POV~

Something was wrong with me.

This morning I seemed fine, but right now at noon, I wasn’t. I had been feeling hot since morning, and although my temperature wasn’t high outwardly, it was elevated internally.

And with it came the unbearable need to be touched. Tsk.

I leaned against the cool tiles of the hallway wall, one hand pressed against my fluttering stomach.

My pulse had been erratic ever since that class—something about a stupid alchemy potion one of the students spilt during enchantment review. The professor said it wasn’t harmful.

"Low-grade diluted pheromone enhancer," she’d muttered like it was nothing. "Barely active in wolves, let alone hybrids."

Yeah, tell that to my body.

My skin tingled, hypersensitive. Every brush of my clothes felt like friction against raw nerves—heat pulsed in waves from somewhere deep inside me, like a molten knot coiled tightly in my belly.

"Astra," I whispered mentally.

My wolf’s voice came slowly, strained. "I’m trying, Valerie. But it’s... gods, it’s stronger than before."

I swallowed. "What is?" I asked her, unsure if I wanted to hear this.

"The matebond." Her voice dropped into a growl. "Valerie, we need them. You need them, V. I can’t suppress this much longer."

I shook my head, trying to clear the haze forming in my thoughts. Maybe I just needed food.

Something salty, cold water, and distance.

So I took the longer hallway toward the cafeteria, deliberately choosing the time when most students were in transition between classes.

I figured the Alphas wouldn’t be there yet—they usually walked in like a storm together, later.

But the moment I stepped inside, I knew I’d miscalculated.

The familiar spicy musk of my mates’ scents punched through the air like a physical slap. Xade was laughing low at something Axel said.

Ash had his feet kicked up like a prince surveying his land. Dristan sat at the edge of the table, back half-turned, silent but far too still.

And Kai. Kai’s eyes locked on me the moment I stepped in. His grip on the water bottle in his hand tightened, the plastic creaking quietly.

I held my breath and turned toward the food line. Play it cool, Val.

It wasn’t like I could just waltz in towards them and ask them to make me cum or fuck me.

No.

My tray barely had anything on it before I was walking away, aiming for the farthest table I could find near a window. Somewhere neutral.

But that’s when it happened.

I felt it before I smelled it—my scent shifting into something richer and sharper. The primal notes of my heart spiralling through the air like tendrils. I froze.

Every Alpha in the room snapped to attention.

A few had their eyes glowing faintly. Chairs scraped back.

A few wolves near me subtly edged away, noses twitching as they caught the scent.

I clutched the tray tighter and sat down slowly, hoping to ride it out.

But then, a deep, low growl emanated from his chest, so deep that it vibrated through the floor. The entire room hushed. His gaze swept over the other wolves like a warning shot.

Every single male who had been looking at me instantly looked away.

Dristan’s possessiveness rolled through the space like a tidal wave.

Immediately, everyone muted, and the cafeteria became as silent as a graveyard. Even Kai looked shocked by Dristan’s reaction, and I could swear he wasn’t expecting it too much.

"Dristan, control," Kai voiced as he tried to

But after a second, he clenched his jaw, grabbed his phone, and turned, walking out without saying a word.

Kai stayed.

His gaze didn’t leave me. His wolf was close to the surface; I could see it in the way his fingers tapped restlessly on the table, the way his jaw flexed with restrained tension.

I looked away first.

Pushing to my feet, I picked up my tray and headed toward the exit. I needed out. Now.

But I barely made it around the corner of the hallway before I felt the presence behind me.

"Kai—"

"Don’t run from me, Valerie."

His voice was deep, a bit rough and different.

I turned to face him, but before I could say a word, his hands were on my waist, pulling me back against the wall. The tray clattered to the floor.

I sucked in a breath. His scent was everywhere—wrapped around me like silk, invading my lungs, my thoughts.

His eyes searched mine, stormy and confused.

"I’ve been trying to hold it back," Kai said hoarsely. "But when you walked in... when I smelled you... it was like everything else disappeared."

Kai’s hand cupped my cheek, and I trembled under the weight of the moment. Then he kissed me so hard, I could feel all of the desperation coming off from him like he’d been starving for years and only just found food.

Heat burst beneath my skin, the bond flaring to life with a snap I felt in my bones.

My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer instinctively. Kai’s kiss was wild, barely tethered to control, lips parting mine, tongue sweeping over mine like he needed to claim every inch of me.

And I... I let him.

Because in that moment, I wanted to be claimed. I wanted to feel what my wolf had been aching for.

I felt it just as deeply as Kai did. He was the balm I needed, the soothing cold drink that would ease this heat.

I wanted him.

The more Kai kissed me, the more energy I felt Astra was getting as she woke up, ready to surge to the surface.

But before it could go further, he pulled away, panting, eyes flickering red.

"I’m sorry," he murmured. "But... we can’t do this here."

I nodded wordlessly, lips tingling, heart racing.

"If I continue, Valerie, I’ll take you here in the corridor. I–I..." he sniffled. "I want to make love to you. I want to be inside you and have all of you."

Kai stepped back slowly, dragging his eyes over me one last time before he turned and hurriedly left, stopping himself before he could do something crazy.

I was still catching my breath, fingers pressed to my lips, when Astra whispered in my mind.

"That was only the beginning."