RONAN

    Since childhood, I’d never truly known what desire was. Anything my eyes lingered on, my father would ce at my feet. From gilded toys to brand–new cars, everything I could ever want was always waiting within reach.

    When I came of age he began lining women up in my room, noble–born Alpha daughters, alluring Omegas with wless smiles. Yet stripped bare, they were all the same just flesh and bone, with no spark behind their

    eyes.

    None of them stirred me. The rut was never as agonizing as watching those women throw themselves at me, each one predictable in her intentions, either chasing Luna’s title or desperate to be knocked up, hoping to w their way higher in the pack hierarchy.

    It was all so painfully transparent. Irritating, even. In twenty–four years of life, I had never met a woman who

    could hold my attention, much less someone I’d want to call my iprincess/i.

    Until I met her.

    “You have won, princess.”

    She was the one that made me taste what an actual desire was. The one I had been craving from the moment I saw her.

    The melodious rhythm of her heartbeat was the sweetest sound I had ever heard. Her wolf abruptly pulled in by Verkas was motionless in front of him, but did not get violent when we actually crossed the line that she had drawn between us. Instead her wolf let Verkas stay.

    Surprised or perhaps even caught off guard by her own reaction toward me, Seraphina averted her gaze and stood up before I could glimpse her reaction even more.

    My fingers itched to tilt her chin toward me, to crush my lips against hers, to taste the defiance thatced her very being. Instead, I strangled that impulse the moment it bloomed in my mind.

    “REED!” Cassius bellowed, sprinting to his best friend’s side. He dropped to his knees, gripping Reed’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Open your eyes!” His voice cracked with panic as he shook him, but Reedy limp and unresponsive.

    Every Alpha present had their gaze locked on Seraphina. Some conflicted, few hesitant, and most wary. Except Finn iand /iAsher iwho /ihad been handsomely smiling at her.

    From the corner of my ieyes/i, I saw her smiling‘ back at them. And Ryker…he had a slight smirk ying on his lips and Seraphina’s eyes had been flicked in his direction a few times. Verkas slowly growled inside me.

    “Yay! Seth Darven won!” iGrace’s /icheer shattered the tense silence among the Alphas, her voice ringing with triumph in the charged air.

    Alpha Jude allowed the faintest flicker of a smile before schooling his expression.

    “Hmmm? Is fun already over?” Healer Aran came in the clearingzily with his hands into his pants.

    “You arete,” Alpha Jude groaned.

    “You should have requested my appearance earlier, before this fun started,” Aran chuckled, looking between me and Seraphina for a moment fonger before he squatted down.

    “Both hands and legs are broken,” he sighed, touching and unconscious Reed’s limbs and looked up at Seraphina, “you increased my work load,” he smirked.

    Alpha Jude stepped forward and announced, “This challenge ends here Alpha Seth is the victor, and Alpha Reed is hereby expelled from the Lupine Academy”

    Chapter 138 Friends?

    The shocked murmure of the Alphas filled the clearing.

    “No! That’s not fair!” Cassius roared, “It wasn’t an official trial! This expulsion ispletely…”

    “Alpha Reed epted the challenge fully aware of the conditions and consequences,” Alpha Jude interrupted smoothly, his tone cutting through Cassius’s protest. “He was the one who started this nonsense, mocking another Alpha’s appearance and physique. He wanted to prove his strength because he boasted about his…rge dick, but in the end, he was humiliated by the Alpha he dismissed as weak simply because he had a face too beautiful for a man,” Alpha Jude’s voice hardened as he stepped forward. “The Lupine Academy stands for fairness and justice. By those principles, Alpha Reed is expelled immediately.”

    Cassius’s face paled as panic gripped him. He shot to his feet abruptly. “Reed made a mistake, Alpha Jude! He was just iying /iwith Seth. We’re all friends-”

    I couldn’t help but scoff at his attempt tobel Seraphina as their friend.

    “A mere challenge between friends should not be grounds for expulsion! And I believe you ican /istop this, since it wasn’t an official trial,” Cassius pressed, his voice tinged with desperation.

    “It was between Reed and Seth, Alpha Cassius,” Asher cut in, his tone like a de. “Alpha Jude is simply announcing the result as the supervising instructor. Official trial or not, the fight was real and both iReed /iand Seth epted the terms without objection. If there’s anyone with a say in the matter nowi, /iit’s Seth alone.”

    Cassius‘ frown deepened, but Alpha Jude gave a slow, deliberate nod.

    “Since Reed has been defeated, beaten, humiliated, and left unconscious by Seth Darven,” Finn added, his voice measured yet grave with meaning, “he is in no position to decide anything. The choice lies solely with Seth Darven.”

    Cassius‘ jaw clenched so hard it looked as if the bone might snap. Other than him no one dared to speak for Reed. He was not getting any support from the others who had been cheering and sneering earlier. His fists trembled at his sides, knuckles whitening, and after a tense pause, he turned to face Seraphina.

    “Hey, Seth…you know how Reed is,” he began, his voice carefully measured, forced into a false calm as he swallowed his pride. “He was just ying with you, man. He didn’t intend to hurt you or kill you. Don’t let this get out of hand between friends.”

    A low, humorless chuckle escaped me, dark and sharp enough to cut through the air. “Friends?” I echoed, my lip curling. “How about iyou /idrop the act before I rip that lying tongue right out of your mouth?” I growled, the threat rolling off me ilike /ithunder.

    Cassius instinctively took a step back, his shaking gaze darting away from mine.

    Keeping myposure was already a battle. Only I knew how close I’d been to letting Verkas break free the moment Alpha Jude had touched her chin, his face hovering far too close to hers. If his hand had strayed lower, like he had done to Reed and checked his dick. I wouldn’t have just lost my control and might have attacked him.

    Still none of this would even exist if these parasites hadn’t set their sights on Seraphina from the very first day They’d been circling her like vultures, and now it had to end. Here, in front of everyone. Reed would be kicked out and there would be no one bothering her. For her sake and to silence the restless fury of my wolf. Because if I didn’t end this now, I knew sooner orter, I’d end up killing them.

    “Please, Seth!” Cassius pleaded Until suddenly his hand shot out, gripping hers.

    Verkas roared in my head the moment bI /bsaw their hands touch. Break it Rip it off. Do it now. My neck strained, veins throbbing, every muscle in my body screaming to shatter his bones But if I did, people would notice something was different between us Even worse, she might hate me for it.

    She was already ignoring me. She had eaten the meat I grilled for her but that did not mean she forgave me. If I acted in this moment, she might do something worse than ignoring me.

    Chapter 138 Friends?

    But why the hell wasn’t she pushing his hand away?

    “Don’t let Reed be expelledi,/i” Cassius begged again, desperation leaking into every word. “Please, Sethi,” /ihe said a second time, almost groveling now.

    Seraphina was silent for a beat before finally saying, “Okay.”

    bAuthor’s /bbnote/b:

    Hello, beautiful readers,

    There are a few things I want to share with you all.

    –

    First This book will update with one chapter daily until it’s finished. Some days, if possible, I may post two. Please remember, I have a life outside of writing–that is my everything. I get sick, I travel, I get bored, and sometimes I just want to run away to a ce where no one lives. In short, I’m human, just like you. (This will be first andst time I tell the update schedule)

    Second I can’t tell you how many chapters this story will have or exactly when it will end. What I can promise is that it will be a long ride. If you’d rather binge theplete book, feel free toe back once it’s finished.

    But today for all my beloved readers I am doing two updates. Don’t forget to leave yourments.

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