Oscar:
I remained sitting with the dust of the arena thick in my lungs, but it wasn’t the fall that stole my breath... it was her.
Evaline Greystone.
The girl whose face had been etched into a corner of my mind I didn’t dare acknowledge. The girl I had only seen once, barely for a few minutes, and yet her eyes had haunted me since.
And now, she was here. In my arena. In my world. And she had just defeated me in front of dozens of people.
I should have been angry.
I should have launched to my feet and demanded an explanation - who let her in, why she was here, what she wanted. She wasn’t just anyone. She was his daughter.
The daughter of the man who killed my parents, brought my pack to ruin. Who orchestrated the attack that nearly cost me and my brothers our lives. Her father’s blood soaked the memories of our past, the same blood that ran through her veins.
I was unable to remove my gaze from her retreating figure.
She walked off with her head held high, spine straight, dark hair flowing freely behind her like a banner in the wind.
She was unlike anything from our first encounter. It wasn’t just her appearance that had changed, but even her persona. She had power in her step. Confidence.
She didn’t spare me a single glance, but I was still staring at her like I had just seen a ghost... or a storm.
The air felt strange. It was charged and heavy. My heart was pounding against my ribs like it was trying to break free. My wolf was restless, pacing inside me, agitated.
No. Not agitated, but awake.
That pull, I felt it again. The one I had experienced the first time I laid eyes on her. Though it wasn’t as strong as back then, I still recognized that familiar flicker of something I couldn’t understand. It was like gravity shifting under my feet, like my instincts were being rewired around her.
I had ignored it back then. Had refused to believe it.
I told myself it was irritation, disdain, a sense of danger that came with her presence. After all, she was a Greystone.
But now?
Now I wasn’t so sure.
Everything in me buzzed with a sensation I couldn’t name.
Desire? Recognition? Bond?
No. That was impossible.
Or was it?
I rose to my feet slowly, brushing dust off my shoulders while still staring at the space where she had stood. The instructors were speaking now, but their voices were a background murmur I couldn’t bring myself to focus on.
But then I saw him... Kieran.
He was standing near the edge of the arena with his arms folded and an unreadable expression on his face.
But I knew him too well.
There was a tension in his jaw, a flicker of something behind his calm eyes.
He had known.
He had helped her.
My stomach twisted at the realization.
Kieran, my brother, my blood - he allowed her to face me without revealing who she was. He stood there while she fought me, while the entire arean watched, knowing exactly who she was.
What the hell was he thinking?
Heat bloomed beneath my skin. I marched toward him, clenching my fists at my sides and ignoring the glances thrown my way.
He saw me coming, but didn’t move,
"Kieran," I said in a low and sharp voice, "how long?"
He didn’t pretend not to understand. But his answer wasn’t one I was expecting to hear.
"Since the very beginning."
I stared at him. Stunned. Confused.
What did he mean by from the very beginning? Was it from when she applied for entrance exam?
"Why didn’t you tell me?" I demanded, trying to hold the anger off my voice.
He let out a small sigh before speaking, "You saw her fight. She earned that win. She’s now a student at Silver Moon."
"She’s his daughter," I hissed, almost loosing my control. "Have you forgotten what her family did to us? What they cost us?"
"I haven’t forgotten," he said in a voice that was still maddeningly calm. "But neither have I forgotten that sins of the father don’t always belong to the child."
I shook my head. I was breathing hard at this point. I turned away before I could say something I would regret. My mind was a storm of disbelief and confusion.
Evaline Greystone.
The one girl I had sworn to hate. The one person who should have never been allowed to cross the Academy threshold. And yet, here she was, not only standing among us but rising through the ranks.
I hated her for that.
I hated her for the way she looked at me like I was just another opponent. For the way her eyes burned with that same quiet fire that had captivated me the first time we met.
I hated the way my body had reacted to her.
And most of all, I hated the fact that deep down, beneath the rage and betrayal, was a part of me that wasn’t mad about her winning.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I walked through the corridors of the Academy, ignoring everyone and everything but the thoughts of her.
I slammed the door to my office behind me and leaned back against it, exhaling hard.
That moment in the ring kept replaying again and again in my mind - her standing over me, victorious. Her voice, soft and confident.
"Hello, Alpha Oscar."
It shouldn’t have affected me. It shouldn’t have meant anything. But my wolf had stirred at the sound.
Had recognized her.
Had whispered something I wasn’t ready to hear.
Mate.
No. It couldn’t be.
She was the daughter of our enemy. She was everything I should reject.
And yet...
I could still feel her presence like she had left something behind in the air between us.
A mark.
A claim.
No. I couldn’t afford this weakness.
Not now. Not with everything we had built, everything we had fought for. I had to find out why she was here. What she wanted. And why my instincts were beginning to betray me.