The alpha's bride

Chapter 13

The morning after the vision, I woke to the heavy stillness of the dorm. My head throbbed, not from a hangover, but from the weight of images that clung to me like smoke after a fire. They hadn’t left me alone all night. Shadows sliding across the walls. Blood spilled where it shouldn’t have been. Faces twisted with fear and betrayal. Even when I forced my eyes open, I could still feel it—the sense that something in this place was ready to break.

I lay there for a long moment, staring at the ceiling, listening to the low hum of voices drifting down the hall. My fingers clenched the blanket. I could hear Dastien’s voice in my mind, steady and grounding, the way he’d whispered that I wasn’t alone. But the truth was, I felt completely alone.

A soft knock came at the door.

Before I could answer, it opened. Rosalyn leaned against the frame, dressed to perfection in skinny jeans and a blood-red top that clung like a second skin. Her eyes glittered with a mix of curiosity and malice.

“Morning, sunshine.” Her tone was sweet enough to rot teeth. “Rough night?”

I sat up slowly. “What do you want, Rosalyn?”

She smiled, that smug little curl of her lips that always made me itch to slap it off her face. “Oh, nothing. Just checking in on the freak girl. Word spreads fast, you know. People are saying you had some kind of… meltdown.”

My stomach tightened. “People?”

“The pack.” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger, clearly enjoying every second of this. “They don’t exactly trust you. And honestly? I can’t blame them. You show up here, stealing attention that doesn’t belong to you, and now you’re seeing things. Dangerous things.”

I got out of bed, letting my bare feet hit the cool floor. “Careful, Rosalyn. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I know exactly what I’m talking about.” She leaned closer, her perfume a sharp floral cloud between us. “You don’t belong here. Dastien might be too blind to see it, but I do. You’re not one of us, and you never will be.”

Something hot flared in my chest, part anger, part bond. The mention of Dastien’s name was enough to make my pulse spike. He wasn’t hers. He never would be.

Before I could answer, a deeper voice cut through the tension.

“Rosalyn.”

Dastien filled the doorway, his presence thick and commanding. His eyes burned golden, locking on Rosalyn with a quiet warning.

She straightened immediately, her confidence flickering. “I was just—”

“Leaving.” His tone brooked no argument.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she smirked as she brushed past him. “This isn’t over.”

The door shut behind her. Silence stretched, heavy and intimate.

I crossed my arms, trying to hold myself together, but when I looked at him, the fight drained out of me. “She’s not wrong. I don’t belong here.”

Dastien stepped closer, slow, deliberate. “Stop saying that.”

“You don’t get it. I saw something last night. Something bad. And if it comes true—”

He reached me in two strides, his hands warm as they gripped my shoulders. “Then we deal with it together. You’re not carrying this alone, Tessa.”

The way he said my name—it was a tether. A promise. And it undid me.

I tried to look away, but his touch pulled me back. His thumb brushed along my collarbone, barely grazing skin, and it was enough to make my knees weaken. The bond between us roared like wildfire, hungry and demanding.

“Dastien…” My voice cracked, raw with need and fear.

He leaned down, his forehead pressing against mine. “I can’t stay away from you. I’ve tried. God, I’ve tried.”

The heat in his words spread through me, sinking deep. Every inch of me wanted to give in, to close the distance, to let the mate bond pull us under. But I still tasted the metallic tang of my vision, the warning etched into my bones.

“If we do this…” I whispered. “If I let this happen, there’s no going back.”

His lips hovered over mine, close enough that I could feel his breath. “Then don’t go back. Just… be here. With me.”

My resolve cracked. My hands slid up his chest, feeling the solid heat of him, the way his heart hammered as hard as mine. Our lips brushed, just barely, and the world tilted.

Then a knock shattered it. Loud. Jarring.

We pulled apart, both of us breathing hard.

“Open up!” It was Lucas, one of the older pack members. His voice was tense. “We’ve got a problem.”

Dastien cursed under his breath and opened the door. Lucas’s expression was grim, eyes darting between us before landing on me.

“There’s been another attack. The Elders want everyone in the hall. Now.”

My stomach sank. Attack. The word alone was enough to drag the cold edge of fear back into me.

Dastien looked at me, silent question in his eyes.

I nodded. “I’m coming.”

We followed Lucas down the corridor. Students gathered in clusters, voices low and anxious. The hall was buzzing with unease, the kind that settled under your skin and refused to leave.

At the front, Elder Anne stood tall, her silver-streaked hair pulled back tight. Her gaze swept the crowd like a blade.

“Last night,” she began, her voice carrying, “a scouting party encountered vampires along the border. Two of ours were injured. The vampires retreated, but this is not the first time. They’re testing us.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I caught Rosalyn’s smirk from across the room. She wanted me rattled. She wanted everyone to see me as weak.

Elder Anne raised her hand for silence. “We cannot afford division. Every wolf must be united. Which means every wolf must be trusted.” Her eyes landed squarely on me.

My throat tightened. She knew. Somehow, she knew about the vision.

“McCaide,” Anne said. “Step forward.”

The crowd parted as I moved to the front, heat crawling up my neck.

“You’ve seen something,” she said, her tone sharp but not unkind. “Tell us.”

Dozens of eyes pinned me in place. I wanted to curl in on myself, to vanish, but I forced the words out. “I saw blood. Inside these walls. Someone betraying us. Someone we trust.”

Gasps echoed. Rosalyn’s smile widened.

Elder Anne studied me, unreadable. “Visions are not certainties. They are warnings. But we will take this seriously. For now, you stay close to your bond. If danger comes, it will find him too.”

Her gaze flicked to Dastien, and something unspoken passed between them.

Dismissed, I turned back into the crowd. Whispers followed me, heavy as chains. Freak. Liar. Curse.

I kept my chin up, but inside, I was unraveling.

Dastien was at my side in an instant, his arm brushing mine, subtle but grounding. “Don’t listen to them. You’re stronger than they know.”

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to lean into the bond until it swallowed me whole. But all I could see was blood. All I could feel was the inevitability of what was coming.

That night, sleep refused me. I sat by the window, staring at the moon, my gloved hands clenched tight. Dastien’s scent lingered on my skin, warm and steady. But beneath it was the iron tang of fear.

The vision wasn’t fading. It was sharpening. Clearer.

And for the first time, I realized the face of the betrayer wasn’t some stranger.

It was someone I knew.