Chapter 6 Jane's Pov
1421 Words
I woke up annoyed.
Not tired. Not confused. Just annoyed.
The kind of annoyance that reminds you someone did something stupid the night before and you were stuck dealing with the fallout.
And of course, that someone was Damian Ross.
I groaned into my pillow and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. One click and the screen exploded with notifications.
Messages. Missed calls. Gossip alerts. Campus memes. Pack group chats I didn’t even remember joining.
All of them about one thing.
Or rather… two people.
Me.
And Damian.
Great.
I scrolled slowly, hoping it would magically get better. It didn’t.
@CornellMoonwatch: “ALPHA COUPLE?? Ross finally tamed the Ice Queen?? 😭🔥 #MateReveal”
@CheerBurnBook: “Not Geneva hyping up the moment in the background like a proud mom.”
@CampusWolfTalk: “We all saw it. The way he said ‘my mate’? That wasn’t fake. I’m just saying.”
I stared at my screen like it had personally betrayed me.
“He’s insane,” I muttered.
Geneva wasn’t in the room yet, which was good. I didn’t have the energy for her squealing and dramatic gasps.
I threw my phone onto the bed but it buzzed again.
And again.
And again.
I sighed and picked it up. More messages.
Riley: “Is this true or is Cornell gossip just as blasted as Vermont’s??? CALL ME.”
Sasha (the one who hated me): “Congrats, Captain. Didn’t know you had it in you. 😂🔥”
Unknown: “Power couple alert.”
Yeah. I was going to kill him.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
My wolf paced under my skin, restless. Not angry—well, partially—but mostly alert. Like she was waiting for him to show up again. Like she was expecting him.
“Stop it,” I whispered to myself. “He’s not your anything.”
She didn’t like that. She growled, just once, low and warning.
I pushed her back.
The worst part wasn’t the humiliation. It wasn’t even the gossip. It was the tiny, tiny piece of me that remembered how Damian said it.
Confident. Loud. Certain.
“She’s my mate.”
No hesitation. No second-guessing.
I hated that it echoed in my head like a broken song I couldn’t stop replaying.
I forced myself to sit up and swing my legs out of bed. I wasn’t going to sulk. That wasn’t me. I’d faced worse.
Trevor cheating felt worse.
Trevor lying felt worse.
Trevor breaking the version of me I thought I was, felt way worse.
Compared to that? Damian’s stupid stunt was nothing.
I threw on jeans and a plain top, tied my ponytail, and steeled myself. If the entire campus wanted a show, fine.
They’d get one.
And I wasn’t going to flinch.
***
The campus was louder than usual. Or maybe it just felt louder because every time I took three steps, someone whispered my name.
“…that’s her.”
“…Damian’s mate?”
“…do you think they’re really—”
I clenched my jaw and kept walking.
A group of freshmen were sitting near the fountain. One of them spotted me and immediately sat up straighter.
“Oh my God, Jane!” she called. “Is it true? You and Ross?”
“No,” I said.
“But he said—”
“And he was wrong.”
Her friends giggled like I’d said something edgy. I walked past them before they asked anything else.
Two guys from the lacrosse team were leaning against a bench as I passed.
“Yo, Garice,” one of them said, grinning. “Didn’t know you and Ross were a thing.”
“We’re not,” I said.
“You sure? Because the look on his face—”
I didn’t let him finish, “I’m very sure.”
I walked away.
Every stare, every whisper, every smirk scraped my nerves raw. It felt like Vermont again, except this time I wasn’t broken. I was pissed.
My wolf wasn’t helping. She kept reacting every time someone said Damian’s name. A twitch. A growl. A pull.
Like she thought this was all supposed to mean something.
It didn’t.
Not to me.
Not to us.
I rounded the corner toward the main building and froze.
Of course he was there.
Damian stood by the stairs in a hoodie and joggers like he didn’t just ruin my morning. He was talking to Jason, relaxed as ever, and then—of course—his eyes found me.
His smirk showed up instantly.
I turned on my heel, ready to pretend he didn’t exist, but he called out.
“Sweetheart!”
I stopped.
Not because I wanted to.
But because my wolf jolted so hard I felt my ribs tighten.
I turned slowly, “Don’t call me that.”
He chuckled like this was cute, “Thought we agreed on terms.”
“We didn’t agree on anything,” I said. “You forced it.”
Jason looked at the sky like he was praying for divine intervention, “Here we go again…”
Damian stepped toward me, but I held up a hand.
“No,” I said. “Don’t even try it.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Try what?”
“Whatever you’re doing.”
“I’m just standing here.”
“You’re standing wrong.”
He laughed. A real laugh. Deep and warm. And annoying.
“So,” he said, “how’s your morning?”
“Terrible.”
“Because of me?”
“Yes. Obviously.”
“Good to know I’m making an impact.”
I stared at him, “You’re unbearable.”
“I try.”
I groaned and pushed past him, heading inside the building. He let me go, but I felt his eyes on me the entire time.
My wolf didn’t calm down until I reached the lecture hall.
***
Class should’ve been a relief.
Should’ve been.
But the second I sat, I felt the whispers start again.
Two seats behind me:
“She’s really dating him?”
“She looks too calm.”
“Maybe they already—”
I closed my eyes and counted to three.
The professor walked in and started the lecture, but my brain wasn’t listening. I tried—really tried—to focus on the screen in front of me.
Something about cognitive patterns. Whatever.
But all I saw in my mind was Trevor’s face when he eventually heard about this.
The way his jaw would clench. The fake cool smile he’d force. The bruised ego. The jealousy.
A dark, small satisfaction curled in my stomach.
He deserved it.
My wolf purred, pleased.
I shoved her back again.
A girl sitting next to me nudged my arm, “Hey… so… um… quick question.”
I didn’t look at her, “No, I’m not dating him.”
She blinked, “Oh. Okay. It’s just—you two were really close last night.”
“He ambushed me.”
She laughed under her breath, “That sounds like him.”
I turned to her, “Why? Does he ambush people for fun?”
“Pretty much,” she said. “But not like that. That was… different.”
“It wasn’t,” I said quickly.
“Okay,” she said, raising her hands. “Just asking.”
I faced forward again, jaw tight.
The professor’s voice faded into background noise as I made a mental list.
1. Don’t let Damian drag me into anything else.
2. Don’t react when he smirks.
3. Don’t let him think he has power here.
4. Handle the whispers. Control the story.
5. Remember this is temporary.
Simple.
Straightforward.
Except… none of it felt simple.
I caught myself tapping my pen against my notebook in agitation.
Damian’s voice kept replaying in my head. His smirk. The way he said “my mate” like he meant it. The way my wolf reacted like he wasn’t lying.
It was stupid.
All of it was stupid.
Class wasn’t over yet, so I forced myself to stay still until the professor started speaking again.
I tried to listen this time. Really. But my brain was still full of noise. Damian noise. Trevor noise. Gossip noise.
Campus was going to eat this up for days. Weeks.
I hated that. I hated attention when it wasn’t on my terms.
And this wasn’t on my terms.
But I wasn’t going to break.
Not here. Not again.
I’d survived worse.
I could survive Damian Ross.
At least… that’s what I told myself.
- Writer
