Chapter1
Broken Heart
"Don’t drop the key under the mat, Asher, I’m coming up right now," I whispered into my phone as my call went straight to voice mail, balancing a plastic container of hot soup against my chest while I navigated the busy stairwell.
I took the concrete steps of the pack dormitory two at a time, my sneakers squeaking softly against the worn floorboards with every quick stride. Outside, the loud voices of the student wolves echoed across the campus from the training grounds, where the weekend shift matches were in full swing. Everyone in the academy was sitting on the crowded bleachers right now, scenting the air and cheering under the bright afternoon sun. I had intentionally left the stands early and slipped out of my own hostel just to surprise Asher, the future Beta of our pack. He had texted me earlier that morning complaining about a terrible headache and a sore throat, sending me message after message about how much he wished I was there to take care of him but I lied I won’t be available today, just to suprise him.
Reaching the third floor, I walked down the quiet hallway toward room 304, taking a deep breath to settle my excitement. The corridor was completely deserted, illuminated only by a warm strip of afternoon light streaming through the tall end windows. I stopped right outside his room, carefully adjusting my grip on the warm soup container while a bright smile spread across my face. I chose not to knock because I wanted to see the surprise on his face. I reached for the brass handle and turned it slowly, pushing the door open without making a single sound.
The door swung open, and the sweet scent of vanilla perfume and heat-slick wolf pheromones filled the doorway instantly, completely overpowering Asher's usual pine cologne.
I froze on the threshold, my smile disappearing completely.
There, leaning back against the edge of the study desk on the far side of the room, was Asher. His jacket was tossed carelessly onto the floor, his eyes glowing faint amber, and his hands were wrapped tightly around the waist of a girl whose dark, curled hair covered his chest.
It was Rosalie, my own cousin, the daughter of our High Alpha.
Rosalie shifted against him, letting out a soft laugh that carried clearly across the quiet room. "Asher, stop playing around right now. What are we going to do if Nadra comes back from the training grounds early and catches us?"
"She isn't coming back anytime soon," Asher replied, kissing down the side of Rosalie’s neck without hesitating, his fangs grazing her collarbone. "She’s completely stuck at the game with the rest of the pack, and besides that, she believes whatever explanation I give her anyway."
My hands began to shake uncontrollably. The plastic container slipped from my numb fingers and crashed onto the linoleum floor, spilling soup everywhere.
Asher jerked backward immediately, his eyes widening in pure shock as he spun around to face the entrance. Rosalie pushed herself off the desk quickly, pulling down the hem of her shirt with a slight frown, looking far more annoyed by the interruption than guilty.
"Nadra!" Asher stuttered, taking a sudden step toward me while holding both of his hands up in defense. "Listen to me for a second, please, because whatever you think you are seeing right now is not the full story."
"Not the full story?" I asked, my voice trembling as I stared directly into his glowing amber eyes. "You sat there and texted me all morning telling me you were too sick to even get out of bed, and this is what you were doing instead?"
"I really was feeling terrible earlier today, I swear," Asher stammered, crossing the short distance between us while looking everywhere except at my face. "I was just confused about everything, and Rosalie stopped by to drop off some class notes for me, and our wolf instincts just…."
"Stop making up ridiculous excuses for her, Asher," Rosalie interrupted, walking up to stand directly beside him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Just tell her the truth right now because she needs to hear it from you anyway."
Asher winced slightly, rubbing the back of his neck as he shifted his weight back and forth nervously. "Nadra... look at this realistically for a moment. We have been together for a long time, but you know how pack politics and traditions work around here. Rosalie comes from a pure Alpha bloodline, and pairing with her family gives my future position actual power and respect in the pack. You... you don't even have a strong wolf line behind you. I was really just staying with you until the right moment came for me to make things official with her."
The words hit me directly, leaving me completely stunned where I stood. I was really just staying with you.
"You were just using me this entire time?" I asked, my chest tightening as every single memory from the past two years turned into a complete lie.
"It is simply a matter of pack strategy and bloodline strength, Nadra," Rosalie said, tilting her head with a patronizing smirk. "There is no reason for you to stand here and create a giant scene over this, so just accept the reality of the situation, accept that your wolf isn't fit for a Beta, and move on with your life."
I stepped backward into the hallway, turning around before Asher could say another word. I ran down the corridor as fast as I could, ignoring him calling my name from behind. I took the stairs three at a time and burst out of the dormitory doors into the bright daylight.
I ran away from the noise of the school field and kept going until I reached the back corner of the territory, where the old laundry annex stood right near the boundary line of the woods. It was an isolated brick building where no untamed wolves ever went during game days.
I opened the heavy wooden door to the communal bathroom, slipped inside, and slammed it shut behind me. I slid down against the door until my knees were pulled up to my chest, burying my face in my hands as tears finally streamed down my face. I sat on the cold floor for minutes, trying to force my breathing to slow down while my mind raced over everything that had happened. My trust, my relationship, and my place in the pack were all completely gone just because of my bloodline.
Suddenly, three solid knocks sounded against the wooden door right behind my head.
I straightened up instantly, pressing my back flat against the frame and holding my breath while wiping my cheeks with my sleeves.
"Is someone sitting right against the door in there?" a deep voice asked from the other side. The tone was steady and composed, clearly belonging to someone with a thick, undeniable aura of command, a true Alpha presence that made my skin prickle.
I stayed silent, curling my fingers tightly into my fabric and hoping he would just give up and leave.
"You don't have to stay quiet," the voice continued, coming closer to the panel. "I could smell your distress all the way down the outer corridor while I was walking past."
"Please just leave me alone and go away," I said, my voice sounding rough and uneven.
The latch lifted slowly, and the heavy door pushed inward an inch, forcing me to slide forward across the floor to let it open.
A tall guy stepped into the room, his aura immediately filling the small entryway.
I looked up through my wet eyelashes. He had sharp features, dark hair trimmed short, and striking silver eyes that seemed to catch the light, eyes that only belonged to the apex predators of rogue packs. He wore a simple dark leather jacket over a grey shirt, leaning against the doorframe with a calm expression. He definitely wasn't one of the regular pack members I saw every day.
"Sitting on a cold bathroom floor isn't going to fix whatever happened out there," he said, folding his arms as he looked down at me.
"I know that," I replied, pulling my knees closer to my chest. "I already asked you to go away."
He didn't leave. Instead, he pulled a clean white handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, walked over, and crouched down on his haunches right in front of me. He held the cloth out toward me without any hesitation.
"You are making a lot of noise for an empty building," he said, his tone straightforward and completely devoid of pity. "So what exactly happened to get a wolf sitting in a dark corner like this, sweetie?"
I looked at the offered handkerchief before slowly taking it from his hand. "My boyfriend was lying to me the entire time we were together. I just caught him with my cousin in his room, and he told me to my face that he only used me because I don't have a strong bloodline."
The guy listened quietly, his silver eyes narrowing just a fraction as his jaw set, a quiet rumble vibrating in his chest, though his expression remained otherwise unreadable.
"Then he made a massive mistake," he said, his voice entirely firm and decisive as he looked straight at me. "And sitting here crying over an Alpha-wannabe who clearly lacked the intelligence to see what he had in front of him is a complete waste of your time."
I blinked, staring up at him in surprise. "You literally don't know a single thing about me."
"I know enough just by looking at you right now," he answered smoothly, standing up to his full height and extending one open hand down to me. "My name is Drake, by the way."
I hesitated for a second, looking at his hand before reaching out and wrapping my fingers around his. Drake lifted me up to my feet effortlessly, keeping his grip steady until I was fully balanced on the floor.
"I'm Nadra," I said softly, stepping back slightly to adjust my clothes.
"Well, Nadra," Drake said, a subtle smile appearing on his face as he gestured toward the open exit. "Why don't we walk back out there together and show your ex-boyfriend exactly what kind of mistake he just made?"