Bound by the alpha’s curse

Chapter six:the broken engagement

Chapter 6: The Broken Engagement

Word of the fight in the courtyard spread through Silverwood Academy like wildfire. The Elders Council was scrambling to cover up the head witch’s dark magic attack, but the real storm hit the next morning in the grand dining hall.

I sat at a quiet side table beneath the high-arched windows, trying to make sense of the new, intense connection vibrating through the newly forged bond between Julian, Kael, and me. My skin still tingled with the residual hum of last night's ancient magic. Before I could process the strange, comforting warmth pooling in my chest, the heavy oak doors of the grand hall banged open with a deafening crash.

Enter Brad sliver, my ex-boyfriend—and Julian’s fierce, bitter rival in both academic standing and pack combat. Brad was an arrogant, high-ranking Alpha who had callously dumped me two months ago, tossing me aside like a useless, low-ranking stray the second he assumed I had no title or bloodline to offer his family's rising reputation.

Beside him walked his twin brother, Lukas sliver, and a sharp-eyed blonde wolf named Chloe, who was carrying a heavy rolled parchment.

"There she is," Brad sneered, marching straight toward my table while a crowd of curious, whisper-filled students trailed eagerly behind him. He slammed his palm down on the polished wood, rattling my saucer. "Willow, you've gone too far this time. Dragging the Sliver family name through the dirt by clinging to Alpha Julian?"

I set my teacup down slowly, forcing my hands to remain steady as every eye in the hall turned toward us. "You ended things two months ago, Brad. I don't owe you an explanation, I don't owe you loyalty, and I certainly don't carry the Vance name."

"You were mine," Brad growled, his jaw tightening as his dark wolf aura flickered aggressively around his shoulders, attempting to force me into submission. "A pathetic, lineage-less orphan who should have been grateful I even looked at you. And now you're running around with Julian just to humiliate me in front of the entire academy?"

"She isn't running around with anyone, Sliver," a cold, lethal voice cut through the heavy air.

The entire hall fell dead silent as Julian Blackwood and Kael Sterling stepped up directly behind my chair. Julian’s tall, imposing frame hovered at my shoulder, his silver eyes flashing with a dangerous, golden warning light that made the surrounding air grow heavy with pressure. Kael stood beside him, arms crossed over his broad chest, his amber gaze fixed on Brad with pure, unadulterated contempt.

"Julian," Brad sneered, taking a forced step back to give the two superior Alphas room, though he struggled to hold his ground. "Stay out of this. She’s my ex. She belongs in my shadow, where she came from."

Chloe stepped forward, her heels clicking loudly against the stone floor as she held out the scroll with a victorious smirk. "Actually, Brad, you broke your own standing when you threw her away like trash. But guess what? Your family’s council elders didn't care about your petty little breakup once they heard the rumors."

Chloe unrolled the thick paper, revealing the gleaming crimson wax seal of the High Alpha Council stamped across the bottom.

"As of this morning," Chloe announced, her voice echoing clearly off the high stone walls for every student to hear, "the High Council has officially recognized a new betrothal pact to secure the academy's premier pack lines. Brad let her go... but the Sliver lineage wasn't about to lose its claim."

Brad’s face drained of all color as his eyes darted from the crimson seal to the quiet figure standing beside Chloe. He whipped his head toward his twin. "What is she talking about, Lukas?"

Lukas stepped out from the shadows, stepping up beside my table and offering a smooth, completely unapologetic smirk toward his brother.

"You called her worthless, Brad," Lukas said smoothly, adjusting the cuffs of his uniform as he looked down at his twin with cold ambition. "You threw away a hidden diamond because you were too blind to see what was right in front of you. But I saw what she did in the garden last night. I saw the pure, unstoppable bloodline she holds. You broke her heart and threw away a queen—so I went to the Elders at dawn and officially claimed the arrangement for myself."