DERRICK POV
I made my way toward the buffet like I was walking into battle.
Not a sound. Not a word. Just the low hum of conversation around me, the clatter of trays and chairs, and that ever-present, infuriating scent that had become my entire goddamn existence.
Kai.
Little mouse.
She was somewhere behind me, tucked between Dalton’s looming shadow and the table we’d claimed the second we stepped into the mess hall. And I hated that I had to leave her side. Even for a second. Even if it was just to grab coffee.
I trusted Dalton as far as I could throw him—and I could throw him pretty far—but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was every other bastard in this building. Every alpha, every professor, every confused king’s guard who couldn’t decide whether to flirt or fight.
The momen
