THE ALPHA HEIR'S FORBIDDEN PLUMP MATE

CHAPTER 4 – DON'T PROTECT ME

Kaiden smelled her fear before he saw her.

He stopped mid-step in the academy courtyard, every muscle in his body going rigid. It was faint, tangled beneath the morning crowd's usual noise, but unmistakable. Lyla's scent, sharp with distress, pulling at something primal inside him.

His wolf surged forward instantly, and Kaiden had to fight to keep his feet planted.

"Aww, did you sleep well?" Selena's voice carried easily across the courtyard, sweet and venomous. "You must have. Nothing like a public rejection to really put things in perspective."

Kaiden's head snapped toward the sound.

Selena stood with two of her friends, blocking Lyla's path near the dormitory steps. Lyla clutched her books to her chest, jaw tight, clearly trying to walk around them. Selena stepped sideways, cutting her off again.

"Where are you going?" Selena tilted her head, mock concern painted across her face. "Don't tell me you're embarrassed. Everyone already knows what you are. Wolfless. Unwanted. Even your own mate couldn't stand the sight of you."

A few students nearby laughed. Lyla's face flushed red, but her eyes stayed hard.

"Move, Selena."

"Or what?" Selena stepped closer. "You'll cry again? That was quite a show last night."

Something in Kaiden's chest cracked open.

He was moving before he'd even decided to, crossing the courtyard in long, furious strides. His wolf wasn't asking permission anymore. It had taken the wheel completely, and every instinct in his body was screaming one command.

*Protect her.*

"That's enough," Kaiden said, stepping directly between Selena and Lyla.

The courtyard went silent.

Selena blinked up at him, clearly startled. "Kaiden. I was just"

"I heard what you were doing." His voice came out low, dangerous, edged with something that made even Selena take a step back. "Walk away."

Selena's mouth opened, then closed. Whatever she saw in his expression was enough to make her retreat, dragging her friends with her, though not without shooting one last venomous look toward Lyla.

The crowd dispersed slowly, whispering, but Kaiden barely noticed. His attention was fixed entirely on the girl behind him.

He turned to face her, expecting relief. Gratitude, maybe.

Instead, Lyla's eyes burned with fury.

"What do you think you're doing?" she snapped.

Kaiden blinked, caught off guard. "I was helping you."

"Helping me?" Her voice rose, sharp and disbelieving. "You rejected me in front of the entire academy last night. Do you have any idea what that did? And now you think you can just show up and play the hero?"

"I wasn't trying to play anything. Selena was—"

"I know what Selena was doing," Lyla cut in. "I've handled her before, and I would have handled her again. I don't need you swooping in to fix a problem you helped create."

Kaiden's jaw tightened. "I was trying to protect you."

"I don't want your protection." Her voice cracked slightly, and she hated it, hated that he could still affect her this much. "You made it very clear last night that you don't want anything to do with me. So stop confusing everyone, including yourself, by acting like you care now."

"It's not that simple," Kaiden said quietly.

"Then explain it to me." Lyla stepped closer, eyes blazing. "Explain why you rejected your own mate in front of the entire school and then chased off my bully the very next morning. Because from where I'm standing, that doesn't make any sense."

Kaiden's throat tightened. He wanted to tell her. Some desperate part of him wanted to explain everything, the prophecy, his father's warnings, the fear clawing through his chest since the moment his wolf had recognized her.

But he couldn't.

"You wouldn't understand," he said instead.

Lyla's expression shattered for just a second before hardening again. "Of course. Because explaining yourself to the wolfless girl isn't worth your time."

"That's not what I meant."

"It doesn't matter what you meant." Her voice dropped, quieter now, but somehow sharper than before. "I don't need saving from you, Kaiden. Not after what you did."

Kaiden studied her, something shifting behind his eyes. Her scent had changed while she spoke, growing stronger, richer, wrapping around his senses in a way that made it almost impossible to think straight. He'd never noticed it before, not like this. Every time her emotions spiked, her scent intensified, as if something inside her responded directly to how deeply she felt.

He filed the observation away, unsettled by how much he wanted to understand it.

"Lyla—"

"Don't." She held up a hand, cutting him off. Her eyes glistened, but her voice remained steady, cold in a way that surprised even her. "You don't get to reject me and then act like you have any right to protect me. Those two things don't go together."

She stepped closer, close enough that he could see the storm swirling in her eyes, close enough that his wolf let out a low, desperate whine at the nearness of her.

"Stay away from me, Kaiden Blackwood."

Then she turned and walked away, leaving him standing alone in the courtyard.

Inside his mind, his wolf answered immediately, with a certainty that shook him to his core.

Impossible.