Rejected By The Pack, Claimed By The Kings

The Double Claim

CHAPTER 3: THE DOUBLE CLAIM

The peace didn't last. Two powerful auras collided in the quad. Kenjiro Thorne pulled up in a black Bugatti, his electric amber eyes locking onto Gaia with a possessive roar of "Mate." Simultaneously, Alaric Von Stein vaulted from a balcony, his whirlpool eyes spinning with violet light.

The air between Kenjiro and Alaric was thick enough to choke on. The Billionaire and the Prince were locked in a silent, predatory stare-down, their powerful auras clashing like a thunderstorm over the parking lot.

Dante stepped forward, his eyes darting between his best friend and the royal Lycan on the balcony. "Kenji? What the hell is—"

"Back off, Dante," Kenjiro growled, his electric amber eyes never leaving Gaia. He took a step toward her, his designer loafers crunching on the gravel. "She’s mine. I’ve been looking for that scent my entire life."

From the balcony, Alaric vaulted over the stone railing, landing silently on the pavement like a winter shadow. His whirlpool eyes were spinning with violet and silver light. "She is a Child of the Earth, mortal. She belongs to the High Council. She belongs to me."

Gaia felt the double-bond snapping into her soul like two iron chains. It was overwhelming. It was loud. And after everything she had suffered with the Alpha Pack, it was annoying.

Her light-skinned face flushed a deep rose, and her "witch-spark" began to crackle at her fingertips, smelling like ozone and damp earth.

"SHUT UP!" Gaia roared. The ground beneath her boots actually trembled—a gift from her Earth Day birth.

Both men froze. Even the students nearby stopped to stare.

"I am not a trophy!" Gaia snapped, pointing a finger at Kenjiro. "I don’t care how many billions you have, Kenji—I’m Dante's sister, not your new toy." She spun around to face Alaric, her curls bouncing with fury. "And you! Prince Charming! I don't care about your Council or your 'High' whatever. I just got here, I haven't even seen my dorm, and I am done with Alphas claiming things that don't belong to them!"

Amari let out a low "Damn, girl," while the twins, Mateo and Luna-Sol, watched with wide eyes.

Gaia took one more breath to keep shouting, but the sheer weight of the two soul-bonds—one fiery and tech-sharp, the other icy and ancient—collided in her chest. The "Dew of God" grace she inherited from Talia couldn't hold back the tide of power any longer.

The world tilted. The honey-gold glow of the sun turned to black.

"Gaia!" Dante yelled.

Before she hit the pavement, both Kenjiro and Alaric moved with supernatural speed. They caught her at the same time—Kenji grabbing her waist, Alaric cradling her head.

As she lost consciousness, the last thing she felt was the "Surprise" Dante had been trying to tell her about: The University wasn't just a school. It was built on the ruins of the First Hybrid Temple—her ancestral home.