THE ROGUE LORD'S OBSESSION

THE MAN

GOLDEN FANG

DREAM

"I don't get why you're still hesitant about this whole thing. Your sister's skills are so much better."

My mother's words landed like stones in still water. I kept my eyes on my plate, my hand tightening around the spoon I held. The silver felt cold against my palm. The roasted meat and vegetables had gone cold. The zeal and craving I had made the food with was gone. They made it so difficult to eat with their outrageous request.

"Mom, I've been revising for weeks for this event. Aveline said from the beginning she wouldn't participate."

"I understand your sister can be irrational sometimes." My father cut in, his voice reasonable in that way that made my skin prickle. He always sounded so calm when he was tearing me apart. "But this is the Zuidans' honor. And I'm not sure you will win. Let her take your place, Dream."

I frowned, staring at the half-eaten food on my plate then at their faces one by one Same faces I know but they behaved like strangers tonight. They always did when they spoke to me like this.

"Not happening. You should have said that when we were writing the preliminaries. She would have gone for the preliminary, the quarter, and half finals."

My mother hit the table. The glasses rattled. But I didn't move cuz I wasn't getting intimidated tonight.

"Dream Althea Zuidan."

An intense silence fell.

I lifted my chin,my eyes meeting hers. I waited.

"How did I come to give birth to such a pup? Do you always have to argue with everything? You'll give Aveline your place and that's not up for discussion."

"I won't, Mama."

The words hung in the air between us. My mother's face flushed with anger. My father sighed, the sound heavy with disappointment. Across the table, my sister Aveline watched me with cool, calculating eyes. She hadn't said a word all evening. She never had to. Her silence was her weapon.It meant she was in control.

My fated mate exhaled heavily. Placing his spoon down, Kaelen took my hand in his. His fingers were warm and familiar. But tonight he was up to no good.

"Stop fighting with your mom over this, love." His thumb traced circles on my skin. Gentle. Possessive. "After all, you'll become Luna. Why do you still need the healers' academy?"

Not him too.Not him dismissing my dreams too.

I pulled my hand away. "So why didn't you say all of that when I was going for the preliminaries?"

"Because no one expected you to reach the finals." He said it like a compliment. Like he was proud of me. "Now that you have, your parents don't want you to fail them."

"What's the difference between failing the preliminaries and failing the finals?"

Silence.

Somewhere in the kitchen, an omega dropped a pot. The beta house kept moving, but at this table, time had stopped. Everyone was looking at me. Waiting. Judging.

"You see?" I stood, my chair scraping against the marble floor. The sound was harsh but I was done caring.

"Sometimes I hope you, Kaelen, won't side with them. But you always do."

I didn't wait for a response. I walked away from the table, my sandals echoing in the cold corridor. My mother's angry voice followed me—something about respect, about honor, about the daughter she should have had.

I didn't stop. Not today. No one was taking away my chance to enter the healing academy. The place where I could learn more, help more people like me. People with wolf blood but no wolf.

The corridor stretched before me, the shielders had retired for the night. Portraits of Zuidan ancestors lined the walls, eyes following me as I walked. All wolves, powerful and perfect.

I was none of those things.

***

In the corridor leading to my room, I stopped.

That scent. The one that had haunted me since I left the strange man in the woods.

I still couldn't name it but it stirred something inside me almost making me restless.

I told myself it was imagination. Because there was no way he knew who I was or where I was.

Then came the feeling. A prickle at the back of my neck and weight of eyes on my skin.

Someone was watching me.

I swirled around but the corridor was empty. Just portraits and shadows and the distant sound of my family's voices and shielders on patrol.

I walked to the end.Yet no one.

I checked the windows. Nothing but the dark outline of trees against the night sky.

I stepped into my room and closed the door. Removing my shoes, I fell onto my bed. The sheets were cold and the room was quiet. Too quiet.

Fifteen days since I met that man. The scent followed me everywhere. Now, the sensation of being watched.

Had Kaelen noticed something and he was having me followed? I knew his possessive nature, how dangerous he became when any wolf came near me. He had nearly killed a stable boy once for looking at me too long.

But Luina hadn't spoken about that night. She wouldn't. So he couldn't know. So what was this feeling?

I barely fell asleep before a knock came.

Kaelen stood in the doorway, a glass of fermented blood in his hand. The scent was rich and familiar. My favorite.

"I brought this for you," he said, smiling.

I would have smiled back, until I remembered dinner. The way he had taken their side. The way he always took their side.

"I'm sorry, Dream. I shouldn't have taken their side."

I shook my head. "Defending them isn't wrong. As long as it isn't at the expense of my work."

He frowned slightly, then nodded. "I understand."

He sat beside me on the bed. The mattress dipped under his weight. Reluctantly, I took the glass and sipped. The warmth spread through me, chasing away the cold. Another sip. Then another.

A yawn escaped me.

"I need to sleep. I have to wake early for the competition."

"The car will be waiting."he whispered arranging the covers.

I smiled, my eyelids heavy. "I'm finally going to enter the medical school."

The last thing I saw was Kaelen's face, watching me with an expression I couldn't read.

***

I woke to sunlight streaming through the curtains. Too bright. Too late.

The competition had started at nine. The clock read ten.

The drink.

Dormant pills.

I sat frozen, the realization settling over me like ice water. Kaelen drugged me. My fated mate drugged me to stop me from competing.

My hands trembled. My chest ached. I wanted to scream, to cry, to break something. But there was no time.

Luina burst through the door.

"Are you still sleeping? The competition began thirty minutes ago!"

I stood, my legs unsteady. "The drink. He—"

Her face paled. "Kaelen?"

I nodded, unable to say more.

Her jaw tightened. "Your sister took your place. But the leader said you can still participate with me. We have to hurry."

I moved mechanically. Cold bath. Healer's robes. Purse. Then I followed her out.

The arena was crowded. My parents sat in the stands, their faces tight. Aveline was on the competition floor, her hands moving slowly over her potion. She was losing. I could see it in the frustrated set of her shoulders, the way her lips pressed together.

Good.

I pushed the thought away and focused on my station. Our patient was a young wolf with a torn shoulder, his face pale with pain. Forty percent survival rate, the judges announced.

I worked. Herbs. Paste. Potion. My hands moved faster than they ever had. Beside me, Luina matched my pace—collecting, mixing, boiling.

The crowd murmured. Then gasped. We were fast. Faster than anyone expected.

But my hands were shaking.

For a moment, I doubted. Could I really win? Could I really prove them all wrong?

Then I thought of Kaelen. The drink. My mother's words. Every person who told me I wasn't enough.

I sealed the wound.

The timer stopped.

We were done.

***

The results would be announced in two hours. I sat far from my family, Luina beside me, both silent. The sun was warm on my face. I didn't want any lectures at the moment. We held each other's hands heart thumping.

Then the cars arrived.

Black. Sleek. Moving with purpose. The pack house gate's opened without resistance, which made no sense. Who would open the gates to strangers?

The cars stopped in the grand hall of the pack house.Silence fell like a curtain.

Men stepped out. Black clothes. Silver guns. Moving like soldiers.

Rogues.

Not just any rogues. The mark on their uniforms a jagged mountain, black against silver. The Krustan mark.

"Shielders in position! Rogues have invaded us!" someone screamed.

Panic erupted. People ran, screamed, scrambled. But the rogues moved faster, circling us, cutting off every escape.

I couldn't move.

The middle car opened.

He stepped out.

The man from the woods. The man I had saved and he promised to find me.

He was taller than I remembered and his shoulders broader. His dark eyes scanned the crowd with cold precision. The wound I had healed was hidden beneath black cloth, but I knew it was there. I had put it there.

His gaze found mine.

And he smiled.