053
1093 Words
Duncan pov.
“Tonight?”
I lifted my head slowly, eyes cutting to Eunice as if she had just insulted me.
“Yes,” she said, standing firm despite the weight in my stare. “The Teachers and Parents Association Gala is tonight. Invitations were sent out earlier.”
I stood from my desk in one smooth motion. “Is it now you’re telling me?” my voice was calm, but cold. “And you say you’re capable of being Luna.”
Eunice stiffened. She’d heard that tone before.
“The schedule changed. The school council finalized it last minute.”
I took a step closer. Then another. Not threatening,never that, but commanding. “You don’t make last-minute decisions that involve me without informing me,” I said quietly. “Especially not events that require the Alpha’s presence.”
Silence stretched between us.
She held my gaze. “The pack expects you.”
I scoffed lightly. “The pack always expects.
”
Then she added, carefully, “Alice asked if you’d come.”
That stopped me.
Not visibly. Not fully. But something inside my chest shifted, sharp and immediate. My wolf reacted first,alert, protective, restless.
My daughter.
I turned away, walking toward the window, hands clasped behind my back. “When?”
“Earlier today,” Eunice said. “She didn’t say much. Just… asked.”
I exhaled slowly.
“I wasn’t planning on attending,” I admitted.
“These events are politics dressed in silk.”
“I know,” Eunice replied. “But she wants you there.”
That was all it took.
“For my daughter,” I said, “I’ll come.”
Eunice nodded, relief flickering across her face. “I’ll have the car prepared.”
She turned to leave, but as her hand reached the door, I spoke again.
“Eunice.”
She paused.
“Make sure everything runs smoothly tonight,” I said. “No mistakes.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
The door closed behind her.
The office fell quiet.
Too quiet.
I loosened my cuffs, my thoughts drifting,not to the gala, not to the council, not even to Alice.
But to the pull.
The one I’d been ignoring. Suppressing. Pretending didn’t exist.
The academy would be full tonight. Parents. Guardians. Teachers.
And her.
I hadn’t seen Iris in weeks. Not since she started running,deliberately staying out of my reach, out of my sight. But the bond had never faded. It tugged at me in the quiet moments. In the nights when my wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin.
Tonight, there would be no distance.
No corridors to disappear into.
No excuses.
I straightened, a slow smirk forming despite myself.
“This little wolf won’t run from me now.”
Not tonight.
Not with the bond awake.
And not when fate had finally trapped us in the same room.
The suit felt heavier than it should have.
Not because it didn’t fit,everything I owned was tailored to obedience.but because tonight carried intent. Meaning. Consequence.
“Black,” I said without looking up. “No insignia.”
One of the guards nodded immediately. Another stepped forward to adjust the cuffs of my jacket.
“Security perimeter?” I asked.
“Double,” Thorne replied from behind me. “Inside and outside the auditorium. No unauthorized access.”
“Good.” I slipped on my watch, fastening it with deliberate calm. “I don’t want disruption tonight.
This is not a pack meeting. It’s a performance.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I paused, fingers resting briefly on the table.
“And if anything feels off,” I added, voice low, “you move first and ask questions later.”
They understood.
They always did.
The drive to the academy was silent. Not awkward,never that,but thick with anticipation.
Streetlights slid across the tinted windows as the building came into view, already glowing with artificial warmth. Music drifted faintly through the night air. Laughter. Polished voices. The smell of ambition dressed up as celebration.
The car slowed.
Then stopped.
The door opened.
The moment my foot touched the ground, the noise shifted.
Not louder.
Quieter.
Like a held breath.
Every conversation within sight faltered. Heads turned. Whispers rippled outward in waves I didn’t need enhanced hearing to catch.
“That’s him.”
“The Alpha.”
“He actually came.”
Parents straightened. Teachers adjusted their posture. Girls, too many of them,stared openly, curiosity mixing with awe, attraction tangled with fear. Trying to seduce me. They always stared.
Power did that. It bent attention without asking.
I stepped fully out of the car.
The guards flanked me instinctively, but I didn’t need them for presence. My stride was unhurried, measured, confident. The kind of walk that reminded everyone who owned the ground beneath their feet.
And then…
I felt her.
Before I saw her.
The bond pulled sharp and sudden, like a wire drawn tight inside my chest. My gaze lifted without conscious thought, cutting through the crowd until..
There.
Iris.
She stood near the edge of the entrance, half-shadowed by the pillars, dressed simply but strikingly. Not trying. Never trying. Her hair framed her face in a way that made something feral stir beneath my control.
Her eyes were already on me.
For a split second, the world narrowed to that connection.
No guards.
No gala.
No witnesses.
Just the pull.
Her breath caught,I saw it. Her shoulders stiffened, instinct warring with anger. Recognition flashed across her face, followed immediately by something sharper.
Avoidance.
She turned.
Stepped away.
Walked out of the line of sight like she hadn’t just shaken the ground beneath my feet.
My jaw tightened.
I took one step forward without thinking.
Just one.
Then..
“Alpha Duncan!”
A hand reached for my arm. Another voice joined it. Then another.
Parents.
Council members.
Smiling too hard. Talking too fast.
“I’m so glad you could make it..”
“It’s an honor to finally meet you..”
“My daughter is a top student…”
“ We love your daughter.”
They surrounded me like moths to flame, unaware,or uncaring,that they were standing between an Alpha and his omega.
I nodded. Listened. Responded where required.
But my attention had already shifted.
She was gone from the entrance.
And my wolf?
Restless.
Amused.
Determined.
I and my wolf wanted her.
I let my gaze flick briefly toward the doors she’d exited through, a slow, knowing smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.
Run all you want, little wolf.
The night is long.
And I’m already here.
- Writer
