I couldn’t speak. My feet felt heavy as we walked back to the living room. Ryan was there, and the second he saw the suitcase, he rushed forward, grabbing for it. Mom held it behind her, but he turned to me.
“You’re not leaving, Anno,” he said, pulling me into his arms.
I wanted to melt into him, but Mom’s glare froze me in place.
“It was a mistake, Ryan,” I said, my voice shaking. “What we had… it was a mistake. I mistook brotherly love for romantic love
Tears burned my eyes as I said it. and Mom’s hand was on my back, almost approving. “That’s right, baby,” she murmured.
Then we walked out, leaving Ryan standing there, looking as if he might actually fall apart if I left.
RYAN’S POV
I slammed my fist into the wall so hard that the plaster cracked under the blow, the sharp sting shooting through my knuckles, warm blood already dripping down my hand. “Fuck!” I cursed, the word tearing out of me before I could stop it. Anna’s last words kept replaying in my head over and over again as if in some cruel loop I couldn’t break out of. A mistake. She’d called what we had a mistake. No matter how I turned it around in my head, it didn’t make sense, because it wasn’t a mistake, not to me, not to my wolf, not to any damn part of me. Something must have happened. Something had to be wrong.
I could feel my wolf clawing at me from the inside, tugging at my chest, urging me to go after her, to not let her walk away. But deep down I knew if I did that right now, it wouldn’t end well. So I grabbed my car keys and headed out, my body was running on autopilot as I drove to Chris’s bar.
The moment I walked in, I went straight to the counter and ordered the strongest drink they had. The burn of alcohol down my throat didn’t do a damn thing to ease the ache in my chest. I kept drinking, one glass after another, while couples filled the place, laughing, holding hands, kissing, making their hoppiness feel as if it was rubbing right in my face. Girls strutted in wearing clothes that barely qualified as clothes, showing off skin, flashing smiles, leaning toward me, pressing too close. They laughed at things I didn’t even hear, their perfume heavy in the air, their hands brushing against me on purpose. But I brushed them off me.
I kept drinking, pushing the limits, but with both my parents’ alpha blood running through me, it was almost impossible to get drunk. The strongest drink in the bar barely made me tipsy. I was still painfully aware of every sound, every smell, every second making itself drag by. By the time I glanced at the clock, it was past nine. I’d been sitting here for almost two hours, and the noise in the bar was starting to crowl under my skin.
My phone rang, and for one stupid second, my heart jumped thinking it might be Anna. I snatched it up without even checking, but it was Chris. He asked if I was at the bar because he thought he saw me on the camera feed from his VIP room. I told him yeah, but I was about to leave, then hung up without another word.
I stepped outside and walked toward my car, but the moment I opened the door, I hesitated. I was tipsy, sure, it was enough to know driving wasn’t a great idea. So I pulled out my phone and called a cab instead. but
When the driver pulled up, I didn’t even give him my home address. Instead, I told him to take me to Nivelle University. My brain didn’t argue. My body didn’t argue. I just… needed to see her. I couldn’t sit with this gnawing emptiness. Not after I’d already had her, claimed her, felt her in my arms. The ache in my head was making it hard to think straight, so I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes until we got there.
When we pu pulled up, I told the driver to head to the female dorm building. I knew exactly where it was. The male dorms were in the next building over. I paid the driver and stepped out into the cool night air, watching the cab drive off.
I stood there, looking at the entrance to her dorm, my heart pounding in my chest. I pulled out my phone and called her. She cut the call. I called again, but this time it went straight to voicemail. My jow tightened.
I typed out a text: Come downstairs. I just want to see you. If you don’t, I’ll make a scene here.
Her reply was short: Fine.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and waited. A few minutes later, I saw her walking toward me, her hood up, hiding most of her face. She stopped a few feet away.
“Hey,” I said quietly.
“What are you doing here, Ryan?” she asked, her voice low but sharp. “You shouldn’t be here. Mom just left not too long ago after helping me set up my new room.”
“I can’t get you out of my head,” I admitted, stepping closer. “Just… let me see your new room.”
“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “You’re drunk. When you’re sober, maybe. But not now. It’s late, and it’s not appropriate to bring a man into the ladies’ dorm.”
“Anna…” I started, my voice w
“Go home, Ryan.” but she cut me off.
I reached for her hand, my fingers closing around it before she could pull away. My tone dropped, edged with frustration I couldn’t hide. “Take me to your room, Anna… or I’ll find it myself.”
RYAN’S POV
Anna let out a small sigh, glancing back at me like she was already regretting whatever she was about to say.
“Follow me,” she murmured, her voice low but steady. “You’ll have to sneak in.”
She didn’t even wait for me to answer, just started walking ahead as if she wanted to get this over with, and I followed, my hands shoved deep into my pockets, my chest still tight from the way she’d been acting since earlier. There was something formal about the way she was moving, as if we were strangers, as if she was purposely putting this invisible wall between us, and I hated it.
When we got to the dorm entrance, two women stepped in front of us, clearly the coordinators, both looking me over with that suspicious “you don’t belong here” expression.
One of them narrowed her eyes and asked Anna, “Who’s this?”
“He’s my brother. He just wants to see my room.”
The coordinators looked us over as if they were trying to see if she was lying, but after a pause, they nodded. “You can go in, but visiting time for the opposite sex ends at eleven. He has to be out by then.” I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw I had about an hour and some minutes left.
“Sure,” I said without hesitation, because I’d take whatever time I could get.
They made me sign in before Anna started leading the way inside.
We walked down the hallway, passing a couple of girls who were clinging to their boyfriends as if they were about to be shipped off to war. Others were laughing in doorways, pulling guys in for quick kisses while closing the door behind them. A few girls gave me curious looks, some whispering to each other, but I didn’t give a damn. My eyes stayed on Anna.
When we reached her room, she unlocked it and pushed the door open. She stepped inside first, and I followed, my gaze scanning over the space. It was a single, one bed, a closet, her own little bathroom. Not bad at all. It actually suited her.
She turned to me, already talking as if she was giving me some kind of official tour.
“So… the bathrooms are private for each room,” she said, pointing at the door. “We share the kitchen though, four people per kitchen. And, um, the laundry room’s on the ground floor-“
I nodded, but I wasn’t really hearing her. I could see her mouth moving, the way her lips shaped each word, soft and pink and making me go insane. I caught bits and pieces of what she was saying, “rules are strict,” “time out by twelve” blah blah blah, but all I could think about was how much time I was wasting just standing here when I could be feeling her mouth on mine.
She gestured toward the window. “From here, you can actually see the park-“
I didn’t let her finish. I stepped forward, closing the space between us in two strides, and kissed her, hard, deep, as if I was making up for every second I hadn’t been touching her.
She froze for a moment, as if she hadn’t expected me to just cut her off, but then I felt her hands grab my shirt, holding me, kissing me back. My heart was hammering. But then, just as suddenly, she broke the kiss, her breath shaky while she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Ryan…” She took a step back, her voice low but firm. “This… this is wrong. You know Mom’s totally against our relationship. It’s a mistake. It’s time this ended.”
That word, mistake, was like pouring gasoline over an open flame in my chest.
I grabbed her arm before she could turn away, my voice sharp. “You know it’s not a mistake, Anna. So why are you letting Mom get in your head and make you think it is?”
She yanked her arm free, shaking her head. “Just go, Ryan. This can’t work. Mom’s not in support, and I don’t want us doing anything that’s going to disrupt the peace in our family. Just accept it, what we did… it was a mistake.”
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “You know damn well it isn’t.” My voice rose without me meaning it to, and I could feel my chest heaving. “You can lie to yourself, but don’t stand here and lie to me.”
She walked to the door, pulled it open as if she was done with this. “We can’t work. Leave, Ryan. It’s best if you just focus on Sophie while I focus on my studies and act like a normal student. That’s the perfect plan for this. And it’s best if you forget me too. Don’t visit me anymore. You’ve seen the dorm, it’s perfect for me. Sasha’s room is three doors down, she’s my best friend here, and this place… this place is perfect for me to move on.”
“Move on?” I took a slow step toward her, my voice low. “That’s what you want?”
“It’s best for both of us,” she said quickly, as if she was trying to convince herself more than me. “It’s best we go our separate ways. It’s best we don’t see each other again until we finally get over each other.”
Something inside me snapped. I stepped forward and pushed the door closed, the click echoing in the room. Then I grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against me so she had no room to back away.
“There will be no getting over anyone, Anna,” I said, my tone sharp but quiet, my anger mixing with something darker that I couldn’t and wouldn’t hide. “Not when I mark you and finally claim you as mine.”
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