But it didn’t.
Because I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Kai Savage.
The “quiet one.” The “small one.” The guy I was supposed to toss around the mat like a training dummy.
Except… he wasn’t small when he fought. He was fast. Sharp. Like he knew where I’d hit before I did. Every movement was calculated. Clean. Focused. And gods, that flip? When I landed on my back with him straddling me, sweat dripping from his collarbone?
Yeah. That was the moment.
Not because I lost.
But because of how he felt on top of me.
How hard it made me.
I scrubbed a hand through my wet hair and cursed under my breath.
It was a fluke. Adrenaline. Combat high. That’s all it was.
Right?
But then my brain did that thing again. Replayed the fight in slow motion. His thighs locked around my hips. The flash of skin under his tank. His scent. Not too strong. Not like some sweaty wolf trying too hard. It was subtler. Cleaner.
And then there was the slip-up.
That heartbeat. That flinch when I grabbed his forearm-…
I’d felt it. A jolt. Something soft where it shouldn’t have been. A curve that didn’t match the rest of his frame.
No.
No, no, no.
I shook my head and slammed the faucet off.
This was insane.
The Savage family had a rep. Fierce warriors. Legends, almost. Kai had the name, the aura, the poise. He was clearly trained, clearly bred for this kind of life. But he was also clearly a guy.
Because what kind of alpha pack would send their daughter into a full-on, male-only werewolf military academy?
Answer: none.
This place wasn’t built for that. The dorms weren’t built for that. The showers sure as hell
weren’t built for that.
And besides-
If Kai wasn’t a guy, I would’ve known.
Right?
I yanked a towel off the hook, dried off in record time, and shoved myself into my uniform without acknowledging a single person in the locker room. I didn’t want to hear Reyes bragging about his imaginary “assist.” Didn’t want to deal with any jokes about getting knocked on my ass. I didn’t even want to talk to Derrick-especially not after the look he’d given Kai from the bench.
He’d seen it too.
That shift in the air.
That… spark?!
Dammit.
I was still spiraling when I got to the next class.
Werewolf History.
Just the name made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
Not because I didn’t care about history. But because I already knew most of it. At least the good parts. And the bad parts? Well, my dad had made damn sure I lived through enough of them to never forget.
I slumped into a seat near the back and slouched low, stretching my legs out in front of me.
The instructor-Elder Malken-was already droning on about the ancient bloodlines of the eastern packs and how the First Rebellion was a result of moon-blessed bloodlines mixing with feral rogues. Or something.
I tuned out halfway through.
Across the room, Kai slid into a seat without looking at anyone. Uniform back on. Hair still damp at the ends. He didn’t meet my gaze, didn’t scan the room, just opened his tablet and started tapping.
Focused. Closed off.
I should’ve done the same.
Instead, my eyes lingered.
I watched the line of his jaw as he chewed on his stylus. The subtle way his shoulders.
hunched forward, defensive but composed. Like he was always ready to spring, always ready
to run.
I hated how curious I was.
What was he hiding?
The lecture droned on.
I scrolled through the notes out of habit, letting the rhythm of Malken’s voice blur into background static. But my mind wasn’t on ancient wars or pack treaties. It was on pressure points. Muscle memory. The way Kai had used mine against me.
I wasn’t even mad about it. Not really.
I was impressed.
And that, more than anything, annoyed the hell out of me.
Because I didn’t want to be impressed. Or intrigued. Or lowkey turned on.
I wanted to be in control.
My life, my choices, my headspace.
And Kai?
He was wrecking all of it.
I must’ve zoned out harder than I realized, because the next thing I knew, Malken was
pointing to me.
“Dalton. Since you seem eager to contribute, why don’t you tell us the name of the treaty signed after the Battle of Ash Hollow?”
Sh*t.
A couple of guys snickered.
I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. “Uh… The Blood Accord. Signed by Alpha Thalos and the High Council to prevent border wars.”
Malken arched a silver brow. “Correct. Lucky guess, or are you actually paying attention?”
“I’ve read the textbook,” I muttered.
He moved on, but I could feel a few eyes still on me.
Including his.
Kai.
His gaze
wasn’t sharp, exactly. Just… watchful. Like he was studying me ow. Like maybe I
was the unpredictable one.
I didn’t know how I felt about that.
The rest of the class dragged on.
By the time the bell rang, I was practically vibrating with the need to move. To hit something. To shift. To run until my body caught up with my brain.
Instead, I slammed my tablet shut and stalked out of the room with too much energy in my limbs. I didn’t even know where I was going until I realized I’d taken the shortcut to the rec field behind the dorms.
The one with the half-collapsed bleachers and the patchy grass.
I dropped my bag on the bench and sat down hard.
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