I turned to limp away, but a strong grip clamped around my uninjured arm.

"Not so fast," Asher ordered.

I flinched, trying to pull free. "You told everyone to go to class."

"I said them. Not you." Asher pulled me closer.

As he did, his golden eyes widened. His pupils swallowed the iris, just like Ronan’s had moments ago. He inhaled sharply.

"What is that?" Asher muttered. He leaned toward my neck.

Heavy footsteps pounded against the tile. Ronan shoved through the lingering students, marching straight back to us. "Get away from her, Thorne."

"Watch your tone, new kid," Asher snapped. He didn't release my arm. "She’s my student."

"She’s my mate!" Ronan roared.

The remaining crowd gasped.

Asher froze. He stared at Ronan, then looked down at me. "That’s impossible. My wolf just claimed her."

Ronan bared his teeth. "You're lying."

"I don't lie," Asher growled. "She smells like vanilla and rain. She is mine."

"Pine and storms," Ronan countered. He stepped into Asher’s space. "I felt the snap when she kissed me."

Panic clawed at my throat. A dual mate bond?

"No," I blurted out.

Both Alphas snapped their attention to me.

"Neither of you are my mate," I said. I forced my voice to stay steady despite my trembling knees. "I don't feel anything."

Ronan’s jaw tightened. "You felt it on the stairs."

"I felt my ribs cracking," I shot back. "I don't have a wolf. I can't have a mate."

Ronan’s eyes turned icy. His hands curled into fists at his sides. "You're rejecting the bond?"

"There is no bond to reject."

"Fine," Ronan spat. He took a step back, looking me up and down with pure revulsion. "I would never accept a wolfless Omega anyway. "

Pain sliced through my chest, sharp and sudden, but I clamped my mouth shut.

Asher let go of my arm like my skin burned him. "An Omega cannot have two mates. It goes against our entire biology." He glared at me. "You aren't my mate. You're a mistake."

"She's worse than a mistake!" Vanessa’s shrill voice sliced through the tension.

She shoved her way to the front of the crowd, holding her phone high. "She's a manipulative little slut."

"Watch your mouth, Vanessa," Asher warned.

"Look at this!" Vanessa pressed play.

The video from the stairwell looped on the screen. It showed me falling directly onto Ronan’s lips.

"She planned this. She’s been stalking you for a year, Asher. Now she’s throwing herself at the new Alpha to make you jealous."

"I tripped!" I yelled.

"You aimed for his mouth," Vanessa sneered.

"Enough," Asher commanded. He pointed toward the center of the atrium, where the Academy’s Silver Core sat on a marble pedestal. "Test her. Right now."

My stomach dropped. "I already took the test in middle school."

"Take it again," Asher ordered. "If you have a wolf hidden inside you, the stone will glow. If it doesn't, we'll know you faked the mate scent."

"How do you fake a mate scent?" I asked, bewildered.

"Pheromone patches," Ronan suggested, his voice laced with venom. "Black market garbage. Just touch the stone, Omega."

I limped toward the pedestal. Every eye in the hallway tracked my movements. My knee throbbed with every step. I raised my trembling, blood-stained hand and pressed my palm against the cold, smooth surface of the Silver Core.

I waited.

Nothing happened. The stone remained a dull, lifeless gray.

"Wolfless," Asher announced. His tone held zero sympathy. "Just as I suspected."

Ronan scoffed loudly. "A glitch in the system. The moon goddess must be playing a sick joke on me."

"She used a trick," Asher agreed. He turned his back on me. "Don't ever try to manipulate an Alpha again, Lena. "

"I didn't do anything!" I cried out.

Vanessa stepped right up to me. She held a large iced coffee from the cafeteria.

"You heard the Alphas," Vanessa whispered.

She tilted her cup.

Freezing liquid and chunks of ice poured over my head. The sticky, sweet coffee soaked into my hair and ran down my face, mixing with the blood from my forehead. It dripped into my eyes, stinging sharply.

"Oops," Vanessa mocked.

The hallway erupted into laughter. Students pointed, covering their mouths as they snickered.

Ronan didn't even look back. He walked down the corridor, disappearing around the corner.

Asher followed in the opposite direction, his posture rigid and dismissing.

"Clean yourself up, freak," Vanessa said. She tossed the empty plastic cup at my chest. It bounced off and clattered onto the floor. "You smell like trash."She strutted away, her Beta friends trailing behind her like obedient puppies.

I stood alone by the pedestal. Cold coffee seeped through my thin shirt. I wrapped my arms around myself, keeping my head down as the bell finally rang, scattering the crowd to their classrooms.

The final bell of the day felt like a lifeline.

I waited in the back of my math class until the hallways cleared out.

I pushed the heavy metal door open. The late afternoon sun hit my face, offering a brief moment of warmth.

"Going somewhere?"

I froze.

Vanessa stood at the bottom of the concrete steps.

A hand clamped over my mouth from behind.

I screamed against the palm, but the sound muffled into nothing. Someone grabbed my waist, lifting me completely off the ground.

"Did you really think you could embarrass me in front of Asher and just walk away?" Vanessa asked. She climbed the steps, her eyes flashing with malice.

I kicked my good leg, trying to strike the person holding me.

"Take her to the old locker room," Vanessa instructed.

"No!" I shouted as the hand shifted slightly.

"Shut her up," Vanessa snapped.

The person behind me yanked my hair hard. Pain flared across my scalp, forcing my head back. They dragged me away from the exit doors, pulling me deeper into the shadowed, abandoned wing of the gym.

"Now," Vanessa’s voice echoed off the empty tile walls. "Let’s teach you your actual place in this pack."

"Admit it," Vanessa spat.

A heavy sneaker slammed into my ribs. I curled inward, choking on a scream.

"You threw yourself at them," Vanessa continued.

"Say it, Lena. Tell everyone you’re a desperate, scheming whore."

"I didn't," I choked out. Blood coated my teeth, tasting like copper.

"Hit her again," Vanessa ordered.

One of the massive Beta girls stepped forward. I raised my arms to shield my face.

"You think Asher wants you?" Vanessa mocked.

"You think the new Alpha wants a broken toy? You are nothing."

"I don't want either of them," I said.

"Liar."

Vanessa slapped me across the cheek. The sting radiated through my jaw.

"Stay away from Asher," she demanded. "He belongs to me. If you ever look at him again, I will tear your throat out."

"I never looked at him," I whispered.

"You're pathetic," Vanessa sneered. She let go of my hair and stood up. "Break her arm. Let's see how she flirts in a cast."

The two Betas lunged.

A strange heat ignited in my chest. It wasn't the familiar, empty ache of a missing wolf. It felt like a live wire snapping. Energy surged through my veins, hot and violent, burning away the pain in my knee and my ribs.

Vanessa reached for my collar.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed.

I shoved both hands against her chest.

I expected a weak push. Instead, a shockwave of raw force exploded from my palms. Vanessa flew backward. She sailed through the air and crashed into a row of lockers with a deafening crunch. The metal caved in around her.

The two Betas froze. Their jaws dropped as they stared at me.

I looked at my trembling hands. My fingertips hummed with an invisible, electric current.

The double doors flew open, slamming against the concrete walls.

Asher stormed in, golden eyes blazing. Ronan followed right behind him, his ice-blue gaze sweeping the chaotic room.

"Asher!" Vanessa wailed. She slumped against the dented lockers, clutching her shoulder. Tears streamed down her face in an instant. "She attacked me!"

Asher rushed to Vanessa’s side. He knelt and inspected her arm. "What happened?"

"We just wanted to talk," Vanessa sobbed. Her voice trembled perfectly. "We asked her to leave you alone. She went crazy. She threw me across the room!"

"You cornered me!" I yelled. I tried to stand, but my injured knee buckled. I slumped against the cold tiled wall. "They dragged me in here and beat me!"

Asher glared at me. "I am looking at Vanessa bruised against a locker, Lena. You expect me to believe you’re the victim again?"

"She’s lying!" I cried.

Ronan stepped closer to me. He ignored Vanessa entirely. His eyes locked onto my hands.

"You don't have a wolf," Ronan stated. His voice dropped into a dangerous rumble. "So how did you throw a Beta ten feet through the air?"

"I don't know," I whispered.

"Explain it," Ronan demanded. He stepped into my space, casting a tall shadow over me.

"I can't!"

"Liar," Ronan snapped. "You hid your strength. You played the pathetic, wolfless Omega to get close to Thorne, and now you’re playing games with me."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "You think I wanted to be beaten half to death just to play a game?"

Asher stood up, supporting Vanessa’s weight against his side. "You are a danger to this pack, Lena. Assaulting a student is grounds for immediate expulsion. The council will hear about this."

"Neither of you care that they beat me?" I asked. I looked at Asher, the mate who ignored me for a year, and Ronan, the mate who called me garbage.

"You brought this on yourself," Asher replied coldly. "You provoked them."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Save your excuses for the disciplinary board," Asher commanded.

The room spun. The strange energy that had flooded my veins vanished entirely, leaving a hollow, agonizing void behind. The edges of my vision darkened.

I pitched forward into the empty air.

"Lena!" Ronan shouted.

He lunged forward, his arms reaching out to catch me.

He didn't make it.

A blur of motion swept past him. Strong arms wrapped around my waist and under my knees, scooping me up before I hit the unforgiving tiles.

The scent of cedar and woodsmoke enveloped me. It was grounding. Powerful.

I blinked up through the haze. A sharp jawline, piercing gray eyes, and an Alpha aura so suffocatingly dominant it made the air in the room crackle.

Cassian Russo.

The senior exchange student from the Northern Ridge pack.

"Back off," Cassian warned. His voice rumbled deep in his chest, echoing off the walls.

Ronan stopped dead in his tracks. He bared his teeth, his canines lengthening. "Put her down. She’s my pack’s problem."

"She’s bleeding out on the floor," Cassian shot back. He adjusted his grip, holding me securely against his broad chest. "And neither of you did a damn thing about it."

"Put the Omega down, Russo," Asher commanded. He stepped forward, letting go of Vanessa. "This is academy business."

"Your business is pathetic," Cassian sneered. He looked between the two Alphas with absolute disgust. "If you don't believe her, and you won't protect her, you forfeit the right to touch her."

Ronan’s eyes flashed to his wolf’s icy blue. "I said, give her to me."

"Make me," Cassian challenged.

Neither Alpha moved. The tension in the room thickened, heavy and volatile. For the first time, I saw something besides anger in Ronan and Asher’s eyes.

Panic.

They hated me. They rejected me. But seeing another Alpha hold me sent their wolves into an absolute frenzy. Asher’s hands curled into tight fists. Ronan’s chest heaved with rapid, uneven breaths.

Cassian didn't wait for a response. He turned his back on them and carried me toward the exit.

"You walk out that door with her, Russo, and it’s a declaration of war," Asher threatened.

Cassian paused at the threshold. He glanced over his shoulder, his gray eyes cold and unyielding.

"Then consider it declared," Cassian said.

He pushed through the double doors, carrying me out into the sunlight, leaving my two mates standing in the shadows, choking on their own regrets.