Chapter 13. The Fire Whispers

The air was thick and metallic, smelling of ozone, dust, and Kade’s residual Alpha fury. He hadn't just dragged her; he had claimed her in the most primal, public way, his massive hand locked around the back of her neck, pulling her along like an unruly possession. The silence of the academy was gone, replaced by the faint, panicked shouts of students roused from their sleep by the sound of buckling steel lockers.

Aria stumbled, trying to keep pace with his enraged, mile-long strides. The shame of Cassandra's slap was a hot, throbbing ache on her cheek, but it was nothing compared to the violent possessiveness of Kade's grip.

They moved past the wreckage of the confrontation—Cassandra and her Betas were scrambling to their feet, their faces a mixture of pain and horrified realization. Cassandra, leaning heavily against the dented lockers, met Aria’s eye, and in that fleeting, terrified glance, Aria saw that Kade's declaration had utterly broken her ri