Chapter 7. Yours, Not Claimed

The confinement order—Kade's cold, calculated edict that Aria must report for patrol duty if she left the dorm—was the ultimate, heavy symbol of her new, exposed reality. She was no longer invisible; she was officially caged. Her status had shifted from “unnoticed” to “unstable asset requiring supervision.”

She spent the entirety of the next day trapped in the sterile dorm room, the air thick, heavy, and strangely electric with static. Leah, utterly oblivious to the life-and-death struggle raging beside her, chatted cheerfully about the upcoming Autumn Dance and the latest gossip regarding the Beta ranks, completely unaware of the explosive, internal pressure building in Aria’s chest and skull.

Inside, Aria was splitting apart. The bond was a relentless parasite, feeding off her denial.

The brief, charged physical contact in the dining hall—Kade’s single, deliberate point of contact with her satchel—still pulsed through her like a branded, aching seal. Her ski