RYAN’S POV

    I mmed my fist into the wall so hard that the ster cracked under the blow, the sharp sting shooting through my knuckles, warm blood already dripping down my bhand/b. “Fuck!” I cursed, the word tearing out of me before I could stop it. Anna’sst words kept reying 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, bnot /bto any damn part of me. Something must have happened. Something had to be wrong.

    I could feel my wolf wing 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 bkept /bdrinking, one ss after another, while couples filled the ce,ughing, 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, shing smiles, bleaning /btoward me, pressing too close. Theyughed at things I didn’t even hear, their perfume heavy in the airb, /btheir 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 nced 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 skinb. /b

    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 bChris/b. He asked if I was at the bar because he thought he saw me on the bcamera /bfeed from his VIP broom/b. 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 btold /bhim to take me to Nivelle University. My brain didn’t argue. My body didn’t argue. I just… bneeded /bto see her. I couldn’t sit with this gnawing emptiness. Not after I’d already had her, imed 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 buntil /bwe got there.

    When we pu

    pulled up, I told the driver to head to the female dorm building. I bknew /bexactly 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 bentrance /bto her dorm, my heart bpounding /bin my chest. I pulled out my phone and called her. She cut the call. I called againb, /bbut 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 minutester, 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 admittedb, /bstepping 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’ste, and it’s not appropriate to bring a man into thedies‘ bdorm/b.”

    “Anna…” I started, my voice w

    “Go home, Ryan.b” /b

    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 broom/b, Anna… or I’ll find it myself.”