Chapter 45 The Scent Of A Lic

RONAN

Beforebate started that afternoon to im the hierarchy room. Asher handed me a ck folder I’d asked him to dig up —thanks to a few favors owed from internal staff. The Academy liked to believe its files were sacred. Sealed Secure. But once the right offer is made–one too tempting to refuse–sacred and sealed lose all meaning.

I flipped it open..

The name

I expected.

There it was. The

Seth Darven.

Pack of Ironshade Ridge.

Age: 20.

Only son bof /bAlpha Benjamine and Luna Marrisa.

I scanned the records. Combat experience. Evaluation history. Standard aptitude metrics. But something felt… wrong.

Too clean. Too limited. Too polished.

And the photo: Missing. Just a ceholder silhouette.

Someone probably hacked into the records and smoothly crafted everything to decisive people.

Or the data simply belonged to the real Seth Darven

It really had fooled the others. But me?

At present,

the door mmed with a sharp crack that echoed long after Seth–no, she was gone.

–

I remained on the bed, unmoving bon /bthe wrinkled sheet from our scuffle. It bwas /bstill warm bfrom /bher thin body twisted beneath mine.

My lips curled into ba /bslow, dangerous smile.

She hadn’t looked back. bNot /bonce.

Good.

back

The wolf inside me stirred, restless, ears bperked/b, pacing in tight, agitated circles. He hated being denied. Hated the lies. The deception. But he loved the chase.

And this bchase/b?

It was bing bdelicious/b.

Delicious like the bway /bher bheart /bbhad /bbeat intently and her breathing barely rested in her lungs.

1 lowered iny gaze to my bhand/b—bthe /bbsame /bhand that had slipped beneath the bloose /bhem of her shirt, bbrushing /bbskin /bso bsoft /bit made my blood pulse with bsomething /bbprimal/b. I brought my fingers to my nose and inhaled deeply

Her scent was faint

So faint l’almost missed

But it was there.

Not sweat. bNot /bbmusk/b. Not the busual /breck of testosterone bmusked /bbwith /bharsh cologne or scent hiding perfume she balways /bwore.

This scent was different Subtle Clean, Femiume.

bSuh /blike wildvender in the brain/b. Earthy like skin that had never been hardened by true battle.

11:50 AM

Chapter 45 The Scent Of A Lie

+8 Pearls

A woman’s scent.

Her.

My pupils dted and before I realised my bwolf /bhad been trying to take control of me, wanting to break free.

That curved bback/b, too flexible. The lithe way her bhips /bshifted when she moved–too precise, too fluid. The pale, sweat–slicked skin at her neck, her breath catching when my bhand /btouched her waist. Everything about her screamed danger. Not to me. but to herself.

A bchuckle /bescaped from my lips as I bit bmy /bblip /bstaring at bthe /bclosed door.

My heart pounded in a rhythm that wasn’t entirely mine. It belonged to something older. Wilder. My wolf.

He was wing beneath the surface now, intoxicated by every inch of her, growling for more. Not just to taste her, but to possess bher/bb. /b

She’d made the mistake of tempting me.

Of toying with me.

of lying to my instincts, and thinking she could get away with it.

Bur wolves?

Wolves didn’t let prey go just because it runs.

SERAPHINA

I found myself back in the Healers‘ Wing–back in the sterile, moonlit hospital room I’d fled from earlier. I could no longer return to the dormitory room… not when the wolf who’d nearly devoured me was waiting there like a patient predator.

With the back of my hand covering my eyes, Iy on the bed, struggling to calm the rapid, erratic beat of my heart. My breathing was uneven, ragged with the weight of what bhad /bjust happened.

“He doesn’t bknow/b… bright/b?” I whispered to my wolf.

bPhina /bdidn’t respond. She was just as shaken as I was. But even in her silence, her thoughts mirrored mine–unspoken but undeniable. We both remembered the bway /bbRonan’s /bgaze blingered /bon my hips, how he always seemed too aware of my movements, how his uniform bhad /bbeen tailored to fit me with unnerving precision. He had always breached that invisible line of distance–too close, too observant, too dangerous.

“No.” I signed, eyes squeezing bshut/b, gripped by panic, frustration, and the cold sting of regret. My carelessness been enough to ruin everything.

it might’ve

I slowly opened my eyes, staring nkly at the ceiling as the moonlight filtered through the bcurtains/b. I needed a bn/bb, /bI bcouldn’t /bbhide /bin bthis /broom forever. My punishment, monitored probation, would begin tomorrow. I’d be assigned bto /bban /binstructor for behavioral guidance band /bbbat /bdiscipline.

The bn /bwas simple: I’d fake pain from my bwound/b, enough to justify staying here for two days while undergoing the punishment. The instructor bcould /be to me. But after that…

I clenched my fists. After that, I’d have no excuse. I’d have to breturn /bto my dorm. I’d bhave /bto face him again.

What am I supposed to do now, Goddess?

Two days bpassed /bin a blur. My wound had nearly healed. My bprobation /bhad ended. bBut /bI still hadn’t breally /bslept–not with every creak of the infirmary door sounding like Ronan’s approach. Not when bevery /bshadow felt like his bvoice /bbcurling /bin the dark, whispering truths I waui’t ready to face.

And somehow, that unsettled me even more

Sull. I couldn’t stay hidden. If I didn’t leave the hospital wing now, I’d miss another trial—and I’d already been barred from thest one. My rank was slipping Everything I’d bworked /bfor was teetering on the edge. olli/li/ol

Chapter 45 The Scent Of A Lie

But if Ronan had said something–if he’d told anyone about me–none of it would matter anyway.

My thoughts were spiraling as bI /bstepped into the hallway..

b“/bbAlpha /bSeth Darven,” a voice called out,

1 frozeb. /b

“Yes?” I asked, trying to keep my bvoice /bsteady,

Was this it? Has Ronan told someone? bWas /bI being summoned, to be exposed? Expelled?

+8 Pearls

“You’ve got a delivery,” the assistant said, eyes on his clipboard. “Mattress request. Head to the front unloading bay.”

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, a delivery.

So… it wasn’t that.

I forced myself to nod, hiding the tremble in my fingers. “I’ll grab it”

But binside/b, I was reeling. Had he not told anyone? Why? Or maybe bhe /bbhad /band they were biding their time. My mind

screamed with the weight of the unknown, panic wing up my throat.

the

The loading bay sat at the edge of the Academy campus, hidden away from the main training grounds. As I approached, a familiar unease took root in my stomach.

A tall, broad–shouldered “delivery man” stood near the transport truck, tugging ba /bwrapped mattress down the ramp. His cap was pulled low over bhis /bface, concealing his features.

“I’m here. That’s mine,” I called out, my tone even and distant.

The man nced up ever so slightly, adjusting the cap.

Then

“Sera”

My heart stilled.

My eyes snapped up. That bvoice/b. That voice.

“Lily?” 1 gasped.

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