RONAN
She was a walking temptation wrapped in silk and secrets. Even when I tried, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her slender figure reflected in the glass. She moved with a kind of maddening grace, ferninine in every line despite the disguise she wore.
Long legs. Soft curves. A delicate waist that I knew my hands would fit around perfectly. Her skin looked like it would melt beneath my touch. Every subtle motion, whether adjusting her shirt or raising her arms, sent a pulse of need straight through me.
I sucked in a breath of cold air to ground myself, but it was already too late. The beast in my pants had stirred, fully awake and demanding. Reluctantly, I tore my gaze from the glass. One more second, and my wolf might’ve pounced.
To distract myself, I lit another cigarette and stared into the dark stretch of academy forest. That’s when Mace’s voice hit my mind through the link.
“Alpha, did you find Blood Petal?”
“Not yet,” I answered quietly.
“I thought you went to Nightshade Alley because of Blood Petal!”
I flicked the ash out the window. “No, I had…other reasons.”
I didn’t mention Seraphina. Though Mace’s silence said enough. He’d known me too long, knew I’d never step foot in a place like that unless it was for something, or someone, important.
“Ronan,” he used my name this time, dropping the title, “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you need to move. Isn’t this what you’ve worked toward all these years? The race for the Supreme Alpha has begun and you are running out of the time. You’ve been chasing this for Blood Petal for the past nine years You have gone through hell and death, you have lost your entire youth to it…”
The mention of the past sliced through me like a blade. My fist clenched around the cigarette until it crushed, burning into my palm.
“Don’t let anyone distract you,” Mace warned.
My gaze shifted back to the glass, Seraphina was bent over, the curve of her backside driving my wolf wild.
“I’m anything but distracted,” I muttered under my breath, then mind–linked him again. “Get me the internal map of the Academy. Blood Petal has to be hidden somewhere hidden.”
SERAPHINA
Slipping into my loose pants, I fumbled with the waistband, tugging at the stubborn knot when Ronan’s voice broke through.
“Should I turn around?”
“No…” I muttered, head down, still struggling. “How does this even work?” My fingers dug in harder, frustration rising.
“Cut it. There’s a pair of scissors in the drawer.”
I paused. My eyes darted to his back, he still hadn’t turned around. So how the hell did he know what I was wearing? Or what I was struggling with?
I frowned, grabbed the scissor, and shipped the knot.
“Did you peek? I told you not to!” I snapped.
Chapter 125 No Other Man But Me
He exhaled a lazy puff of smoke. “Didn’t need to. You’ve only got two sets of night clothes. You wore the light blue one the last time, that means you are wearing the other one that had a knot the last time too. No, actually it had a knot since the day you brought it to the Academy.”
Wait, he noticed that much?! Such tiny details? An unspoken feeling rose in my chest. I choose not to argue that made him look over his shoulder at me. “Are those clothes Seth Darven’s?”
I froze for a moment but I answered honestly, “Yes.”
He turned to face me with a bitter frown, “You don’t have to wear other man’s clothes when I have many. I will have it tailored to fit you by morning. Throw his clothes away.”
“Other men? He is my cousin!”
He crossed his arms over his chest, “Still he is another man! I can’t bear it even if he is your cousin.”
I blinked at him, “Alpha Ronan, can you hear yourself? You…” I paused when I remembered something that i had been eating at me slowly for days, “How did you know I was Seraphina Nightbane?” I slowly walked over to him, noticing his never changing expression, “I mean you might have figured out I was a woman but how did you discover my identity?”
