Chapter 45 The Scent Of A Lic
RONAN
Before combate started that afternoon to claim the hierarchy room. Asher handed me a black 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 of Alpha 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 placeholder 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 slammed with a sharp crack that echoed long after Seth–no, she was gone.
–
I remained on the bed, unmoving on the wrinkled sheet from our scuffle. It was still warm from her thin body twisted beneath mine.
My lips curled into a slow, dangerous smile.
She hadn’t looked back. Not once.
Good.
back
The wolf inside me stirred, restless, ears perked, pacing in tight, agitated circles. He hated being denied. Hated the lies. The deception. But he loved the chase.
And this chase?
It was becoming delicious.
Delicious like the way her heart had beat intently and her breathing barely rested in her lungs.
1 lowered iny gaze to my hand—the same hand that had slipped beneath the loose hem of her shirt, brushing skin so soft it made my blood pulse with something primal. 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. Not musk. Not the usual reck of testosterone musked with harsh cologne or scent hiding perfume she always wore.
This scent was different Subtle Clean, Femiume.
Suh like wild lavender in the rain. 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 dilated and before I realised my wolf had been trying to take control of me, wanting to break free.
That curved back, too flexible. The lithe way her hips shifted when she moved–too precise, too fluid. The pale, sweat–slicked skin at her neck, her breath catching when my hand touched her waist. Everything about her screamed danger. Not to me. but to herself.
A chuckle escaped from my lips as I bit my lip staring at the closed door.
My heart pounded in a rhythm that wasn’t entirely mine. It belonged to something older. Wilder. My wolf.
He was clawing beneath the surface now, intoxicated by every inch of her, growling for more. Not just to taste her, but to possess her.
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, I lay on the bed, struggling to calm the rapid, erratic beat of my heart. My breathing was uneven, ragged with the weight of what had just happened.
“He doesn’t know… right?” I whispered to my wolf.
Phina didn’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 way Ronan’s gaze lingered on my hips, how he always seemed too aware of my movements, how his uniform had been 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 shut, 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 blankly at the ceiling as the moonlight filtered through the curtains. I needed a plan, I couldn’t hide in this room forever. My punishment, monitored probation, would begin tomorrow. I’d be assigned to an instructor for behavioral guidance and combat discipline.
The plan was simple: I’d fake pain from my wound, enough to justify staying here for two days while undergoing the punishment. The instructor could come to me. But after that…
I clenched my fists. After that, I’d have no excuse. I’d have to return to my dorm. I’d have to face him again.
What am I supposed to do now, Goddess?
Two days passed in a blur. My wound had nearly healed. My probation had ended. But I still hadn’t really slept–not with every creak of the infirmary door sounding like Ronan’s approach. Not when every shadow felt like his voice curling in 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 the last one. My rank was slipping Everything I’d worked for was teetering on the edge.
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 I stepped into the hallway..
“Alpha Seth Darven,” a voice called out,
1 froze.
“Yes?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady,
Was this it? Has Ronan told someone? Was I 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 inside, I was reeling. Had he not told anyone? Why? Or maybe he had and they were biding their time. My mind
screamed with the weight of the unknown, panic clawing 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 a wrapped mattress down the ramp. His cap was pulled low over his face, concealing his features.
“I’m here. That’s mine,” I called out, my tone even and distant.
The man glanced up ever so slightly, adjusting the cap.
Then
“Sera”
My heart stilled.
My eyes snapped up. That voice. That voice.
“Lily?” 1 gasped.
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