ASHER
Sothing changed in Reed over the next week.
I noticed it first in combat class on Monday morning. We were running drills, standard sparring exercises ant to hone reflexes and fighting techniques. I was paired with Julian, working through a series of defensive maneuvers, when I felt it.
His eyes on .
I glanced toward the center of the training mat where Reed was demonstrating a takedown with Marcus. He was staring at , this was different from his usual calculating, antagonistic stare, darker, and more intense, it was definitely mixed with hunger.
His gray eyes tracked my every movent with laser focus. When I shifted my stance, his gaze followed.
When I blocked Julian’s strike, Reed’s jaw clenched. When Julian’s hand brushed my shoulder to correct my form, Reed’s entire body went rigid.
"Jackson!" Coach Martinez barked. "Are you paying attention?"
Reed tore his gaze away, refocusing on Marcus but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the rigid set of his spine.
"What’s his problem?" Julian muttered, following my line of sight.
"Who knows," I lied.
But I did know or at least, I suspected.
Reed’s scent had changed.
It was subtle at first, so subtle I thought I was imagining it. The usual pine and smoke was still there, but layered over it was sothing sharper, and more aggressive. Almost... primal.
My Oga instincts recognized it even as my suppressant-dulled mind tried to deny it.
Pre-rut.
Reed Jackson’s rut was approaching, and he’d fixated on .
Fuck.
By Wednesday, it was obvious to everyone. Reed had always been intense, but now he was operating on another level entirely. He was more aggressive in training, more dominant in his interactions, more possessive of his territory and his status, and he couldn’t seem to stop watching .
In the cafeteria, his eyes tracked from the mont I entered until I left. In the hallways, he positioned himself where he could see , even from across the building. In class, I could feel his gaze burning into the back of my head.
It was suffocating.
"He’s going into rut," Julian said bluntly during lunch on Thursday. He’d beco a regular presence at our table, along with Jasmine, Liam, and Marcus. "Everyone can tell."
"Everyone?" I asked, alarm spiking through .
"Well, everyone who knows what to look for." He gestured around the cafeteria. "See how the other Alphas are giving him more space than usual?That’s not a coincidence."
Scott shifted uncomfortably beside . "How long until...?"
"Full moon is next Friday," Marcus supplied. "Ruts usually hit a day or two before the transformation. So Reed probably has about a week before it’s in full swing."
A week.
Seven days until Reed’s control snapped completely. Seven days until the mandatory full moon run. Seven days until my suppressants would wear off during transformation and expose as an Oga to the entire Academy.
"You okay?" Jasmine asked, studying my expression. "You look like you’re about to be sick."
"I’m fine." I forced myself to take a bite of my sandwich even though my appetite had vanished. "Just tired."
It was a lie, but they accepted it.
What I couldn’t tell them was that I was terrified. Of Reed’s approaching rut, yes, but also of what it ant for .
Alphas in pre-rut beca hyper-focused on potential mates. Their instincts sharpened, their senses heightened, their ability to detect Oga pheromones increased dramatically, and Reed was already suspiciously interested in my scent.
If his rut-sharpened instincts picked up on the Oga markers bleeding through my failing suppressants... I couldn’t think about it. I couldn’t let myself spiral. I just had to make it through the next week. Keep my distance, and avoid triggering his Alpha instincts any more than I already had.
Reed, apparently, had other plans.
I was leaving the library Thursday evening when he cornered in a deserted hallway. I was alone, and then he was there, blocking my path, crowding into my space, overwhelming my senses with his presence.
His scent hit with physical force. Stronger than before. More potent. The pre-rut pheromones rolled off him in waves that made my knees weak and my head spin.
"Asher." His voice was rougher than usual, almost a growl.
"Reed." I tried to step around him, but he moved with , maintaining that suffocating proximity. "I need to get back to my dorm."
"Not yet."
"I don’t have ti for your gas right now."
"This isn’t a ga." His hand shot out, gripping my wrist. Firm enough to stop from leaving, though not hard enough to hurt. "I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"About you spending all your ti with Jasmine and his little resistance group."
My stomach dropped. "How did you—"
"You think I don’t know everything that happens at this Academy?" Reed’s eyes were blazing, his dominance bleeding into the air around us. "You think I don’t know that you didnt disband the group like i told you to?"
"You’re having followed or you have heard the rumors?"
"I’m keeping tabs on my property, and i already know beforw the rumors began spreading."
The possessiveness in his voice sent heat flooding through despite my fear. My body responded to his Alpha presence in ways I couldn’t control, couldn’t stop.
"I’m not your property, Reed" I said, trying to pull my wrist free. "AND REST ASSURED, the group is not to ruin you."
Reed’s grip tightened. "I don’t fucking care about the group or anyone? I just don’t want you around those bastards. I hate it when soone touches what’s mine." He pulled closer, and suddenly we were chest to chest. I could feel the heat of his body, the rapid beat of his heart, the tension thrumming through every muscle.
"You’re mine, Asher Graham," Reed said, his voice dropping to that dangerous purr that made my insides clench. "You’ve been mine since the day you stepped between and Scott. Since the day you refused to submit, and since the day you looked in the eye and challenged ."
"You’re delusional."
"Am I?" His free hand ca up to cup my jaw, thumb brushing over my cheekbone. "Then why does your heart race every ti I’m near? Why do you get hard when I touch you? Why does your scent get sweeter when you’re close to ?"
"It doesn’t—"
"Yes, it does." Reed leaned in, his nose brushing along my jaw, inhaling deeply. "God, you sll incredible. Sweet and perfect and mine."
I hated the way his re touch on my skin was sending heat waves, and my wet and hard. I could feel slick pouring down my pants.
"Let go," I said, hating how breathless I sounded.
"No." Reed’s arm wrapped around my waist, pulling flush against him. "Not until you admit the truth."
"What truth?"
"That you want this. That you want . I want yoh to tell thay you want to fuck you hard untill you forget everything about yourself." His mouth was at my neck now, lips ghosting over my pulse point. The sensation sent electricity racing down my spine.
"I hate you," I whispered.
"I know." Reed’s teeth scraped over my throat, just enough pressure to make gasp. "But you still want . I can sll it, and i can feel it."
He was right.
Despite everything, despite the hatred and fear and the knowledge that this was dangerous, I wanted him with an intensity that terrified .
My body was responding to his pre-rut pheromones, my Oga instincts screaming at to submit, to present, and to let this Alpha claim .
"Reed—" My voice broke.
"Say it," he demanded. "Say you want ."
"I can’t."
"Why not?"
Because admitting it would be admitting defeat. Would be acknowledging that Reed Jackson had gotten under my skin in ways I couldn’t fight.
"Because it’s wrong," I said instead.
"Nothing that feels this good can be wrong."
His hand slid down my back, gripping my hip possessively. I could feel how hard he was, could feel the evidence of his desire pressing against .
"The full moon is coming," Reed murmured against my skin. "And when it does, I’m going to find you during the run. I’m going to chase you through those woods, and when I catch you, and I will definitely catch you, I’m going to make you admit what we both already know."
"Which is?"
"That you belong to ."
Before I could respond, voices echoed down the hallway.
Reed released imdiately, stepping back and smoothing down his shirt as though nothing had happened.
A group of students rounded the corner, Tyler and Jax from Reed’s inner circle.
"There you are," Tyler said to Reed. "We’ve been looking for you. Marcus wants to go over strategy for tomorrow’s scrimmage."
Reed nodded, his expression shifting back to that cold, controlled mask he wore for everyone else but his eyes stayed on , burning with barely restrained hunger.
"We’ll finish this conversation later," he said softly.
Then he walked away, leaving trembling and confused and achingly hard in the middle of the hallway.
That night, I locked myself in my dorm room and tried to think. Reed’s rut was approaching. My suppressants were failing. The full moon was in eight days.
Everything was spiraling out of control.
I pulled out my last vial of suppressants and stared at it. Three doses left. Maybe four if I stretched them.
Not enough to make it through the full moon, not enough to keep my secret safe.
I needed to contact my mother. I needed to figure out a plan, I needed to do sothing—anything to prevent the disaster I could feel approaching but when I pulled out my phone, there was already a ssage waiting.
Unknown number: Stay away from Jasmine and his friends. They can’t protect you. Only I can. - R
I stared at the ssage, my heart pounding.
Reed was watching. Always watching.
And in seven days, when his rut hit and my suppressants failed during the full moon transformation, he was going to discover the truth.
He was going to discover I was an Oga.
His fated mate, and my entire world was going to burn.
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