Varek’s POV
If there was one thing I refused to lose, it was control.
And right now, I had none.
Fuck.
All because of her.
My skull pounded from a night of almost no sleep.
Every time I shut my eyes, there she was.
Four-eyes.
That bold little mouth.
Those piercing blue eyes.
That look on her face when she thought she could stroll into my room and reject me.
Me.
So I’d panicked.
I’d done the only thing that made sense in the moment—I’d kissed her.
Again.
To remind her exactly who held the upper hand.
Spoiler: not her.
Not even close.
Except that one small kiss had turned into something I couldn’t file away, and now the beast wanted more.
Those soft lips had only deepened whatever the woods had already done to me.
I wasn’t supposed to want her.
And I didn’t—not me.
The beast did.
I knew it was the beast, because I was incapable of caring for anyone but my people.
Growing up, the king swore a mate was meant to make a man stronger.
So why did this one leave me feeling gutted?
I moved through the campus and the students parted around me like water.
Some nodded, respectful.
Others found their shoes very interesting.
I had no complaints.
That was exactly how I liked it.
I lived for that respect.
And four-eyes had cost herself every ounce of mine the second she tried to reject me.
Twice.
If she’d only waited, I’d have come to her on my terms and freed her clean.
Now that door was shut.
I’d sooner eat dirt than be rejected by some werewolf.
Some stubborn, squinting slip of a girl who barely reached my shoulder.
Not a chance.
At the main building I found Declan leaning against a column, mid-conversation with a knot of Lycans.
His eyes hit mine and he wrapped it up instantly, crossing to me.
That grin of his was already in place—the one he’d worn since we were boys, the one that had never once dimmed.
Always in a good mood.
Always warm, easy, light.
I never understood how he managed it.
If Declan was the sun, I was the moon.
Opposites bolted together.
And still, we were close.
Best friends raised more like brothers.
His father, the Beta, was always at the king’s side—and Declan was always at mine.
That was simply how it had always gone.
He never let me drift too far.
Always watching my back.
The one who reached out to stop me before I did something reckless.
One of the very few people I could actually stand.
“Ky.” He knocked a fist into my shoulder, then clapped it.
“You look like you didn’t sleep.”
I frowned.
“Do I?”
“Yeah.
A little.”
“I’m fine.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Now that I think about it—you’ve been off since the festival.”
“No.” I shook my head.
“I haven’t.”
Declan knew nothing about Elora, and I had no intention of changing that.
No one could ever learn I’d mated a puppy.
It would humiliate my family.
The kingdom.
“Yes, you have,” he pressed.
“Sabrina noticed it too—”
“Sabrina doesn’t know shit.” My jaw locked; it came out louder than I meant.
She’d always had a talent for rumors, and now she was pouring them straight into her brother’s ear.
Declan laughed and raised both hands.
“Fine.”