No one had ever bested the Alpha heir. Until me.
The silence lasted maybe three seconds. Then the arena exploded.
"She drew his blood!"
"Did you see that?"
"Holy shit, she actually hit him!"
"The Alpha heir is bleeding!"
Gasps echoed from every direction. Students pressed closer to the ring, phones out, recording. This would be all over social media within the hour. By dinner, the entire supernatural community would know that Darius Fenrir had been bloodied by a girl who'd just gotten her wolf.
By his rejected mate.
I stood there, fist still raised, chest heaving. My knuckles throbbed. My whole body ached from the fight, muscles screaming from exertion I wasn't used to. My wolf was restless inside me, still ready to fight, still pouring adrenaline through my system.
But I refused to show it. Refused to let them see me shake.
Darius touched his jaw again, his fingers coming away red. He stared at the blood like he couldn't quite believe it was real.
Then his eyes lifted to mine.
The look on his face made my breath catch. Not anger, exactly. Something more complicated. Shock. Respect. And underneath it all, something that looked almost like... hunger.
"Match!" Coach Ramsey's voice cut through the noise. He stepped between us, hands raised. "That's enough. Both of you, stand down."
I lowered my fist slowly. My arm trembled with the effort of holding it steady.
Darius didn't move. Just kept staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time.
"Fenrir!" Ramsey barked. "I said stand down!"
Darius finally broke eye contact. He wiped the blood from his jaw with the back of his hand and turned away, walking out of the ring without a word.
The crowd parted for him like water.
"Bennett," Ramsey said, his voice softer now. "You good?"
"Yes, sir."
He studied me for a moment, and I could see the assessment in his eyes. He'd been watching the whole fight. Had seen exactly how much power I'd pulled from my wolf.
"Get yourself checked out at the infirmary," he said finally. "That's an order."
"I'm fine."
"That wasn't a suggestion." He jerked his head toward the exit. "Go. Now."
I didn't have the energy to argue. My legs were shaking now that the adrenaline was fading. Pain bloomed across my ribs where Darius had landed a particularly brutal hit.
I walked out of the arena with my head up, refusing to limp even though every step hurt. Students whispered as I passed, but I didn't look at them. Didn't acknowledge them.
Just kept walking.
The infirmary was on the ground floor of the medical building, a small clinic staffed by a nurse who doubled as the school's healer. Mrs. Chen was a tiny woman with steel-gray hair and hands that glowed faintly when she worked.
She took one look at me and pointed to an examination table. "Sit."
I sat.
She moved around me efficiently, checking my ribs, my arms, the bruise forming on my shoulder. Her hands glowed softly as she worked, warmth spreading through my injuries.
"You're lucky," she said. "Nothing broken. Just bruised pretty badly."
"Great."
"Who did this to you?"
"Sparring accident."
Her eyes narrowed. "Try again."
I sighed. "Darius Fenrir."
"Ah." She pressed her hand against my ribs, and I hissed as warmth flooded the injury. "I heard about that match. The whole school's talking about it."
"Of course they are."
"You made him bleed. That's not a small thing."
"I got lucky."
"Luck had nothing to do with it." She pulled her hand away, the glow fading. "Your wolf is strong. Stronger than most newly-shifted wolves have any right to be."
I didn't know what to say to that.
Mrs. Chen studied me for a long moment. "You're the rejected mate, aren't you?"
My jaw tightened. "Yes."
"Then I'd say he got what he deserved." She patted my shoulder gently. "You're cleared to go. Just take it easy for the rest of the day. No more fighting."
"Wasn't planning on it."
I slid off the table and headed for the door, but her voice stopped me.
"Elara?"
I turned.
"Don't let them make you feel weak," she said quietly. "What you did today? That took courage most of these students will never have."
Something in my chest tightened. I nodded once and left before I could do something embarrassing like cry.
The walk back to my dorm felt endless. Every muscle protested. My wolf had finally settled, exhausted from the fight, leaving me to deal with the aftermath alone.
Students stared as I passed through the courtyard. Some looked impressed. Others looked scared. A few just looked confused, like they couldn't reconcile the image of the weak, wolfless girl with the person who'd made Darius Fenrir bleed.
I climbed the stairs to my floor slowly, using the railing for support. My room was at the end of the hall, and I'd never been more grateful to see that door in my life.
I was fumbling with my keys when I felt him.
The bond pulled tight, a warning I'd learned to recognize.
Darius.
I turned around. He stood at the other end of the hallway, watching me. Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, dried now but visible. His jaw was already bruising.
We stared at each other across the distance.
Then he started walking. Slow. Deliberate. Predatory.
My wolf stirred weakly, torn between running toward him and running away.
I stayed put. Partly because I was too tired to run. Partly because I was done being afraid of him.
He stopped a foot away, close enough that I could smell the sweat and sand still clinging to him. Close enough that the bond hummed between us, searching for connection.
"We need to talk," he said.
"No, we don't."
"Elara—"
"I'm tired, Darius. I hurt everywhere. And I really don't have the energy for whatever this is." I turned back to my door.
His hand shot out and caught my wrist. Not gentle. Not bruising. But firm enough that I couldn't pull away without a fight.
"Let go," I said quietly.
"Not until you listen."
"There's nothing to listen to."
"Yes, there is." His voice was low, almost too quiet to hear. "What you did today... in the arena..."
"What about it?"
"You shouldn't have been able to do that."
I looked up at him. His eyes were blazing gold, his wolf right there beneath the surface. The bond pulsed between us, thick with emotions I couldn't untangle.
"Do what?" I asked. "Fight back? Stand up for myself? Refuse to roll over and let you dominate me?"
"That's not—" He stopped himself, jaw clenching. "You're a newly shifted wolf. You should barely be able to stand against a Beta, let alone an Alpha."
"Maybe you're not as strong as you think you are."
His grip tightened slightly. "Or maybe you're not as weak as I thought."
The words hung between us.
Not an apology. Not exactly. But something close. An admission that he'd been wrong. That he'd underestimated me.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked.
"It's supposed to be the truth."
"The truth is that you rejected me because you thought I was weak. Because you thought I wasn't good enough to be your mate." My voice shook slightly, but I kept going. "So what happens now that you know I'm not weak? Do you suddenly want me back? Is that how this works?"
"It's not that simple."
"Actually, it is." I yanked my wrist free from his grip. "You made your choice, Darius. You don't get to take it back just because I surprised you."
"Elara—"
"I'm done with this conversation."
I unlocked my door and stepped inside, ready to slam it in his face for the second time in two days.
But he caught it with one hand, holding it open.
"You're not as weak as I thought," he said again, his voice dropping to something almost dangerous. His eyes blazed as he stared at me, really looked at me, like he was finally seeing what had been there all along.
And then he let go of the door and walked away.