Alpha and Luna University

0006 - I Let Him

I barely cracked the door to shove the box out. It collided with something solid.

A bruised, broken-knuckled hand shot through the gap and locked around my wrist. Hard. The door was shoved open wider, and d**k forced his way inside, pushing me back with his body.

He was going to finish what he started. Cylan should have finished him when he had the chance, because now d**k was going to kill me.

Before I could scream, d**k was been ripped away from me so violently he slammed against the doorframe. Shade appeared in the doorway.

Dick dropped to his knees instantly. Shade stared him down. Submission wasn't enough to stop what he was about to do.

He looked up at me as he grabbed d**k. "Stay in there."

Then he kicked the door shut with his boot.

I backed up until I hit the far wall as I struggled to breathe. The sounds coming from the other side of the door were louder than the heartbeat in my ears. It was only seconds before a loud thud shook the door, then everything went silent.

I stayed frozen until I heard a calm knock at the door. One I recognized from my childhood. It was the knock we had used when we were kids, sneaking around behind our parents' backs. A signal that it was safe. "You can open up."

I debated not moving at all. Then I forced myself forward and cracked the door open.

Shade stood there with the box in one hand and d**k's unconscious body slumped over his other shoulder. He'd gathered every torn piece of the letter and tucked them carefully back inside.

He handed me the box and the jacket I'd left in my old dorm room. He turned around and walked off down the hall, dragging d**k behind him like he weighed nothing.

I closed the door and leaned back against it until my butt hit the floor. I wiped my face and crawled to my bed. I pulled Shade's jacket over my shoulders and hid under the blankets. d**k was gone. Shade would make sure of it now, and I would have to find a way to explain it to Rhea sooner or later.

As much as I wanted to hate it, the familiar scent clinging to the fabric felt like armor. I cried until I passed out.

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I woke up to Rhea's shrieking. I braced for the worst, but she smiled when I opened my eyes.

She was crouched inches from my face, phone in hand. Shade's edits to my name and heritage started to spread across the campus forums. She looked like she'd just discovered a severed head, not a name change on the dorm roster.

"Ziaria? Bettleford? You're a Bettleford? With a royal tag? What the hell?"

I sat up slowly. My head pounded. "Rhea, breathe."

She did the opposite. "I thought you were just some ghost omega student! Some weirdo with zero backstory. I mean, not in a bad way. You were cool! Just mysterious! But now… Shade Kane? Luna Queen? I mean, I gave you s**t about the laundry yesterday. Are you going to have me executed?"

"I'm not going to have you executed."

"Oh f**k, he is, isn't he?"

I shoved the blanket off. "No one's getting executed. Just… keep it quiet. Please."

Rhea nodded fast. "Of course. Absolutely. Quiet as the grave. Total secret."

Which meant the entire building would know by lunch.

The whispers started immediately. A royal distinction doesn't go unnoticed long, especially not in a school this petty and desperate. My name change had turned me into a walking headline. The girls who used to ignore me now glared. The ones who used to mock me doubled down.

They said I slept my way into a title. Said I got on my knees for Shade. Laid on my back for Cylan. If it could be said, it was said.

I didn't eat in the dining hall for breakfast or lunch. I cut through buildings to avoid groups. Every classroom felt like a stage I'd been shoved onto.

That afternoon, the whispers stopped. Shade leaned against the wall outside my Econ class, arms folded.

In the next class, Cylan sat behind me as the revised mythology professor rambled on. When Shade wasn't there, he was.

No one said anything to me after that. Not even Hailee and her shadows.

The bonfire that night was mandatory. Part of the forced "Welcome Ceremony" they tacked onto the bulletin board right after Crimson went down. Every student was required to show up, mingle, and pretend they weren't panicking about elite Alphas invading their trash heap of a school. I had a perfect night planned that involved zero mandatory anything and maybe a stolen cupcake from the staff fridge.

Then Dalia walked in and tossed a new dress on my bed. "If you don't show up, people will really think you're hiding. I need you."

She said it with her arms crossed and a clipboard in hand. She was one of the event planners. I looked at the dress. It was pretty and nearly identical to hers. Silky. Clearly new.

I got dressed in it, curled my hair, did my makeup for the first time since I got here, and went with her. Not for the party. For her.

Shade was already there when I arrived, dressed casually in blue jeans and a white T-shirt. His tattoos were on full display. I had always loved the one across his bicep. It was an intricate tribal wolf with bright blue eyes that blended down into the royal crest. I hadn't seen him like that since he arrived. I had to stop myself from looking more than once.

He wasn't mingling with the other Alphas. He carried boxes. He talked to the new sound crew. He ordered more drinks when the last keg started to run dry, and Dalia began to panic. When the delivery arrived, I helped them unload the boxes.

He grabbed a case at the same time I did. Our hands bumped. I didn't pull away.

Deonte was grinning like he'd already won something. Every time Dalia handed out drinks, he was doing something cute. Smirked, winked at her, making some ridiculous comment about punch or marshmallows exploding. She tried to play it cool, but her cheeks turned pink so fast I thought she'd combust. When she dropped a cup, he scooped it up before it hit the grass and handed it back.

She laughed so hard that she had to step behind the snack table to breathe.

He watched her like she was his moon. Nothing else mattered, not the fire, not the music, not the chaos he usually loved. Not the other girls circling him like he was a prize.

They were disgusting. And adorable. And probably half the reason I stayed all night.

I'd never seen her that happy before. Not for real.

Later, I found Deonte stacking chairs. "Thanks. For being decent to her."

He didn't smile. He growled under his breath.

"You know... I found out a few minutes ago." He paused to stop another growl. "Harley handpicked Dalia because she demanded a redhead omega. Council wouldn't let us bring our staff, so she made them give her someone who matched the color scheme. That's the only reason Dalia was in the Alpha towers. Because of her hair."

He stared at the stack of chairs. "She deserves better than that. Please don't tell her."

His was protective. Pissed. My wolf surged up so fast I nearly staggered. Then just as quickly, she calmed back down. "I won't. I'm glad she found you."

He finally looked at me with that confident grin. "Ehh... I think I found her."

I watched them from across the fire. Deonte refilled her cup, and Dalia tried not to smile too hard. Shade had seen the problem, and he'd fixed it. No questions. No spotlight. He'd done it for me, and I knew it.

The fire burned low. Most of the crowd drifted toward the dorms in small groups. Alphas and omegas peeled off in twos and threes, some already handsy. Just like the school wanted it. Two schools, one campus, one future.

It felt strange seeing it in practice.

I caught sight of Hailee slipping away with a tall Alpha who had her ponytail wrapped around his fingers. She was smiling now. It looked playful. I doubted it would stay that way.

I helped Dalia collect trash.

Shade sat on the stone wall by the trees, legs stretched, bottle in hand. He sat there smoking a cigarette and drinking straight from the bottle. Just watching me as I moved around the field. I hadn't seen him drink anything all night. He waited until the end. Not socially with the guys. It was so out of character for him.

"Didn't think you'd show." His eyes stayed fixed on the fire.

"Dalia made me."

"I figured. High-handed for an omega, that one."

I climbed up beside him. We didn't talk. Didn't need to.

I looked at him. Really looked.

I still loved him. No matter how much I tried to bury it. No matter how angry I wanted to be. I still loved him. Not my wolf. Me.

His arm slid behind me, resting around my waist. "I can be an ass sometimes." He rested his hand on my hip when I didn't push him away. “But I did miss you. More than I've ever missed anything.”

"Here." He reached into his coat pocket and held something out. "Wear this. Please."

He had to pass me the bottle first to free his hand, and I took it. His fingers brushed mine. Then he opened his palm. He was holding a delicate platinum chain with a small pendant. Platinum, shaped like a Luna crown, with the letters FLQ carved beneath it.

"I know how this looks. I know it feels like I'm trying to mark you. Maybe I am. But it's not just that."

He looked up at me. I had to stop the gasp from the hesitancy in his eyes. "I can't always be there. I want to be, but I can't. And if they see this, they'll think twice. It's not just about the title. It's what it reminds them of. What you are. What they shouldn't touch. I'm not asking you to wear it for me. I'm asking you to let me protect you. Just... let me do this one thing. Please."

I didn't answer. I couldn't. My throat had closed up.

He stood and moved behind me. His knees bumped the edge of the stone wall.

I sat still and let him slide the chain around my neck and clasped it. Then he lifted my hair and let it fall back into place. I stared at the fire. Still holding the bottle. I didn't know what to say, so I took a long drink instead and leaned back into him. My wolf purred in response.

He smiled a little and slipped his arm across my front. Slow, like he wasn't sure I'd let him.

I let him.

When I took another shot, he reached over my shoulder to take the bottle back. His chest stayed against my back. I didn't move.

He took a drink.

We sat like that. Just breathing one another in. I finally laid my head back on his shoulder and looked over at his face. His eyes were glowing. Like they only did when he was happy.

Neither of us said a word until sweet perfume hit us both in the face.

"Well, well. Alpha boy. It's nice to see my soon-to-be-husband hanging out with the riffraff again."

I froze.

Shade didn't move either.

When she walked into view, the first thing I noticed was her necklace.

And how it matched the one around my neck exactly.