8

Caspian had asked me to ignore him. A bit difficult when he was always close to me no matter where I went. I groaned internally as I felt my body stir again, demanding that I move closer to it.

Even though my wolf stopped talking to me and I wasn't sure if I hadn't already lost her, it didn't feel right. He definitely wasn't my mate. He smelled different, no less attractive, no less beguiling, but I couldn't explain it.

He demanded that I stay away from him and now he was in my class. His presence tormented me and I recalled his words.

"If you feel like chasing me, don't, Tara. If you feel like apologizing to me, don't. If you feel like you have regrets, of that what you've done, don't do it."

His blue eyes almost pierced me as I looked at him. It was as if he had an unearthly attraction in my subconscious that made me not look away. I tried to close my eyes, but before I could, he looked away.

I suddenly sat still as a rock. Not a fiber of my body moved anymore. It was like something had been taken away from me. I followed his gaze as if I could catch him. It was very clear I was crazy. I had heard that when you lose your wolf, that kind of thing can happen.

Caspian looked at our professor Elisanne Assen and she gave him a benevolent look. There was something on her face as their eyes met, something my head didn't want to admit.

He took a step forward without taking his eyes off her and my feeling of wanting to get closer to him only increased. She didn't look away for a moment and I wanted to scratch her eyes out for it.

"Well, it's no longer a surprise," I heard her chirp through a veil, "that King Caspian will be joining us in my class this year."

She was more than proud of it, there was something possessive about her voice. I wanted to erase that sound from her throat from my memory, rip out her vocal cords and grill her tongue.

wait, king? what kind of king

King? King? it didn't make any sense. No Alaiser was a king. There was only one king who ruled over us werewolves. Caspian de Bogoridi. Caspian's gaze left her and swept over the students.

The scales fell from my eyes. Caspian was a common name, not least because of him. The power he radiated, his ability to manipulate, to get others to do what he wanted, to influence feelings.

to manipulate me. The kind of attraction he had for me was nothing but one of his skills in him. A benefit bestowed by Luna to rule over us. That's probably how everyone felt in this lecture hall right now. This also explained why so many wanted to take this course.

I knew the stories about the Lycans. Their ability to let people do what they didn't want to do around them, more so than all Alpha's combined, they could give us orders we didn't want to follow, direct our fortunes without our consent.

All the students in front of me were sitting up and wanting him to see me, and I just slumped lower in my seat. If I couldn't see him, then neither could he? Then I would finally find my sanity again and stop acting so weird.

I leaned slightly towards Grayson to ask what she meant, if he really was King Caspian, but he shoved me back into the seat like an annoying fly without even allowing me to ask my question.

"Pull yourself together, Stone," he murmured, not looking at me.

I glared at him even though he couldn't see it and still did what he said.

"Idiot," I hissed at him a little too loudly and regretted it the next moment when everyone turned to me.

"What?" I snapped at my classmates blankly. Their faces were angry, angry, incensed — I don't know, I couldn't find the words for the dirty looks that were being thrown at me.

"I think they think you mean King Caspian," Trevor chuckled softly next to me. My gaze went to him, whose gaze, unlike everyone else's, was calm and understanding.

"Trevor, I--" his head shake and index finger on his lips didn't let me finish my sentence. He nodded understandingly, but motioned for me to bring my attention back to the front.

"Your Highness," our professor chirped. "I usually choose the fox at the beginning of each school year, but I think you should choose him this year." Immediately, all of my classmates turned back to Caspian and their arms went up in the air.

Apparently everyone wanted to be the fox this year and my fear of this course vanished instantly. I had always had a small fear inside me that the choice would fall on me, for whatever reason. History has shown that they have never chosen the weakest, and certainly not among female wolves.

Everyone was waiting eagerly to see what his decision would be, and even I was getting worried now. Being a fox was not a gift and no one had ever volunteered as far as I knew.

I looked at Caspian and immediately regretted it. His eyes immediately caught mine. He wouldn't dare. A malicious smile played around his eyes and yet they literally sucked me in. I couldn't look away and I unintentionally leaned forward. My gaze lingered on his lips, but they didn't move.

Nothing about him moved, only his eyes searched deeper into mine, for a moment I even thought he could sense my fear, a thought I wish I could brush away.

"Well," our professor murmured when nothing happened after minutes. "Perhaps Your Highness should get to know my students before making a choice. Caspian?"

I furrowed my brows. Why did she switch between formal and familiar forms of address? Something was between the two. I leaned back in my seat and looked down at my fingers rubbing between my thighs. It didn't stop me from looking at him again, though.

"Your Highness?" He didn't react to her at all and took a step forward.

"It won't be necessary. I made my choice."

"Oh," she said, confused now, and my stomach clenched. He wouldn't dare, but his eyes gave me an idea of ​​what I was about to hear.

"Tara Stone."

Hearing my name out of his mouth broke something inside me and then I felt Grayson's hand gripping mine, as did Trevor's on my left.

"Tara Stone?" my professor asked, slightly piqued. But she could say whatever she wanted, I wasn't interested anymore. "Maybe a more ambitious goal, um, fox, would be more interesting this year," she cleared her throat next to him.

She put a hand on his arm again and I didn't care again. She could have thrown herself at him. I didn't care.

"I want Tara Stone," he repeated, and now everyone turned to me. It didn't seem to bother me at first. I just listened to the words he spoke.

I want Tara Stone.

His words echoed through my head. he wants me It wasn't about the fox. It was about what he said to me two months ago. Something only the two of us knew and the Alaisters beside me.

Me.

Me.

"Good, then Tara Stone will be the fox this year. Tara, will you come to the front, please?"

Grayson and Trevor's grip on my hands tightened and now I was back to reality. I shook my head vehemently. A few students gasped when I did this.

"Forward, Tara," she repeated sternly, and I shook my head again.

I gripped Grayson and Trevor's hands like my life depended on it, and it did. There was no way I would become the fox. Me the fox, for hours in the cold, half dead when found.

Or, even worse, if I volunteered to be captured, they would make my life hell for the rest of the school year, better half dead than turning themselves in, I had learned yesterday. A fox had never won. It was a game that could not be won.

"No!" I shouted and got up. Grayson and Trevor wanted to hold me back, but I shook off their hands.

"Not interested." I sounded a lot more confident than I'd given my credit for. Caspian started to smile. He wasn't surprised, on the contrary, my objection seemed to reinforce his decision.

"Well, you have mine, Miss Stone," he said calmly, still smiling. My professor, on the other hand, stopped smiling. Her eyes almost lit with anger and she didn't know who to look at first at me or him.

"Tara, my office!" she said sharply. I just shrugged. That wouldn't change my decision.