Chapter 12
The next day felt different again—but this time, it wasn’t me who had changed.
It was them.
The stares turned to murmurs. Whispers followed me like shadows through the halls.
“Did you hear? Ian Dawson was seen with her.”
“Why her? An omega?”
“Maybe it’s just a game to him. Poor girl doesn’t know.”
Every word was a dagger. Every look was a reminder of where I stood in this cruel hierarchy.
I clenched my books tighter and kept walking.
Inside the lecture hall, the atmosphere was no better. Even Abigail looked rattled when she joined me.
“They’re going after you hard today,” she said under her breath.
I forced a smile. “Let them. I’m used to it.”
She looked at me, worried. “You shouldn’t have to be.”
When class ended, I tried to slip out unnoticed—but fate had other plans.
Melina.
Daughter of a Beta, one of the most popular girls in the university, and Ian’s rumored “perfect match” in the eyes of many elders.
She stepped in front of me, arms folded and eyes sharp.
“So this is the girl who thinks she can climb her way up by clinging to an Alpha?”
I froze.
“Let me give you a reality check,” she continued, her voice honeyed but venomous. “Ian belongs with someone of his rank. Someone with power. Not a nobody who hides behind glasses and oversized clothes.”
The hallway had gone silent. Everyone was listening.
I opened my mouth to reply—but I didn’t get the chance.
“Are you done?”
The voice that cut through the silence was deep, dangerous, and familiar.
Ian.
He walked forward, expression hard, jaw clenched.
Melina faltered. “Ian, I was just—”
“Insulting my mate,” he said sharply. “In front of everyone.”
A stunned gasp ran through the corridor.
My heart stopped.
“M-Mate?” Melina echoed, pale now.
Ian stepped beside me, wrapping his arm firmly around my waist. “That’s right. She’s mine. Chosen by fate. Protected by me. So if anyone has a problem with that—” his eyes scanned the crowd, daring them, “—they’ll have to come through me first.”
No one said a word.
And then, as if nothing had happened, he looked at me and said gently, “Let’s go.”
We walked out of that building with a silence louder than any scream.
Once we were outside, I finally spoke. “You didn’t have to do that…”
“I wanted to,” he said simply. “They needed to know.”
“But now they’ll come after me even harder.”
He stopped and turned to face me.
“Then let them,” he said. “Because I’m not letting anyone hurt what’s mine. Not again.”
My heart fluttered—and a strange fear bloomed alongside it.
Not of Ian.
But of what loving him might cost me.
Because in that moment, I realized something terrifying:
This was no longer just about attraction.
It was war.
And I had already chosen my side.