Chapter 11
Chapter 11
It’s almost a year for me since I came here.
And it’s been a month since that night–the night a Lycan saved my life and the night I saw a glimpse of the man they call Alpha Francesco.
Since last time, silence. No visits. No letters. Not even a passing mention from Beta Alfonso. It’s like he disappeared again.
At first, I kept hoping, foolishly watching the dorm entrance every time I heard footsteps. I waited for another meeting, another excuse, maybe even a message. Anything?
But nothing ever came.
And now, I’ve accepted it–maybe I imagined it all. The intense stare, the warmth of his scent in the air after he left, the way his Lycan howled that night like the moon itself was mourning.
Maybe it was just me… my broken soul clinging to the only man who’s ever looked at me like I mattered.
Stupid me.
“Move on, El,” I whispered to myself, standing in front of the mirror as I tied my hair into a messy bun. “You’re here for your art,”
There was a knock on my door.
I opened it to see Audrey, the warrior Beta Alfonso assigned to keep an eye on me. I still didn’t understand why he insisted on assigning someone to “watch over me,” as if I was a fragile glass about to break.
Scratch that–I am a fragile glass. A werewolf without a wolf.
Still, I crossed my arms and raised a brow. “Still don’t know why the Beta insists on giving me a babysitter.”
Audrey only laughed as usual, slipping inside without bothering to answer. She never did, and I had stopped expecting one.
I grabbed my bag and followed her out as we headed toward the university. It was a cold morning, the mist curling around the pavement like ghosts refusing to leave. The silence between us was usual, but oddly comfortable.
Until I decided to make small talk.
“I heard there’s an Alpha meeting this week?” I asked while we walked.
Audrey nodded. “Yeah. Starts Friday. Packs from across Europe will be there.”
I nodded along, trying to act like I didn’t care. It wasn’t like it had anything to do with me. Until-
“Your Alpha and his soon–to–be Alpha will attend, too,” she said casually.
My steps stopped.
“What?”
Audrey turned to face me, brow furrowed in confusion at my reaction.
“Your Alpha,” she repeated. “From your old pack. Gregor and his daughter’s mate. He’s being trained as the next Alpha, right?”
Her words echoed in my mind like a cruel drumbeat.
Ruben… What he wants finally happen.
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Chapter 11
He’s becoming the Alpha.
My throat tightened as I stared at her. I wanted to scream, to run, to demand the moon goddess why she was doing this to me again.
But instead, I swallowed the knot in my throat and forced my feet to move again.
“Oh,” I managed to say with a shrug that felt like glass beneath my skin. “Right. Of course.”
She eyed me suspiciously but said nothing.
I tried to focus during my classes, really tried. But my mind kept drifting–images of Ruben in that damn suit, Kaithlin at his side, smug and proud.
The same man who rejected me like I was a curse to be erased.
A weak, wolf–less mate who couldn’t serve his ambitions.
“Get it together,” I muttered to myself in the library that evening, flipping through my sketchbook. “You’ve moved on.”
But had I?
I flipped to a blank page, forcing my hands to move. I started sketching–a mountain at night, a lone wolf howling beneath the moon. I shaded in the dark clouds above, letting the silence of the library be my escape.
But my thoughts betrayed me.
I didn’t draw Ruben.
Instead, I drew him. Francesco.
His Lycan form, haunting and fierce. His human face, etched with pain and mystery. That same sadness I saw in his eyes the night of the rogue attack still lingered in my memory.
Why did he save me?
Why did he howl?
Why do I feel like there’s something I’m not seeing?
I closed the sketchbook sharply and shoved it into my bag. I needed fresh air.
The cool breeze outside hit my skin and brought a sliver of peace. I sat on the library steps, looking up at the stars, wishing for answers.
“Why does the past always find me?” I whispered.
had no wolf, no connection to my old pack anymore. I had no right to feel so broken by this.
But the ache was there, deep and pulsing.
And then there was him–Francesco.
I remembered how the healer said it was the first time the Alpha had given a direct order for someone injured.
That memory alone was enough to bring warmth to my cheeks, shameful as it was.
“He probably just felt responsible,” I told myself. “That’s all.”
Yet I still waited. Hoped. Foolishly.
Back at the dorm, Audrey was already there, leaning on the kitchen counter while eating an apple.
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Chapter 11
“You okay?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I’m good.”
“You sure? You’ve been spacing out a lot lately.” She noticed.
“I’m just… tired.”
She eyed me again, the way warriors do when they know you’re lying but choose not to call you out.
As I poured myself a glass of water, she added, “You know, I was there that night.”
I paused. “What night?”
She nodded. “The rogue attack.. I saw how fast the Alpha moved. No one’s ever seen him like that. Like he’d do anything to get to you.”
1 blinked.. Why suddenly she mentioned this?
“What are you trying to say?”
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“I’m saying,” she said, tossing her apple core in the bin, “he didn’t just show up because you were in danger. He showed up like he felt it. Like his instincts drove him.”
I stared at her. Not fully understand her.
“No one moves like that unless there’s a bond,” she finished.
What? Bond?
No… It couldn’t be.
Could it?
I shook my head. “He doesn’t even know me. He’s never even spoken to me.”
“Doesn’t mean anything,” Audrey replied. “Wolves don’t need years to form connections. Sometimes it just… happens.”
And with that cryptic note, she walked toward the door and left me standing there, shattered by the possibility I never dared to consider.
Francesco Totti Lycaon. The Lycan…
Could he be…? No!!
I refused to believe in hope again.
But then again… why did his howl feel like it reached deep into my soul?
Why did I feel seen, truly seen, for the first time when his eyes met mine?
That night, I didn’t draw Ruben.
I drew him. Again.
And this time, I wasn’t ashamed.
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