Chapter 4

　　RYAN POV

　　The door closed behind her, and the silence that followed was unbearable.

　　I stared at the place where Crystal had stood. The room seems to spin around me.

　　I had touched a student.

　　No title could soften that truth.

　　Alpha, Principal, Warden of discipline, none of it mattered.

　　I dragged a hand down my face and turned away, gripping the edge of my desk until the polished wood stain my palm. All I could feel at the moment was shame. I had spent years enforcing control, preaching restraint, breaking young wolves of reckless behaviour.

　　And then I lost mine.

　　It hadn't been planned. That almost made it worse.

　　The bond had twisted inside me, making me act before even thinking. One second she was just another member of this academy claiming to be packless with haunted scent. The next, my wolf had fought to be let out like it recognized something sacred and forbidden.

　　His mate.

　　The word tasted bitter in my mouth.

　　I exhaled slowly, forcing my breathing to remain calm. This was exactly why the Moon Goddess had no place in governance. Fate didn't care about structure, consequences, or power imbalance.

　　She was a student. This was a disciplinary academy, and I was responsible for every soul that crossed those gates.

　　I had been sent here to restore order to this college, not become a disgrace to my pack, not to mate my student.

　　I didn't know why I had argued so hard against her becoming packless. I told myself it was policy.

　　That I had seen what happened to wolves with nothing left to anchor them. But standing alone in my office, that excuse felt lame.

　　I straightened slowly, rolling my shoulders. My wolf prowled beneath my skin, restless and furious, pushing against the walls I had spent decades building. It wanted what it believed he owned.

　　I clenched my fists.

　　"You don't get to choose," I muttered under my breath, though I wasn't sure if I was speaking to the wolf or to myself.

　　Crystal was dangerous in ways she didn't know yet understand. Not because she was cruel, or broken, but because there is more to her she didn't know. A wolf taught to harden too early, to survive without protection, to mistake isolation for strength. Those were the ones who snapped when pressure came. Those were the ones this academy was designed to contain.

　　And I had almost crossed a line that could never be uncrossed. "I have to reject this bond," I said to myself. "It's a taboo that should never happen."

　　Saying it aloud didn't ease the pressure in my chest. If anything, it made the truth heavier.

　　Bond rejection was not a easy thing. It was not a switch that could be flipped. It left scars on the wolf, on the body, on the soul. I had watched strong Alphas become weaker under it, watched wolves lose control, lose themselves.

　　Doing it while standing at the center of a disciplinary academy, while responsible for hundreds of volatile students, was a risk I couldn't afford.

　　But keeping it? Unthinkable.

　　I turned sharply as a knock echoed through the office. "Enter," I said.

　　The door opened and Elena Mackerel, the secretary of this college stepped inside. She's the last person I really wants to see right now.

　　She closed the door quietly behind her, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor, her posture was rigid. Elena always looked composed, her dark hair pulled back, glasses resting neatly on her nose, hands folded at her waist.

　　Her gaze shifted to my clenched fists, then to my face.

　　Something in her expression shifted.

　　"Sir," she said carefully, "are you alright?"

　　I straightened immediately, forcing my features into the mask I wore for the world. The cold, ruthless Alpha and principal.

　　"I'm fine," I replied, too fast.

　　Elena didn't believe me.

　　"You asked to be informed if there were any… irregularities today," she continued, stepping closer to the desk. "There has been a report."

　　My jaw tightened. "About?"

　　"Crystal Vale."

　　There it was. The name made me straightened unconsciously.

　　Elena hesitated, her fingers tightening around the file she held. "Some of the staff noticed her leaving your office earlier. And instead of going to the hostel prepared for the student who are packless, she head straight to the hostel prepared for senior."

　　I lifted my eyes slowly. "And?"

　　Elena inhaled, steadying herself. "That hostel is restricted to senior only. It's not assigned to students under disciplinary review."

　　"Crystal Vale isn't under review," I said sharply.

　　"Not officially," Elena replied. "But her status is… unclear. Packless students are usually isolated for their own safety."

　　"She isn't packless," I said turning away, pacing the room slowly my hands clenched tight. She shouldn't be there, she was supposed to be in a lesser room.

　　And the fact that I knew exactly where she was made my chest tighten.

　　"She'll be reassigned," I said. "Immediately."

　　Elena studied me, longer than appropriate. She liked me. That had been obvious for months.

　　Not in an obvious, embarrassing way.

　　Elena was too smart for that. It was in the way she stay after meetings waiting for me, how she anticipated my needs before I voiced them, how she defended my decisions to the board supporting whatever I say.

　　"There is more," she said quietly.

　　"The council contacted the office this morning," Elena continued. "They're sending an observer, they want to see how much work You've put in place."

　　My whole body went rigid.

　　"When?"

　　"Tomorrow evening."

　　"Name," I demanded.

　　She hesitated. Just long enough for my wolf to snarl.

　　"Inspector Kael Voss."

　　My world seems to spin, the last person I want to see right now is the man who made my life living hell. The name brought back memories I had tried to suppress. How he made my life miserable before I became the Alpha.

　　I was sure he took it upon himself to come here to bring me down.

　　"Why him?" I asked, my voice too calm.

　　Elena swallowed hard,staring deeply at me. "They said they wanted someone… thorough."

　　Voss had always been good at sniffing out weaknesses. And right now, I was nothing but one.

　　Crystal in the hostel, A bond I had already failed to suppress, and an inspector who had once sworn I was unfit to lead.

　　I turned toward the window, staring out at the academy grounds, at the orderly paths and iron fences meant to keep the wolvws contained.

　　If Voss discovered the bond... No, I clenched my jaw.

　　I have to make sure he doesn't set his eyes on Crystal.

　　"Prepare his schedule," I said coldly.