Chapter 2 Two

Chapter 2

Zara’s POV

After the moonlight celebration was over, the packhouse was quiet in a way that made my chest tighten. The music was gone, the laughter gone, the chaos replaced by hushed whispers and cautious glances. But the memory of Ezra’s lips, the shocking, impossible, infuriating memory, was still there, burning behind my eyes.

I couldn’t ignore it. I couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened. And, worst of all, I couldn’t get Orion out of my head either.

I sat on the edge of my bed, trying to steady my racing heart. The sunlight streaming through the curtains did little to calm me. My hands shook slightly as I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, replaying the previous night’s events.

Lola burst into my room before I could even think of calling her. “We need to talk,” she said immediately, closing the door behind her. Her eyes were sharp, no-nonsense, the same look she always gave when I was in trouble.

“I know,” I muttered, sinking back into my pillows. “I can’t believe I kissed him. Ezra Johnson. The alpha. The enemy.”

Lola dropped onto the bed beside me. “Not the time to sulk. You need to handle this, Zara. Orion is furious. And I mean furious. I caught a few of the others murmuring about it this morning. This isn’t just your problem anymore, it’s the entire pack’s problem now.”

I groaned. “I know. I know. But what am I supposed to do? He's Ezra Johnson. He doesn’t forgive mistakes. And Orion… he looks at me like I’ve betrayed him.”

“That’s because you kind of have,” Lola said bluntly. “Whether you meant it or not, that kiss was a statement, and everyone’s going to read it their own way. You need to fix things with Orion before he does something stupid.”

I hated admitting it, but she was right. I had to talk to him. Somehow.

Orion found me in the training grounds later that morning. I had hoped he might avoid me, give us both some space, but the moment I stepped onto the field, his sharp gaze cut right through me.

“Zara,” he said, his voice low, cold, controlled. “We need to speak.”

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “I know.”

He motioned for me to follow him to a secluded corner of the grounds. The tension between us was like electricity in the air, making every step feel heavy. When we stopped, he didn’t sit, didn’t relax. He just stared at me, unyielding.

“You understand what you’ve done?” he asked, his tone almost a growl.

“Yes,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t mean it. It was an accident. A stupid, thoughtless accident.”

“Accident or not,” he said, taking a step closer, “the consequences are real. Ezra Johnson doesn’t forget. And now… he has reason to watch you, to watch us. Do you understand the danger you’ve put us in?”

I nodded. “I understand. I’ll do whatever it takes to fix it. To make sure nothing happens.”

Orion’s expression softened slightly, but only for a fraction of a second. “You need to understand, Zara. I’m not just angry. I’m worried. You… you mean more to me than I can say, and seeing you like that, so close to him, it felt like I lost you for a moment.”

My heart skipped. The words weren’t exactly what I wanted to hear, but they were what I needed. “Orion… I didn’t mean to hurt you. You’re the one I, ”

He cut me off with a sharp glance, a warning in his eyes. “Don’t. Don’t start explaining your feelings. Not yet. Right now, we need to focus on the packs, on what comes next.”

I bit my lip, nodding. He was right. I had to think strategically, not emotionally, even though every fiber of me screamed otherwise.

whispers were circulating through the packhouse. Some called me careless, others called me reckless. A few, with bolder tongues, said I had made a dangerous choice that could have far-reaching consequences. Each comment cut sharper than I expected, and I felt the weight of every eye judging me.

And then came the letters. Small notes slid under my door from other packs, warnings, veiled threats, and cryptic messages hinting at Ezra Johnson’s awareness of what had happened.

The first one was simple, “One mistake can cost you everything. Be careful.”

The second, “The alpha notices.”

And the third, unsigned, made my stomach drop, “She kissed the wrong alpha. He will not forgive.”

I held them all in my shaking hands, realizing that the kiss had set something in motion that I could not control. Ezra Johnson was watching. My own pack was uneasy. And Orion… well, he was a storm I could not yet navigate.

Lola appeared in my doorway again, this time with a knowing expression. “See? I told you. We need a plan. You need to tread carefully, Zara. One wrong move, and Ezra might not just take offense, he might strike.”

I exhaled, trying to steady my racing thoughts. “What do we do?”

Lola smirked slightly, though her eyes were serious. “First, we survive. Then, we figure out how to make sure Ezra doesn’t see you as… tempting. And trust me, Zara, if you think Orion is mad now, wait until he finds out you’ve been on Ezra’s radar.”

I shivered. The thought alone made my skin crawl.

But deep down, beneath the fear, there was something else, a spark of excitement, dangerous and thrilling, that I couldn’t ignore. Ezra Johnson was a storm, unpredictable and intense, and somehow, despite every warning, I was drawn to it.