"Not tonight," he says quietly. "Please."
I nod, understanding what he's asking. Time. Space. The conversation isn't over, but it's on hold.
"Stay," I whisper. "Don't run this time."
His thumb traces the line of my jaw. "I'm not running. I'm right here."
When he kisses me, it's different from earlier. Less desperate, more deliberate. As if he's learning me all over again, or perhaps for the first time.
I respond in kind, allowing myself to sink into the moment. To put aside analysis and strategy and simply feel.
But even as Jackson guides me back toward the bed, a corner of my mind calculates the cascading effects of what we've discovered. An Omega coxswain. Suppressants running out. Eight unbonded Alphas, each already drawn to her in their own way.
And in the middle, Jackson and I, navigating this undefined thing between us that suddenly seems both more fragile and more essential than ever.
Whatever's coming, it's going to change everything. The only question is whether we'll be strong enough to weather the storm together, or if we'll fracture along fault lines that have been there all along, just waiting for the right pressure to split us apart.
chapter NINE
Reese
The lecture hall forIntroduction to Environmental Science is already half full when I arrive, students scattered across the tiered seating in that peculiar college pattern where nobody wants to sit too close to the front, but everyone's afraid the back rows will fill up with people they don't know.
I scan the room and spot familiar faces immediately. Tyler sits in the third row, laptop open, already taking notes despite the fact that class doesn't start for another ten minutes. He's hunched over his screen with the focused intensity he brings to everything, completely oblivious to the social dynamics playing out around him.
Two rows behind him, Zane sprawls across his seat like he's lounging at the beach, spinning a pen between his fingers while chatting up a blonde sorority girl.
The contrast between my teammates is almost comical.
I climb the steps, debating where to sit. Close enough to seem social but not so close that I look clingy. The delicate balance of being the only girl on an all-male team.
"Callahan!" Zane's voice carries across the lecture hall, drawing more attention than I'd like. He waves me over with his typical enthusiasm. "Saved you a seat."
I make my way over, noting how the blonde's smile turns slightly plastic as I approach. Great. Another person who sees me as competition for Alpha attention.
"Thanks," I tell Zane, sliding into the empty seat beside him. "Though I'm pretty sure you just wanted an excuse to stop studying."
"Studying?" He looks genuinely confused. "Class hasn't even started yet."
"Some of us like to read ahead," Tyler calls from his position two rows down, glancing back at us with a slight grin. "Wild concept, I know."
"Not all of us memorize textbooks for fun, Wu," Zane shoots back cheerfully. "Some of us prefer to learn through experience."
"Is that what you call flirting with every girl in your vicinity?" I ask.
Zane grins, unrepentant. "I prefer 'gathering social data through interpersonal interaction.' Sounds more academic, don't you think?"
Despite myself, I laugh. It's impossible to stay annoyed with Zane for long. His energy is infectious, like being around a golden retriever who's had too much caffeine.
Professor Davis enters, a middle-aged man in a wrinkled button-down who looks like he'd rather be outside collecting soil samples than teaching undergrads. He drops a stack of papers on the desk with zero ceremony.
"Pop quiz," he announces without preamble.
A collective groan ripples through the lecture hall.
"Kidding," Professor Davis deadpans. "Though your faces suggest most of you didn't read Chapter 4 on carbon cycling. Today we're talking about ecosystem disruption. Specifically, what happens when you introduce a foreign species into an established environment."
Tyler's hand shoots up before Professor Davis even finishes speaking.
