Chapter 50

The hallway outside the Headmaster’s office was silent, save for the echo of my footsteps. My pulse still drummed with the remnants of tension from that meeting. Every word from Headmaster Brightwen had felt like a calculated trap, each offer of “support” baited with underlying intentions. The air felt thick, as though the shadows themselves carried a warning to stay on guard.

But I barely took three steps before I felt another presence blocking my path.

Xavier.

His figure loomed in the hallway’s dim light, every inch of his posture taut with something dark and unresolved. The set of his jaw, the sharpness in his gaze—he was a wall of anger and suspicion wrapped in one. Before I could speak, he closed the distance between us, his movements calculated but boiling over with something I hadn’t seen from him before.

“Just what game are you playing, Riley?” His voice was low, edged with accusation, his gaze narrowing. He stepped forward, forcing me back until the cold wall pressed against my spine. “You think no one notices? You think you’re above us all?”

I met his glare, my own anger flaring at his tone, his entitlement. I’d just managed to steady myself from Brightwen’s mind games, and now this? I pushed down the tremor that tried to slip into my voice. “Get out of my way, Xavier,” I said, voice steady, my gaze defiant as I glared up at him.

He didn’t move; his eyes only narrowed further, shadows shifting in his gaze as if searching for the truths I kept locked away. “I don’t trust you, Mara,” he growled, his voice rough, almost a whisper, as though admitting this out loud confirmed some long-held suspicion. “Silas and Gideon may think they know you, but I see right through this act. And I’m going to figure out just what it is you’re hiding.”

I tilted my chin, defiance simmering just under my skin. “You’re paranoid, Xavier,” I hissed, the bite in my voice meeting his suspicion head-on. “Maybe if you spent less time judging everyone else, you’d actually see the truth when it’s staring you in the face.”

His eyes flared, and before I knew it, he was even closer, his arm braced against the wall beside my head, his other hand pressing the wall near my shoulder, crowding me completely. I bit down the instinctual shiver, forcing back the omega distress prickling at the edges of my senses.

“Why don’t you enlighten me, then?” he demanded, his voice a low rasp that sent a shiver down my spine, one I tried to ignore. “Why are you so eager to be Silas’s Omega, and yet you act like none of this matters to you? What’s your angle, Mara? What are you really after?”

The frustration in his voice, the raw accusation—it was unfiltered, an Alpha’s territorial distrust mingled with a deep-seated anger I hadn’t expected. His scent hit me next, sharp and intoxicating, the tang of orange and clove stirring something primal inside me. I cursed the way my pulse reacted, the way my omega instincts flared at his presence, demanding I yield, even as I fought to keep my breathing steady.

“Move. Now,” I snapped, pushing back the flood of distress he’d unknowingly triggered.

But his eyes dropped, almost involuntarily, as if he’d only now noticed my scent. His eyes darkened, his gaze flickering with something that turned possessive, almost hungry. “Vanilla and lily of the valley…” he murmured, as if tasting the scent on his tongue, realization sparking behind his eyes. “You’ve been hiding this.”

Before I could process it, he leaned down, his lips crashing against mine in a rough, impulsive kiss. Heat ignited between us, his body pressing me further against the wall, his scent enveloping me, pulling me under with a power I couldn’t ignore. A whimper I’d tried to stifle slipped past my lips, breaking the anger momentarily. The sound softened him, and a low growl rumbled in his chest, a soothing vibration only an Alpha could make. It seeped into my bones, calming the part of me I’d struggled to keep steady.

The pull of it—his scent, his touch, the unexpected gentleness in the growl—threatened to overwhelm me, and my omega instincts wavered under his Alpha presence. But the shock of it all, the intensity, the feeling of being cornered… I couldn’t take it. I pushed back, summoning every bit of strength the shadows had gifted me, the Garnet pulsing against my skin like a reminder of my newfound power.

Summoning that dark strength, I gripped his shoulder, twisting with enough force to throw him off-balance. In a fluid movement, I reversed our positions, shoving him against the wall. My hand went to his throat, pressing just enough to show I wasn’t some helpless Omega who’d submit on command.

“Don’t ever touch me without my permission again,” I whispered, my voice fierce, every word laced with the anger that simmered beneath my skin. I could see the surprise in his eyes, the momentary shock as he processed the strength in my hold, the darkness pulsing from me. His scent spiked, but I ignored it, focusing on the anger that fueled my own fire.

Xavier’s eyes flashed, lingering on the gloved hand at his throat, and a smirk crept onto his face, admiration mixed with the same intensity from moments before. “You’re stronger than I thought,” he murmured, almost impressed, a hint of thrill behind his words.

I held his gaze, not letting the rush of adrenaline falter. “Get used to it,” I replied coldly. And without waiting for a response, I released him, stepping back and turning away before he could see the mix of emotions that clouded my expression.

Without another glance, I walked swiftly down the hall, my heart racing, the taste of his scent still lingering in the air around me.