Eliana POV:
I needed to breathe. The air near the bonfire had been thick with Jax's dominance, and it left a metallic taste in my mouth.
I ducked into the pack house, seeking the sanctuary of the guest bathroom. I just needed cold water on my face before I drove home.
As I passed the library, I heard voices.
"You were brutal out there, man."
It was Mason, Jax's Beta and best friend.
"She needed to learn her place," Jax's voice replied. He sounded bored. "She's been clinging to me since we were kids. It's suffocating."
I froze. I knew I should keep walking, but my feet were rooted to the spot.
"But Catalina?" Mason asked. "Really? I thought you said she was annoying."
"She is," Jax laughed, the sound tight. "But look at her, Mason. She's the captain of the swim team. She's got curves in the right places. She fits the image. Eliana... Eliana is just baggage."
I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle a gasp.
"So, you're not actually rejecting Ellie?" Mason pressed.
"I don't need to," Jax scoffed. "Let her stew. She's too proud, but she's weak. Give it two weeks. Once she realizes she's nothing without the pack protection, she'll come crawling back. I can't make her Luna if she can't shift, but I'm not letting her go. She's mine to keep."
A chill went down my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.
He wasn't just choosing someone else. He was hoarding me. He wanted the shiny new toy *and* the old comfort blanket.
"I intercepted her mail, by the way," Jax added casually. "That acceptance letter from NYU? I have it in my desk. She's not going anywhere."
Rage.
For the first time in my life, I didn't feel sadness or fear when it came to Jax. I felt pure, white-hot rage.
I didn't think. I kicked the door open.
Jax and Mason jumped. Jax was sitting on the edge of the mahogany desk, holding a crumpled envelope. *My* envelope.
"Eliana," Jax said, recovering quickly. He smirked. "Eavesdropping? That's rude."
"Give it to me," I said. My voice was low, vibrating with a growl I didn't know I possessed.
Jax dangled the letter between two fingers. "This? You don't need this. You belong here. With the pack. With me."
"I am not a toy, Jax. And I am certainly not yours."
I walked forward. Mason stepped aside, looking uncomfortable. He knew this was wrong.
Jax's eyes flashed. "I am your future Alpha. You do what I say."
"Give. Me. The. Letter."
"Sit down, Eliana!"
He used the Alpha Command again. It slammed into the room, rattling the windowpanes. Mason instantly dropped into a chair, his head bowed, forced to obey.
I felt the command hit me. It was like a physical wave. But this time... it felt different.
It felt like a suggestion, not an order.
I didn't sit.
I took another step.
Jax's smug expression faltered. He looked at Mason, who was incapacitated, then back at me, standing upright.
"How..." he whispered. "Why aren't you sitting?"
I didn't know. Maybe my wolf was finally waking up. Maybe I was just too angry to care about biology.
I snatched the letter from his hand. He was too stunned to stop me.
"You think you can break me?" I hissed, leaning into his face. "You just set me free."
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from outside.
"Rogue! Rogue at the perimeter!"
It was Catalina's voice.
Jax's head snapped toward the window. The instinct to protect the pack—and his precious fake girlfriend—overrode his confusion about me.
"Stay here," he ordered, though his voice lacked the command power this time.
He bolted out of the room, Mason scrambling to follow him.
I stood alone in the library, clutching my crumpled acceptance letter.
I looked out the window. There was no rogue. I could see Catalina near the tree line, checking her nails, waiting for her hero to arrive. Another lie. Another game.
I smoothed out the letter.
*New York University. Fall Semester.*
"Two weeks," he had said. He thought I'd be crawling back in two weeks.
I wouldn't be here in two days.
*
