Bria nervously backed away from Adan and me, her eyes wide in fear. I shifted into my human and coughed up some blood, desperately trying to catch my breath after Bria had nearly choked me to death. Adan shifted beside me, and while I still wanted to rip him to pieces, I couldn't do it when Bria stood mere feet beside me.

I wouldn't put her in more danger. I had ordered Levi to take care of her.

Once I caught my breath, I glanced over my shoulder at Levi who was doubled over and held an open wound in his shoulder that he hadn't been able to heal yet. I clenched my jaw and cut my gaze to Adan, then stood and grabbed Bria to place her behind me.

"Callum..." she whispered, her hands trembling. "Is that supposed to happen?"

"You're turning into a wolf, Bria," I said, careful not to raise my voice at her.

She might've almost choked me and Adan out, but Bria was still so innocent, still so fragile. She didn't know the first thing about how her body was going to transform. And while I thought I knew how a human body would change, I didn't think she'd become that strong this quickly.

"I knew that you marked her," Adan said, clenching his teeth and holding his wound together, blood rushing through his fingers. He looked over at her. "Why didn't you tell me the other day?"

Bria stood behind me, staring at the blood on her hands, and swallowed hard. "Because I didn't want you to hurt Callum."

I seethed at him, pissed the fuck off that Bria met with Adan and didn't tell me. I fucking knew that something smelled off about her when she came back to my classroom after using the restroom the other day. Goddess, I should've found him and ripped him in two pieces then.

"Why the fuck are you here?" I growled, baring my teeth at him again. "Bria is mine. I don't care what kind of history you have with her. She's mine now, and I will fucking kill you if you think otherwise."

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Days ago, I had told Bria that I tried to lead like the One Alpha, without hurting or killing other wolves, without fear from my people. But the mere thought of losing Bria... drove me crazy.

I would slaughter anyone who got in my way of finally having a mate.

Screw being good for her. I'd kill for her.

"What happened between you and her?" Jasmine asked Adan suddenly.

"Why'd you get in the middle of us?" I asked her, directing my attention toward her and feeling nothing but betrayal from my own packmate. "I was about to kill him, and you fucking stopped me, Jasmine."

Adan stood up and spat some blood at his feet. "Don't fucking talk to her like that."

The anger rushing through me was quickly replaced with shock. "You're mates," I said. It wasn't a question, but a statement. Jasmine and Adan were mates, and I didn't know how fucking long Jasmine knew about it without saying anything to me.

"Yes," she said, staring at me, then at her feet.

"How long have you been putting your luna in danger for this asshole?" I growled, gesturing to Adan and posturing.

Jasmine sucked in a breath. "Just today, Alpha. I would never allow anyone to hurt Bria. If I had known that he was my mate before, I would've told you. I promise I would have. This pack means everything to me."

Adan grabbed Jasmine's hand and pulled her back behind him. "Get away from him."

"Why are you here?" I asked again, turning my attention to him.

Adan glanced at Bria, and Bria looked back nervously, chewing on the inside of her cheek. His angry expression faltered for a moment, pain clouding his eyes. A part of him either still loved Bria or... something terrible happened between them.

"What happened?" I asked again, hating being ignored.

Bria gently touched my shoulder. "Callum..."

Adan stepped forward. "Don't, Bria. The more people who know about it, the easier it will be for them to find you. And if they find you, you know what's going to happen..."

Bria furrowed her brows and wrapped her arm around mine, leaning closer to me as if she needed the support. Pain shot through my body, and I knew that it wasn't mine but Bria's. Whatever happened to Bria before she came to college must've been worse than I thought.

"I'm his mate," she whispered, the words bringing me joy and pride.

No matter what happened between him and her, she was mine. Even she knew it.

"Bria," Adan scolded.

Suddenly, she stepped in front of me and let go, glaring at him. "I told you that I don't need your help anymore. So, stop it, Adan! I can handle it myself. You've done enough already with my brother. You don't need to—"

He stepped closer to her. "The Council will find you and kill you!" Adan growled, eyes glowing gold and canines lengthened again.

My eyes widened. "The Council?"

Bria tensed, her hands balled into fists by my side.

"You can't protect yourself, no matter how much you think you can!" Adan took another step closer to her and glared down at my mate. "Even I can't defeat the Council alone. They're too powerful for even an alpha to take down. You would be stupid to think you can do it yourself."

"I don't plan to take them down. My plan was to hide, which you've completely ruined!"

Adan ran a hand through his hair, let out a long sigh, and turned around. "You don't fucking get it. No matter how hard you hide, they'll find you. You will never be safe from them. Nobody, not even your mate, will be able to protect you."

I stared at them bickering back and forth, and tried to piece it all together. Nothing about this made any sense. Why would the Wolf Council be after Bria? Why were they looking for her? And most importantly, why was she running away?

At first I thought it was because of her parents.

But this... this was so much worse.

Bria became quiet, then finally turned toward me with tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me close and letting her tears fall against my chest. "I'm sorry, Callum. I'm sorry that I brought this here. I shouldn't have ever come to this university. I shouldn't have agreed to office hours. I have done nothing but put you in danger."

I wrapped my arms around her and growled at my pack to disperse back through the forest. And even Adan and his pack gave us some privacy by following them. When they were all gone, I grasped Bria's face and forced her to look up at me.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"I only know them by The Council, not The Wolf Council. But... they're after me."

"Why?" I asked, brows furrowed.

"I don't know," she whispered, placing her hands over mine and biting back another sob. "But three months before I was supposed to go off to college, my parents sold me to them."