After Holden rudely told me—in front of Callum—that if I ever wanted a boyfriend, he'd contact Thiago, I stomped back to Callum's office with him, seething. Holden had some damn nerve to say that to me after everything that happened between The Council and me, and while Callum was listening.

I didn't care anymore what The Council knew about me.

Flying into Callum's office, I paced around the room. It was obvious during my nice chat with Holden for the past few hours in the library that he knew that I knew about The Council and about him. He wasn't stupid, and neither was The Council. They were some of the smartest damn people that I'd ever met.

Holden probably knew that we figured it out the first day of class.

Maybe that's what he wanted.

Callum shut the door behind us and cleared his throat. "Bria, what was that?"

Eyes snapping open wide, I turned on my heel toward him. "What was what?"

"You talked so bluntly to Holden about The Council. You're putting yourself in danger."

For the first time ever, I snapped at Callum. I couldn't hold myself back. I had so much anger built up inside me from seeing Holden and listening to him taunt me for the past few hours while I was fucking stuck at that library.

All I wanted was to go through college quietly. I didn't want this shit.

"Don't scold me for this, Callum," I shouted, my heart pounding against my rib cage and my breath coming out choppier. "You don't know what I had to endure for the past few hours, nor the past few months before I met you. You don't get to decide how I respond to someone who is threatening me!"

Tears filled my eyes, and I didn't have time to stop them before they began pouring down my cheeks. And as much as I tried to push them away to remain strong and unstoppable, the thought of The Council taking me away from my mate or taking my mate away from me was killing me on the inside.

Callum stepped closer to me, giving me those hard brown eyes. "I'm trying to protect you, Bria."

"Well, you can't!" I shouted through my tears. "Nobody can. Holden already knew who I was. Thiago already knew that I enrolled in this school, within the first couple weeks of me leaving town. Nobody can stop this from happening, no matter how hard they try."

I balled my hands into fists, the tears stopping suddenly. A low growl ripped out of my throat, the gutteral sound actually comforting now compared to last night. All day I had been desperately trying to suppress my wolf.

I didn't want her to come back out and hurt anyone, especially Callum.

But she had to remind me that I wasn't alone anymore. I had her by my side. We might not be able to defeat them alone, but we were stronger together against Thiago and The Council. And I would fight until the very end to protect the people who I loved.

Another growl rumbled from my chest, and I stepped closer to Callum. I could feel the blood pumping through every one of my veins, the pressure building in my chest and my thoughts running wild with everything I'd do to Thiago if he touched my mate.

"Mine," I growled and moved closer to Callum.

Thiago wouldn't touch my mate.

I stared up at him, tilted my head, and grasped his chin. "You're mine."

Callum didn't back away, nor show the slightest ounce of fear in his eyes. I expected him to cower back in fear from the monster that I was slowly becoming, the monster that I didn't want to hold back anymore. But he stood stronger than any man I had met before him.

"You're mine to protect," I said to him, my wolf slowly taking control of me and forcing me to sink the tips of my claws into his throat to hold him in place and make our claim on our mate. "Thiago won't touch you."

"Thiago isn't going to touch you," Callum said, easily pulling my hand away from his chin and turning us around, to press me against the office door. He pinned me against the wood and grasped my chin this time. "You're not going to put yourself into any more danger, Bria. Do you understand me? Let me deal with Thiago."

"No," I growled, inhaling his sweet scent and working myself up further. "You're mine."

Mine.

Mine.

Mine.

Thiago wouldn't touch him.

My wolf rumbled inside me, the sound of her voice stronger than it was last night in bed. An undeniable urge rushed through my body, and I found my canines ripping through my gums and aching to be inside Callum Lee, my classics professor.

This urge wasn't only my wolf's this time. It was mine.

I wanted this more than I wanted anything in my life.

And I refused to let Callum leave this room without my mark on his neck. He had been waiting for this since he marked me, and tonight I would finally give it to him, because there was no holding back anymore. All we could do now was face The Council.

Fuck The Council.

Nobody liked them anyways.

So, I slammed my hands into his chest and sent him stumbling back a few feet toward his desk. I stepped closer to him, my wolf taking complete control of me and becoming a possessive mess of a monster for him.

Callum placed his hands on the sides of his desk and leaned back, his tan biceps flexing, his brown eyes flickering gold under his dark-framed glasses that he usually wore during his lectures. "Bria..." he breathed out, his voice softer this time.

He knew what I was about to do.

He wanted it.

"You're mine, Callum Lee," I said, drawing my nose up the side of his neck. "And nobody will take you away from me." Before I could stop myself, I sank my teeth into the side of his neck to claim my mate.