REED
I couldn't stop thinking about him, and it was driving me fucking insane.
Asher Graham, the platinum blonde bastard who'd walked into Stone Claw Academy three days ago and turned my entire world upside down.
I sat in my room, the largest single in the Alpha dormitory, a privilege of being who I was, and stared at the ceiling, trying to understand what the hell was happening to me.
I'd never been obsessed with anyone before, I have never lost sleep over another person. I have never felt this gnawing, and desperate need that seemed to consume me from the inside out.
But Asher...
Fuck.
I rolled onto my side, replaying the last few days in my head for the hundredth time.
From the moment I'd seen him in the courtyard, all sharp edges and defiant blue eyes, stepping between me and Scott like he had any right to do so, something in my chest had shifted.
At first, I thought it was anger. How dare this nobody challenge me? How dare he question my authority in front of the entire Academy?
I was Reed Jackson, son of Alpha Thorne Jackson of the Shadow Born Pack. I'd been raised to be the perfect Alpha, cold, ruthless, and dominant. I didn't lose, I didn't back down, and I sure as hell didn't let some pretty-faced newbie disrespect me.
So I'd decided to break him.
Simple.
Except nothing about Asher Graham was simple.
The fight in the combat ring should have been the end of it. I'd dominated him completely. Proved I was stronger, faster, and better. I'd expected him to submit, to apologize, and to crawl away with his tail between his legs like everyone else did, but he hadn't.
Even when I'd had him pinned, even when he was coughing up blood, even when he could barely stand, he'd looked me in the eye and said "never." and something inside me had awakened.
I couldn't explain it, I couldn't rationalize it, but in that moment, with Asher on his knees in front of me, defiant and bleeding and absolutely breathtaking, I'd wanted him.
Not just to break, not just to dominate, I'd wanted to possess him.
The realization had hit me like a freight train. I'd walked out of that arena hard as a rock, confused and furious and desperate for something I couldn't name.
I'd told myself it was just the thrill of the fight. The adrenaline, the natural high that came from proving my dominance, but it wasn't enough.
I threw my pillow across the room and stood up, pacing like a caged animal.
I was obsessed with Asher Graham. The way he moved, the way he fought, the defiance in those blue eyes, and the way he refused to break no matter what I did to him.
Even now, days later, I couldn't get the image out of my head. Him standing in that courtyard, chin lifted, meeting my gaze without flinching. Him in the combat ring, bleeding and broken but still spitting resistance at me.
I'd gone back to my room after the fight and jerked off three times thinking about him, about pinning him down, about making him submit, about hearing him beg, and about making him mine.
It was sick. I knew it was sick.
I hated him, he hated me, and we were enemies, but I couldn't stop.
Which was why I'd come up with the plan.
The training mission, the rogues, and the setup.
I wanted to see him vulnerable, I wanted to watch him struggle, and I wanted to prove to myself that he wasn't special, that he was just another Alpha who'd eventually break.
I wanted him isolated, alone, and desperate so I could be the only one who could reach him.
So I'd hired three rogues, ones I knew were dangerous but not lethal, and told them to rough Asher up, scare him, and show him that going solo was a bad idea.
I'd planned to watch from a distance, to see him fight, to see him realize he needed help, and then I'd swoop in at the last minute and remind him exactly who held the power here.
It was manipulative, and cruel. Exactly the kind of thing my father would do, but I'd convinced myself it was necessary.
I should have known it would go wrong.
I'd positioned myself in the forest, tracking Asher's progress through the trees. Watching as he navigated the checkpoints with surprising skill. Watching as he moved with a grace that shouldn't have belonged to an Alpha his size.
Something about the way he moved bothered me. It has bothered me since the fight.
Alphas were supposed to be all power and aggression, but Asher moved like water, fluid, adaptive, and precise. It was... wrong. So fucking Off. Just like his scent.
I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about Asher's scent didn't fit. It was Alpha, yes, dominant and sharp, but underneath, there was something else. Something sweeter, and softer. Something that called to me on a level I didn't understand.
I'd been so lost in thought that I almost missed the moment the rogues attacked.
One second Asher was walking toward the final checkpoint. The next, he was surrounded.
I'd tensed, ready to intervene when the time was right, but then I'd heard what the lead rogue said.
"Whatever Reed Jackson paid you, it's not worth it."
Asher had figured it out. He knew I'd set him up, and the look on his face, the betrayal, the fury that sent a thrill through me.
Good. Let him know. Let him understand that I controlled everything in his world now.
I watched as he fought. As he took down one rogue with nothing but a knife and pure determination. As he refused to give up even when he was clearly outmatched.
He was magnificent, and he was mine to torment, mine to break, and mine. No one else got to touch him.
The first kick to his ribs made me tense, the second made me snarl, by the third, I was already shifting.
I'd told the rogues to rough him up, and to scare him. I hadn't told them to beat him bloody. I hadn't told them to stomp on him while he was down, and I definitely had not told them to grab his hair and slam his face into the dirt.
This wasn't fear, this was damage, and nobody damaged what was mine. Rage consumed me, not because I cared about Asher's pain, but because these pathetic rogues had overstepped. They were taking liberties they hadn't been given, and they were touching something that belonged to me.
I didn't think, I didn't plan, I just moved.
My wolf took over completely. I burst through the trees, roaring loud enough to shake the leaves. The rogues scattered like the cowards they were.
I should have chased them, I should have torn them apart for disobeying my orders, but all I could see was Asher.
Asher, lying in the dirt, covered in blood. He was barely conscious, his beautiful face swollen, bruised, and broken. My property, damaged.
I shifted back to human form and dropped beside him, assessing the damage with cold efficiency.
Cracked ribs, broken nose, and severe bruising. He was conscious but barely.
He tried to speak, but blood poured from his mouth.
"Don't talk," I said, gathering him into my arms. He was so light… too light. "I've got you."
His eyes fluttered closed.
I carried him through the forest on a dead run, not caring that I was naked, not caring about the branches that tore at my skin.
I needed him alive, I needed him conscious, and I needed him whole enough to continue our game because this wasn't over, not even close.
My wolf was restless inside me, agitated by the scent of Asher's blood.
'Ours,' it growled. 'To protect. Ours.'
Not to protect, but to possess.
I burst out of the forest just as the sun was setting. Other students were returning from the training mission, laughing and comparing tokens.
They went silent when they saw me.
Reed Jackson, naked and covered in blood, carrying an unconscious Asher Graham.
"Get out of my way!" I roared, and.they scattered. I ran straight to the infirmary, kicking the door open.
Ms. Chen looked up from her desk, her eyes widening.
"What happened?"
"Rogues," I said shortly. "He needs help. Now."
She was already moving, clearing a bed, and pulling out supplies. I laid Asher down, stepping back as she began her assessment.
"He's lost a lot of blood," Ms. Chen said, her hands moving efficiently over his body. "Cracked ribs, again, broken nose, concussion, severe bruising, and internal bleeding, possibly."
"Fix him," I said flatly.
"I'm trying, Mr. Jackson, but I need you to leave—"
"No."
Ms. Chen looked up at me. "Reed—"
"I'm not leaving." My voice was cold, authoritative. "I'm staying right here."
She must have seen something in my expression, something dangerous because she didn't argue.
"Fine, but put some clothes on and stay out of my way."
Someone,.probably one of my friends.brought me sweatpants. I pulled them on without taking my eyes off Asher.
Ms. Chen worked for what felt like hours. IVs, bandages, and healing salves. Medications I didn't recognize. Finally, she stepped back.
"He'll live," she said. "But it was close. If you'd gotten here even ten minutes later..."
She didn't finish the sentence, she didn't have to because I nodded once. Good. He'd live.
Ms. Chen studied me for a long moment. "What happened out there, Reed?"
"He got attacked by rogues," I said evenly. "I happened to be nearby."
She didn't look like she believed me, but she didn't push. "You can stay, but when he wakes up, you should probably give him space."
"We'll see."
She left, and I pulled a chair up beside Asher's bed.
He looked vulnerable lying there, and defenseless.
Exactly how I wanted him.
I reached out and brushed a strand of platinum blonde hair off his forehead, studying his face.
This obsession,.whatever it was, wasn't going away. If anything, it was getting stronger.
I didn't understand what I felt for him, I didn't know if it was pure possessiveness or something darker. I didn't know if I wanted to break him or claim him or simply never let anyone else have him, but I knew one thing with absolute certainty: I couldn't let him go.
Whatever this thing was between us, this hate, this desire, this inexplicable pull, it was mine to control, and I'd do whatever it took to keep him exactly where I wanted him. Even if it meant protecting him from everyone else because Asher Graham was mine to torment, and I'd kill anyone who tried to take that away from me.