KAI'S POV
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I woke up to someone crying.
The girl next to me—blonde, pretty, completely forgettable—was wiping tears from her face. She clutched the bedsheet against her chest like it could protect her from the truth we both knew.
"You don't even remember my name, do you?" she whispered.
I sat up, running a hand through my hair. My head pounded from last night's party. "Listen—"
"It's Jessica." Her voice broke. "We've hooked up three times, Kai. Three times, and you still don't know my name."
Guilt twisted in my stomach, but I pushed it away. I'd perfected that move over the years. "I never promised you anything."
"I know." She stood up, grabbing her clothes. "That's the worst part. You're always honest about being a jerk, and girls like me still hope we'll be different. That we'll be the one who changes you."
She left without another word.
I lay back down and stared at the ceiling of my massive bedroom. Everything in here cost more than most people made in a year. Custom furniture. Expensive art. A bed bigger than some apartments.
And I felt absolutely nothing.
My wolf stirred lazily inside me. *Another one bites the dust,* he said, bored.
"Shut up," I muttered.
*You're miserable.*
"I'm fine."
*You're a liar.*
Before I could argue with my own wolf, my phone buzzed. A text from my father: *My office. Now.*
I groaned. Nothing good ever came from early morning summons to Marcus Ashford's office.
Twenty minutes later, I stood in front of my father's desk, watching him sign papers without looking up. The Alpha of the Ashford Pack. Cold. Powerful. Emotionally dead inside.
Everything I was terrified of becoming.
"The Lunar Gala is tomorrow night," he said finally, still not meeting my eyes. "You'll attend with Sera Blackwood."
"I'll attend alone," I corrected. "Sera and I aren't together."
"You should be." He set down his pen and looked at me with those empty eyes. "She's from a good family. Strong bloodline. Perfect Luna material."
"She's manipulative and cruel."
"She's suitable." He said it like that settled everything. "You're twenty-five years old, Kai. It's time to stop playing games and think about your future. About this pack's future."
My hands clenched into fists. "Like you did? When you rejected your true mate for a political marriage?"
His face went hard as stone. "Watch yourself."
"I've been watching you my whole life, Father. Watched you become a hollow shell. Watched Mom move to the other wing of the house because she can't stand being near you. Is that the future you want for me?"
"I want you to be smart enough to avoid the mistakes I made." His voice was ice-cold. "Love makes you weak. Mate bonds make you vulnerable. You rule with your head, not your heart."
"And look how happy that made you."
He stood up, his Alpha power filling the room. Most wolves would have submitted immediately. But I was his son, his heir. I stood my ground.
"You will attend the Gala with Sera," he said slowly. "You will be respectful. You will start considering your duties to this pack. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly," I said through gritted teeth.
I left before he could see how much his words had cut.
My brother Dante found me in the training room an hour later, beating the life out of a punching bag.
"Dad again?" he asked, leaning against the wall.
I hit the bag harder. "He wants me to mate with Sera."
"Of course he does. She's exactly like Mom—all ambition and no heart."
"I'm not him," I snarled, spinning to face Dante. "I won't make his mistakes."
"Then what's your plan? Keep sleeping with random girls until you're as dead inside as he is?"
The truth of his words hit worse than any punch. "I don't know."
Dante walked closer, his expression softening. "You know what's funny? Dad rejected his mate to avoid being weak. But that choice is what destroyed him. The very thing he feared, he created."
"What's your point?"
"My point is that you're so busy running from his mistakes that you're making different ones." He gripped my shoulder. "You're not living, Kai. You're just... existing."
Before I could respond, my phone rang. Unknown number.
"Ashford," I answered.
"Mr. Ashford, this is Dean Whitmore's office." A crisp female voice. "We need you to come to campus immediately. There's been a serious complaint filed, and your name has been mentioned."
My stomach dropped. "What kind of complaint?"
"I can't discuss details over the phone. But it involves accusations of harassment and abuse of power. The Dean needs your statement within the hour."
"Harassment? I never—"
"One hour, Mr. Ashford."
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, my mind racing. Someone was accusing me of harassment. My father would lose his mind. This could destroy everything—my reputation, my future as Alpha, my entire life.
"What's wrong?" Dante asked, seeing my face.
"Someone's trying to destroy me," I said slowly. "And I have no idea who or why."
But even as I said it, a sickening realization hit me.
Sera.
She'd been furious when I ended things last week. She'd threatened to "make me regret it."
I just never thought she'd go this far.
I grabbed my keys and ran for the door. I had one hour to figure out who was setting me up and why.
And if I was right about Sera, someone innocent was about to get caught in the crossfire.