THE ALPHA WHO HATED ME - Chapter 42: Chapter 42

**Ronan's POV**
I don't sleep for the rest of the night. Every time I close my eyes, I hear that howl echoing in my head. That name carried on the wind. *Lunara.* The pieces of the shattered binding stone lie scattered across my bedroom floor like broken promises, their silver light finally dead.
My wolf paces restlessly, more agitated than he's ever been. The connection between us and Evangeline feels raw now, exposed. Like a nerve that's been stripped of its protective coating. I can sense her emotions bleeding through the bond - fear, confusion, and something else. Something that feels like power building behind a dam that's about to burst.
By the time morning comes, I know I have to see her. Have to talk to her. Have to find out what's happening before it's too late.
The hallways of Blackclaw Academy feel different today. Students move in clusters, whispering about the party, about Celeste's humiliation of Evangeline, about my confrontation with my own fiancé. Their eyes follow me as I pass, but I ignore them all. I have more important things to worry about.
I find her at her locker, fumbling with the combination like her hands are shaking. She looks thinner than before, paler. Dark circles ring her eyes like bruises. But there's something else about her that makes my breath catch. She stands differently. Holds herself like she's carrying something heavy and dangerous.
"Evangeline."
She turns at the sound of my voice, and I see it immediately. Her eyes are different. Still the same warm brown, but now they have flecks of silver that catch the fluorescent lights. They're beautiful and unsettling at the same time.
"What do you want, Ronan?" Her voice is steady, but I can hear the exhaustion underneath it.
I step closer, lowering my voice so no one else can hear. "I need to talk to you."
"We have nothing to talk about."
"Yes, we do." I glance around, making sure no one is listening. "Something's happening to you. I can feel it through the bond. Something's changing."
She goes very still, and for a moment, I think she might run. But then she straightens her shoulders and looks me directly in the eye.
"What's it to you?"
The question hits me like a slap. What is it to me? The honest answer is everything. She's everything to me, and I'm terrified of losing her to whatever force is pulling her away from the world I know.
But I can't say that. Won't say that. Because admitting the truth would mean admitting that everything I've built my life on is wrong.
"You're my subject," I say, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "You're part of my pack. I don't care about you personally, but I need to know if you're becoming a threat."
The silver in her eyes flares brighter, and I feel her wolf stir through the bond. Not the submissive creature I've always sensed, but something ancient and powerful. Something that makes my own wolf whimper and press closer to me for protection.
"A threat?" She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "You think I'm a threat to you?"
"I think you're different. I think something's happening to you that you don't understand. And I think you're in danger."
"From who?"
"I don't know. But I can feel it. Through the bond. You're scared, Evangeline. You're terrified of something, and it's not just Celeste or the other students."
She stares at me for a long moment, and I can see the war playing out behind her eyes. Part of her wants to tell me everything. Part of her wants to trust me. But a bigger part remembers every cruel word I've ever said to her, every time I've chosen duty over her wellbeing.
"You're right," she says finally. "I am scared. But not of what you think."
"Then what?"
"I'm scared of what I might become. I'm scared of what I might do." She closes her locker with a soft click. "And I'm scared that when the time comes, I won't be strong enough to stop myself."
Her words send a chill down my spine. Whatever's happening to her, it's bigger than I thought. More dangerous.
"Let me help you," I say, and I mean it. "Whatever this is, whatever you're dealing with, you don't have to face it alone."
She looks at me with something that might be pity. "You can't help me, Ronan. You made your choice a long time ago. You chose your duty, your reputation, your perfect life. And you chose her."
As if summoned by her words, Celeste appears at the end of the hallway. She walks toward us with purposeful strides, her face a mask of cold fury. Students scatter out of her way like leaves before a storm.
"Well, well," she says, stopping just close enough to invade Evangeline's personal space. "What do we have here? The future Alpha having a secret conversation with the school's charity case?"
"Celeste," I warn, but she ignores me.
"I thought we had an understanding after the party," she continues, her voice sweet as poison. "I thought you learned your lesson about knowing your place."
Evangeline doesn't flinch. Doesn't back down. Instead, she steps closer to Celeste, and I can feel power radiating from her like heat from a fire.
"My place?" Evangeline's voice is soft, but there's steel underneath it. "And where exactly do you think that is?"
"On your knees, begging for mercy." Celeste's smile is sharp as a blade. "Just like you should have been on Saturday night."
"I don't beg anymore," Evangeline says simply.
The change in her tone makes my wolf sit up and take notice. This isn't the broken girl who used to flinch at raised voices. This is someone else entirely. Someone who's decided she's done being a victim.
Celeste must sense it too, because her smile falters slightly. But she recovers quickly, raising her hand to strike.
"Maybe another lesson will remind you.."
I move without thinking, catching Celeste's wrist before her palm can connect with Evangeline's face. The contact sends a jolt through my system, and for a moment, I can smell something in the air. Something wild and dangerous and completely inhuman.
"Don't," I say, my voice carrying all the authority of my wolf. "Don't even think about it."
Celeste stares at me in shock. "Ronan, what are you doing? She's nothing. She's nobody."
"She's under my protection," I say, the words coming out before I can stop them. "And you will not lay a hand on her."
The hallway has gone completely silent. Students press against the walls, watching the drama unfold. Some have their phones out, recording everything. By lunch, this will be all over social media.
Celeste's face goes white, then red, then white again. "Your protection? She's an Omega. She doesn't deserve protection."
"Everyone deserves protection from bullies," I say, still holding her wrist.
"Can't protect themselves?" Evangeline's voice cuts through the tension like a knife. "Who says I can't protect myself?"
I turn to look at her, and my breath catches. The silver in her eyes is brighter now, almost glowing. The air around her shimmers with heat, and I can feel my wolf pressing against my consciousness, begging me to submit to whatever she's becoming.
"You don't need to protect me, Ronan," she says, her voice carrying a strange echo that makes everyone in the hallway take an involuntary step back. "I'm done being protected. I'm done being saved. I'm done being treated like I'm made of glass."
She looks at Celeste, then at me, and I see something in her expression that makes my chest tighten with loss.
"I'm done with both of you."
She turns and walks away, her footsteps echoing in the silence. Students part before her like the Red Sea, instinctively recognizing that she's become something they don't want to cross.
I start to follow her, but Celeste's voice stops me.
"Choose," she says, her voice cracking with emotion. "Right now, Ronan. Choose. Her or me. Your duty or your obsession. Your future or your past."
I look down the hallway where Evangeline disappeared, then back at Celeste. At the girl I'm supposed to marry. At the life I'm supposed to live.
"There's no choice," I say, and I mean it. "You're my fiancé. You're my future."
The words taste like poison. But I say them anyway.
Celeste's smile returns, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "Good. Then maybe we can finally put this whole mess behind us."
But as she takes my arm and leads me away from the scene we just created, something strange happens. Her touch feels wrong against my skin. My wolf recoils from her, snarling and pressing deeper into my consciousness like he's trying to escape.
I've never reacted to Celeste this way before. But now, after feeling Evangeline's power, after sensing what she's becoming, Celeste feels... ordinary. Human. Weak.
"Ronan?" Celeste looks up at me with concern. "Are you alright? You look pale."
"I'm fine," I lie, but I'm not fine. I'm dying inside, and my wolf knows it.
As we walk down the hallway, I can't shake the feeling that I've just made the biggest mistake of my life.
The binding stone is gone. The connection between Evangeline and me is stronger than ever. And something is happening to her that I don't understand.
Something that might destroy us all.
The hallway slowly returns to normal, students going back to their conversations and their classes. But I can still feel her presence in the building, like a star burning too bright. And I know that whatever she's becoming, whatever power is awakening inside her, it's going to change everything.
Whether I'm ready for it or not.
Whether any of us are ready for it or not.
As Celeste chatters beside me about wedding plans and future obligations, her voice blends into background noise. The same script I've been reading since I was old enough to shift.
But I can still feel Evangeline ... no, not Evangeline. Not anymore. Something else. Something ancient. Something powerful.
And in the back of my mind, I swear I hear her whisper one last time.
"Don't follow me."
A chill runs down my spine.
Not because I'm afraid of her.
But because I'm afraid of what might happen if I do.
The lights in the hallway flicker once, then go out completely for three seconds before coming back on. Other students look around in confusion, but I know the truth.
That wasn't a power outage.
That was something powerful and ancient.
Saying goodbye.