Page 112 of The Drama King

"The bond requires proximity," Corvus said, falling back on clinical facts when emotional manipulation failed. "Especially in these early stages. Extended separation could cause irreparable damage."

"To the bond or to your control?" I challenged.

Another tense silence. I could see them exchanging glances, silently communicating their growing panic. This wasn't going according to plan.

"What are you proposing?" Dorian asked finally, his voice carefully controlled.

"I finish my exams. I complete my degree. I figure out what the hell happened to me during those three days when I wasn't in my right mind." I stood up, suddenly needing the height advantage. "And then, maybe, we have a conversation about what comes next. On equal terms."

"That's not how fated bonds work," Corvus said, but his clinical certainty was wavering.

"Then maybe fated bonds are another form of coercion," I replied. "Maybe they're evolution's way of ensuring Omegas can't escape situations they never chose to be in."

The words hung in the air like a challenge. All three Alphas were staring at me with expressions I couldn't quite read. Surprise, alarm, something that might have been respect mixing with growing panic.

"You need to eat," Oakley said finally, falling back on caretaking when everything else failed. "You need to maintain your strength."

I almost smiled at the transparent attempt to redirect the conversation. "I need to get back to my life. I have three major exams next week, and study groups I've already missed. The world didn't stop turning because you decided to claim me."

"We'll help," Dorian offered, but I could hear the possessiveness underlying the apparent generosity. "Whatever you need to succeed academically, we'll provide."

"What I need is space to think without three Alphas hovering over me, analyzing my every response for signs of bond compliance." I moved toward the door, needing to establish that I could leave, that I had agency. "What I need is time to process what happened without feeling like I'm being managed."

"The bond—" Corvus started.

"Will have to survive some uncertainty," I finished. "If it's real, if it's meant to be, then it should be strong enough to handle me needing time to adjust to having my life turned upside down."

I paused at the door, looking back at three Alphas who were clearly struggling to process my resistance. They'd expected submission, gratitude, inevitability. Instead, they were facing an Omega who knew her options and wasn't afraid to consider all of them.

"I'll be in touch," I said, making it clear that contact would be on my terms. "When I'm ready."

And then I left, walking out of my own dorm room because staying felt like capitulation. Behind me, I could hear urgent whispered conversations, could smell the sharp spike of Alpha distress, could feel the pull of the bonds trying to drag me back.

But I kept walking, each step an assertion of will over biology, choice over destiny.

I had exams to pass and a future to reclaim. Everything else could wait.

forty

Dorian

Imadeitexactlythree blocks from Vespera's dorm before the separation anxiety hit with physical force. My hands began to shake, my chest tightened with pressure that hadn't been there moments before, and every instinct I possessed screamed at me to turn around, to go back, to reclaim what was mine.

Mine. My fated mate. Mine.

The primal possessiveness was overwhelming, unlike anything I'd experienced before. Not the calculated dominance I'd wielded for months, not the strategic power plays I'd orchestrated with such precision, but something deeper and more visceral. A drive that transcended conscious thought.

"Jesus," Oakley muttered beside me, his cedar scent sharp with similar distress. His usual steady composure was cracking, one hand pressed against his chest like he was having a heart attack. "Is it supposed to be this bad?"

I didn't answer immediately, focusing on breathing through the discomfort. The newly formed bond was raw, sensitive, stretching painfully as the distance between us and our Omega increased. It felt like someone was slowly pulling my ribs apart, creating a hollow ache that no amount of rationalization could ease.

"Fated bonds are stronger," Corvus observed, his voice strained despite his usual control. Even he was affected. The analytical Alpha who prided himself on clinical detachment was walking with visible tension, his dark eyes repeatedly darting back toward campus. "The literature suggests separation symptoms are particularly acute in the first days after claiming."

"Fuck the literature," I growled, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk as another wave of physical discomfort washed over me. My vision blurred at the edges, and I could taste copper in my mouth from clenching my jaw so hard. "We need to go back."

"She asked for space," Oakley reminded me, though I could smell his own distress. Sharp notes of cedar mixed with something like panic. "If we're serious about things being different now, we need to respect that."

He was right. I knew he was right. But the Alpha in me was howling with territorial panic, demanding I return to my mate, reclaim her, ensure that no one could take what was mine. The separation felt wrong on a cellular level, like trying to breathe underwater or walk on broken glass.