"I need to discuss your last essay," he says, loud enough for passing students to hear. Perfectly normal professor-student interaction. "My office. Twenty minutes."
He doesn't wait for an answer, just walks past me toward the faculty wing. But as he passes, I catch his scent and feel the bond pull tight between us.
Twenty minutes later I'm standing outside his office door, hyperaware of every student passing in the hallway. This is dangerous. Being alone with him in his office when the bond is this active, when I can still feel the echo of last night's heat thrumming between us.
I knock.
"Come in."
I slip inside and he closes the door behind me, turning the lock with a sharp click. For a moment we just stand there, the bond vibrating between us like a live wire. His jaw is tight and his hands are clenched at his sides like he's physically restraining himself from reaching for me.
"Last night," he says quietly, and his voice is rougher than it was in the classroom. "I felt every second of it."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." He moves closer and I can see the exhaustion in his face now, the strain of fighting the bond all night. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Tired, but fine."
"And Caspian?" His jaw tightens even more and I feel a flash of jealousy through the bond before he locks it down. "I felt him there. Felt what he did."
"He helped me through the worst of it. Then he left."
"He left." Julian's eyes search mine and I see surprise there, mixed with reluctant respect. "Why?"
"Because he wanted me to choose him with a clear head. Not because of heat."
Something shifts in Julian's expression. "That's more control than I expected from an Alpha his age." He runs a hand through his hair, messing it up, and for the first time since I walked in he looks less like a professor and more like a man struggling with impossible circumstances. "This is already complicated enough. But if he's proving he can control himself, if he's not just acting on instinct..."
"It means he's serious about this," I finish.
"Yes." He moves to his desk, puts distance between us like he doesn't trust himself to stay close. "Which brings us to our other problem. The one that could get me expelled. Or worse."
"He surprised me too."
We stand there in the small space of his office and the bond pulls tight between us. I want to touch him but I don't. This is already dangerous enough without making it worse.
"I need to tell you something," I say. "About the bonds."
"The multiple bonds. You said Silverpelt can have up to four."
"Yes, but..." I take a breath. "Right now there are three. You, Caspian, and Knox. There's a fourth bond but it's broken. Contaminated. Nico."
Julian's expression shifts. "The one who betrayed you."
"Yes. The bond tried to form while he was lying to me and it twisted somehow. I can feel it there but it's wrong. Painful." I wrap my arms around myself. "And I don't know if I can forgive him. Don't know if I want to fix it even if it's possible."
"So three mates," Julian says carefully. "For now."
"Three that I'm ready to accept. Caspian doesn't know about you yet. He knows there are multiple bonds possible but he doesn't know one of them is you."
Julian goes still and I feel a spike of fear through the bond. "You haven't told him I'm his competition?"
"You're not competition. You're my mate. He's my mate. It's not a competition."
"Tell that to an Alpha wolf." He moves to the window, staring out at the darkened grounds. "This is going to be a disaster, Nova. When he finds out I'm one of the four, that I claimed you first, that I'm staff..." He turns back to face me. "Do you understand what that means? I could be expelled from the Academy. Stripped of my teaching credentials. The Council could investigate me for inappropriate relationships with a student. At best I lose my career. At worst..." He doesn't finish but I feel his fear through the bond. The Council doesn't take kindly to rule-breaking, especially not from those who should know better.
"Then we keep it secret," I say.
