25.2

Kalmin didn't stop walking. “That depends on what you call a reason,” he said, his tone flat but simmering with something unspoken. “I had plenty. Because I felt like it. Because I’m tired of beta-born mutts acting like they outrank me. Because he disrespected me in front of my mate. Because he disrespected me at all.” He gave a slow, lazy shrug and nodded ahead. “Take your pick. We need to grab the books and go—we’re already behind.”
"Maybe we wouldn’t be if you didn’t stop to kill someone," she snapped under her breath.
Kalmin whipped his head toward her, scowl cutting sharp as a blade. Nuri clamped her lips shut, looking away.
'I get why it set him off, but... I still don’t understand why he had to kill him.'
Tempest stirred, her voice low and tight with barely-restrained frustration. ‘Sometimes, I swear you're willfully blind.’ She took a breath, forcing herself to calm before she went off again. ‘Do you even know why wolves in the conclave have to kill their classmates? Of course you don’t.’
‘Tempest, seriously—we need to work on how you talk to me. I’m not just your host. I’m me. A person. More than you are, some days.’ Nuri stepped into the library, her irritation dimming into awe as she took in the towering bookshelves and the sleek, two-tiered design. Rows upon rows of aged spines, the glint of computer screens upstairs, the cool hush of pages turning and whispers floating on the air.
Kalmin brushed her arm with his fingers and guided her toward the back, beneath the black spiral staircase. “This section,” he whispered, his hand briefly tightening on her sleeve.
"I’d help, but I don't even know what we're looking for," she whispered back, trailing behind him. She looked around the library, imagining Kalmin sitting at one of the desks a few years ago, lost in thought over the same texts. ‘It's hard to picture him here at all.’
Tempest huffed, then curled in on herself. ‘A little. And I’m... sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Seeing Kalmin kill someone like that—it rattled me.’
‘Yeah, I figured. I didn’t push it. But it didn’t bother you?’
‘Oh, it absolutely did. It was a massive turn-on. I’m just mad Rian didn’t get to do it instead.’
‘Tempest! That was someone’s life. He ended it like it was nothing!’ Nuri’s eyes flicked to Kalmin, who was thumbing through a book now, expression unreadable. ‘Is that why you said he had a reason? Because you enjoyed it, and you wanted me to enjoy it too?’
‘No,’ Tempest said sharply. ‘I said he had a reason because he did. And he doesn’t need more than one: he’s the alpha.’ She paused, her tone hardening. ‘The wolves in the conclave kill to prove they can. Not because they want to, not only to silence challengers—but because they have to show they’ll do whatever it takes to lead. Even if it means spilling blood. Even if it means doing it in front of the person they’re most desperate to protect.’
Nuri froze. ‘So you’re saying Kalmin’s just doing what they taught him?’ Nuri shot back. ‘That doesn’t make it right.’
‘No, but it makes him what we need.’ Tempest growled, frustrated. ‘I’m saying if someone slapped him in the face, then apologized because they didn’t realize he was alpha, that apology wouldn’t matter. Disrespect is disrespect. It’s not about the act, Nuri. It’s about tolerance. You want him to be someone softer, kinder—but that version of Kalmin only exists for you. The world doesn’t allow him that luxury.’ She hesitated, voice lowering. ‘He didn’t just protect his pride back there. He protected yours.’
Nuri swallowed, the words catching like stones in her throat. ‘When you put it like that… I can’t say I like it, but I do understand.’ She turned to look for Kalmin again—only to realize he was gone. “Seriously?” she whispered, rising onto her toes and peering down the aisles. Nothing. “I swear, I’m putting a damn bell around his neck.”
"Careful," Kalmin murmured against her ear. Nuri jumped, nearly yelping—his hand clamped gently over her mouth. “I might like it.” He pulled her back into him, arm winding tight around her waist, his chest flush with her back. “I got the books. Time to go.”
She nodded stiffly, but he didn’t release her. His hand dropped from her mouth to trail lower, brushing her hips, fingers slipping under the hem of her shirt, grazing the waistband of her panties.
"We’re in public," she hissed, half an admonishment, half a plea.
"As long as you’re quiet," he whispered, lips grazing her neck, "no one will notice."
He backed her into the bookshelf, slow and deliberate, one hand capturing both wrists above her head, the other teasing just below her navel. His body caged her in, crowding her with need and unspoken promises.
Her mind screamed reason, logic, risk. Her body begged for more.
He leaned down, brushing his lips against hers, not quite kissing her. “Tell me no, and I’ll stop.”
She didn’t. Instead, she tilted her hips into him, and that was all the answer he needed.
Kalmin growled—a deep, guttural sound that sent shivers down her spine. He kissed her like a man starved, his mouth devouring hers, pulling every gasp, every moan from her lips and swallowing them whole. His tongue slid against hers, a slow, claiming stroke that left her shaking.
His hand dipped lower, slipping beneath the waistband of her panties with a confidence that made her knees buckle. She gasped against his mouth as his fingers found her slick heat, teasing her with slow, torturous strokes that left her aching.
‘This is madness,’ she thought, but she was already lost in it, in him. In the feel of his fingers, in the press of his chest, in the way his body responded to her every twitch and whimper.
He broke the kiss, his forehead resting against hers as his fingers moved faster, more deliberate. “You’re soaked,” he whispered, voice fraying at the edges. “You were already thinking about it, weren’t you? How good I make you feel?”
She bit her lip to keep from crying out, nodding as her eyes fluttered shut. The pressure built fast—too fast—coiling low and tight in her belly.
Kalmin cursed softly and kissed her again, rougher this time, desperate. “I need you. Now.”
He tugged her panties down, and she stepped out of them in a daze. Her back hit the shelf again, and he lifted her effortlessly, one hand braced beneath her thigh, the other guiding himself between her legs. She clenched around nothing, desperate for him.
Then he was inside her—one smooth, powerful thrust that stretched and filled her, stealing the air from her lungs. Her cry was muffled against his neck, teeth biting into his skin as he held her steady.
“Fuck, Nuri,” he groaned, holding her hips in place as he thrust again, slow and deep, savoring every inch.