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Branches whip past my face as I weave between old oaks and towering pines. I run harder and work the terrain the way my father taught me. I bounce off a thick trunk to launch myself forward and scrape my hand on the bark. Off a mossy rock, I try it again and nearly slip. My wolf pushes for every bit of speed she can give, and the forest blurs. I might actually win this time.

Ocran blows by in a rush of air and throws me an amused look over his shoulder. My wolf grumbles while I growl at his back, and he disappears into the trees ahead. All the training in the world was never going to help me beat him. I made my peace with it years ago, but she’s still a sore loser.

By the time I catch up to him, the Academy towers are in sight. We slow to a walk and fall into step beside each other. My legs still hum from the run, but we’re hardly winded.

“One of these days,” I tell him, “I’m going to beat you.”

“Sure you will.” He bumps his shoulder against mine. “Keep dreaming, cousin.”

We don’t say much on the way up. The grounds are already full of students. Some hurry off to early classes while the rest stand around talking in clusters. I search every face for a dark-skinned dragon with blue-green eyes. I keep getting my hopes up over any tall guy with short locs.

“Looking for someone?” Ocran asks.

I keep scanning the crowd. He reeks of amusement. “No.”

He snorts. “Liar.”

I huff. “Have you seen him? Ezra, I mean. It’s been a week, Ocran.”

He drops the teasing. “I heard he moved out of Ash Clan. Got his own place on the community lands.” He shrugs. “Can’t confirm it yet. Might sneak off campus later to go sniff him out.”

I jab a finger at him. “You two are friends.”

“Yeah, we are.” He glances at me sideways. “He’s a good guy, Aya. You know that.”

I’m not touching that one. “I’m going to push his mother for information during my clinicals. She has to know where he is.”

Ocran grunts and goes quiet for way too long. “You know you won’t be with the pack much longer, right?” He watches me. “You and Ezra are going to pair up eventually. You can’t keep fighting the mate bond forever. Sooner or later it’s going to take over whether you want it to or not.”

He’s right, and my wolf doesn’t bother pretending otherwise. She perks up at Ezra’s name like the traitor she is. I quit walking. My stomach knots up around my breakfast. “I know.” I hate how small I sound. “But I’m scared. I have to leave home, Ocran. I won’t see Mom and Dad every day, I won’t wake up to my brothers fighting, I won’t⁠—”

“Hey.” He grabs my arm and turns me to face him. “You’ll always see us. House of Zorah isn’t going anywhere, and neither is your family. We’re here for you, Aya. That doesn’t change because you’re mated to a dragon.”

He smells like home, and it makes my eyes burn. I press my lips together and make myself nod. I am not about to cry out here in front of everyone.

“Coming home for dinner tonight?” he asks.

He’s doing a terrible job of sounding casual, with a nervous edge in his scent. I narrow my eyes at him. “Why? What’s happening?”

Ocran won’t meet my stare. “It’s Alpha Jacob.”

I growl. “You mean the dusty wolf?”

He frowns at me. “I really wish you would stop calling him that. He never wanted the alpha position, and he’s our uncle⁠—”

“Cousin,” I cut him off. “He’s our cousin, not our uncle. Don’t give him a title he hasn’t earned.”

“You are so fussy about this.” He keeps it light, but his scent sharpens.

Heat crawls up my neck. “And you’re not the one who got stuck with the name of Wintermoon’s greatest enemy.” I’m harder on him than I mean to be. “You don’t know what it’s like to have everyone look at you and see her first.”

His scent goes warm again. “But you’ve done so much with that name. You’ve made it mean something different. Made it better.”

I sigh. “It doesn’t feel that way,” I admit. “I’m still getting bullied, Ocran. After all this time.” My wolf whines low. She’s as sick of it as I am.

Ocran’s eyes flash with his wolf. He’s the spitting image of Uncle Kane about to tear someone’s throat out. “Then let me and your brothers bite off a finger or two. That would put a stop to it real quick.”

I punch him in the shoulder. “Violence is not the answer.”