Fated at MOONCREST: Stuck with the two Alphas. (A sequel)

Kathy's POV

The car door swung open before I was ready.

That's the thing nobody tells you about arriving somewhere you're terrified of. You think you'll have a moment. A breath. Some kind of internal speech ready. I had none of that. Just the door opening and my legs moving and suddenly I was standing on actual ground at actual Mooncrest College and my chest felt like it had forgotten how to do its job.

The driver got out with me. Didn't say anything, just pulled my suitcase from the boot and set it beside me like he'd done it a hundred times, which he probably had. He gave me a small nod and I gave him nothing back because I was too busy staring up at the gate.

Welcome to Mooncrest College.

Iron letters. Old ones. The kind that look like they've survived things.

I stood there longer than I should have. Long enough that I heard the crunch of heels on gravel behind me and turned to find a woman in a sharp grey suit holding out a folder like she'd been waiting for exactly this moment.

"Miss Moonfall. Everything you need is inside. Room assignment, schedule, orientation details." A pause, very brief. "Good luck."

Then she walked back into the car, it pulled off and that was it. That was the whole send-off.

I picked up my bag and walked through the gate.

\---

The inside of the folder told me I was in Ashveil Hall, room 214. I found it without asking for help, which felt important somehow. Small victory. I needed those.

The hallways were busy in that specific way where everyone looks like they know exactly where they're going and you're the only one who doesn't. I kept my eyes down and followed the map on the last page of the folder and tried not to think about how many of these people probably already knew who I was.

Malia Mooncrest's daughter. Seventeen. Wolfless.

That last word sat in my stomach like something swallowed wrong.

I turned a corner and walked straight into someone.

Not bumped.

Not grazed. Full collision, folder flying, my shoulder hitting something solid and my whole balance going sideways.

My balance went instantly, like the ground had tilted without warning, and for a split second I knew—I was going to fall. But I didn’t.

His hand caught me.

Fast. Too fast for me to even register the movement. One second I was falling, the next there was an arm around my waist, firm, steady, like it had always been meant to be there. It pulled me back before I could even panic, before my body could finish reacting.

And just like that, I was upright again. Close, too close.

I froze.

My hands hovered uselessly between us, not touching him but not pulling away either, like I didn’t trust my own balance without that grip still there. His hand was still at my waist, solid and warm through the fabric, grounding in a way that made my chest feel… off.

I looked up.

There was something sharp about him, something still and controlled, like he didn’t waste movement, didn’t waste anything. His hood was up, shadowing part of his face, but not enough to hide it.

His eyes—

Dark. Not just the color, but the way he looked at me. Steady. Focused. Like I wasn’t background noise, like I wasn’t just someone he’d accidentally run into. It wasn’t soft, wasn’t warm either. Just… there. Intense in a quiet way that made it hard to look away.

For a second—maybe less, maybe more—we just stayed like that.