Chapter 67 A fun celebration
Kai's POV
The cafeteria buzzed with the soft clatter of trays and low conversations, but at our table, silence began to pool.....thick, loaded, waiting. Mira kept staring down at her food, pushing it around like she needed the movement to hold herself together.
Zara sat beside me, thigh brushing mine under the table, unintentional or maybe very intentional. My pulse reacted instantly, like metal drawn to a magnet.
“Okay,” Rex exhaled, crossing his arms.
“You said you had something you wanted to share, Mira. Spill.”
Mira finally lifted her gaze. Her eyes weren’t afraid.....they were furious.
“You all know, Professor Ajax.”
Luna raised a brow.
“Who doesn’t? He practically runs the Historical Systems Department.”
Mira nodded slowly.
“That’s the surface story.”
Zara shifted beside me, the tension in her shoulders rising.
“What do you mean?”
Mira inhaled deeply.
“I found sealed documents in the archives. Ones Ajax has been trying to erase. He’s not just a professor. He’s connected to the Moon Goddess. Literally.”
Rex snorted.
“Connected how? Like a priest or something?”
Mira leaned forward, lowering her voice.
“He’s her son.”
Silence collapsed on the table.
Zara froze.
My mouth fell open.
“You’re joking,” Luna whispered.
Mira shook her head.
“No. And it gets worse.”
I swallowed hard.
“Worse than the Moon Goddess having a son disguised as a professor?”
Mira’s eyes flicked to Zara.
“He’s the one who interlinked our fates.”
Zara blinked.
“What?”
Mira pushed her tray aside, hands trembling slightly.
“He created the timeline fracture project. Multiple versions of decisions… parallel outcomes… parallel universes…”
Luna frowned. “Slow down.” Mira nodded.
“Fine. Look… there are choices we make every day. Small ones. Glancing right or left, choosing to talk or stay quiet, moving forward, or turning away. According to Ajax, every single one of those decisions branches reality.”
Rex rubbed his face.
“So there are versions of me out there who didn’t eat cafeteria pancakes today?”
“That’s the joke version, yes,” Mira said.
“But the serious version? There are timelines where Zara and Kai never met. Timelines where Zara died before she awakened. Timelines where the wolves never existed. Ajax mapped them.”
My skin prickled.
I felt Zara’s breath still beside me.
“But why?” Zara asked softly.
“Why interfere?
Mira looked at her directly.
“Because he wants to control destiny. He believes one version of this reality leads to the Moon Goddess’s return.”
“The Moon Goddess is gone,” Rex muttered.
Mira shook her head.
“Not entirely. Her consciousness exists in fragments across timelines. Ajax is trying to merge them. He believes someone at this table, including you, Kai, is a vessel.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Zara grabbed my wrist under the table subconsciously.
Her hand was soft, trembling... but fierce.
Mira continued.
“The problem is… merging timelines means erasing everything we know. There would only be one version. One that Ajax chooses.”
Luna whispered.
“That’s… insane.”
Mira nodded.
“And he’s almost done.”
The cafeteria chatter faded into static around us.
Zara lowered her voice, barely above a whisper.
“Why tell us now?”
Mira swallowed.
“Because we’re running out of time. And because Ajax already knows you two are bonded outside his original plan.”
Her words detonated inside me.
Outside his plan.
I turned toward Zara.
She looked at me the same moment I looked at her....eyes, wide, dark, drawing me in, like gravity had chosen us as its centre.
Her thigh pressed harder against mine.
Heat coiled in my stomach.
Zara whispered.
“Kai…”
That single word wrecked me.
I leaned in without thinking, breath brushing her cheek.
Everything slowed....the cafeteria noise dimmed, the world softened, and my wolf roared yes.
Her gaze dropped to my lips.
She tilted her face up.
We were centimeter-close, close enough to kiss, close enough to forget hunger, fear, and future.
“Guys.” Mira snapped sharply.
“We’re not done.”
Zara jerked slightly, cheeks flushing.
I coughed.
“Right. Sorry.”
Rex grinned like the little shit he was.
“Well, the sexual tension has entered the chat.”
Zara kicked him under the table.
Rex yelped loudly.
Luna laughed into her cup.
Mira rolled her eyes.
“This is serious.”
I nodded slowly, forcing breath into my lungs.
“Okay. What else?”
Mira held my gaze.
“Ajax predicted something else. He predicted Dr. Voss would either stop him… or join him. And I think she already knows we’re onto her.”
Zara stiffened.
I squeezed her hand beneath the table.
Before anyone could respond, a piercing chime rang through the cafeteria, sharp and unmistakable.
A superior guard, one of Voss’s assistants, entered with two other guards and a clipboard.
Her gaze scanned until it locked on me.
and Mira.
“Students Kai and Mira,” she announced loudly.
“Dr. Voss requires your presence immediately.”
Zara’s grip tightened.
“No.”
The guard blinked. “It wasn’t a request.”
Rex stood halfway. “We’re all going.”
The guards moved forward.
“No one else was summoned.”
Zara stood too... eyes glowing faint violet.
The Devourer was awake beneath her skin.
The guard stepped back.
“I advise the Devourer sit down.”
Zara snarled.
“Kai isn’t walking anywhere without me.”
I touched her jaw gently, soft enough only she could feel the tremor in my hand.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.”
Her breath shook.
“You always say that.”
I leaned closer, whispering only to her, voice low, intimate, mine:
“I’ll come back to you.”
Her lips brushed my cheek accidentally....or maybe intentionally.
The world shifted again.
Then I stepped away.
Mira rose beside me, pale but determined.
We followed the guards out.
As doors closed behind us, Rex murmured,
“We’ll follow in secret.”
I didn’t look back, but I felt Zara’s eyes on me the entire way out of the cafeteria.
Dr. Voss was waiting in her office, sitting behind her desk....smiling.
That was never a good sign.
“Children,” she greeted warmly.
“So good to see you. Sit.”
We didn’t move. Her smile stretched.
“You must be curious why you were called.”
Mira crossed her arms.
“Curiosity isn’t the word.”
Voss chuckled.
“Oh, Mira. I always adored your wit.”
My jaw clenched.
“Why are we here?”
She tapped her fingers.
“I’ve decided to host a celebration.”
Mira blinked.
“A what?”
Voss continued cheerfully,
“A celebration for all wolves who are staying here for the holiday. A feast. Games. Fireworks at midnight.”
I stared at her.
“You dragged us here for party planning?”
“Oh no,” she said softly.
“I dragged you here because I want you to lead it.”
Mira frowned.
“Lead… a party?”
“And,” Voss continued,
“I want you both to make a speech. Something hopeful. Something loyal. Something that reminds the academy whom they belong to.”
My heart stilled.
There it was. Control. Mira exhaled.
“You want us to convince them to stay under you.”
Voss smiled with her teeth.
“But of course. Times are changing. And wolves without a leash become dangerous.”
"Meanwhile.... It's not really about the convincing part..."
I stepped forward.
“And what if we refuse?”
She stood.
And the air changed.
“Kai,” she whispered.
“You won’t refuse. Because if you do… I’ll reopen every file about Zara.”
My blood froze.
Mira’s breath shuddered.
“You monster.” Voss shrugged.
“I’m a scientist.” I swallowed rage.
“What time is the celebration?”
She clapped her hands happily.
“Tonight at seven!”
Mira groaned.
“Of course it’s tonight.”
Voss winked.
“See? You’re already perfect leaders.”
We left without another word.
Outside, Mira muttered, “We’re screwed.”
I shook my head.
“No. We’re going to turn Voss’s celebration into a trap.”
Mira frowned. “For who?”
I smiled coldly. “For her.”
When we returned to the cafeteria, Zara shot to her feet instantly, eyes raking over me like she needed proof I was real.
Her hand touched my chest.
“You’re okay.”
My voice came out lower than intended.
“I told you I’d come back.”
Our faces drew close, so so close I could feel her breath on my lips.
Her voice was barely sound,
“Kai…”
I cupped her face.
“Tonight, there’s a celebration.”
Rex groaned.
“Of course there is.” Zara didn’t pull away.
She whispered. “So we go and pretend everything is normal?”
“No,” I whispered back.
“We go…and change everything.”
Her lips grazed mine....barely, a ghost of contact, a promise.
Heat shot through every part of me.
The almost-kiss burned.
And.....
Tonight, something would break.
And whatever shattered after....Zara and I would shatter together.
"But wait.... What if Mira's theory is all wrong. What if we're going about things the wrong way?" I questioned no one in particular.
"Then we'll be back to square one. Spineless and looking for answers." My wolf responded inwardly.