Renzo’s POV
The second Jade stood there, frozen, skirt lowered, butt naked, breath shallow, sothing inside snapped tight.
My wolf surged forward like it had been waiting for this exact mont.
Mine.
The word thundered through my head, hot and possessive, sharp enough to make my jaw clench.
I hated it.
I hated that my eyes locked onto her without permission. Hated that my body reacted before my mind could shut it down. The way she stood there, trembling but upright, chin lifted like she refused to break even as fear carved into her face, my wolf ate that up.
So did I.
I told myself it was the bond.
It had to be.
But the truth seed to be uglier than that.
I wanted her.
Not the way Ronan mocked. Not the way Ryder provoked.
This was sothing deeper. Sothing dangerous.
I wanted all of her.
My eyes literally scanned her from head to toes.
She looked small like that. Exposed. Not weak, she never actually looked weak, just fragile in a way that twisted sothing in my chest I didn’t have words for.
“You can’t be serious,” Jade said, her voice shaking now despite her effort to steady it. Her eyes flicked toward the doors as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder. Too loud. Too close. “They’re coming here. All of them. Please....”
She swallowed hard.
“I can’t let them see like this.”
My wolf snarled low in my chest.
The footsteps echoed closer, voices layered with laughter, careless and loud.
Ronan scoffed beside . “Why?” he said cruelly. “Aren’t those the sa guys you supposedly fucked all in one night?”
“I told you I’ve never slept with anyone!” Jade snapped, frustration breaking through fear. “I’m still a virgin, damn it!”
I didn’t look at Ronan.
I was watching her.
And then I saw it.
A single tear slipped free, tracking down her cheek like it had betrayed her.
My heart nearly stopped.
It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t loud.
It was quiet.
That was what destroyed .
The quiet but fierce urge that suddenly spurred through my whole being to protect her and never let her shed a tear again.
In that instant, everything went wrong.
The court doors began to open.
I moved without thinking.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hard against , turning my body just enough to block her from view as the doors swung wide. My back straightened instinctively, posture relaxed, deliberate.
To them, it probably looked like an embrace.
Like sothing intimate.
Jade stiffened against , breath hitching sharply, her hands frozen between pushing away and clinging for balance.
The basketball guys stopped short.
I felt their eyes on us.
Ronan understood imdiately.
He stepped in, positioning himself at my side, shoulder angled just right to cut off any remaining line of sight. His presence was solid, immovable.
I caught Ryder’s eye and jerked my chin once.
That was all it took.
Ryder turned, walking straight toward the group. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.
“Leave,” he said calmly.
The authority rolled off his voice like a physical force.
They hesitated, then turned around without a word.
No one dares to question the triplet heirs of Alpha Ashridge.
When the doors shut behind them, the silence hit.
I realized I was still holding Jade.
Too close.
She felt.... small.
Not frail, but light, like she’d weigh nothing if I lifted her. My wolf pressed closer to the surface, reverent and possessive, humming with sothing dangerously close to awe.
Protect.
The urge shocked .
I hadn’t felt that ever.
Jade shifted, pulling back sharply, breaking the spell. She yanked her skirt up with shaking hands, turning away from as if the touch had burned.
“There’s never anything good that cos from being near you people,” she snapped, anger blazing now where fear had been. “You should stay away from .”
Then she turned and walked out.
Just like that.
Ronan scoffed behind . “We should’ve left her,” he muttered. “Ungrateful as hell.”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
My eyes followed Jade until the door shut behind her, until she was gone and the emptiness hit like a physical blow.
Ronan shook his head and walked off, irritation written all over him.
Ryder stayed.
He stepped in front of slowly, studying my face.
I already knew what he was going to say.
“You think I like her,” I said flatly before he could speak. “You’re wrong. It’s just the mate bond.”
Ryder’s jaw tightened.
“We all have the bond with her” he said quietly. “And yet Ronan and I manage it just fine.”
I looked away.
“You’re the most controlled person I know,” he continued. “Yet your wolf nearly broke through today.”
I said nothing.
Ryder exhaled slowly. “So no, brother. I don’t think it’s the bond.”
He t my eyes.
“I think you’re falling for her.”
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