She was not what he had expected. She was so different from what he had thought would be right for him. 

Once in the confined spaces of my room, I broke down. 

Emotions flowed over my head like the waves of an entire ocean. 

I was so excited that I had met him, he was extremely adorable and completely mine. His eyes were so gorgeous, the light blue colour reminded me of ice, but the warmth behind them was astounding. It lit me up from the inside, warming my body to the point I needed to cool down in that light blue ice. 

But while I was excited, happy and on cloud nine in general, I also felt nervous and scared, no, even terrified. 

My mate, my soulmate, the literal other half of my soul was the Alpha of the Sapientiae pack. He was the smartest person to exist at this point in time, while I was just a simple girl from the Fortis pack, the pack that wasn't exactly known for its incredibly bright minded people. 

Even worse, I cheated to win the competition, so I wasn't even the smartest person in my own pack. Hell, I even had trouble reading long words or texts. How could I ever be the right person for him? 

He probably needed someone who could match his intellect, not someone like me. What would happen if he found out I wasn't who I pretended to be? It would break me apart.

But, on the other hand, leaving now, giving him no time to find out would shatter hearts too. He would forever wonder what had happened to me, I would forever be miserable thinking about 'what ifs'. 

Choosing the lesser of two evils, I decided to just keep up the façade as long as possible, in the hope he wouldn't turn me away once he found out I was just a girl with average intelligence. 

Because he would find out eventually, maybe sooner than later. All I could do was hope it wouldn't be too soon. With these thoughts in my head, I managed to fall into an agitated sleep, where dreams about a certain Alpha visited my conscience.

***

The alarm started blaring out loud early in the morning. 

We had a busy programme all week, so eating breakfast before seven wouldn't be a one-time thing. 

Normally I wouldn't mind, because at home I would get up at six each morning to go roller-skating. The air was still cool, and there were little to no people around to bump against. 

Today though, I did have trouble getting up. 

Last night I had fallen asleep quite late due to my tossing and turning, my thinking about Vir and secretly missing my mum. So as I ate something in my room with the sleep still in my eyes, I went through the schedule for today. 

We were going to start with symposium at the University of Sapientiae, then we would have a tour around the University and we'd get some lunch, after which some of the most promising researchers of the entire pack – so, basically, world, as research wasn't really done in any of the other packs – would present their findings and future plans in the Lecturing Hall. 

I sighed as I combed my hair and put on my favourite clothes. Black skinny jeans, a light grey shirt and a black leather jacket. I was dressed as a basic Fortis pack girl. Did I care? No.

In the end, I turned out to be ready way too early, so I had to wait in the lobby of the Headquarters for everyone who wasn't finished yet. 

I didn't have to wait for long before Willow Cervantes, Vir's sister, joined me on a very modern but surprisingly comfortable sofa in the lobby. 

At first, she kept silent and we both watched as a long row of people slowly went through the strict security station. It was organised, logical and therefore it didn't take long at all for a person to get inside the building.

Unfortunately, Willow didn't stay quiet for long.

"So, you are my brother's mate." She didn't ask, she just stated it as a fact.

I kept my eyes straight in front of me, not moving an inch, even though I was surprised. "He told you." Also no question.

"He can't keep anything from me. I'm the only person in his life that he completely trusts, so I know everything. Naturally, he knows everything about me. Except for one thing."

I didn't say a word as I waited for her to continue.

"I trained in Fortis pack military school 1.3 for half a year."

I nodded at her in respect. "Impressive."

The Fortis pack military school 1.3 was the most ruthless military school of all packs. If you managed to get in there, you were a promising fighter. If you managed to get out there alive, you were one of the best. The earlier you got out, the better you were, although not always in one on one fights. You could be an assassin, gifted with silence and poison. You could be a military strategist, able to predict your enemies moves at least a couple of minutes in advance during battle, or weeks in advance in war. But no matter what your speciality was, you would have advanced battle skills in a one on one fight, and 85% of all people would be unable to win against you. Every year, twenty-five promising fighters would be let inside the Fortis pack military school 1.3. Usually, only ten made it out alive. And eight out of those ten took longer than one and a half year to get out.

"I can protect him if necessary. I can kill you if necessary. And I don't trust you." She turned to look at me dead in the eye. "So if you even think about breaking his heart, ruining his reputation or anything that can hurt him, tell me now, or I won't make your death swift."

"It is not my intention."

"Good. Then I presume we can head to the University of Sapientiae for the symposium this morning. It seems that everyone is ready."

She stood up elegantly in her high heels and tight skirt, and only now I noticed how firm her calves were. She was strong, smart and gifted in the art of battle. I would have to be careful around her. 

I wasn't planning on doing anything bad at all here, but I also wasn't planning on messing something up as an accident, and lose my head for it. 

I took a few breaths to compose myself before following the impressive woman to the rest of the representatives, ready to stick to the rules so much it would hurt me and my entire being. 

***

Hoihoi!

Happy easter! I hope you all had a great week! I had a relaxing one in Kopenhagen, Denmark, where I had a lot of fun with my friends. I didn't do much writing, unfortunately, but I still have some chapters left for you guys :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next week!

Liefs,

Sanne