"Take the water, Scotty. You ran drills all morning."
"No."
"I brought you a protein bar, too. It's chocolate peanut butter."
"I'm not hungry, Tara."
"But—"
"I said no." Scotty's voice snapped shut like a steel trap. He didn't even look at the girl. He kept his eyes fixed on his phone, leaning his broad shoulders against the cafeteria wall.
Tara flushed crimson, clutching her unopened water bottle, and scurried back to the cheerleading table.
I watched the entire exchange from my seat across the lunch table. "You're a monster," I told him.
"I'm setting boundaries," he replied, finally looking up.
"You're being a jerk. She just wanted to hydrate you."
"If I take her water, she thinks we're dating. If I eat her protein bar, we're basically mated." He pushed off the wall and dropped onto the bench right beside me. "I don't want anyone touching my things, and I definitely don't want anyone touching me."
"Then move over. Your thigh is pressing against mine."
"Make me."
I shoved my elbow into his side. He ignored the impact, reaching directly across my tray. His large hand closed around my half-empty bottle of peach iced tea.
"Put that down," I warned.
He unscrewed the cap. "I'm parched."
"You just told Tara you weren't thirsty!"
"I wasn't thirsty for tap water. I want peach tea." He lifted the plastic rim to his mouth, placing his lips exactly where mine had been five minutes ago, and drank half the bottle in one long gulp.
A ridiculous flush crept up my neck. "You are disgusting. Keep it."
"Thanks." He set the bottle down and immediately reached for my open bag of sour cream potato chips.
I slapped his wrist. "Do not touch my food."
"I burn three thousand calories a day, Thorne. Feed the local wildlife." He bypassed my hand, swiped a large chip, and popped it into his mouth.
I glared at him. The entire cafeteria was watching us. They always watched him. He was the pack leader, the football captain, the untouchable Alpha who treated the student body like an inconvenience. Yet here he sat, stealing my lunch and invading my personal space.
"Why do you only harass me?" I asked, pulling the chip bag to my chest.
"You react better."
"I am going to poison your next meal."
"I'll build an immunity."
Before I could formulate a comeback, a loud laugh echoed from the aisle. Jaxson Reed, a junior Alpha from a rival neighborhood, stopped at the edge of our table. He flanked himself with two bulky Beta friends.
"Careful, Scotty," Jaxson sneered, pointing a finger at my chip bag. "Don't eat after Thorne. You might catch the dud gene."
My grip on the crinkled foil tightened.
Scotty stopped chewing.
"What did you say, Reed?" Scotty's tone didn't rise. It dropped, flattening into a deadly, quiet rumble.
Jaxson crossed his arms, puffing out his chest. "I'm just saying, man. Everyone knows her bloodline is completely watered down. Seventeen years old and not even a hint of fangs? She's basically human. Why are you hanging around a broken toy?"
The cafeteria went entirely silent. Forks stopped scraping against plastic trays. Conversations died mid-sentence.
I stared at the table, my nails biting into my palms. Jaxson wasn't the first person to say it, but he was the first to say it loudly, right to my face.
Scotty stood up.
He didn't shout. He didn't shove the table. He simply stepped over the bench and closed the distance between him and Jaxson in two strides.
The air pressure in the room plummeted. A suffocating, heavy weight radiated from Scotty's frame. It pressed down on my chest, making it hard to pull oxygen into my lungs.
Jaxson’s smug smile vanished. His shoulders dropped. The two Beta friends behind him took a synchronized step backward, exposing their necks in instinctual submission.
"Repeat that," Scotty ordered.
Jaxson swallowed hard. His eyes darted toward the exit. "Come on, Scotty, it was just a joke."
"I didn't laugh. Repeat what you just called her."
"I didn't mean anything by it."
"You called her a broken toy." Scotty leaned in, towering over the older boy. "You questioned the Thorne bloodline. You questioned my table."
"I'm sorry," Jaxson stammered, his knees visibly shaking. "I misspoke."
"Apologize to her. Now."
Jaxson shifted his terrified gaze to me. "I'm sorry, Camille."
"Get out of my cafeteria," Scotty commanded.
Jaxson turned and practically sprinted toward the double doors, his friends scrambling right behind him.
The silence lingered. Nobody dared to look at our table. The entire student body kept their eyes glued to their lukewarm pizza slices.
Scotty turned around, the suffocating aura vanishing instantly. He sat back down on the bench, his thigh bumping mine again. He reached over, grabbed another potato chip from my bag, and ate it.
My heart hammered against my ribs. My hands were still shaking, but the anger had shifted targets.
"You didn't have to do that," I snapped.
"Do what?"
"Humiliate him! I can fight my own battles, Scotty."
"You were staring at the table like you wanted to cry."
"I was not going to cry!" I shoved his shoulder. It felt like pushing a brick wall. "I was going to throw my iced tea in his face."
"I drank your iced tea. You had no ammunition."
"Stop making scenes. You terrified the entire room."
He turned his head, fixing his dark eyes on mine. "He insulted you."
"People insult me every day! You insult me every day!"
"That's different."
"How?"
"Because you're my problem, Thorne." He leaned closer, a maddening, arrogant smirk returning to his lips. "Only I get to call you a wolf-less little loser."
My jaw dropped. The gratitude I felt two seconds ago evaporated into pure, fiery rage. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." He tapped the tip of my nose with his index finger. "You're my personal punching bag. Nobody else gets a turn. If they try, I'll break their teeth."
"You are a psychotic, hypocritical jerk."
"And you're a late-blooming weakling. Good thing you have me around to scare off the predators."
"I don't need you!" I stood up, grabbing my backpack from the floor. "I don't want your protection. I don't want you drinking my tea. I want you to leave me alone!"
"Sit down, Camille. Lunch isn't over."
"Go choke on a chip, Mercer."
I spun on my heel and marched down the aisle. Whispers broke out the second I walked past the first row of tables.
"Did you see that?" a girl whispered loudly. "He almost killed Jaxson over her."
"But he just called her a loser?" another voice muttered. "They're both insane."
I pushed through the cafeteria doors, letting them slam shut behind me. The cool air of the empty hallway hit my flushed face.
He protected me. He humiliated me. He guarded me like a prized possession, then mocked me like a useless burden.
I leaned against the metal lockers, pressing my cool palms to my burning cheeks.
His words from the old gym echoed in my skull. Why would my wolf hide from the strongest Alpha in the city?
A locker door slammed shut down the hall.
I jerked my head up.
A tall man stood at the end of the corridor. He didn't wear a school uniform. He wore a dark, tailored suit. His eyes locked onto mine, glowing a sickly, unnatural yellow.
"Hello, little Thorne," the stranger purred, stepping out of the shadows. "I've been looking for you."
