My stomach dropped for a second-but not from fear. From fury.
He was poking for a reaction. Digging for something. And I couldn’t afford to give him what he wanted. Not the truth. Not a slip. Not even a flicker.
So I smiled. Slow. Cold.
“Careful, Holloway. Talking like that’s gonna make people think you’re the one interested in my roommates.”
Bret laughed under his breath. Not kindly.
Bart, though-his nostrils flared. His fingers twitched, just once, like he wanted to throw something. Me, probably.
I tilted my head. “Tell you what. If you’ve got something to prove, we can settle it on the mat. I’ll even let you pick the date.”
Reyes blinked. “Kai, man-“
“Don’t,” I said to him, eyes still locked on Bart. “Let them talk. It’s all they know how to do.”
Bart leaned back in his chair, the metal legs creaking under his weight. His grin returned, thinner now. “You won’t last a week here. You think hiding behind a fake swagger and a pretty
face is enough to survive?”
“Aww, you think I’m pretty?” I said in a mocking tone, stabbing a meatball with more force than necessary, “Pity though. The only thing I’ll enjoy would be dragging both your asses across the floor during sparring. And when I do, I’ll make sure you land on your pride.”
Bret let out a low whistle. “Cocky little thing, aren’t you?”
“Confident,” I corrected. “You’ll learn the difference soon enough.”
Reyes looked between us like he’d accidentally walked into a bomb factory with a lit match. Guys, seriously. Maybe we save the testosterone contest for training?”
Bart snorted, stood, and grabbed his tray. “Enjoy your food, Savage.”
Bret followed, giving me one last look that wasn’t quite curiosity-but close. “You talk big,” he said, “but talking’s easy. We’ll see what happens when you bleed.”
Then they were gone.
And for a moment, the tension dropped out of the air like a cut wire.
Reyes exhaled. “What the hell was that?”
I finally took a bite of my food-lukewarm and awful-and chewed like I hadn’t just stared down two murder-twins in the middle of lunch.
“That,” I said, mouth full, “was me making new friends.”
“Do I want to know what that was about?” Reyes asked, slowly tearing into his apple like it had personally offended him.
“No,” I said flatly, still chewing.
He made a face, glancing at the empty space where the twins had been like they might slither back in. “Cool. Great. Awesome lunchtime vibes.”
I didn’t answer.
We ate in silence for a while. He didn’t push. I appreciated that. The noise of the cafeteria blurred around us-someone dropped a tray, someone else laughed too loudly. I blocked it all out. Focused on the bite in front of me, the repetitive motion of fork to mouth. Basic survival.
Finally, I dropped my fork, tray mostly empty, appetite completely gone. I wiped my mouth and stood. “It was nice while it lasted.”
Reyes looked up. “What was?”
“Not being noticed.”
I grabbed my tablet and slung my bag over one shoulder. “Sorry, man. Gotta go. Library stuff.”
He made a dramatic gagging sound. “Nerd.”
“Yup.”
“See you at training?”
I hesitated just for a second. “If we don’t all end up in the infirmary before then.”
He gave me a puzzled look, but I didn’t stick around to explain.
The hallway felt too narrow, like the air had thickened since I entered the building. I moved fast, weaving between bodies and trying not to let my shoulders brush anyone’s. The moment I turned the corner and pushed through the exit doors, fresh air hit my face and I could breathe again.
Goddess
The Hollowed Moon twins.
Bart and Bret.
My feet carried me automatically toward the older buildings near the edge of campus, where the library squatted like a brooding fortress, eternal and unimpressed with student drama. I didn’t actually plan on studying. I just needed to think. To breathe. To decide if I was being stupidly paranoid or just appropriately cautious.
The twins weren’t just obnoxious alphas with too much ego and not enough brain.
We didn’t talk to them. We didn’t trust them.
And we sure as hell didn’t share lunch tables with them.
Part of me wanted to shift right there, run back to the dorms, and message my mom.
Let her know they’re here.
That they saw me. That they smelled something-maybe. That one of them looked at me like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
But I stopped walking. The breeze tugged at my sweater, and I looked up at the old clock tower, ticking away like this wasn’t a slow-burn disaster.
I pulled out my phone, thumb hovering over her name in my contacts.
And then I shoved it back into my pocket.
No.
I’m not a pup anymore.
I could handle this.
I had to.
Letting her know would just make things worse. She’d panic. She’d demand that I pull out, come home, abandon the mission. She’d say it wasn’t worth the risk-and maybe she’d be right.
But I was done running.
I had earned my place here.
Even if I had to fake my way through every second of it.
I’m not leaving because of a couple of arrogant assholes.
‘Yes, we can put their asses on fire in the blink of an eye, Summer piped up in the back of my mind. My wolf had been disturbingly quiet earlier-probably shocked speechless by the insult parade-but now she was back, full sass and teeth.
Right, I thought.
We could.
I let myself imagine it for a moment-Bart on the mat, face down, his smug mouth full of gym floor. Bret clutching his ribs, gasping, eyes wide with disbelief. Everyone watching as I tore them apart piece by piece, and no one-not even Derrick or Dalton-able to deny what I was.
What we were.
Powerful.
Capable.
Deadly.
I didn’t need a damn claim mark or an alpha title to prove that.
I just needed one good sparring match.
Maybe two.
DERRICK POV
I noticed him before the doors even closed behind him.
He moved like a shadow trying not to be noticed, like he belonged in the quiet corners of places nobody cared to look. Uniform too big, sleeves pulled over his fingers, backpack slung low. Eyes cast down like they were allergic to attention. But I saw him.
Kai Savage.
Scrawny kid. The one who apparently loved to glare at me. The one who barely smiled. The one who looked like he hadn’t slept in a week and didn’t trust the air around him.
He walked like a fighter trying to look harmless. That’s what gave him away.
I didn’t even mean to follow him.
One second I was killing time between classes, thinking about my little chat with Dalton, scrolling on my tablet like everyone else in the library, and the next-I was watching his every move like I had a fucking GPS tracker embedded in his spine.
What the hell was wrong with me?
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