When I reached the table, I didn’t bother asking for permission.
I pulled out a chair.
And sat down.
Right next to Bret Hollowed. I think.
He stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Kai hovered behind me, eyes wide. But I reached back and patted the seat beside me.
“Sit, Kai.”
She hesitated for half a heartbeat, then sat.
I looked Bret dead in the eye. “Just making sure you and your brother understand something.”
His twin, Bart, leaned forward, face twisting into a mockery of a smile. “Oh yeah? And what’s that, Derrick? That your little boyfriend’s got t**s now?”
I growled.
Low, deep, and dangerous.
“Watch your mouth.”
Kai was stiff beside me, but I felt the spike of her power just under her skin. She was holding back. Barely.
Bret leaned forward, eyes glittering. “You think you scare me, dude?”
I didn’t blink. “No. But I’m not here to scare you. I’m here to make something very clear.”
Dalton dropped into the seat across from me, a tray full of food in his hands. He set it down in front of Kai, then leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes dark and gleaming with wicked amusement.
“If either of you lays a finger on him” Dalton said, voice calm and pleasant like he wasn’t describing a murder, “we’ll break every bone in your body. Slowly.”
Bart snorted. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Dalton smiled. “Nope.”
I placed my hand on the table, close enough to Kai’s that I could feel her warmth. “You look at him wrong. You corner him. You so much as breathe in his direction with bad intentions, and I swear, we’ll make you wish you’d been exiled.”
Just when Bart opened his mouth again-probably to let another pile of shit tumble out- Dalton reached across the table, smooth as silk.
“Your collar’s crooked,” he said with a grin that was all fangs and charm.
He reached out, adjusted Bart’s tie with precise fingers. Too precise.
The movement was slow, deliberate.
Calculated.
Bart jerked back like a cat drenched in ice water, but it was too late.
Dalton just leaned back, smile widening as if he’d done nothing but fix a fashion mistake.
My heart thudded once. Loud. Suspicious.
I knew that look.
That look meant he’d done something.
He’d placed something.
Or removed it.
And whatever it was-it was already too late for the Hollowed Moon brothers.
Kai looked between us, frowning.
Dalton raised a single eyebrow, his fork already in his hand.
“What?” he said, chewing on a fry. “Just being polite.”
But I knew him.
I knew him too well.
And I was already replaying that movement in my mind, trying to figure out what the hell he’d slipped out of his sleeve.
And why the hell it was now on one of them.
Bart shoved his chair back with a screech loud enough to silence half the damn cafeteria.
“Fucking psychos,” he muttered, his voice tight with fury as he stood.
Bret followed, slower, his eyes burning into me like he thought he could set me on fire with sheer willpower. His hands twitched at his sides. If he hadn’t been wearing the school uniform, I swear he would’ve lunged across the table.
Instead, he kicked his chair out of the way and snarled. “You’ll regret this.”
Dalton just smiled, all teeth and evil calm. “Doubt it.”
The twins stormed off, chairs clattering behind them, leaving behind a silence thicker than blood.
Kai flinched as the echoes of their tantrum faded, her fingers clenched on the edge of the table like she was this close to shifting or snapping or doing something very, very public.
I could feel her power buzzing under her skin. It wasn’t steady-it was wild, ?lectric, barely
leashed.
The others were staring. Of course they were.
Some out of fear.
Some out of hunger.
Some-like Reyes, now leaving the cafeteria from the far side-out of suspicion.
I leaned toward Kai, my lips grazing the shell of her ear, my voice a soft command, edged with hunger I wasn’t even trying to hide anymore.
“Eat, little mouse,” I whispered. “You’ll need fuel to keep up with us.’
She turned her head slightly, just enough for our breath to mix. Her pupils were blown wide, her throat working around the swallow she tried to hide.
Dalton didn’t miss a beat, popping a grape into his mouth and chewing like nothing had happened.
I could see her jaw tighten. She wanted to scream. Or bolt. Or maybe crawl into my lap and bite something.
A man can hope.
She didn’t.
She took a deep breath, jaw clenched, then reached for her fork and stabbed a piece of grilled chicken like she wanted it to scream.
No fear. Just fury, barely leashed. My mouse had claws.
Atta girl.
Her gaze flicked to mine for half a second, and in it, I saw the ghost of a smirk. Not scared. Not overwhelmed. Just calculating. Like she was deciding how far she’d let us go before she bit back.
DALTON POV
The Hollowed Moon twins stormed out like overgrown toddlers mid-meltdown-chairs scraping, fists clenched, voices raised. Then: silence. Almost satisfying.
I reached casually across the table and stole a chip from Derrick’s plate, popped it into my mouth, and chewed with exaggerated nonchalance, grinning. Salt, vinegar, and the sweet, addictive taste of mild chaos.
“What did you do?” Derrick asked, narrowing his eyes without lifting his gaze from the spot the twins had vacated.
I shrugged. “Why do you think I did anything?”
He looked up at me fully then, unimpressed. “Cause you’ve got the same look you had the night before you drugged me and made me almost miss my morning run.”
I snorted. “Fair enough.”
Kai gave me a sharp look but didn’t interrupt. She had that finely tuned radar for bullshit, but she hadn’t figured me out yet. Not really.
“I’ll tell you later,” I said, waving a hand like it was nothing. “Just think of it as putting those punks in their place-and now we’ll always know where they are.”
Derrick grinned and leaned back in his chair. Kai, on the other hand, didn’t look as amused.
“You didn’t have to,” she muttered. “I had everything under control. Our packs have been at each other’s throats for twenty years-it’s nothing personal, just ancient history. They’re not actual threats. You know that.”
“We know you can handle yourself, little mouse,” Derrick said, voice lowering into that dangerous purr he saved just for her. “Doesn’t mean we’ll sit back while someone takes a swing at you. We take down anyone who even looks at you wrong.”
I nodded in agreement. “Besides, me and Derrick got tangled up in a similar kind of hatred- between our packs. And here we are…” I gestured lazily around the table. “Sharing the same air, the same room… and soon, we’ll share everything.”
Kai blushed. Actually blushed. It was adorable, how she tried to bury herself in her plate and pretend like she didn’t hear me.
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