“Whatever,” she said under her breath.
I checked the time and stood, brushing imaginary dust off my pants. “I’ve gotta take care of a couple of things before next class. Hold our spot?”
Derrick looked at me sideways. He knew better than to ask too many questions. “Sure.”
That sharing thing? It was going way better than expected.
Natural, even.
Weird.
I walked briskly back to the dorms, took the stairs two at a time, and slid the key card into our room. Once inside, I moved quickly. First, the bathroom. I disassembled the small cam I’d hidden behind the vents and wiped everything down. No trace. Nothing that could link me to the violation of privacy I was going to commit. For real this time.
Next step: Operation Hollowed Eye. Or, as Shade liked to call it, “jerkstracker 3.0.”
Shade stirred inside me, alert. Listening. Not with ears, but with that uncanny sixth sense that came from the bloodline-an awareness for eyes that watched and mouths that
whispered.
“You hear anything?” I murmured.
“All clear,” he replied.
I grabbed my toolkit: a small pouch of gadgets my mom used to call “Dalton’s Dirty Tricks.” I’d upgraded since then. Now I had a precision magnetic lock override, micro adhesive cams, a black-out fob for disrupting sensors, and a small signal beacon I’d planted earlier on that jerk. Just needed to follow it.
I walked down the hall like I belonged there, heart steady, steps calm. But when I reached the twins’ shared room-I paused. Glanced both ways.
‘Do it fast, Shade whispered in my mind like anyone could hear him.
‘Doing it,’ I whispered back.
I pressed the device to the digital lock. It blinked once, then went green. With a quiet hiss, the door slid open.
The stench hit me first.
“Ugh. Gods.”
Socks. Wet dog. Testosterone and despair.
Filthy. Absolutely feral.
Didn’t they know how to put dirty clothes in a basket?! Do laundry?!
I stepped in, holding my breath, and made a beeline for the bathroom. It was the only spot I could guarantee semi-consistent lighting and visibility-two things the cams needed. I knelt by the sink, popped open the vent cover, and slid one camera inside. Then another near the ceiling, angled to cover the room door.
Last one went behind the towel rack, with a full view of the shower.
Shade stirred again.
“Someone’s coming.”
Shit.
I froze.
The lock on the front door beeped. The mechanical click was too loud. Too soon.
‘Fucked. We are so, so fucked.’
‘Real helpful, dude.’
Panic surged, but I clamped it down. I’d trained for worse. Maybe not exactly this-caught red-handed spying on rival werewolves in their own space-but close enough.
My mind raced. If I got caught, I’d be expelled. Worse, I’d be dragged before the Council. Public humiliation. Stripped of my title. And Derrick-Derrick would be alone. The only one mated to Kai.
No way in hell. I couldn’t let that happen. Not just because of Kai, but because Derrick had carved himself in my soul too, becoming my anchor. Our relationship has changed so freaking much in such a short amount of time… it almost seems like an enemy to lovers’ romance, or bromance in our case. He was my mortal enemy and he’s now my new brother in arms. My only, unexpected, real constant besides Kai.
Think.
I darted behind the shower curtain just as the door creaked open. Heavy boots. At least two pairs.
Voices.
“Bro, I swear I left that protein shake right here.”
“You probably drank it in your sleep, you dumbass.”
The twins.
Bart and Bret.
I pressed myself against the cold tile, barely breathing. The camera tools still bulged in my pocket. One wrong move-one dropped screw-and it was over.
‘Stall them,’ I whispered to Shade.
‘How? Want me to sing?’
‘No. Wait-‘
A crash. A yell.
‘What the hell was that?!’ Shades question filled my mind.
One of the twins slipped. The other shouted something unintelligible. I used the moment to silently slide the bathroom window open and hop out onto the ledge, praying to every deity I’d never believed in that no one was watching.
I crouched there for a solid thirty seconds before sprinting along the narrow concrete strip and vaulting back toward the stairwell.
I didn’t stop running until I was three floors down, winded and sweating.
Then I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
But because I’d done it. Cameras in place. No one saw me. And best of all-
I’d installed a secondary signal relay-Whispersnare-that would ping every time Reyes or the twins mentioned Kai by name.
Sharing might be going well…
But some things were still mine to protect.
And no one-least of all those smelly Hollowed bastards-would lay a hand on what was mine.
Not while I breathed. Not while Shade listened. Not while the rules were mine to bend and
break.
By the time I made it to class, I’d cooled off-at least on the surface. Inside, my nerves were still doing parkour. But I wore calm like a second skin; no one ever needed to see the fire unless I wanted them burned.
Kai and Derrick were already slipping into their usual seats, like clockwork. I followed right behind, casual as hell.
Professor Garrett burst in right on cue, arms full of ancient tomes, his briefcase reeking of pipe smoke, leather polish, and diplomatic failure. The man looked like he lectured in peace treaties but slept in warzones.
Derrick glanced back. Our eyes locked. I gave him a smirk-nothing flashy, just enough to say: Yes, I did it. Yes, I’m the King of stalkers.
He tilted his head. That was our version of a high five.
I Guess.
I slid into the seat next to Kai. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t look at me.
But her shoulders dropped.
Relaxed.
And just like that, my heart forgot how to act normal.
She hadn’t needed to speak. That little exhale of tension was everything.
She cared.
And for me, that was enough.
For now.
Because the second she turns eighteen, she’s mine-to ruin, to worship, to own.
In that order.
KAI POV
I knew I was being silly.
Absolutely, irrationally, pathetically silly.
But even with Derrick sitting right next to me-his warmth steady and familiar, his arm brushing mine now and then-I felt… empty. Hollow, like there was something missing and I didn’t know why.
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