Chapter 6

The whole school was in chaos. Alice Ferdinand ran around EPC in her crimson wolf form to look for Isis Cepheus, her best friend, so she could share the gossip. After running for a while, she shifted back and breathed heavily because her wolf was still weak and couldn’t stay in that form for too long.

She couldn’t keep the news to herself! The new guy at the swimming class was just too handsome to ignore, and Alice thought Isis must see him.

Still breathing hard, Isis appeared behind her and laughed shortly. “Did you want to flaunt your wolf again because you got it before me?”

Alice jerked up. “Hey! Where have you been? I’ve run for more than an hour to find you!”

“Don’t tell me you’re on your period?” Isis laughed, but Alice brushed her off. “The whole EPC is on fire!!”

Isis still thought her friend was joking around and smiled. “EPC is on fire? What happened to Gamma Jay, the self-acclaimed security guard? You should call him first.”

“Who is talking about a real fire!!?” Alice was frustrated. “Come with me.”

Grudgingly, Isis followed with a loud hiss. “Let’s see where this fire comes from.”

Alice led her friend until they both stopped at the corridor leading to the principal’s office, where most students rendezvous to gossip during break.

Isis snapped her hand away from Alice. “Did you bring me here to hang out?”

“Just wait and see the fire,” Alice insisted, and managed to make Isis wait until another group of students came rushing from the other side of the corridor, whispering about some new student.

“He’s so handsome. I heard he comes from Vineyard Pack College,” Isis heard another student comment, and this made her hiss with disgust. She could now guess the source of the so-called fire, and she wasn’t ready to waste time waiting for him.

She pulled Alice. “Let’s leave. This is useless.”

“Hey!” Alice scolded. “Don’t you hear that a new hunk just arrived from VPC?”

Isis was frustrated just by the way her friend was talking about him. She knew this was going to happen because, in truth, Samuel Armani was very handsome... he was a hunk who would be hard for anyone to ignore.

She remembered how Dalton cruelly broke up with her over the news about her mum, and she wasn’t ready to let anyone know that Samuel was her stepbrother. Who knew what kind of stunt Samuel could pull?

She turned around while Alice was being adamant, ready to avoid Samuel at all costs until she could warn him not to let anyone know about their relationship. But she stopped when she heard a certain voice. “Here, Alpha Sam.”

She turned around abruptly, and she was shocked to see Fatima coming through with Samuel, grinning ear to ear in a pink fur cardigan.

To Isis's surprise, Fatima was wearing makeup! Something she only does once in a blue moon. Samuel, who was walking beside her, had the most handsome smile on... like he was comfortable being around Fatima.

Since they came from opposite sides, Samuel and Isis saw each other. For a moment, time seemed to freeze. The two stared at each other, Samuel smirking at her while Isis glared back.

Fatima noticed Samuel’s absentmindedness and quickly stepped in front of him, breaking the hypnotic staring competition. “Alpha Sam, this is the way to the principal's office.”

Isis hissed loud enough for the two of them to hear before stomping away. The two of them are your enemies and we must break them apart! her wolf swore.

Isis clenched her fists. Just let him come out of that principal's office. I will show him that I was a student at EPC way before him.

~~

By the start of literature class, the EPC school blog was filled with posts about the new student. Pictures were already comparing him and the former school star boy, Alpha Dalton, and it was going viral more than Isis could take.

The fact that she was connected to the two trending boys was so frustrating, and she was barely holding on until the end of class.

Isis was the first to get out. She wanted to find Samuel Armani and warn him against telling a talkative gossip like Fatima anything about them.

Immediately upon stepping out, she met Dalton standing by the door, as if he were waiting for her.

Isis hissed and pretended she didn't see him, but he stopped her.

“I came to see you, Ice,” he said, his voice cold as ice.

Isis stopped and eyed him for a split second. “You came so you could mock my mum again, or break up with me all over again?”

Dalton leaned away from the wall. He looked annoyed that he even had to ask, but he said, “I… I need your help.”

This felt like the cruelest joke she had ever heard. “You need my help?” She scoffed. “What came over you?”

Other students had begun to disperse from the class. As expected, most female students stopped to look at Dalton, the school's star boy who was on the brink of being dethroned.

He pulled her hand. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

The other students howled at the scene of them holding hands, and cameras were already flashing. “Get an interview from him, Ice!”

He pulled her behind the notice board. Isis snapped her hand away angrily. “What is wrong with you? Did you forget that this is the mass comm building?”

Dalton looked around, looking desperate. “Sorry, I just couldn't wait.”

“Desperate, huh?” Isis smirked. “Desperate to mock me or to...?”

He ran his hand through his hair frantically. “I... I didn’t find you for that. I want... I want an interview.”

Isis froze for a moment. “You say what?”

His gaze was firm this time. “I mean it, Ice. Come and interview me, and even film my training.”

Isis was confused. “But why? You could have asked another person, right?”

He shook his head. “I must crush that new boy and put him in his place!” His determination was unwavering. “I want to remain the star boy of EPC and not some Samuel Armani!”