CHAPTER 2

~Ava

Stepping out of Asher’s apartment, I saw Chloe leaning on her car, tapping her foot on the ground. She lifted her gaze from her phone and frowned at me, obviously expecting to see Asher.

I hate to break it to her, but she would have to wait another twenty minutes or so. Asher was still in the shower, and he usually took a lot of time in there.

I ignored Chloe’s subtle glares as I quietly walked past her like I didn’t see her standing there, looking like she would crack from the delay at any moment.

Grateful she didn’t pour out her frustration on me, I let out a sigh of relief. I was used to expecting humiliation for no reason. Maybe I was just lucky today.

Behind me, a car suddenly honked like gunshots. I skidded to the side, clutching my bag.

I cursed in relief when I saw it was Mina, my crazy-ass friend, daughter of my father’s Gamma.

She wound down the window, laughing like a crackhead. “The fuck were you thinking, girl?”

“Not funny, Mina.” I tried to keep a serious face. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Liar!” She snorted. “Get in!”

Rolling my eyes at her, I slid into the front seat, relaxing into it as she resumed driving.

“Goddess, Ava.” Mina scrunched up her nose. “Did you fall into a tank of perfume?”

She could say that. And I was glad it got the job done judging from her reaction. I was literally oozing like thirty milliliters of perfume, and her nostrils were probably burning from the strong smell.

“I mistakenly poured some on myself,” I lied through my teeth.

“Smells like a lot,” she remarked and then asked curiously, “Isn’t Asher driving you to school anymore?”

“Not today.” My voice sounded a little more hurt than I intended.

I couldn’t even be mad at Asher. If my father had loved me enough to get me a car, I wouldn’t have been in this situation. I was lucky I met Mina. I couldn’t imagine the stress of taking a taxi.

Mina glanced at me with a frown. “Are… you okay?”

“Yeah.” I forced a smile.

“Doesn’t seem like it.” She rebuked me and added lightly, “But don’t worry, I’ve got something that would lighten you up.”

I faced her, lifting a curious brow. “And… what’s that?”

Mina smiled like she had just won a jackpot, her eyes darting from the road to me. 

“I got us two invites to the Red Wolves Academy party.” She squealed,  “It’s happening tonight.”

I rolled my eyes and relaxed back into the pink leather seat, clearly uninterested. 

“So…tonight!” She clearly didn’t read my reaction and continued talking. “Me and you. My place. Dress up—“

“I don’t do parties.” I cut her off. 

“Come on.” She lightheartedly pressed. “When was the  last time you had real fun?”

The day I sneaked out to a party with her and Asher didn’t speak to me for a week when he found out. I didn’t want a repeat of it.

“You can’t even remember.” She said with a teasing edge, thinking my silence meant that. “I’m starting to think you like being caged in Asher’s quarters.”

“I don’t,” I quickly denied.

“Then why are you holding back?” she asked, confused.

“I see no reason to be there, Mina,” I answered resolutely.

“Fine.” She huffed, annoyed and disappointed. “I’ll just sell the extra invite at school. Someone would definitely value it.”

I sighed, allowing silence to settle between us as we arrived at the school parking area. Mina found a spot to park her car. We got down and started toward the school entrance. 

The glass double doors were opened wide, students milling in and out of the building, dressed in crisp white shirts and striped blue bottoms.

As we stepped into the busy hallway, I noticed a group of students clustered around a locker, giving us some nasty side-eyes and glares. 

My brows creased as another student mumbled something that sounded like “Filth.” and strangely angled her body as she walked past my side. 

“Okay…” Mina muttered, looking just as puzzled as I was. “Maybe you shouldn’t have put on so much perfume.”

“What?” I frowned at her, confused.

“They’re staring because you wore too much perfume.”

Sure. Werewolves hated strong artificial smells, and maybe Mina’s words would have made sense if they weren’t staring at me like I was something clogging the school toilet.

We continued down the busy hallway and every eyes seemed to turn in my direction. I gulped anxiously, trying to ignore them as I wondered what was wrong. Goddess, I was tempted to run out of their sight. The looks were becoming unbearable. 

I nearly succumbed to the thought when suddenly, Rosie appeared from the adjacent hallway and blocked my path. 

Mina quickly moved behind me, evidently scared of Rosie, and my stomach dropped with dread as Rosie theatrically raised my journal to my face.

“Surprised to see this?” she lifted the corner of her lips. 

I swallowed hard, forcing the panic down. Despite that, my voice shook slightly as I asked. “How did you get that?”

“Does it matter?” She chuckled mischievously. “Oh, the content does, and it’s quite repulsive.”

“Give it back!” I quickly moved to snatch it from her.

Rosie’s hand came down hard on my face, sending me to the white-tiled floor. Being a Beta wolf meant I didn’t stand a chance against her strength. I could already imagine her handprint blooming on my face from the way the spot burned.

“Such a weak and disgraceful thing.” Rosie huffed, shaking her head in disgust. “Now tell me, were you so desperate to get fucked? Going as low as sleeping with our brother?”

Bile shot up my throat as shame washed over me, making me wish the ground could open up and swallow me whole while the students glared repulsively. Some recorded the scene, while others spat sharp comments at me.

“Dirty slut!”

“Weak hole!”

“Filthy thing!”

“She repulses me!”

“I… I…” I started, not sure if I should deny it. Maybe I would have if she hadn’t interrupted me.

“Of course, I know you’re going to deny it…” She snickered and held up the journal with a sly smile. “Too bad all the evidence is right here, and trust me, I’ll make sure everyone gets a copy of your dirty secret…”

“Everyone to your classrooms now!” Asher’s voice suddenly filled the air, cutting Rosie off.

The students didn’t hesitate for a second. They quickly scattered, hurrying away from the scene. I’d be just as scared if I were in their place. Asher’s expression was anything but friendly.

I picked myself up from the floor, feeling relieved as Asher walked up to Rosie and snatched the journal from her hand.

“Get out!” he growled.

Rosie huffed at him and shot me a look that told me this wasn’t over. She turned sharply, leaving for wherever she had come from. The hallway was deserted now.

“Come with me!” Asher roughly grabbed my arm, pulling me along with him.

He was walking so fast I could barely keep up. We turned the corner to the restricted school area where only Alpha-ranked students were allowed.

Asher pulled me into an empty classroom and released my arm as he slammed the door shut.

He angrily kicked the chair beside him, and it crashed into a pile of other chairs across the room, creating a loud, chaotic noise.

I flinched as I backed against the wall.

“Asher…” My voice was small as I watched him run a hand through his curls. “You’re scaring me.”

He finally looked at me, his jaw clenched so tightly it strained against his skin.

“How could you be so careless, huh?” His voice was barely calm.

“I swear, I was careful,” I replied anxiously. “Rosie went behind my back and searched through my stuff in my locker.”

“Damn it!” He flung the journal to the floor. “Why would you keep it in your locker? Why did you even write about us?”

“I… I just wanted…” I actually didn’t know how to put it into words, not with him being this way.

“You just wanted to do what?” he asked irately as he closed the small distance between us. “Find a way to tell everyone that we’re fucking each other? Or do you just love fetishizing the act on those fucking pages?”

“Stop it!” I shouted at him, offended by his tone and crude language. “I only wrote them down for memory’s sake!”

The anger in his eyes subsided for half a second, but then my heart jumped as he suddenly hit the wall above my head.

“Do you even have any idea you’ve just made things worse for us? Huh?”

“The moment a word about us gets to the pack, we are both fucked!” His jaw locked. “I’m not getting caught up in this mess. You have to deny everything!”

“No, Asher!” I disagreed, and his face darkened. I continued, undeterred. “This might be the chance we’ve always wanted to make the pack know about us and accept us for who we—”

“I believe you heard me right.” He firmly cut me off. “Deny our relationship, or else we’re done!”