The weight of secrets

4. The Weight of Secrets

Mr. Callahan started science class by handing out our midterm grades. My nerves skyrocketed as I watched him walk from desk to desk, setting tests face down in front of each student.

He was probably my only teacher who didn’t like me. I had no idea why. I always did my homework, I was never late, never skipped a class, spoke up when he asked a question…

And yet, I caught him glaring at me and Ace on several different occasions.

Regardless of his reasons, it gave me severe anxiety.

I took my grades very seriously, had a perfect grade-point average, and was determined to keep it that way. I’d need them if I wanted to go to university.

After all, besides tennis and dance, I didn’t have much else to spruce up my college résumé. And as much as I liked helping my mom in her bakery, Crumbs, I wanted to keep my future options open.

But Mr. Callahan could ruin all that. This grade was worth 20 percent of our final grade, and I was already struggling in the class. I couldn’t afford to get anything lower than a B-Plus.

The moment he set my test down on my desk, I flipped it over, my gaze zeroed in on the red mark at the top of the paper, and my stomach dropped.

C minus.

I got a C minus.

“Miss Kennicott,” someone said.

I glanced up to see Mr. Callahan glowering down at me.

“Where’s Ace?” He held up a paper showcasing Ace’s neat handwriting. There was an A circled at the top.

Of course, of course, he aced the midterm.

No pun intended.

“Um, he’s not here today.”

My words felt weighed down by the realization that I was now an academic failure.

My record was broken. All the effort I’d put toward getting a perfect GPA was down the toilet.

How could I have gotten such a bad grade? I worked my butt off for the test. I spent hours studying…with Ace…who got a perfect score!

Mr. Callahan furrowed his brow and then scanned the room, almost as if he was sure I was lying about Ace’s whereabouts.

“I can give it to him if you want,” I offered, holding out my hand. “I’m seeing him later today.”

The end of class suddenly felt like hours away. I needed Ace with me to confirm I wasn’t making up Mr. Callahan’s distaste. The man clearly had it out for me.

My teacher narrowed his eyes at me, peering over the rims of his glasses.

I gulped.

Dressed in his slightly too-tight khakis, outdated aviator glasses, and a pair of loafers without socks, Mr. Callahan was far from the most intimidating man to look at.

He was also very small for an adult male from Embermoon. I was pretty sure my eleven-year-old brothers were gaining on him in height.

And yet, the way he glared at me made my heart race with fear. It felt like more than the glare of a teacher looking at his least favorite student. There was real and tangible hatred in his eyes.

“Fine,” he said finally, dropping Ace’s test on my desk. “I’ll check in with him the next time I see him, so I’ll know if he doesn’t get it.”

Jeez.  “Y-yes, sir.” I looked down at the two exams in front of me. “Um, are you offering retakes for this test?”  

He regarded me with a blank expression. “This was a midterm.”

“Oh.” I guess that’s a no, then.  

Mr. Callahan shook his head and turned without saying another word, leaving me feeling like the stupidest person in the world.

I slumped forward, willing myself not to cry while I flipped through my test.

“Dorothy?” a voice spoke next to me. “Are you okay?”

I looked up at my classmate sitting at the desk next to mine, and tears began to pool in my eyes before I could stop them.

“Ron, um…” I quickly tucked mine and Ace’s tests into my back pocket and wiped away the tear on my cheek with the back of my hand. “I-I’m okay. Just being dramatic. Sorry.”

I hadn’t really spoken to Ron before but had noticed how nice he was from afar. He was always smiling and chatting with people, and everyone seemed to really like him.

I imagined we could be good pals if Ace wasn’t strictly against me having other male friends.

Ron’s eyes softened. “No need for apologies. Is there anything I can do? Where’s Ace?”

“Yeah, Dorothy, where’s your bodyguard?” someone else asked.

I whipped my head around, making eye contact with a smirking Ben Tucker sitting at the desk behind Ron. “W-what?”

Ben was new to the school but had given me bad vibes from the moment I met him.

Sure, he was good looking and charming, but he was also conceited.

He moved to town after his dad was hired as chief of surgery at Embermoon’s hospital and made sure everyone knew that his family was a “big deal” in the medical world.

Apparently, both of his parents had won some big awards.

On top of that, he was with a new girl every week, and yet, they continued to flock around him as if he were some sort of god. I didn’t understand any of it.

“Your pimp? Your keeper, maybe?” Ben continued, leering maliciously at me.

“Where exactly is the almighty Ace? He’s finally decided to let you off your leash?”

“Ben,” Ron interjected. “Don’t.”

Ben’s grin only grew. “Oh, come on, Ronny-boy. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ron said. “You shouldn’t talk to her like that.”

Ben ignored him, keeping his eyes on me. “Tell me, Dorothy, what’s the deal between you and Ace?”

My mouth dropped open. “That’s none of your business.”

Ben scoffed. “You two make it everyone’s business every time you start humping in the hallway. How you press up against him, practically begging him to fuck you every day… He must be amazing in bed.”

My cheeks brightened. Did people really think that about me? Did Ace and I really act like that?

My mind flashed with images of people’s shocked faces as they watched Ace and me in the hallway this morning.

Ron grabbed Ben’s arm in a fierce grip. “I’m not fucking kidding, Ben. You don’t want to mess with her.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “You and I both know she deserves better. Just let me shoot my shot, man.” He sent a wink in my direction.

“No. Not with her,” Ron bit out through clenched teeth, his grip on Ben’s bicep only tightening.

Ben shrugged him off. “Why? Just because she’s Ace’s plaything right now—”

“I’m not Ace’s anything,” I finally intervened, practically seething. “We’re just friends.”

Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you now?” He laughed. “So, what, he uses you behind closed doors but refuses to announce your relationship to the public? That’s harsh, dude.”

Those words hit me square in the chest. “It’s not like that,” I argued.

“Come on, Dorothy, you can’t expect us to believe that the omnipotent Ace hasn’t touched you because we’ve all seen it. I mean, you’ve got hickeys all over your neck.”

I immediately covered the bruises with my hand, wincing.

Ben leaned back in his chair. “You’re being used, sweet cheeks.”

More tears pooled in my eyes. Was he right? Was Ace using me?

“Ben, you’re gonna want to shut the fuck up right fucking now,” Ron snarled.

He lowered his voice until I could barely hear him. “Dorothy’s important. Like, really important. If anybody finds out you’re talking to her this way, you’re going to get your ass beaten. Or worse.”

Ben scoffed. “How important can she possibly be? Look at her.” He gestured to me, red-faced and holding back tears. “Besides, I’m only trying to help her. I gotta stick up for my fellow human.”

His slimy gaze settled back on me, and he leaned forward. “Look, I know Ace is handsome and the alpha or whatever—”

“Ben—” Ron warned.

“But he obviously doesn’t like you enough to make things official with you. Why else would he leave hickeys on your neck but refuse to admit you’re a couple?”

My heart skittered. “That’s not true,” I murmured.

Ben looked me up and down, licking his lips. “I sure as hell wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with you, sweet cheeks. Don’t you want to be with someone of your own kind?

“Ace is going to leave you when his real mate comes along, anyways—

“Dorothy is Ace’s mate!” Ron cut him off. “You fucking idiot! You’re talking to the future luna of the Embermoon Pack!” He was shouting now, seemingly no longer worried if I could hear.

Ben blinked. “No, I’m not. Doe’s a human. And she hasn’t been marked!” He gestured toward my neck.

“What do you think the hickeys are for, you dumb fuck? They’re Ace’s claim on her!”

The color slowly drained from Ben’s face. “She’s…” He looked at me. “She’s the omega everyone has been talking about?”

Ron dragged a hand down his face. “I tried to tell you.”

My mind was racing, trying to keep up with everything they were saying. “What are you guys talking about? What’s an omega?

“And why do you keep calling Ace ‘alpha’ and my ‘mate’? What does that even mean?”

A low throb started at the base of my skull.

Crap. There go my hopes of getting through the rest of the day without another migraine.  

Ron shook his head. “Dude, you’re so in for it,” he said to Ben. “The alpha is going to kill you. We’re not supposed to talk about that stuff around her.”

Ben’s eyes were wide with fear. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they popped right out of their sockets.

“But she’s going to forget everything, right? Because of the…the, uh, lock or whatever! She’s not going to remember I told her anything, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s going to cause her a hell of a lot of pain to clear the memories. Ace will know someone said something to her about wolves. And she’ll still remember you called her Ace’s plaything.”

“Ace’s what?”

I whirled around to find Madoc standing behind my desk, looking down at us with fury in his gaze. He took in my watery eyes and red cheeks, and his hands rolled into fists at his sides.

He turned to Ron. “Did I just hear you call Dorothy Ace’s plaything?”

Looking almost as pale as Ben now, Ron raised his hands in surrender, shaking his head. “I was just repeating what I heard, I swear! I would never say something like that about her.”

“Then who did?” Madoc bit out, his low tone promising violence. When no one responded, his gaze slid to me. “Dorothy? Care to tell me which one of these fuckers made you cry?”

I swallowed. I glanced at Ron and then at Ben who looked like he was about to pee his pants. His expression turned to one of pleading. “I…I, um…”

Even if I’d wanted to make Ben pay for what he said to me, I couldn’t bring myself to answer for some reason.

What had Ben said about me and Ace again? Something about Ace being my pimp and using me for sex?

Yeah, that was bad but wasn’t there something else? Something worse. Something important.

So why couldn’t I remember it?

Without warning, my headache flared with unbelievable voraciousness. I cried out and doubled over, clutching the sides of my skull as crippling pain took over my body.

It felt like someone was smashing a hammer into my forehead without mercy.

“Dorothy!” Madoc crouched down in front of me and gripped my knees. “Fuck, it’s another migraine, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t think. The room spun around me, and a loud ringing sounded in my ears.

My skull felt like it had cracked open like an egg, and my brain was spilling out.

“Ace should be back any minute now.” Madoc’s voice sounded far away. “Just hold on, okay? He’ll be here soon.”

I couldn’t respond. All I could do was focus on hauling air into my lungs so I didn’t pass out. I hadn’t had a migraine this bad since I was little. I thought I was over them. Guess not.

Madoc lifted his hand from my leg. “Which one of you said something to her?” he demanded, his voice ringing throughout the room. No one responded.

“You can either talk to me now, or you can talk to Ace when he gets here—but I promise he won’t be as nice as me.”

Several moments of silence followed, then I heard Ben exclaim, “I didn’t know, I swear! I didn’t know she was the luna! I thought the alpha would be mated to another wolf!”

His words, needle-like, stabbed into my brain. I let out an agonized shriek as the edges of my vision blackened.

“Shut the fuck up,” Madoc snarled. “You’re making it worse!”

“I would never have hit on her if I’d known. Calling her the alpha’s plaything was just a joke—”

Everything happened so fast. There was a chorus of gasps followed by a loud grunt.

When I looked up, Madoc had Ben pinned to the ground and was throwing punches at his face.

My stomach dropped. Instantly, I forced myself to my feet. My head screamed in protest at the sudden movement, but I ignored the blinding pain, knowing I had to do something.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Everyone froze.

Ace stood in the doorway of the classroom, looking like a volcano about to erupt.

His chest heaved, his eyes dark and livid.

His gaze immediately found mine. He scanned over me, stopping briefly on my tear-stained cheeks. His expression instantly darkened, and I swear he grew taller.

“Ace…,” I whimpered. I was suddenly desperate for him to touch me.

Thank god he’s here. Thank god.

Faster than I could comprehend, Ace was in front of me, pulling me against him. I slumped in relief. His touch felt like a cool salve on my aching brain.

Ace framed my face in his hands, searching for signs of harm. “Your head?”

I nodded.

He released a low growl, which soothed me more than it scared me, and the familiar sparks between our skin made me relax against him.

“We’re going home.” His voice left no room for argument. Scooping me into his arms, he pressed my face into his neck and carried me to the door.

Right before leaving the room, he turned back to Madoc. “Deal with this.”