CHAPTER 3

Thalia's POV

Dorian's fists tightened so hard his knuckles cracked.

The entire hallway waited for him to shift and tear me apart. For my blood to paint the lockers the way it had painted the bathroom floor a week ago.

I didn't care.

Let him try. Let him kill me right here in front of everyone. At least I'd die on my feet instead of on my knees begging.

"You think you're tough now?" Dorian's voice was low, dangerous. "Because daddy's dead and you've got nothing to lose?"

"I think," I said, stepping closer instead of backing away, "that I spent eighteen years being your punching bag. And I'm done."

His eyes widened. I'd never stepped toward him before.

"I think," I continued, my voice rising, "that you're a pathetic little wolf who only feels powerful when you're beating on someone weaker."

Gasps echoed down the corridor.

"I think you get off on it. Breaking bones. Making people beg." I was in his face now, close enough to smell his cologne. "But here's the thing, Dorian, I'm not afraid of you anymore. You already took everything. So what the hell else can you do to me?"

Dorian's face went red. His whole body trembled with rage.

"Go ahead!" I screamed it in his face. "Hit Me! Show everyone that the only way you can feel like a man is by..."

His fist flew toward my face. I didn't flinch.

Damon's hand caught Dorian's wrist an inch from my nose.

"She's lost it," Damon said quietly, still holding Dorian's arm. "Grief broke her brain."

Dorian rubbed his wrist, staring at me like I'd grown fangs. "This isn't over."

"I'd be disappointed if it was." I grabbed my bag, ignoring the way my ribs screamed.

I walked away on shaking legs, feeling their eyes burning into my back.

Every student in that hallway watched me go. And for the first time in eighteen years, no one laughed.

The rest of the day was unreal.

People moved out of my way in the halls. Conversations stopped when I passed. In History, Cathy Weston, who'd called me "hybrid trash" last week, offered me her notes when I missed a question.

At lunch, I sat alone like always, but the quality of alone had changed. Before, it was isolation. Now it felt like people were giving me room because they weren't sure what I'd do if they got too close.

I caught Dorian watching me from across the cafeteria. When our eyes met, he didn't look away. Just studied me with this intense focus that made my skin crawl.

Damon sat two tables over, and every time I glanced up, he was already looking. Trying to figure out what had changed.

Dracula didn't look at me once. But I felt him tracking my every movement anyway.

The triplets had stopped actively bullying me, but the tension crackling between us was almost worse. Like they were waiting to see if this new version of me was real or just temporary insanity.

The cafeteria doors slammed open.

Everyone looked up.

A guy I'd never seen before walked in like he owned the place. Dark hair, golden eyes that practically glowed, and an arrogance that preceded him like a cologne.

He definitely was a Lycan, and was new transfer student too.

He scanned the cafeteria, and his eyes landed on me.

Something cold went down my spine.

He walked straight to my table. Stopped right in front of me. Looked down at my lunch tray like it personally offended him.

"You're the hybrid everyone's talking about," he said.

I set down my fork carefully. "And you are?"

His jaw tightened. "I'm Lucas Stone. Pure lycan bloodline." He said it like it meant something. "You're polluting this cafeteria with your half-breed stench."

A year ago, I would've looked down and apologized. Today, I laughed in his face.

"Wow. 'Half-breed stench.'" I rolled my eyes. "Did you rehearse that in the mirror this morning? Really workshop the delivery?"

His eyes flashed pure gold. "Watch your mouth..."

"Or what?" I stood up, getting in his space even though he towered over me. "You'll insult me some more? Call me names? Big scary Lycan picking on the girl who can't shift. How fucking original."

The cafeteria went silent.

Lucas's face darkened. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you..."

Dorian's voice cut through the tension like a chainsaw. "Get your fucking hands off her."

I looked up. All three triplets had moved, when the hell had they moved? and now stood between me and Lucas. Dorian in front, Damon and Dracula flanking besides him.

Lucas straightened, surprise flickering across his face. "Seriously? You're defending the hybrid?"

"Only WE get to mess with her," Dorian said, his voice dropping to something dangerous. "Back off."

My brain couldn't process what was happening. What the hell was happening?

Lucas's eyes narrowed. He looked at Dorian, then Damon, then Dracula. Then back at me, sitting frozen at my table, trying to process what was happening.

"Oh, I see." A slow smile spread across Lucas's face. "You've claimed her. The little half-breed is your personal punching bag and you don't want anyone else playing with your toy."

"Watch your mouth," Damon said quietly. Too quietly.

"Or what?" Lucas's smile widened. "You'll defend her honor? Please. You three are famous for tormenting her. Now suddenly you're her protectors?"

Dracula finally spoke, his voice cold enough to frost glass. "What we do with Thalia is our business. Not yours."

The way he said my name, like he owned it, sent chills down my spine.

Lucas laughed. "Then prove it. Prove you can actually protect your little pet." His eyes flashed gold again, power radiating off him in waves. "Three on one. Friday. Training grounds after school. You win, I'll leave her alone. I win..." He looked at me. "The half-breed becomes my problem to solve."

The cafeteria erupted in whispers.

A challenge. An actual formal challenge. Lucas had just challenged the triplets to a duel with me as the prize.

"You're on," Dorian said immediately.

"Friday," Damon confirmed.

Dracula just smiled, and somehow that was more terrifying than words.

Lucas nodded once, shot me a look that promised violence, and walked out.

The second the doors closed, chaos exploded. Everyone talking at once, phones out, already spreading the news.

I stayed frozen at my table.

The triplets turned to look at me. Three sets of eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made it hard to breathe.

"Don't get confused," Dorian said. "This doesn't mean we like you."

"We just don't like outsiders thinking they can take what's ours," Damon added.

Dracula didn't say anything. Just looked at me with those cold eyes. Then the triplets walked away, leaving me sitting alone while the entire cafeteria buzzed about Friday's duel.

And all I could think was: Why?

Why defend me now? Why claim me as theirs? Why risk a fight with a Lycan over the hybrid girl they'd spent years destroying?

The bell rang.

Students filed out, still whispering, still staring.

I sat in the empty cafeteria, my lunch untouched, and tried to understand what the hell had just happened.

Friday. Two days away.

Two days to figure out why the three wolves who'd broken me were suddenly willing to fight for me.

Two days to prepare for whatever came next.