CHAPTER 4

Alisa’s POV

 Today was a fresh start. I would attend the welcoming ceremonies, get my class schedules, and hopefully avoid any more run-ins with the Hunter brothers.

How hard could it be in a school this size?

I made it exactly fifty feet from the dormitory entrance before my day went to hell.

"There she is!" a sharp female voice called out. "The little attention-seeker!"

I looked up to see a group of about eight students approaching me, all wearing expensive clothes and hostile expressions. The girl leading them had perfectly styled blonde hair and the kind of confidence that came from never being told no.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.

"Oh, you know exactly who we are," she sneered. "We're Hank Hunter's biggest supporters at this academy. And we don't appreciate random nobodies trying to seduce our idol."

Seduce? My mind reeled. "I think there's been a misunderstanding—"

"No misunderstanding," another girl chimed in. "We heard all about your little stunt yesterday. Throwing yourself at him, making a scene when he rejected you."

"That's not what happened," I said firmly. "He mistook me for someone else, and I corrected him."

"By throwing a wine bottle?" The first girl stepped closer, her eyes flashing with anger. "By insulting him and his family?"

I backed up a step, suddenly aware that I was surrounded. "Look, I don't want any trouble. Can we just—"

"Too late for that," a male voice said from behind me.

I spun around to see Hank Hunter himself approaching, his hands in his pockets and that same arrogant smirk from yesterday on his face.

No, no, no. This can't be happening.

"Hank!" the blonde girl practically squealed. "We were just teaching this nobody a lesson about respect."

"How thoughtful of you, Veronica." His red eyes fixed on me with cold amusement. "Though I have to say, I'm disappointed. I thought you'd learned your lesson yesterday."

"I haven't done anything to you," I said, my voice stronger than I felt. "I'm just trying to get to orientation."

"Oh, but you have done something." He circled me like a predator. "You've been telling people your version of what happened yesterday. Making me look bad."

"I haven't told anyone anything!"

"Sure you haven't." He nodded to his followers. "I think she needs a reminder about how things work around here."

That's when I saw the metal bat in one of the guy's hands.

Run, my instincts screamed, but there were too many of them, and they'd already spread out to block my escape routes.

"Please," I said, hating how small my voice sounded. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"Wrong?" Veronica laughed. "You existing is wrong. You thinking you can mess with someone like Hank is wrong."

The first shove sent me stumbling backward. Then hands were grabbing at me, pulling at my uniform jacket, pushing me around like a rag doll.

"Stop!" I shouted, trying to break free. "Let me go!"

"Poor little nobody," Hank's voice was mocking as he watched his fans torment me. "Did you really think you could challenge an Alpha and get away with it?"

The bat caught me across the ribs, and I screamed as pain exploded through my body. I felt something warm trickling down my forehead where someone's ring had caught me.

"You want to play tough?" Veronica snarled, grabbing my hair. "Let's see how tough you really are."

They pulled and shoved, tearing at my clothes, leaving bruises on my arms and shoulders. I fought back as best I could, but there were too many of them, and they were all werewolves with enhanced strength.

"Help!" I cried out, looking desperately at the other students passing by. "Someone help me!"

But they all looked away, some even pulling out phones to record. No one wanted to cross Hank Hunter.

"No one's coming to save you," Hank said lazily. "You're nobody. You don't matter."

The bat swung again, catching my shoulder this time. I fell to my knees, gasping in pain, blood dripping onto the pristine academy grounds.

"Had enough?" Veronica asked, crouching down to my level. "Ready to apologize?"

Never, I thought through the haze of pain. I'll never apologize for defending myself.

"Hey!" A new voice cut through the noise, sharp with authority. "What the hell is going on here?"

I looked up through my tangled hair to see another young man approaching—blonde hair, dark eyes, and an expression of disgust as he took in the scene.

Another Hunter brother. This had to be Hades.

"Oh, hey Hades," Hank said casually. "Just teaching someone about academy hierarchy."

"This is disgusting," Hades said, his voice cold. "Eight against one? Really?"

"She started it," Veronica protested. "She disrespected—"

"I don't care what she did." Hades's eyes flashed dangerously. "This stops now."

"Come on, bro," Hank said with a lazy smile. "Don't tell me you're going soft over some random girl."

"I'm telling you that Cayden is going to lose his mind if he sees this." Hades pulled off his jacket. "You know how he feels about public scenes that make our family look bad."

That seemed to give Hank pause. "Fine. We're done here anyway."

He stepped closer to me, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Consider this a warning. Stay away from me and my family, or next time will be worse."

The group dispersed, laughing and chatting as if they hadn't just beaten someone half to death. Hank didn't even look back as he walked away.

I was struggling to stand when Hades appeared beside me, holding out his jacket.

"Here," he said quietly. "Cover yourself up."

I looked down and realized my uniform shirt was torn, exposing my shoulder and part of my bra. Shame burned through me as I wrapped his jacket around myself.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice hoarse from screaming.

He didn't respond, just started walking toward the main building. I followed on unsteady legs, grateful for his silent escort but confused by his intervention.

Why did he help me? What does he want?

We reached the medical wing without speaking. Hades stopped at the entrance and turned to me.

"Get yourself checked out," he said curtly. "And next time, maybe think before you pick fights with people stronger than you."

Before I could respond, he was walking away, leaving me alone with his jacket and a dozen new questions.

After getting my cuts cleaned and my ribs checked for breaks, I returned to my dorm with Hades's jacket carefully folded in my arms. The medical staff had been professional but distant—clearly word had already spread about what happened.

He saved me, I kept thinking as I gently hand-washed the blood stains from the fabric. When no one else would help, he stepped in.

Maybe I'd been wrong about the Hunter brothers. Maybe Hades was different from Hank and Hughs. Maybe there was still hope for finding allies in this place.

I spent an hour making sure the jacket was perfect—clean, pressed, and carefully folded. Then I set out to return it and thank him properly.

I found Hades in the advanced combat training facility, talking with a group of senior students. I waited patiently until their conversation ended before approaching.

"Hades?" I called softly. "I wanted to return your jacket and thank you again for earlier."

He turned, and I was struck again by how different he seemed from his brothers. Quieter, more thoughtful.

"Oh, right." He took the jacket without really looking at it. "Don't worry about it."

"No, really, I can't thank you enough. When everyone else just stood by and watched—"

"Look," he cut me off, his voice flat. "I didn't help you out of kindness. I helped you because watching my brother's fans beat up some random girl in public makes our family look bad."

The words hit like a physical blow. "What?"

"Cayden would have been furious if he'd seen that spectacle. Bad publicity reflects on all of us." He shrugged. "I was protecting our reputation, not you."

My chest tightened with humiliation and rage. "I see."

"You seem like you're probably a decent person," he continued, completely oblivious to how his words were destroying me. "But you're also clearly naive about how things work here. My advice? Transfer somewhere else. This place isn't for people like you."

People like me. The phrase echoed in my head as he walked away without another word.

I stood there for a long moment, his jacket hanging limply from my hand, feeling like the biggest fool in the world.

Of course he didn't care about me. Of course it was just about protecting his precious family name.

I spotted a freshman student nearby and thrust the jacket at him.

"Here," I said tersely. "Give this back to Hades Hunter for me."

The boy's eyes went wide. "But—"

"Just do it."

I walked away before he could protest, my hands shaking with anger and hurt.

All of them, I thought bitterly. Every single Hunter brother is the same. Arrogant, selfish, and completely convinced of their own superiority.

As I made my way back to the dormitory, I couldn't help but overhear conversations from groups of students I passed.

"Did you see what happened to that new girl?"

"I heard she threw herself at Hank Hunter and he rejected her."

"My roommate said she's already obsessed with Hades now. Apparently she was following him around all afternoon."

"Desperate much? Going after all the Hunter brothers like that."

Each whispered comment felt like another knife between my ribs. By the time I reached my room, the story had morphed completely—I was now a pathetic girl throwing myself at every Hunter brother I could find.

This is my life now, I realized, sinking onto my bed. I came here to escape being an outcast, and instead I've made myself a target.