This chapter had my heart racinggg! Harley and Alessi's past just hits different. What do you think? Do they have a chance? PS: Sorry again for a late update! This was ready in my drafts but I’m unable to set an alarm to upload it bc my baby might wake up and then I forget from being busy. Ahhh. The struggle is real. Haha. Sending love to everyone this Sunday though xx
Harley dropped me off at the house and mumbled something under his breath about having to do something else and that he’ll be back later. It was obvious he was just avoiding trying to face what happened in his car and honestly, I didn’t mind it because I couldn’t deal with it right now either. I got inside, let out a deep sigh, and paused as I took in the house once more. It was… beautiful. Way too beautiful. The marble flooring, whitewashed walls, and high windows that poured sunlight into every room like some magazine version of peace and tranquility. It was too clean. Too quiet. And too much. I swallowed the lump that had lodged in my throat. I hadn’t lived somewhere that felt like a home since that godforsaken night… “This… is just temporary. Don’t let yourself get sucked into it too much, Alessi.” I reminded myself as I walked up to my room. “Temporary.” I stood in the doorway of my bedroom, blinking at the queen-sized bed and freshly folded linens. I didn’t even no
Why did he have to talk? Why couldn’t he just let it be? Just drive and stay in silence until this whole ordeal is over? “You didn’t have to come…” I said, mostly just to fill the awkward silence, and not really an answer to his question. “I did,” he replied in a heartbeat, like there was no other possible reply. I swallowed hard. “Why?” He gave me a fast glance before turning back to face the road. “Because you’re mine.” My heart thudded. Loudly. Stupidly. Mostly the latter. What the hell do I even say to that? What is it with these boys and always putting me on the spot? And to think it was Gavin’s exact words just a few days ago, too. I cleared my throat and adjusted myself in the seat. “You don’t get to claim me like that. Not… not after…” “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, not letting me finish. “I know I can’t change the past, but this is now, and hopefully in the future, too. Alessandra, you’re my mate which makes you mine. At least, I’d like to think so… hope so…” His las
Moving out wasn’t supposed to make me feel like I was some sort of failure. Except it did. Worse, I hated doing it when it felt like I was packing up pieces of a life I barely got to live. And though the dorm wasn’t really all sunshine and rainbows, I still tried to make it mine. I had added some colorful banners I made myself and a few cutout pictures from old magazines. I was set on staying here for the entire school year. Set on having a nosy neighbor and one that gave me the stink eye every time we passed by each other. Now, there was just a room with a bare mattress, an almost broken desk drawer, and the faint scent of strawberry ice cream from the candle I wasn’t even allowed to use. “Need me to grab anything else?” Luca asked as he looked around the room. He had ditched the Academy blazer and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows. Of course, muscles and veins are on full display. Don’t even get me started on the thoughts I’ve had to suppress since I saw sweat
ALPHA LUCA Gavin and Harley weren’t too keen when I stepped up to handle our living arrangements, but they couldn’t really say or do anything when they realized I was their best chance to secure a place immediately. The sunlight streamed in through the glass walls of my father’s private real estate firm. One of the many things our family owned. Honestly, I’ve lost count. The place was clean, glossy, and sharp. The funny thing is, it was just like everything in my family, sharp edges disguised in gold trim. I leaned back in the plush leather chair, spinning a silver pen between my fingers as Frederik stood across the desk, watching me with his usual disapproving frown. He does that expression a lot around me. “You’re not seriously going through with this,” he said, arms crossed. “Right?” “Why not?” I asked, smiling. “It’s a beautiful home. Countless rooms to use. A garden. Heated pools. Close to campus. What more could you ask for?” “First of all, it’s practically a m
It had been a full day since gym class and the whole… Gavin thing. And somehow, I still hadn’t stopped thinking about it. Not just the way he caught me, twice, or the almost-kiss that made my lungs stop working. But the way he pulled away. Like he was afraid. Of me. Of himself. I told myself it didn’t matter. That I shouldn’t care. That I was better off not diving into the feelings that made my chest ache and my head spin. And yet… I still found myself glancing over at him when I had the chance. Watching the way his jaw clenched when he thought no one was looking. The way his fingers flexed absently as if he was remembering something. Like he was remembering me. After my last class, I stopped by the library to return a book. Unexpectedly, I noticed Gavin’s bag on the desk in the corner where he usually sat. He always had the same setup: old notebook, headphones next to his phone, a spare hoodie that still smelled faintly like cedarwood and something darker. I set
ALPHA HARLEY The morning after the cabin, I woke up with a headache that had nothing to do with lack of sleep. The bond was still pulling. Even miles away from her, it pulsed low in my chest. It was slow and steady, like the ache of a phantom bruise. Alessandra Noone. Her name itself felt like a curse and a confession. She wasn’t supposed to be in my life again. Not tangled in the same maddening thread that now ran through me, her, and two other Alphas who clearly had no idea what they were doing with her. And what’s worse? She still looked at me like I was still that boy who watched her entire life get destroyed. The boy who didn’t stop it… And I really hadn’t. — I stepped through the front gate of Lakewood Elite in a black hoodie and clean boots, and within five minutes, I was being watched. Not for who I was. They didn’t know that here. The students were human. Soft. Entitled. Distracted by status and the gleam of power they didn’t really understand. T