Chapter 2

I barely slept that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ryder's face—those gray eyes, that stupid perfect smile. And then I'd hear Kyra's voice in my head telling me to sleep with him, and I'd want to scream into my pillow.

By the time morning came, I was exhausted and cranky.

I grabbed my phone and texted Kyra before I even got out of bed.

Not happening. Delete that idea from your brain.

Her reply came back almost instantly.

Why not? He's hot. You need a wolf. Problem solved.

I groaned, typing back furiously.

Because I don't even KNOW him! And he's one of the SEVEN BROTHERS. You know, the most powerful Alphas in this entire school? Yeah, those guys definitely don't get involved with nerds like me.

The seven Kane brothers were basically royalty at our college. Everyone knew about them. Seven Alphas, all insanely powerful, all gorgeous, and all completely out of reach for someone like me. They had their own world, their own circle, and girls like me didn't exist in it.

You're not a nerd, Kyra texted back. You're just shy. Big difference.

Same result, I replied, tossing my phone onto the bed.

I got dressed in my usual outfit—jeans, a plain sweater, nothing that would draw attention. The last thing I needed was to stand out. I'd learned a long time ago that being invisible was safer than being noticed.

The morning lectures dragged on forever. I sat in the back of the class, taking notes and trying not to think about hockey, wolves, or stupidly attractive guys who lived in my apartment building.

When the class finally ended, I packed up my stuff and headed toward the campus café. I needed coffee if I was going to survive the rest of the day.

That's when I saw her.

Sienna Marshall.

My stomach dropped like a stone.

She was standing near the café entrance with two of her friends, laughing at something on her phone. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, her makeup flawless, and she wore the kind of confidence that came from knowing everyone either wanted to be her or be with her.

She'd made my life hell in high school. And apparently, she wasn't done yet.

I tried to walk past quickly, keeping my head down, but it was like she had radar for misery.

"Well, well, well," Sienna's voice rang out, loud enough that people nearby turned to look. "If it isn't Meera the wolfless wonder."

My jaw clenched, but I kept walking.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" She stepped into my path, forcing me to stop.

I looked up at her, trying to keep my face neutral. "What do you want, Sienna?"

She smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. "Just wondering how you're doing. Must be hard, you know, being surrounded by real werewolves when you're just... human."

"I'm not human," I said quietly, hating how small my voice sounded.

"Could've fooled me." She laughed, and her friends joined in like a pack of hyenas. "I mean, what kind of werewolf doesn't have a wolf? That's like having a car with no engine. Completely useless."

Heat crawled up my neck, anger and shame mixing together in my chest until I felt like I might explode.

"Leave her alone, Sienna."

I turned to see Kyra walking up behind me, her expression fierce.

Sienna's eyes flickered to Kyra, and her smile didn't waver. "Oh, look, the charity case brought backup. How cute."

"I said leave her alone," Kyra repeated, stepping closer to me.

I grabbed Kyra's arm, my heart racing. "Don't," I whispered. "Just don't."

Kyra looked at me like I was crazy. "She can't just—"

"Her father is the gamma of the Kane pack," I hissed under my breath. "You know what that means. We can't afford to make enemies with her."

Kyra's jaw tightened, but she stayed quiet.

Sienna had heard every word, and her smile turned smug. "That's right. My daddy is very important. So maybe you two should remember that before you start running your mouths."

I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell her exactly where she could shove her daddy's title. But I'd learned the hard way that fighting back only made things worse. Sienna's father had power, connections, and he'd already made it clear that his daughter could do whatever she wanted without consequences.

So I kept my mouth shut and took it. Like always.

"You know what I heard?" Sienna continued, taking a step closer to me. "I heard you applied for that hockey position with the Royal Ashford Pack. That's hilarious. Do you really think they'd hire someone like you?"

My chest tightened, and I could feel the familiar sting of tears threatening to surface. I blinked them back hard.

"They probably laughed when they saw your application," Sienna went on, clearly enjoying herself. "I mean, seriously, what were you thinking?"

"That's enough," Kyra snapped, but I squeezed her arm harder.

"It's fine," I said through gritted teeth. "Let's just go."

I tried to step around Sienna, but she wasn't done yet.

"Aw, running away already?" She reached out like she was going to grab my shoulder.

I jerked back instinctively—and that's when everything went wrong.

I'd been holding my coffee cup, the one I'd just bought from the café. Hot, freshly brewed coffee that I'd been planning to drink to get through my next class.

When Sienna's hand connected with my shoulder, she pushed. Hard.

I stumbled backward, my grip on the cup loosening, and suddenly everything was happening in slow motion.

The coffee flew out of my hands in a perfect arc, the lid popping off mid-air.

And it landed directly on two guys who'd been walking past.

Two very tall, very muscular, very familiar-looking guys.

The coffee splashed across their chests, soaking into their shirts, and I watched in absolute horror as they both stopped dead in their tracks.

"What the hell?" one of them growled, looking down at his ruined white shirt.

My heart stopped beating. Completely stopped.

Because I recognized them.

Everyone at this school would recognize them.

The one on the left had dark hair like Ryder, but his eyes were a sharper green, and there was a hardness to his face that made him look dangerous. The one on the right was a little shorter, with lighter brown hair and the same powerful build that all the Kane brothers seemed to have.

Two of the seven brothers.

And I'd just dumped scalding coffee all over them.

"I—I'm so sorry," I stammered, my voice coming out shaky and pathetic. "It was an accident, I didn't—"

The one with green eyes turned his gaze on me, and I felt like a mouse being stared down by a wolf. "An accident?"

"She pushed me!" I blurted out, pointing at Sienna.

But when I looked over, Sienna had already stepped back, her face the picture of innocence.

"I barely touched her," Sienna said sweetly. "She's just clumsy. Everyone knows that."

"That's not—" Kyra started, but the other brother cut her off.

"Do you know who we are?" he asked, his voice low and cold.

Of course I knew who they were. Everyone knew.

"I'm really, really sorry," I said again, my hands shaking. "I'll pay for the dry cleaning, I'll—"

"Dry cleaning?" The green-eyed one let out a short, humorless laugh. "You think this is about dry cleaning?"

My stomach twisted into knots. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

The brothers were still staring at me, their expressions somewhere between annoyed and furious, and I could feel every single person in the area watching this disaster unfold.

Sienna was smirking behind them, clearly thrilled that I'd just made the biggest mistake of my college career.

And all I could think was that my life was officially over.

I was in so much trouble.