Chapter Five

ARIEL’S POV

For once, I thought I might actually have a peaceful day, because today was sports day, and the only reason I needed to go to school was to check in.

“No matter how much you jog, you will still remain fat,” Cassandra said, staring at me with her hands on her hips.

I glanced at her. “Can I do my jogging in peace?”

“Come on, we both know you've been jogging for years, and yet you're still so fat,” Cassandra replied with a laugh. “I mean, chubby is actually more of a praise.”

I ignored her and continued jogging around the garden, trying to push her words aside.

“Cassandra, you're waiting for me, right?” Mom asked as she walked out of the house.

“Yes, Mom,” Cassandra replied.

“It's time to get ready for school,” Mom told her.

Cassandra nodded before suddenly remembering something. “Today, Alpha Prince Luca is playing, and Valentina has made me a part of the cheerleading squad.”

At the mention of Luca's name, I slowed down a little.

“Good,” Mom replied. “Now that you're close to Valentina and she trusts you enough to add you to her cheerleading squad, you can finally start getting closer to Luca.”

I couldn't help glancing at Cassandra as she continued talking about him.

“Of course, Mom. Alpha Prince Luca deserves to be with me,” Cassandra said confidently.

I stopped jogging and turned toward her, irritation rising inside me. “Deserves to be with you? Let's not forget the fact that he was my mate, and he's currently dating Valentina, who is supposed to be your friend.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Well, even if you were fertile and had a wolf, you still wouldn't stand a chance with Luca. Have you seen yourself?”

I gulped, but before I could respond, Cassandra looked at me again.

“Maybe she still has her eyes on Luca,” she said, staring at me.

“I don't,” I quickly replied.

“Shut up,” Mom snapped, cutting me off. She turned toward Cassandra and continued, “You won't go anywhere near him. It's not like you need to chase after him anyway. Luca will be the one to come to you himself.”

Cassandra smiled.

“As for Valentina, we both know she's not good enough,” Mom continued. “She only acts all high and mighty because her sister might become the Luna of the Alpha King. It's not like my daughter is dumb enough to try anything with Luca. Luca would ask her out himself. Watch and you will see.”

“I would get ready for class,” I said, turning away and walking toward the house.

As soon as I got to the college, I immediately went to check in. Once I was done, I headed back outside, hoping to leave as quickly as possible.

“Look who we have here.”

I stopped when three girls stepped in front of me. I recognized them as the girls who had caused trouble for me at the gate yesterday.

“Shouldn't you girls be watching the game?” I asked, taking a cautious step backward.

“We should, but then we saw you coming in to check in, and we thought to ourselves, why not say hi to our little friend?” one of them said with a grin.

“Big friend,” another girl corrected, and they all laughed.

“Yeah, big. Certainly big,” the third girl added.

I frowned. “You girls better watch your game and let me be.”

“We don't want to,” the girl in front, who seemed to be their leader, replied as she reached toward my hair.

I immediately pushed her hand away. “Don't touch me.”

Her expression changed instantly. “Did you just push me?” she asked angrily as she raised her hand as though she was about to slap me.

I didn't wait for her to.

I did the only thing I was good at: I ran.

I kept running until I reached the changing quarters. Since the boys were still playing their game, I figured I could hide there for a while.

“This should work,” I muttered as I pushed the door open.

I froze when I came face-to-face with several boys inside. The atmosphere was tense, and I immediately realized I had walked into the middle of a meeting.

“I thought the game had started,” I said, immediately turning my face away.

“Hey, fatty, what are you doing here?” one of the boys asked.

“Are you here to see Luca?” another boy teased, making the others laugh.

I glanced toward Luca, who was sitting nearby, and saw him frown at me.

“This is quite disgraceful of you, you know,” Luca said, his expression filled with disapproval.

Before I could explain myself, the girls I had been running from appeared at the entrance.

“You actually came to the changing room?” one of them exclaimed.

“You're quite shameless,” another girl mocked as they moved closer.

I took a step backward.

This was a mistake.

I turned around and hurried away from the lecture buildings.

I didn't stop until I found a random door and pushed it open, hoping I could hide inside for a while.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The moment I stepped inside, I froze.

There were more than twenty men seated around a long table, and the atmosphere was so serious that I immediately realized they were in the middle of an important meeting. I stood awkwardly near the entrance, unsure of what to do as every pair of eyes turned toward me.

Then my eyes moved toward the head of the table.

And there he was.

Alpha King Kyle.