The CEO and a High-Schooler - Part two

Stormi's POV

"Stormi, we are done. I reject you."

Those harsh words slammed into my skull. My head pounded with a sharp ache. I woke up dizzy and confused. Hundreds of staring faces surrounded me. A massive bonfire roared in the background. The heat blasted against my cold skin.

I blinked hard. I rubbed my heavy eyes. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in my own bed. I was reading a popular werewolf romance novel on my phone. Now, I stood in a dark forest clearing. I wore a heavy designer dress that scratched my shoulders.

A tall handsome boy glared at me. His eyes burned with pure anger. Next to him stood a small trembling girl. She hid behind his arm like a frightened mouse.

Panic gripped my chest. Where am I? Who are these people?

The boy stepped forward. "Did you hear me, Stormi? I said I reject you. I choose Lily."

My blood ran cold. Stormi. Leopold. Lily. I knew those names perfectly. I was inside the book. I was the villainess. This was the exact scene where the male lead publicly dumped her. In the story, Stormi screamed. She cried. She attacked the weak omega girl. That stupid choice led to her brutal death chapters later.

The crowd whispered. They waited for me to go crazy.

"Say something," Leopold demanded. He stared at me with a mix of disgust and pride. He wanted me to beg. He needed me to cry to feed his massive ego.

"Please don't be angry at him, Stormi," Lily squeaked. She gripped Leopold's shirt tightly. "We couldn't fight our mate bond. It just happened."

"Shut up, Lily," a girl in the crowd yelled. "Let Stormi speak."

I looked at my hands. Heavy silver rings weighed down my fingers. I looked at Lily, then back to Leopold. I forced my racing pulse to slow down. I refused to die like the sad girl in the book. I needed to act fast and smart.

"You expect me to fight for you?" I asked softly.

Leopold smirked. "You always do. You follow me everywhere. You bully any girl who looks at me. But it ends tonight. I will never claim you. You are too toxic for me."

"Leopold is an Alpha heir," a boy shouted from the back. "He deserves a true gentle mate!"

"Stormi is going to lose her mind," another voice muttered from the shadows. "She spent three years planning their wedding."

"I bet she attacks Lily right now," a third person whispered loudly. "Look at her face. She looks like a ghost."

I ignored them all. I looked straight into Leopold's eyes. "You think I want a man who sneaks around in the dark?"

Leopold dropped his smirk. His jaw tightened. "Watch your mouth. I am your future Alpha. You will show me respect."

"Respect is earned," I said. "You lost mine the second you brought her here."

"What did you say?" Leopold asked. He took a step toward me. His hands balled into angry fists. "Are you going deaf? I just rejected you in front of the entire pack."

"I heard you the first time," I replied. I kept my voice very steady. My chest felt heavy but I pushed the weird feeling away. "I said you are nothing to me now. You can keep your respect and your new mate."

Lily gasped loudly. "Stormi, don't disrespect him. He is just telling the truth. We are fated. The Moon Goddess chose us."

I turned my eyes to the weak girl. "I wasn't talking to you. Keep your mouth closed when I am speaking to him. This is between me and him."

Lily whimpered and shrank back. She buried her face in Leopold's chest. Leopold let out a loud warning growl.

"Don't you dare threaten her," Leopold warned. He pulled Lily closer to his side and glared at me. "You are just embarrassed. You are trying to act tough in front of the pack. We all know you are going to go home and cry until you throw up. You can't live without me."

"Maybe," I said. "But I won't cry over a boy like you."

"A boy like me?" Leopold laughed bitterly. "I am the best thing that ever happened to you, Stormi. You will beg me to take you back by tomorrow morning. You always come crawling back. You have no pride."

"Watch me," I challenged him. "Watch me walk away."

I pulled the expensive promise ring off my finger. The cold metal pinched my skin. Leopold watched my hand closely. He thought I would throw the ring at his face. He thought I would make a massive scene and humiliate myself further.

Instead, I held the ring out. I let it slip from my fingers. It dropped into the dirt right in front of his expensive shoes.

"Okay," I said calmly. "We are done. I accept your rejection."

The entire clearing went dead silent. No one breathed. The only sound was the loud crackling of the bonfire.

"You accept it?" Leopold asked. His voice cracked slightly. He looked down at the silver ring in the dirt. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," I confirmed. "Have a nice life, Leopold. Take good care of Lily."

I turned around and walked away. My high heels sank slightly into the soft dirt, but I kept my back straight. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

"Stormi!" Leopold shouted. His voice echoed through the dark trees.

I didn't stop. I didn't look back.

"Stormi, stop right there!" he yelled again. This time, he sounded desperate.

I heard the crowd gasp loudly. The whispers exploded like fireworks behind me.

"Did she really just walk away?" someone asked in pure shock.

"She didn't even shed a single tear," another person replied. "I thought she would kill Lily."

I glanced over my shoulder just once. Leopold stood frozen in place. His mouth hung slightly open. His eyebrows pulled together in deep confusion. He looked furious that I didn't fight for him. He wanted a tragic show and I gave him absolutely nothing. He lost his power over me the moment I dropped that ring.

I turned my head back around and faced the dark path leading to the academy dorms. The night air felt cold against my hot cheeks. I wrapped my arms around my waist. I just needed to get to my room and figure out my next move. I survived the first major plot point without triggering my death flag.

I walked further away from the noisy bonfire. The lights faded behind me. The trees grew thicker and the shadows swallowed the path. My breathing finally slowed down to a normal pace. I felt a strange sense of relief.

Then I stopped.

A deep terrifying scent hit my nose. It smelled like rich pine and dark chocolate. It was thick and suffocating. It made my knees feel weak. The scent wrapped around me like a heavy blanket. My wolf instincts screamed at me to run, but my legs refused to move.

I stepped into the deeper shadows trying to find the source.

A tall figure stepped out from behind a large oak tree. I couldn't see his face in the dark. I could only see the broad outline of his massive shoulders and the faint gleam of silver cufflinks. The air around him crackled with terrifying power.

A low rough voice whispered from the dark.

"Interesting choice, little wolf.”