Chapter 2: Schoolyard Drama

Wendy’s POV

“I was actually just—” 

Looking at Damien, I swallow nervously and am about to explain when he cuts me off.

“What are you doing in my house?” He presses. 

He raises an eyebrow and leans in slowly. As his tall frame looms closer, an intense wave of Alpha dominance crashes over me, stealing the air from my lungs.

I bite my lip and instinctively back up—only to bump into a wall. 

No escape.

“Still working on your excuse?” Damien continues. “Thief? Liar?”

He fires off questions one after another, his ridiculously good-looking face getting dangerously close—at this point, I can basically count his eyelashes. 

Guilt gnaws at the pit of my stomach. I can’t believe I interrupted his little moment earlier, and who knows what kind of drama I’ve just stirred up between him and Selena? Normally, I’m great at talking my way out of anything. But faced with this level of hotness? My brain is absolutely short-circuiting. My tongue tangles. My heart was running a marathon like there’s no tomorrow.

Damien’s deep, unreadable eyes flicked over me, calm as ever. 

But I’d bet anything—that calm is fake.

He’s definitely planning revenge. He has to be. He’s probably already come up with a hundred different ways to socially destroy me by now.

Okay. Stay calm, Wendy. Sure, I did walk in on his little “moment,” but it was totally accidental. Not that he’d believe me. How do I get him to let this go?

“Do you always blink that hard when you're nervous?” Damien’s  voice is low and velvety, barely a whisper against my ear. It’s soft, almost like cotton candy—but I can feel his breath on my skin.

I nearly pass out.

Is this what people mean when they say “he’s about to kiss me”? Because yeah. In this moment, that’s exactly what it feels like.

“Uh—” I begin. 

And then, suddenly, Damien grunts and doubles over like a lion taking a bullet.

I stare at him, stunned… and then realize—

I just kicked him.

And not just anywhere. 

I’d kicked him… down there.

My eyes go wide. I gulp. Before he gets the chance to murder me, I bolt past him, fly up the stairs, dive into my room, and slam the door shut.

Click. Locked.

“Whew!”

I lean against the door, panting and doing my best to catch my breath. The night outside is still and heavy, but my heart is going like a runaway train.

Not only did I fail to explain anything, I also just delivered a critical hit to the guy’s family jewels.

What if Damien holds a grudge? What if I just made his blacklist for life?…With a brain full of regrets, I slip into an uneasy slumber, and this disastrous day rolls into the next. .

***

The next morning, I stretch, yawn, and head downstairs, ready for breakfast with Uncle Killian and his sweet Luna, Aunt Miriam.

But the moment I glance at the dining table, a blinding wave of hotness hits me square in the face.

Wait.

Is that—Damien!

“Hi, Wendy.” He smiles at me like nothing has ever happened between us before. Polite. Calm. Almost charming.

“Whoa!” I gasp, and took a step back.

Uncle Killian chuckles. “You doing okay there, Wendy? I thought we told you to expect an unfamiliar face!”

He hands a glass of orange juice to Aunt Miriam, then casually sits down with his breakfast sandwich. “Miriam has already told  Damien a bit about  you. He’s very interested in getting to know you better. I have a feeling you two will get along just fine!”

Aunt Miriam gives me her usual soft, springtime smile. “Sweetheart, after breakfast, you two can head to school together.”

“Nope!”

I blurt it out way too loud.

An uncomfortable silence falls over the breakfast table. Realizing the sudden rudeness of what I’ve just said, I’m quick to backpedal. “I mean—I’m running late. Gotta go!”

I snatch an egg salad sandwich from the table and rush out the door like my life depends on it. For all I know, it does. What? Go to school with Damien? If he is holding a grudge, he’d probably drop me off in the middle of the woods!

“Hey, sweetie—”

Uncle Killian calls after me, but I’m already across the driveway.

But just as I was about to sprint off the property completely—

A strong hand lands on my shoulder.

I freeze.

“Easy there,” comes a creepingly familiar voice, low, and devastatingly attractive.

I turn around slowly. Underneath his touch, my skin burns. 

Yup. It’s Damien.

As he looks at me, he was smiling playfully, like he’s just caught a runaway bunny.Sure, he looks like he’s just walked off the cover of a fashion magazine—but I’m not about to let my guard down.

I opened my mouth to say no thanks to the ride, but suddenly Uncle Killian and Aunt Miriam are standing beside us, staring at me with bemusement. 

“Sweetheart, go with Damien,” she says kindly. “You can finish your breakfast in the car.”

“And get a front-row seat to Damien’s charm,” Uncle Killian adds with a teasing grin.  But then his tone drops , firm and serious. “Damien, look after Wendy. Don’t let anyone mess with her.”

“Oh, I’ll make sure nothing happens,” Damien winks, smirking like a devil in designer clothes.

…Why does it sound like HE’S planning on messing with me?

With no escape, I reluctantly climb into his ridiculously cool sports car. As we drive in tense silence, I munch on my sandwich while quietly chewing on my anxiety.

I can’t help but steal a few glances at him—he has on sunglasses, and his hair is ruffled from the wind rushing in through the sunroof. His lips are pressed in that perfect model pout, like he was born for billboards.

Unfairly hot.

But the bigger concern on my mind is whatever Damien is plotting. The entire ride, he doesn’t say a word about last night.

He has to be thinking about it, though. Right? 

I stare out the window, brain swirling with stressed thoughts. As we near the school, more and more students lined the sidewalks, all dressed in our matching Werewolf Academy uniforms.

My nerves spike at the sight of so many students.

“Hey… can you just, like… drop me off here?” I ask in a whisper, one last desperate plea for mercy.

No response.

Instead, Damien speeds up—heading straight for the front entrance.

Oh, he’s doing this on purpose.

As I reached for the door handle, ready to bail, he says, “Wait.”

And, frozen with fear and uncertainty, I do. 

Damien gets out, walks around to the other side of the car, and opens the door for me.

And then—he sling his arm around my shoulder.

Like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Like we’ve known each other for ten years.

Like maybe we’re a little something more than unfortunate roommates.

I freeze. My eyes lock on his chin–anywhere else is too dangerous. We move together. His body is warm. Solid. His walk has rhythm, like even gravity admires him.

I draw in a shaky breath, then muttered, “Hey, about last night… I swear I didn’t mean to… you know… that kick. I’m really sorry, okay?”

A couple of guys whistle from across the lot.

A group of girls glare at me like they’re ready to kill.

Oh, Moon Goddess. They want to eat me alive.

“Please…” I whisper again.

Damien finally stops walking, pulls his arm back, and turns to me with a smirk.

The kind of smirk that somehow makes you want to swoon and slap it off his face at the same time.

He leans in, voice low, practically in my ear. “Then I generously forgive you… for last night’s assault.”

His breath brushes my cheek.

I turn beet red.

Then Damien steps back, grins again, and walks off—leaving me frozen in place with a schoolyard full of students staring at me like a fresh piece of meat.

Why the hell did he have to get that close? Does he think I’d fall for him just because of that smile? Pfft. I totally wouldn’t—

…I rub my ear.

Okay, maybe I blush a little.

Suddenly, I feel a sharp, blade-like gaze slicing into me.

I turn slowly. From what I’ve heard, there’s only one girl in school capable of managing that sort of ice-dagger coldness. 

Selena.

Standing at the center of the crowd, her blonde hair gleams and her ice-cold eyes lock straight onto me.

The girls around her all shoot  me matching death glares.

And then, in perfect sync, they turn and walked away.

I stand there, completely still and utterly out of place. No.

Getting labeled as the enemy of the school’s most popular girl? 

Worst. First day. Ever.

I’m so screwed.