The Tale Of The Forgotten Alpha

Liora's POV

It was a bad idea to be at a pool party. I mean, I wasn’t built for this. The music thumped so hard the glass doors rattled, bass crawling under my skin like it wanted to live there. End-of-year graduation. Everyone was screaming about college next fall like the world was handing out golden tickets.

Normally I’d be home with my nose in a textbook or pretending my phone was more interesting than people. But Lisa, my best friend, the queen bee who could make a room full of strangers feel like they’d known her forever—had decided the entire senior class deserved to drown in her parents’ infinity pool.

So here I was. Liora Vance. The charity-case shadow. The girl who got invited because Lisa refused to leave me behind.

All around me, bodies glistened under string lights. Girls in barely-there bikinis laughing too loud, boys in board shorts flexing like they were auditioning for a thirst trap. Boobs bounced everywhere. Dicks got talked about like they were the main event.

“Gonna get mine wet tonight,” one guy bragged to another, fist-bumping like he’d invented sex. Gross. The only thing wet on me was the chlorine water Lisa kept splashing in my direction.

“Get your head in it, Li!” she yelled over the music, flicking water at my face again. Her red bikini top was basically two triangles and a prayer.

I wiped my eyes and shrugged. “Nope. I don’t want to hear any more of your cock-and-cunt-sucking adventures, LiLi.”

We’d been LiLi since middle school. One stunningly beautiful. One… me.

Lisa rolled her eyes, but the grin never left her face. “You’re such a prude. Live a little. There are literally fifty guys here who would die to see what’s under that sad two-piece.”

“My two-piece is not sad. It’s practical.”

“It’s a funeral gown with straps.”

I laughed despite myself. That was the thing about Lisa, she could call me out, drag me into the deep end, and I’d still follow. She was the sun. I was the planet that didn’t want to burn.

Then she spotted him, her new fling…some lacrosse guy named Tyler who’d been orbiting her since junior year. Her eyes lit up like she’d just found the last slice of cake.

“Hold my drink,” she said, shoving a red cup into my hand. “I’m about to get my back blown out.”

“Lisa…”

“Love you!” She was already gone, hips swaying through the crowd like she owned every single pair of eyes.

And just like that, I was alone.

The pool lights turned everything blue and dreamlike. Couples were making out in corners, hands sliding under bikini tops, tongues visible from ten feet away.

One guy had his hand so far down a girl’s shorts I wasn’t sure where his wrist ended. I turned away fast, cheeks burning. I wasn’t a prude. I just… didn’t belong here. Never had.

I started walking. Anywhere but the main deck. Past the fire pit where people were passing a joint like it was communion. Past the outdoor bar where girls were doing shots off each other’s stomachs.

I kept my head down, arms crossed over my chest like armor.

And then I heard her.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the virgin nobody wants.”

Bella fucking Monroe.

My arch-nemesis since freshman year. Long black hair, perfect tan, always dressed like she was walking a runway instead of a high school hallway. She hated me because Lisa chose me over her back in ninth grade.

Simple as that. She’d spent the last four years making sure everyone knew I was the charity case, the awkward tag-along, the girl who probably still slept with stuffed animals.

She stood there in a gold bikini that looked painted on, flanked by two of her minions. Smirking.

I tried to sidestep. “Not tonight, Bella.”

“Oh come on, LiLi.” She dragged out the nickname like it was a slur. “Don’t run away. We’re just getting started.”

I stopped. But something in me snapped. Maybe it was the alcohol fumes in the air. Maybe it was the way she said “virgin” like it was the worst thing a girl could be.

“I’m not running,” I said, quieter than I meant. “I just don’t waste oxygen on you.”

Her laugh was sharp. “Cute. Still saving yourself for Prince Charming? Newsflash, babe…no one’s coming. Guys don’t want the boring, mousy little nobody when they can have…” She gestured at herself. “This.”

One of her friends snickered. The other one whispered something about “charity pussy.”

My face flamed. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to scream. I wanted Lisa to magically appear and tear Bella’s extensions out.

But Lisa was busy getting railed somewhere upstairs. And I was here. Alone.

Bella stepped closer. Her perfume was too sweet, like rotting flowers.

“You know what the saddest part is? You’ll graduate tomorrow and still be invisible. Lisa will go off to some fancy college and forget you exist. And you’ll be stuck being… this.”

She flicked her gaze up and down my body like I was roadkill.

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

She laughed again. “Exactly. Virgin. Nobody. Forever.”

Then she turned, hips swinging, minions trailing like obedient puppies.

I stood there shaking. Not from cold. From rage. From humiliation. From the tiny, vicious voice in my head that whispered she was right.

I needed air, alcohol..hell I needed both.

I pushed through the crowd, past people grinding to the music, past hands groping in dark corners. I found the house entrance, slipped inside where the noise was muffled but still pounding. The kitchen was chaos…empty bottles, spilled drinks, a couple dry-humping against the fridge.

I grabbed the first red cup I saw on the counter. I didn't know what it was but when I drank it my chest burned.I coughed, eyes watering, but forced another swallow.

Then another.

The room tilted. Warmth spread through my chest, loosening the knot Bella had tied there. My skin felt too tight. My head too light.

I needed to sit down. Or lie down. Or disappear.

I wandered through the hallways, trying to find Lisa.

Hell, it was so scary to be drunk.

I pushed one open at random.

It was dark, and quiet and had a big bed. Moonlight sliced through half-open blinds.

I closed the door behind me,leaned against it and breathed.

The alcohol hummed in my veins. My heartbeat was loud in my ears.

That's when something piqued my ears.

A low voice from the shadows near the window.

“Wrong room, sweetheart.”

My stomach dropped.

He stepped into the moonlight.

He was tall and broad and hair dark hair falling over his eyes. Jeans slung low. Something dangerous radiated off him like heat from asphalt in summer.

I’d seen him around school. Ronan Vale, he didn’t go to our high school anymore. Rumors said he’d been expelled. Or dropped out. Or both. He showed up at parties sometimes. Always alone. Always watching. Never touching.

Until now.

He tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he hadn’t expected to solve tonight.

“You lost?” he asked. Voice low. Rough. Like gravel wrapped in smoke.

I swallowed. My tongue felt thick. “I… yeah. Sorry. I’ll—”

“Don’t.” It sounded like nothing I'd heard.

I froze.

He took a step closer. Not threatening. Not yet. Just… inevitable.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

He was right. My hands trembled at my sides. My knees felt liquid.

He stopped a foot away. Close enough I could smell him…leather, smoke, something darker. Something that made my pulse jump.

“Tell me why you’re really here,” he murmured.

I opened my mouth. Closed it. The alcohol made everything feel far away and too close at once.

“I just… needed to get away.”

“From what?”

“From everyone. From… her.”

He didn’t ask who, he just watched me from under his lashes.

Then, slowly, he lifted a hand. Knuckles brushed my cheek.

My breath hitched.

“You’re not invisible,” he said quietly.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

He leaned in. Just enough that I felt the heat of him. Just enough that I could feel the question hanging between us.

And I didn’t move away.