Chapter 2: The Fire They Didn't Start

Professor Whitmore gave me a disgusted look, scrunching up his nose. “What happened to you?”

I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off.

“Go clean that shit off,” he muttered, stepping away from the door.

I rushed out, laughter following me until I was in the hallway. And that’s when the tears came.

I kept walking with my head down, wiping my cheeks with my sticky hands. I could hear people whispering as they passed me, and I knew some of them already saw the video or pictures from the classroom. It wouldn't take long before the whole academy knew what had happened.

I wasn't going to the bathroom. I didn't want to stand in front of a mirror and look at myself, and I definitely didn't want to risk running into Marcus or any of his friends.

I had another place in mind.

My favorite hiding spot was at the far end of the school grounds, inside the old science building. It was technically off-limits, although students rarely went there anymore. The school had closed that section years ago after a damaged underground gas line was discovered beneath the building. The area had been fenced off, and there were warning signs everywhere telling students to stay away.

I'd been ignoring those signs for years.

It was the safest place on campus for me because nobody wanted to go near it. I found it when I was fifteen, shortly after moving into Alpha Trojan's house, and it quickly became my place whenever I needed to get away from everyone.

I never told anyone about it.

I turned the corner toward the science building, hoping I could get there before anyone else saw me, but I stopped when I spotted Marlon coming from the opposite direction.

Of all people.

He was Marcus's boyfriend and an alpha heir, but that wasn't the worst part. He was also my mate.

We found out last year, and I still remembered the horrible mixture of excitement and confusion I'd felt when his scent hit me for the first time. Momo, my wolf, immediately recognized him, and for a few minutes, I'd stupidly believed that maybe having a mate would finally give me something that belonged only to me.

Marlon destroyed that hope before the day was over.

He rejected me privately because he didn't want anyone finding out that the Moon Goddess supposedly cursed him with me instead of Marcus. He made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with me, and I respected his decision even though it had hurt like a mother fucker.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean he wouldn’t laugh at me.

He stopped when he saw me and immediately wrinkled his nose. “Damn, Billie.”

I lowered my eyes and tried to walk past him, but he moved into my path.

“What happened to you?” he asked, already smiling. “You smell horrible. Is that fish?”

I didn’t bother answering.

“Definitely fish,” he said, laughing horribly. “I don't know what they did to you, but whatever it was, they did you a favor. Maybe now nobody will have to smell that weird perfume you always wear.”

I looked at him. “That perfume was my mother's.”

His expression didn't change. “Still smells weird.”

I felt another tear roll down my cheek and quickly wiped it away.

Marlon noticed. “Are you crying?”

I finally summoned up enough courage to step on his foot, hard. He wailed in pain, his hands going to his foot. I used that opportunity to run, tears still rolling involuntarily. Maybe I was just as weak as my wolf. I couldn’t even stand up for myself to a boy shorter than me.

I slipped through the gap in the fence and continued toward the old building. I reached the old science building, walked in, and squeezed into my usual spot, pulling my knees against my chest as I finally allowed myself to cry out loud.

I stayed there for a long time, crying until my head started to ache. Eventually, I got tired of crying and leaned against the wall, staring at the small patch of sunlight coming through the gap above me.

I knew I couldn't stay there forever. Classes would end in a few hours and I could go home. Back to Alpha Trojan’s house. Back to Marcus.

I checked the time on my phone.

There was still a while to go. I bet professor Whitmore wasn’t even wondering whether I was coming back to class. He was one of Marcus’s clowns. A grown ass man afraid of an omega half his age. How laughable. Or maybe not. Marcus was after all the son of one of the strongest alphas in the city.

I pulled my knees closer and closed my eyes, telling myself I would only rest for a few minutes.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up coughing. At first, I thought it was because I'd fallen asleep with my face against my uniform. Then I smelled it.

Smoke.

My eyes snapped open. The building was filled with a thick gray haze, and my eyes immediately started burning.

I scrambled to my feet. “What's happening?”

I coughed and covered my mouth with my sleeve but it smelled horrible. The smoke was coming from the metal door, and I could see flames licking along the bottom of it. My heart stopped.

The building was on fire. I rushed toward the door and grabbed the handle, but the moment my fingers touched it, I yanked my hand away.

It was burning hot.

“No.” I cried and tried again with my sleeve wrapped around my hand, but the heat was unbearable. I stumbled backward, coughing harder as smoke filled my lungs.

That’s when I heard laughter coming from outside and people screaming, “smoke her out”.

I rushed back to the door and started banging on it with both hands. “Open the door!”

Nobody answered.

“Open the door!” I screamed, coughing between the words. “Please!”

The smoke was getting thicker, making it harder to see and breathe. I dropped to my knees.

“Please open the door!” I begged. “I'm inside!”

Then a boy shouted, “Hey! She can't get out!”

The laughter stopped.

“What?”

“She can't get out! Get her out!”

I heard several people rushing toward the building.

“Move!”

“Open the door!”

Someone started kicking it from the outside.

I pressed myself against the floor, coughing violently as the smoke burned my throat. I heard several people scrambling away, followed by a strange hissing sound beneath me.

That was when I remembered the gas line under the building, right before something exploded in my ear. I didn’t even feel any pain before everything went dark.