Chapter 6

Later that evening, Kai was sitting in the living room when the new girl burst into the dorm. He sensed her anger even before her eyes landed on him and she advanced, hands folded into fists, brown eyes narrowed, lips pressed together. “Hey, sweetie,” he greeted, crossing one leg over the other knee. “How was your first day?” “Why did you lie?” she demanded, coming to a stop in front of him and glaring down at him. She was definitely mad–and he liked it. He couldn’t wait to teach her a lesson. A lesson that involved those angry eyes closing in bliss and those pouty lips crying his name as she begged him to take her. Kai patted his thigh and gave her a mocking smile. “Sit here and I’ll tell you.” She huffed. “What is wrong with you? What do you have against me? We only met yesterday and don’t know each other. Why don’t you leave me alone?” “Don’t tell me what to do,” he warned her. “I said I’d teach you a lesson. I keep my promises.” He could still remember the disgusted look on her face the previous day when he approached her. No girl ever looked at him like that, ever. Most would be begging for him to touch them, do whatever he wanted. Who did she think she was to turn him down and act like she was too good for him? He was the Alpha of the Mountain Blacks, and she was just some inconsequential Omega. By the time he was done with her, she’d know her place. “What did I ever do to you?” she demanded. “I hate people who don’t obey me,” he told her, “and this is your punishment.” She stared at him, her face morphing through confusion, to surprise, and then laughter. “Did I bruise your little ego?” Kai’s eyes narrowed as his jaw tightened. That laugh…nobody had ever laughed at him in such a mocking way. “Look, dude,” she said, “there are tons of girls on this campus who are ready to kill…literally, to be with you. So why don’t you go and chase after them? Save me the trouble. I’ve been knocked into the wall enough times today to give me a sore shoulder.” “You are stuck with me,” he told her. “Or you can sleep with me and your troubles will end.” “Keep dreaming,” she told him. Having had enough of her attitude, he rose to his feet, his taller frame towering above her. She flinched, but quickly collected herself and stood her ground, as if she thought she could stand up to him. “You are really pushing it, little wolf,” he warned, leaning forward to bring his face closer to hers. “Let’s see how long you can survive, shall we?” The girl sneered, shoved her middle finger in his face, and walked away to her room. He was going to make her regret being so snotty towards him. He rejected girls. Not the other way around. Whatever it took, he would get what he wanted. *** The next day, Sara wondered whether she hadn’t been too reckless when she had confronted Kai in the dorm. She had learned that he was the Alpha of Mountain Blacks, one of the major packs in the region. Normally, she wouldn’t want to tick off an Alpha, leave alone one who attended North Academy, meaning he was a special kind of troublemaker. When she had been confronting him the previous evening, she had been so angry, and when he proposed that she sleep with him, she had lost all sense of self-preservation. She hated arrogant Alphas like him who thought they could get whatever they wanted. Sure, they usually could. But if he thought she was about to let him have his way with her, he had another thought coming. She hadn’t escaped one manipulative asshole only to replace him with another one. Besides, it appeared that Edna had had enough of getting pushed around. While Sara had always preferred keeping her head down and ignoring her bullies, Edna always thirsted for blood. And it appeared that recently, her rebellious nature was winning. Nobody liked rebellious Omegas. Omegas were supposed to tuck their tails between their legs and drop their heads when confronted by a werewolf of a higher rank. And what had she done? Laughed at him and showed him the finger. In the morning, she remained in her room until she was sure everybody else had left. She knew she couldn’t avoid Kai forever. Sooner or later, she would run into him. She was still going to try. She barely made it to her first class on time. She was rushing up a flight of stairs to get to another class at noon when someone stuck her foot out to trip her. She had gotten used to dodging tackles, but it was different on the stairs. She tripped on the foot and went flying towards the steps. At the last moment, she was able to grab the railing and hang on for dear life, her body inches from crashing into the steps. Laughter sounded all around her as the girl who had tripped her walked by with her friends. Sara straightened and clenched her teeth. That could have ended badly. The previous day, they had pushed her around in the hallways, poured water into her lunch, and called her names whenever she walked by. She had also found herself sitting alone in all her classes, with everyone alienating her, even the male students. Word had already gotten around that she was the one who attacked the Alpha King, so it was no surprise nobody wanted to be seen close to her. She didn’t mind being alienated, but she could do without the physical attacks. At lunch, she was sitting at a table in the back corner of the school cafeteria, alone, when she felt a presence looming over her. She looked up and found Kai’s ex, accompanied by three of her friends. Each of them was holding a tray of food. “Who said you could eat here?” the girl asked. “It’s a public place,” she replied. “Nobody wants you here,” one of the others said. “We have to put up with you in class. Spare us the sight at lunch.” “I’m not leaving,” Sara declared. “No?” the ring leader asked, wrapping her hand around a glass of juice on her tray. “Need a little motivation?” Extending her hand, she tipped the glass over Sara’s head, drenching her hair and sweater. Murmurs broke out all around them. Sara closed her hands into fists, willing Edna to stop egging her into a fight. She reminded her that the president had a target on her back, and it went without saying she would be punished if she retaliated. Silently, she picked up her tray and stood. Her eyes landed on Kai a few tables away, watching the scene with an evil smirk on his face. When their eyes met, he arched an eyebrow, as if to say, ‘my offer still stands’. She looked away and walked past the four girls towards the bin. On her way, a few people threw food at her, and by the time she left the cafeteria, she was filthy. Laughter and insults escorted her through the exit doors. Her plan was to go back to her dorm to change, but the moment she was out of the cafeteria, her unbothered facade broke. This was too much. Yes, she had been bullied before, but not to this extent. Everybody here seemed to be out to get her, and she hated being so helpless. Ignoring them wasn’t going to work. Fighting them was the only option, but the thought of the president sending the punishers after her made her think twice. If any of them attacked her in private, though, she wouldn’t hold back. Tears blurring her vision, she headed for a stairway that led to the rooftop, away from the crowd. The moment she pushed through the door to the roof, her suppressed feelings broke through and she burst crying. *** Christian Rivers’s afternoon nap was cut short by the sound of crying. At first, he thought he was imagining it, because the rooftop was usually silent, and nobody ever came up there. But then he heard it clearly. Yeah, he had company. Checking his watch, he found that he hadn’t even slept for ten minutes. He hated it when anyone disturbed his nap time. “Shut up and get the fuck out of here,” he called out, hoping whoever it was would know what was good for them and scram. There was silence for a few seconds, and then an angry female voice shouted back, “Fuck you!” The retort shocked him to his core, and he got up from the bench he was lying on. Getting to his feet, he went around the corner to see who it was– Ah, the new girl in his dorm. This was the second time she was disturbing his sleep, and she had the nerve to talk back at him. “What did you say?” “Leave me the fuck alone,” she said, tucking her face into the crook of her elbow. She was sitting on the ground, her back against the wall next to the door. She looked like she had been through a food fight, but that was none of his business. He was going to show her what she got for disturbing his peace and cursing at him. Matching forward, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. Her brown eyes flashed to his face in anger, and then she froze. “It’s you,” she muttered. “When I say leave, you run,” he gritted out, not interested in doing catch-up with her. She scoffed and tried to release her arm from his grip. “God, you are just as much of an asshole as he is, aren’t you?” “What did you call me?” “You heard me. Let me go.” In all his life, Christian had never been insulted to his face. Definitely not by an Omega who he could crush with the palm of his hands. Omegas like her didn’t know their place, and they caused all sorts of trouble for everybody. She clearly needed taming. Parting his lips, he bared his teeth, channelling his wolf and letting his fangs extend. Her expression froze and she went ashen. “You…are you…are you–” She didn’t get to finish her sentence as he gripped her neck on one side and sank his fangs into the other. She gasped, her hands struggling to push him off. At the first taste of her blood, a strong jolt of energy shot through his body, and he let go of her instantly. She stepped away too, gripping her neck and staring at him with wide eyes. He knew she must have felt it too. The mate bond.