Stealing My Best Friend’s Mate

16-An Invitation

Sloane’s POV

The next afternoon at university, I’m sitting on a stone bench near the athletic quad, trying to eat a dry bagel before my next lecture, when laughter erupts nearby.

A group of university cheerleaders, led by Mindy, a flashy Delta who hangs around Judy’s circle, approaches the quad. They’re dressed in their bright team uniforms, looking sleek, popular, and entirely out of my league.

"Look who it is," Mindy snickers loudly, stopping a few feet away with her hands on her hips. Her friends cluster around her, giggling. "The pack's resident charity case."

I keep my eyes on my books, trying to ignore them, reminding Zia to stay low.

"Oh, did I hurt the poor Omega's feelings?" Mindy steps closer, intentionally kicking my backpack off the bench. My notebooks and pens spill out across the ground. "I hear you're still working two jobs just to afford a moldy apartment. Honestly, Sloane, why do you even bother staying at Shadow Pack? Kai clearly upgraded to someone with actual status, and you're just... sad."

One of the other girls kicks one of my loose lecture papers into a nearby mud puddle. "Maybe she thinks since she got beta, she’ll try for alpha now. I heard she’s throwing herself foolishly at him. Ugh."

Heat stings the back of my eyes. I bend down to pick up my ruined notes, my heart pounding against my ribs in humiliation.

Before Mindy could say another word, a shadow falls over us.

"Pick them up." The command drops like a lead weight, and Mindy pales instantly, spinning around. Xavier stands right behind them, his jacket open, his expression utterly ruthless when I look up. The crimson ring in his gray eyes flickers with terrifying intensity.

"X-Xavier-" Mindy stammers, her confident demeanor evaporating into thin air. "We were just-"

"Pick up her things," Xavier repeats, his voice dropping into that quiet, terrifying, powerful frequency that forces obedience down a wolf's throat. "Now."

Straightening my back, I watch Mindy and her friends scramble onto the ground without another second's delay, hands shaking as they gather my scattered pens and soggy papers, piling them neatly onto the bench.

Xavier ignores them completely, stepping past the trembling girls. "Are you okay?" he asks gently, his tone transforming completely soft, intimate, and meant only for me.

"I'm fine," I whisper, swallowing the lump in my throat, picking up and grimacing at the wet sheets.

“Redo her notes,” Xavier snaps over his shoulder at Mindy and her crew without even looking at them. “Take them, take them,” his tone went to a condescending pitch. Then, "Get lost.”

Grabbing the wet sheets, they take off down the path practically at a run.

“I don't need your help, I can handle them, and I prefer doing my own work, thank you.”

Xavier turns back to me, his warm fingers brushing lightly over the back of my hand, sending those tiny tingles I'd unfortunately begun growing accustomed to.

"You don't have to do this all alone, Sloane. Let me help you."

A humorless laugh almost escapes me. Help me?

Hadn't he watched them treat me like I was invisible all these years? Like I was nothing more than the pack's unwanted omega? He had been there, close enough to see it happen. And now, suddenly, because he was pretending to be my boyfriend, he cared?

"I don't need anyone’s help." The words leave more sharply than I intended, because although they are true now, once upon a time they weren't entirely true.

I did need help. There were countless times I wished someone would simply stand beside me. Someone to tell the others to stop. Someone to remind me I mattered. But no one ever came, and so I learned to survive on my own. Depending on people only ever ended in disappointment.

None of it matters. Not anymore because I'm leaving.

As soon as I collect my degree, I'll leave Black Shadow Pack behind. I'll find work somewhere no one knows my name, somewhere I won't have to watch Kai and Judy pretending they didn't destroy me.

Then I'll reject the bond.

I know what comes after- every wolf does.

A rejected mate bond isn't something you simply walk away from. The pain alone is enough to leave wolves bedridden for days, sometimes weeks. Fever. Weakness. An emptiness that settles into your bones while your wolf mourns what they’d lost.

I can't afford that now.

Missing classes isn't an option. Neither are failed exams, and my tuition doesn't magically pay for itself, and my landlord certainly isn't going to waive my rent because my heart is breaking. If I'm too sick to work, who pays the bills?

Who keeps a roof over my head? No one. So I wait, and I survive, and I finish my degree; then I'll let Kai go.

Forever.

Speaking of the devil- Kai and Judy enter my line of vision, his hand around her neck.

Zia senses my vulnerability immediately. She pulls away from Moros, refusing to acknowledge the warmth his presence brings, and I quickly reach for my bag, desperate to leave.

A sudden clearing of a throat pulls me out of my head. Xavier is still looking at me, his expression calm, unreadable, but patient. He steps back slightly, giving me space to move, though his presence still fills the quiet gap between us. "Look, I'm not asking you to rely on me for everything, Sloane," he says, his voice steady, and I know he also saw the “hot couple” as well with their entourage.

“I know you're still adjusting to everything after- well, everything," Xavier says, his voice softening with that grounded, gentle warmth he’s been giving me ever since he thinks I forgot.

Keeping my expression carefully neutral- I have to be deliberate with every word, every look.

“I- Okay, here goes. The ice hockey team is set to play an inter-pack exhibition match against the Silver Moon Pack in a neighboring city," he explains, his eyes on me filled with genuine care. "The whole team is going, and it's a bit of a trek, but I'd feel better having you there with me. Plus, a change of scenery might do you some good."

Right. Kai often invited me to these events, but I always had to work, so I couldn’t go. Taking a deep breath, I looked towards Kai, who was smiling so brilliantly with Judy. Did he ever look at me this way?

Why would I volunteer to witness my former boyfriend and the girl he cheated on me with, carrying on as though they hadn't destroyed everything we once had and without the restrictions of their parents and elders now?

Xavier reaches out, lightly squeezing my shoulder- a gesture meant to reassure his “girlfriend” and offers a small, patient smile. "I know how hard you work. I'm not asking you to skip out on anything important. Just see if you can swap a shift or get time off?"

I hold his gaze for a second, swallowing down the knot of guilt in my chest. He's being so attentive, so earnest, completely unaware that my memory never wiped. "Okay," I say, giving him a slight nod. "I'll look into my schedule and see if I can get the time off. If I can swap with someone-”

I don't finish what I'm saying. Xavier closes the distance between us and pulls me into a soft, gentle kiss. It should be innocent and nothing more than part of an act. Instead, it sends absolute havoc through my stomach.

Somewhere in the background, I hear V growl, and my arms circle Xavier’s neck, just as I had seen Judy doing.