Fangs Beneath the Ice

Chapter 9: Someone Knows

WREN'S POV

More students continued gathering around us and before I could even think of what to do next someone pulled out their phone and started recording.

“Wait, are they dating?”

“Are Wren and Asher together?”

“Did they just fall from the rooftop?”

I immediately looked around and saw more phones being raised towards us and my eyes widened as I quickly covered my face with my hand. “Stop recording!” I snapped but nobody listened and someone even laughed.

“Why are you two acting so suspicious?”

I lowered my hand and glared at them. “We're not dating!”

I didn't even get the chance to explain anything else because Asher suddenly spoke.

“I fell,” he said calmly. “She was helping me.”

I shut my eyes.

What?!

I could already imagine how stupid that sounded. There was no way anyone was going to believe that. We had literally been lying on the ground together after I had fallen from a rooftop and now he was telling them that he had fallen and I was helping him. Who the hell would believe that?

I opened my eyes and noticed some of the students staring at us suspiciously while others continued recording.

“Are you sure?” someone asked.

“Yes.”

His voice was so calm that it almost made me wonder if he actually believed his own lie.

Then suddenly a student standing closer to him gasped and the person's voice sounded horrified.

“Wait! His arm!”

I immediately turned towards Asher and my breath caught when I saw his arm twisted at an unnatural angle. My eyes widened as I stared at it in shock.

It was broken.

How did I not notice that before?

He had caught me while I was falling and somehow his arm had taken the damage. I swallowed hard as I stared at him and suddenly I didn't know whether I should go to him or run away. My feet remained frozen as students immediately began gathering around him.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Did you hurt it when you fell?”

“Can you move it?”

“Someone should take him to the nurse!”

“Should we call someone?”

…

I stood there watching them and my mind suddenly went back to what Asher had told me.

‘Hold still for a moment.’

I had thought he was talking about me but now I understood. He knew people were coming and he knew they would notice his injury and start focusing on him instead of asking me questions about what had happened.

My eyes dropped to his broken arm again and my stomach twisted.

This was bad. This was really bad.

Asher played hockey and if his arm was broken badly enough, he wouldn't be able to play for months.

Unless his werewolf healing could fix it quickly.

I immediately shook my head.

Why the hell was I even thinking about that?

He brought this upon himself.

He was the one who pushed me. He was the one who almost let me fall to my death just because he wanted to confirm whether I was a werewolf.

I shouldn't care what happened to his arm. I shouldn't care if he couldn't play hockey and I shouldn't care if he had to sit out for months.

I looked at him one last time before quickly slipping out of the crowd. I didn't want anyone asking me anything, I didn't want anyone recording me and I definitely didn't want anyone connecting me to Asher.

I rushed back towards my class and looked around the moment I entered but Pearl wasn't there. I frowned and quickly checked my phone but there was nothing from her.

Where the hell was she?

I didn't have the energy to worry about it so I sat down and tried to focus on my work but my mind kept returning to what had happened. Every time I closed my eyes I saw myself falling. I could still feel the wind hitting my face and I could still remember the way my heart had stopped when Asher let go of my hand.

And then I remembered what I had screamed.

I'm a werewolf.

I covered my face with my hands.

‘f**k. I had actually said it!’

I had screamed it loud enough for Asher to hear and possibly anyone else who had been close enough. I quickly looked around my classroom but nobody seemed to be paying attention to me and I released a breath.

Maybe nobody had heard.

M-maybe.

And that was enough to make my stomach twist.

The rest of the day passed painfully slowly and I barely spoke to anyone. I kept checking the time until school finally closed and the moment the bell rang I grabbed my things and rushed out. I didn't wait for Pearl and I didn't stop to talk to anyone because I just wanted to get home.

The moment I entered the house I heard my mother's voice.

“Wren?”

I kept walking.

“Wren, is that you?”

I rushed upstairs without answering.

“Wren!”

I ignored her calling and entered my room before shutting the door behind me. I leaned against the door and released a long breath, my entire body feeling exhausted.

I walked towards my bed and dropped my bag before grabbing my phone. The first thing I did was open the school forum and my heart started beating heavily as I searched through the latest posts.

Nothing.

I refreshed the page.

Still nothing.

I searched again but there was no video of the rooftop, no post about me and no post about Asher.

Nothing.

I exhaled in relief and leaned back against my bed. Maybe I was lucky. Maybe the students had recorded it but nobody had uploaded anything yet or maybe they had decided not to post it.

I didn't care which one it was.

As long as nobody knew.

I locked my phone and dropped it beside me before rubbing my face. I just wanted this day to end. I wanted to forget the rooftop, I wanted to forget Asher and I wanted to forget that he knew my secret.

Most importantly, I wanted to forget that I had admitted it.

I picked up my phone again and stared at the screen. “Maybe I should block his number.”

I hesitated.

What if he tried contacting me again?

I was about to open our chat when my phone suddenly buzzed.

I froze.

My eyes slowly moved towards the notification.

Unknown Number.

My heart immediately started beating faster and I stared at the message for a few seconds before opening it.

There was only one sentence.

[I know who you are.]

My breathing stopped.

I stared at the words without blinking and my fingers slowly tightened around my phone.

No.

This couldn't be happening again!

Asher already knew but how did someone else know?

I quickly looked towards my bedroom door as if someone could suddenly walk through it. My heart was beating heavily now and my mind started racing.

Who sent this?

How did they know?!!

I looked back at the message and felt a cold shiver run down my spine.

[I know who you are.]

God, I'm finished!