FOR YOU

Not the One For Me

THIRD PERSON POV

After their encounter, Chloe and Edward did not see each other again until the next day at school. As usual, Edward drove, with Chloe in the passenger seat. Neither of them spoke about what had happened the previous day; they did not exchange a single word, not even a simple 'good morning'. A heavy silence filled the car, a stark contrast to the previous day's chaos.

​Edward considered what he had done to be a mistake. He was an Alpha King who was still a student. He controlled a pack of over 370 shapeshifters—376, to be precise, the last time he checked the records, excluding himself and his mother. His mother had decided to remarry, and he still had to complete his education.

​'There is no way I want to do that with her,' he had said to himself all of yesterday. 'She is just a human, for crying out loud, and besides, she's a rude b***,' he thought, his internal monologue a scolding for his own reckless behavior.

​Chloe, on the other hand, was thinking about what she might have enjoyed yesterday if she had actually let Edward do what he had in mind. 'Or was he just teasing me? Was he just trying to see how I would react to his touch, rather than actually wanting to do anything? He's an egotistical a***, for all I know,' her mind whirled with these thoughts as he drove her to school.

​In no time, they arrived at the school. Chloe had been the talk of the town since the arrival of her stepbrother. Many people wanted to be her friend because of him. Many wanted to get a chance with her stepbrother through her, as Edward was a solitary person.

​Despite volunteering to drive Chloe to school every day, he never spoke with her once they were there. He just drove her to school and nothing more. Because of this, Chloe knew nothing about him, and he knew nothing about her—not that he cared, since if he wanted to know, he could simply ask one of his subordinates to find out about her.

​His Pack House was not some local pack where everything was built in trees and forests. Edward's father had been civilized. They had lived in the city even before his death. All of them blended in well with humans when necessary. He and other pack members had been attending a human school before he moved here.

​Just like at his old school, where girls wanted him, his new school was no different. However, just as girls wanted him, lads were also lurking around Chloe. She also had a ton of lads following her on a daily basis, but she had no interest in them. Countless times, Daisy would tell her to just pick one of the lads and get laid, but Chloe would always say she was keeping her first time for the right person.

​Among the guys obsessed with Chloe was a guy named Evans, the leader of the school's basketball team. He had been considered the most handsome guy in the school—until Edward's arrival. Evans was also known as a bully. Because of his looks and ability, he thought he could get whatever he wanted from both girls and guys.

​As soon as Chloe stepped out of Edward's car, Evans walked towards her. He did not give her any space or time to get away; he approached her as soon as he saw her. Edward was still in the car, winding the windows up.

​"Hey, cutie," Evans said, moving closer to Chloe as she pressed her back against the car.

​"Evans, this is a wonderful Monday morning. Please, don't ruin it for me and just leave me alone," Chloe said, her arms folded across her chest as she confronted him. She was clearly in no mood for Evans this morning. Usually, she would just walk away, but today she was trapped between a sports car and the school bully.

​"I'm not trying to ruin this morning for you, darling. I'm here to get the answer I want from you. Just say yes to me, and we'll go our separate ways and enjoy the day," Evans said, his hand moving up to Chloe's face, but it stopped midway, hanging in the air.

​Edward was holding Evans' wrist, preventing him from touching Chloe's face. The thought of Evans touching her face was disgusting to him, and a low growl rumbled in his chest, an unseen fire of anger.

​"Let go of me," Evans muttered, trying to yank his hand from Edward's, but to no avail.

​"Don't you dare touch her!" Edward muttered slowly, his teeth clenched, as he tried to lower his voice and not cause a scene. He looked at Evans so intently that if looks could kill, Evans would have dropped dead by now.

​"And why is that your concern? Aren't you two just step-siblings? Or is it more than that?" Evans retaliated, embarrassment flushing across his face as students began to gather in the car park, forming a small audience.

​Chloe did not understand what was happening. She had no idea why Edward had stopped Evans from touching her. As Evans said, 'What's with him?' It wasn't as if they had a close relationship or something. If someone were to ask her to define their relationship, she would have said they had no bond apart from being step-siblings. They could have shared more if she had allowed him to touch her yesterday.

​Her mind was now drifting to what might or could have happened yesterday. Her face had become so red, and her mind had gone so far that she did not notice that Edward had released Evans' hand, and the latter had scurried away, leaving one last sentence for the subconscious Chloe.

​"You can't run away from me, Chloe," Evans said as he left.

​Edward looked at the blushing Chloe and said, "What makes you so red?" His words brought Chloe back to life from her world of thoughts, a sharp return to reality.

​"Hmm?" she said, not because she had not heard what he said, but because she had been caught red-handed.

​"He's gone," she said once she noticed that Evans had left. "But why did you do that?" Chloe asked Edward, who seemed unable to think of a reasonable reason to give and looked away guiltily.

​"Do you perhaps like me?" Chloe blurted out, the words escaping her lips before she could stop them. But since she had started it, she needed to finish it.

​"I mean, with what happened yesterday and now, I have every reason to think that way, right?" she said again.

​"I don't like you. And even if I did, you're not the one meant for me," he said and left, leaving Chloe dumbfounded by what he had said and what he had meant by it.