THE ALPHA'S LITTLE NERD

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Evan’s POV

For the past week, something had been wrong with me.

Terribly wrong.

No matter what I did, my mind kept circling back to Anna.

Her scent.

Her voice.

The way fear flashed in her eyes before she tried hiding it behind attitude.

It was becoming irritating.

Dangerous.

I leaned back against the leather seat of my car, staring blankly out the tinted window while the pack meeting dragged on inside my head long after it ended.

I couldn’t explain why I went to her house that night.

Couldn’t explain why my chest tightened when I saw her in that black dress.

Couldn’t explain why I wrote that stupid text afterward and reread it three times like some obsessed i***t.

I didn’t do feelings.

Never had.

Love was pathetic. Weak. A distraction.

And mates?

Even worse.

The Moon Goddess must’ve been laughing somewhere.

Out of everyone in the world, she tied me to her.

A nerdy little human girl who looked at me with defiance instead of fear.

“Mate,” Cole purred lazily inside my head.

“Shut up.”

“She smells nice.”

“I said shut up.”

Ash scoffed from deeper inside my mind.

“We should reject her.”

For once, I agreed with him.

Good.

That meant I wasn’t completely losing myself yet.

My phone vibrated.

Mom: Dinner tonight. Don’t ignore me again.

I exhaled sharply.

The situation with my father was already enough to ruin my mood. Now there was another pack gathering waiting for me later tonight.

If my warriors didn’t still need me, I would’ve stopped showing up entirely.

But unlike my father, I didn’t abandon responsibilities just because things became inconvenient.

The second the meeting ended, I walked out without looking at anyone.

Several pack executives greeted me nervously.

I ignored every single one.

One old man stupidly stepped in front of me.

“Your Highness, the king requested—”

I looked at him once.

That was enough.

The man immediately moved aside, nearly tripping over himself.

Pathetic.

Outside the building, Ben leaned against my car waiting for me.

“Wow,” he said. “Nobody died today. Proud of you.”

“Give me time.”

He grinned.

“Want to inspect the warrior base?”

“No.”

I already checked everything yesterday.

I reached for my car door when another figure approached.

Hindwid.

My father’s beta.

Tall. Calm. Annoyingly polite.

He bowed respectfully.

“Your Highness.”

I rolled my eyes.

“The Alpha requests your presence.”

“Tell him to go to hell.”

Not even a flicker of offense crossed his face.

God, I hated that about him.

“The Alpha assumed you would say that,” Hindwid replied smoothly. “He asked me to inform you that the northern border requires inspection.”

I folded my arms slowly.

“What happened to his other sons?”

“The northern border is dangerous,” he answered. “None of them are as strong as you.”

A humorless laugh left me.

“Sounds like his problem.”

“He is still your Alpha.”

The air around me shifted instantly.

Cold.

Sharp.

Deadly.

I stepped closer until Hindwid lowered his gaze slightly.

“Careful,” I said softly. “You’re speaking to the wrong person with that tone.”

Silence.

Then I stepped back and entered the car.

Ben stared at me nervously once we drove off.

“Dude… are you sure you shouldn’t honor the Alpha’s order?”

I shot him a look.

“Want to walk home?”

He immediately raised both hands.

“Jeez. What type of Alpha did I become your beta for? Being your beta is seriously going to get me killed someday.”

I rolled my eyes.

Little did we know those words would matter more than either of us expected.

Ben muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like: I need a raise.

By the time we arrived at school, my irritation had only worsened.

Then I saw her.

And suddenly everything else disappeared.

Anna stood in the hallway beside Stella and another girl while students openly stared at her.

Half the school had probably developed a crush on her already.

Idiots.

She wore a white crop top with a black skirt that showed just enough leg to make violence feel reasonable again.

My wolf stirred immediately.

Mine.

The word slammed into my chest so hard it pissed me off.

I stared at her longer than I should have.

Then Stella noticed me first.

She said something.

Anna turned.

Our eyes locked.

For a second, neither of us moved.

Then she casually looked away.

Like I wasn’t worth her attention.

My jaw clenched.

Interesting.

The person standing in front of her turned around.

Melissa.

There was anger on Melissa’s face.

Anna must’ve said something sharp because Melissa’s fists tightened immediately.

A small smirk pulled at my lips.

Finally.

Someone was putting that girl in her place.

I walked into class without acknowledging anyone staring at me.

Mr. Williams was already teaching Economics, but nobody stopped me when I entered late.

Nobody ever did.

I sat down at the back of the room and pulled my hood slightly lower.

But even then—

I could feel her eyes on me.

Watching.

Studying.

Good.

Let her.

The problem was…

I wanted to look back.

Wanted to drag her attention fully onto me and keep it there.

That irritated me even more.

At lunch, I kept my head lowered while Ben talked nonstop beside me.

“You’re being weird again,” he said.

“I’m always weird.”

“No. This is worse.”

Cole laughed inside my head.

“He misses her.”

“I’ll kill you.”

Ash groaned.

“We’re acting pathetic.”

“You’re all pathetic,” I muttered inwardly.

“Oh wow,” Black suddenly appeared. “The family meeting started without me?”

I frowned.

“I told you to stay dormant.”

“Yeah, well, I got bored.”

Of course he did.

Having four wolves was exhausting.

Gold was still asleep. Ash was grumpy. Cole was obsessed with Anna.

And Black?

Black simply enjoyed chaos.

“She’s pretty,” Black commented lazily.

“Don’t start.”

“She’d look prettier wearing our mark.”

“Enough.”

My patience snapped hard enough that all three wolves went silent.

Good.

I stood abruptly from the cafeteria table.

Ben blinked. “Where are you going now?”

“Out.”

“That tells me absolutely nothing.”

I ignored him and walked away.

Melissa appeared near the exit.

Again.

At this point I was convinced she had developed some kind of tracking ability.

She smiled flirtatiously.

One glare from me wiped it off instantly.

Pathetic.

I headed toward the pool area and dove straight into the freezing water.

Cold usually helped clear my head.

Usually.

But today?

All I could hear were those disgusting words from earlier.

“What is a divorced Luna’s son doing here?”

My hands clenched underwater.

I didn’t care what they said about me.

But my mother?

No.

That crossed a line.

And my father barely reacted.

That was the part burning through my chest like acid.

Once upon a time, he would’ve killed anyone who insulted her.

Now?

Nothing.

I stayed underwater longer.

Trying to drown the anger.

Trying to drown the strange softness growing inside me lately.

I hated it.

I hated how Anna affected me.

How she made me hesitate.

Think.

Feel.

Disgusting.

I climbed out of the pool and grabbed my phone immediately.

“Check your DM,” I told the person who answered. “Someone needs a reminder about respect.”

“Understood.”

I ended the call.

Done being merciful.

As I walked back through the hallway, students whispered everywhere.

“Melissa challenged that nerd girl to the Death Zone.”

“She’s dead.”

“No way she survives.”

“She got hot though.”

“So? Pretty people die too.”

“She might actually win,” another girl whispered nervously.

The richer students laughed mockingly.

“Oh look. Another charity case.”

The poor girl immediately shrank back.

Cowards.

A scream echoed behind me moments later.

Bullying.

Typical.

I kept walking.

Because one thing mattered more right now.

Anna.

What the hell was wrong with that girl?

I leave her alone for five minutes and suddenly she’s accepting death matches?

I found her outside the school gates with Stella.

Laughing.

Actually laughing.

Either she was brave or unbelievably stupid.

I pulled the car beside them.

Stella immediately frowned.

“What do you want?”

Ignored.

My eyes stayed on Anna.

“Can I drop you off?”

Damn.

That sounded softer than intended.

Anna looked surprised for half a second before her expression cooled.

“No.”

I stared at her.No?

I was asking nicely.

Part of me wanted to drag her into the car myself.

But I held back.

“Cancel the duel,” I said calmly.

“I don’t need your concern.”

Sharp.

Defensive.

Annoying.

I was still being nice.

“You’re not ready for that arena.”

That finally made her snap.

“And whose fault is that?” she shot back. “You scared away the only person helping me train.”

I frowned slightly.

Who?

For a second, I almost asked.

Almost.

But then I thought against it.

“…Forget it.”

Fine.

If she wanted to die , that's her problem.

I drove away before I did something stupid.

Like forcing her into the car.

By the time I reached my mother’s new apartment building, night had already started falling.

I stepped out of the car.

Then froze.

Right beside the apartment.

A familiar house.

My eyes narrowed slowly.

No way.

A dangerous smile spread across my face.

Anna lived next door.

My wolf practically purred.

Little kitten…

You really walked straight into the wolf’s den.