CHAPTER 5
1499 Words
The cafeteria at Ridgeview High had three moods.
Mood one: loud and chaotic.
Mood two: gossipy and judgemental.
Mood three: dead silent with fear.
Today was mood three.
And it had absolutely nothing to do with the food.
I was sitting with Addy and the rest of our group, poking at something that was either chicken or a hate crime, when the entire room shifted. Conversations cut off mid sentence. Wolves froze in place. Humans stiffened instinctively like animals feeling a coming storm.
Addy looked up first. Her face fell.
“Oh no,” she whispered.
I didn't turn around. My wolf already knew who it was. My skin prickled. The air thickened.
Jack and Beau Hayes were walking directly toward our table.
Not by chance. Not casually. They were hunting. And I was the target.
Addy leaned toward me. “Pretend you didn’t notice.”
“I didn’t notice,” I said stiffly.
“You sound like a liar.”
“I feel like one.”
Wolves watched with wide eyes as the heirs crossed the cafeteria. Their presence hit the room with the weight of a falling mountain. The air tasted charged and metallic. Even the humans sensed it and quickly looked at their plates like everything was fine.
My wolf pushed against me, restless. She hated being forced down. She hated the suppressant. And she hated the twins being this close.
I pressed a hand to the table and forced myself to breathe casually. I still had to try and pretend to be human.
Then the twins reached us and Jack sat on my left. Beau sat on my right.
Just like that.
Addy squeaked. Josie dropped her fork. Axel mouthed something that looked suspiciously like we ‘are going to die’?
I stayed still. Barely breathing.
Jack studied me openly. “Lainey.”
His voice had weight. Not dominance. Not command. Something stranger. Like recognition.
“Jack,” I said, trying to sound bored. My voice cracked anyway.
Beau leaned slightly closer. “You left in a hurry yesterday.”
“I had things to do,” I said. “Important things. Like absolutely anything other than this.”
Axel snorted. Walker held his breath. Tyler stared at the table like if he didn’t move, he might survive.
Beau tapped his fingers on the table. “Something about you is not normal.”
I glared at him. “Neither are you.”
He actually smiled. “Fair.”
Jack shot him a look. “Stop smiling at her.”
Beau blinked. “I’m being polite.”
“You're being distracting.”
“you're being dramatic.” Beau said.
“You're encouraging her.”
“You're obsessed with her.”
They glared at each other. The entire cafeteria watched like it was the season finale of some supernatural dating show.
My wolf growled inside me, irritated by all of it.
“Please stop arguing around me,” I muttered. “It feels like being trapped between two angry pine trees.”
Jack turned back to me. “You smell like nothing.”
I groaned. “Why does everyone keep announcing that like it's breaking news?”
Beau leaned closer. “It's not just the lack of scent. It's the pressure.”
My heart skipped. “Pressure?”
Jack nodded. “You’re not human.”
“Your wolf. She is trapped,” Beau added.
Something inside me twitched.
A spark. A pulse.
My wolf clawed forward. I forced her down, but she pushed harder.
Pain spiked behind my eyes.
Jack saw it immediately. His gaze sharpened. “What is happening to you?”
“Nothing. Because I’m not a f*****g wolf.” I snapped.
Beau frowned. “Your heart is racing.”
“Because my lunch tastes like despair.”
Jack reached for my hand without thinking.
My wolf lunged so violently that my breath caught.
Beau grabbed my wrist instead. Everything exploded.
Energy ripped through the table like electricity. My wolf slammed against the walls of my mind so hard my vision blurred. The chair vibrated beneath me. Wolves across the cafeteria stiffened in instinctive response.
Jack snarled at Beau. A real snarl. The kind meant for enemies.
He yanked Beau’s hand off me. Beau stood immediately, teeth bared. Their wolves rose behind their eyes, bright and ready to fight.
Addy whispered, “We need to get out of here.”
No one moved.
No one even blinked.
My wolf surged again, hotter this time. Fiercer. Desperate. Like she was trying to get past the suppressant and reach out to them. Like she was asking them for help.
My breathing hitched. I grabbed the edge of the table with both hands.
The suppressant inside me strained. Cracked.
Jack crouched beside me. “Lainey. Look at me.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“You’re not.”
“Shut up. What the f**k would you know?”
Another pulse hit. Stronger. I gasped. The table rattled. Chairs shifted. Wolves reacted instantly, instincts snapping to attention.
Whispers rose everywhere.
“Is she shifting?”
“She can't be.”
“What is she?”
Tyler stood halfway, unsure if he should help or run. Addy put a shaking hand on my back, unsure if touching me would get her electrocuted.
Beau watched me closely. “Your wolf knows something. She is responding to us.”
“Maybe she hates you,” I snarled. Letting my wolf finally get her own way. But completely unintentionally. I was trying to control my emotions when things started changing and I knew she was the one doing it. There was only one way to stop her.
Jack frowned. “Wolves don't react like this unless there is a bond.”
“A what now?”
“A connection.”
“No,” I said. “No. Absolutely not.”
But my wolf pushed again.
My pulse pounded. Sweat prickled along my spine. The cafeteria air tasted too hot.
Jack reached toward me again and my wolf slammed so hard I nearly doubled over.
Beau knelt on my other side. “Lainey. You have to breathe.”
“I am breathing idiot.” I growled.
“You have to breathe slower.”
“I am going to breathe you out a window,” I snapped.
Then the world tilted.
The suppressant inside me gave a final, thin, high pitched crack.
Jack whispered, “It’s breaking.”
Beau exhaled sharply. “Move back.”
“I’m not leaving her.” Jack said.
“You don't have a choice.”
They argued, but I could barely hear them. My wolf was climbing my spine, claws scraping for escape. The air hummed violently. Wolves around us staggered as if pushed by an invisible force.
Addy grabbed Walker’s arm. “Something is happening.”
Walker nodded. “It feels like a shift but not a shift.”
Axel whispered, “It feels like an Alpha.”
My heart stopped. A sharp burst of heat ripped up my throat. My vision flashed white.
And then it happened. Everything went silent.
My irises shifted.
Not gold. Not blue. Not amber.
Silver.
A blinding, molten silver that lit up the cafeteria like a flare.
Gasps erupted everywhere.
A few wolves dropped to their knees. Others grabbed tables for support. One girl yelped and curled into a ball. Humans stared wide eyed, frozen in pure instinct.
Every wolf felt it. Alpha power. Pure and raw.
From me.
The room reeled. My vision flickered. The silver faded after only a second.
One second was enough. Whispers erupted instantly.
“Alpha.”
“No. Impossible.”
“She is human.”
“She is not human.”
“What is she?”
Jack stood slowly. He looked shaken for the first time since I met him. Beau stared like he had just seen the moon fall out of the sky.
“Lainey,” Jack said quietly. “You need to tell us what you're.”
I opened my mouth. I didn't get the chance.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every light in the cafeteria shattered. Glass exploded downward. Screams rose. Wolves shielded the humans on instinct.
A cold wind tore through the room. A howl echoed outside.
Deep. Violent. Hunting.
Every wolf in the cafeteria growled in response.
I stood so fast my chair skidded backward. My pulse thundered. My wolf roared.
Someone outside was calling to her. Someone old. Someone powerful.
Jack grabbed my arm. “Lainey, don't move.”
Beau stepped in front of me. “Stay close.”
The windows shattered inward. A black shadow flashed past the glass. The howl came again.
This time aimed directly at me.
The suppressant inside me cracked fully. My scent broke free. Silver light sparked in my vision.
My wolf whispered one word.
Run.
And the entire cafeteria turned toward me with the same expression.
Fear. Recognition.
And a single terrifying certainty.
They all knew I was not supposed to exist.
- Writer
