The Alpha's Hardest Game

CHAPTER 6: The Mind Games

​With a burst of speed that was nothing but a blurry streak to the human eye, Jake crossed the cobblestone courtyard. The gravel crunched violently beneath his heavy sneakers, and before Avery could even process the sudden spike of suffocating heat, Jake’s large hand shot out like a hydraulic piston. He caught Cole by the collar of his pristine white t-shirt, lifting the rival Alpha clean out of his iron chair.

​The sheer momentum of the attack carried them both backward. Cole’s heavy iron seat flipped over, clattering against the pavement as Avery’s textbooks, notes, and iced coffee crashed to the ground, the liquid staining the white pages.

​SLAM.

​The thick, rough bark of the ancient oak tree shuddered as Jake rammed Cole against it, pinning him there with brutal force. A terrifying, animalistic growl tore from deep within Jake’s bared chest, his shoulder muscles flexing aggressively. His green eyes were completely gone, replaced by two glowing pools of feral emerald fire. His fangs were pressing so hard against his gums that a drop of thick Lycan blood coated his lower lip.

​"I told you to stay away from her, Cole!" Jake roared, the sound vibrating through the open courtyard like a thunderclap. His fingers tightened around Cole’s throat, completely crushing the fabric of his shirt. "I will tear you apart! I will f*****g kill you!"

​The surrounding courtyard fell into a dead, terrified silence. Dozens of human students froze in absolute horror, their coffee cups stopping halfway to their mouths as they witnessed the raw, monstrous violence unfolding before them.

​Cole’s back was pinned hard against the rough bark, his breathing restricted by Jake's vice-like grip. But instead of fighting back—instead of channeling his own Alpha strength and shifting to tear Jake’s throat out—Cole’s blue eyes flickered with a sudden, brilliant flash of malice. He was a brilliant strategist. He knew exactly where they were, and he knew how many human eyes were watching. He didn't need claws to win this round; he just needed to let Jake destroy himself.

​Cole deliberately let his arms hang limp at his sides, refusing to raise his fists, projecting the perfect illusion of an innocent, helpless victim. He didn't even look at Jake. Instead, he turned his amber-swirling gaze toward Avery, who was standing pale and trembling a few feet away.

​"You see that, Avery?" Cole choked out, his voice raspy but deliberately loud enough to carry across the crowded courtyard. He coughed, wincing in mock agony as he stared at her. "I told you... he's a monster. A rabid animal. If you ever need... real protection from him and his psycho family... you know where to find me."

​"Shut up! Shut your mouth!" Jake bellowed, his fist pulling back, veins bulging along his neck as his inner wolf completely took the reins. He was seconds away from fracturing Cole’s skull in broad daylight.

​"Jake, stop it! Let go of him!"

​Avery’s voice pierced through the crimson fog of his rage. Before Jake could throw the punch, Avery threw herself forward. She grabbed Jake’s bare, burning bicep, pushing her small frame directly between the two towering Alphas. She didn't use her Lycan strength, but she shoved him with every ounce of human weight she could muster, her blue eyes flashing with a mix of genuine panic and calculated fury.

​"Are you insane?!" she screamed, her voice echoing off the library walls. "Get off him, Jake! Right now! Look around you!"

​Jake blinked, her touch sending a desperate, cooling shock wave through his overheated veins. His glowing emerald eyes flickered, slowly fading back to their natural green as the frantic whispering of the crowd finally registered in his ears. He looked around. Dozens of human students had their smartphones pulled out, their lenses pointed directly at him, recording every single second of the varsity basketball star's unprovoked attack.

​Slowly, deliberately, Jake uncurled his fingers, releasing Cole’s collar.

​Cole slid down the trunk of the tree, his knees buckling slightly before he caught his balance. He coughed again, smoothing down his ruined white t-shirt, though his eyes never lost that dark, victorious gleam. He looked at Avery, offering her a soft, vulnerable smile that made him look like a wounded prince.

​"Thank you, Avery," Cole murmured softly, his voice dripping with gentle gratitude. "I'm sorry you had to see this side of him. Stay safe."

​With one last, lingering look that practically pinned a target on her chest, Cole turned on his heel. He walked away across the courtyard, his posture slightly slouched to maintain the victim act for the whispering crowd, leaving Jake standing under the oak tree looking like a dangerous thug.

​"Avery, listen to me," Jake began turning toward her, his breathing still ragged, his hands shaking with residual adrenaline. He stepped toward her, his green eyes pleading. "You don't understand what he is. He was doing that on purpose. He’s trying to use you to get to me—"

​"No, Jake! You don't understand!" Avery yelled, snapping at him as she bent down to frantically gather her ruined, coffee-stained notebooks from the pavement. Her hands were trembling, but it wasn't from fear of him—it was from the suffocating weight of the two-month deadline ticking away in her head. She needed him to back off. She needed to push him away before the mate bond made her completely untrustworthy.

​"He was just talking to me!" she lied, her voice cracking with forced human tears as she stuffed the wet papers into her backpack. "He was being nice! He was apologizing for the hallway, and you... you came out of nowhere like a maniac! You almost killed him, Jake!"

​"He’s a liar, Avery! He’s dangerous!" Jake shouted, stepping closer, his wolf howling in agony at the defensive wall she was putting up between them. He reached out to touch her shoulder, desperate to comfort her, but she violently slapped his hand away.

​"Don't touch me!" she hissed, her deep blue eyes glaring into his with a coldness that sliced straight through his heart. "You told me you didn't do drama. You promised me it wouldn't happen again. Look at this! You're out of control."

​Jake froze, his jaw dropping slightly. The rejection from his fated mate felt like a physical blade twisting in his chest. His inner wolf whimpered, curling into a ball of pure misery inside his soul. "I... I was losing my mind because you weren't there," he confessed, his voice dropping into a raw, broken whisper. "I needed to see you."

​"Well, you see me now," Avery said coldly, zipping her backpack with a sharp snap and slinging it over her shoulder. She stood tall, her posture rigid as she stared into his broken emerald eyes, forcing herself to ignore the agonizing ache of the mate bond screaming at her to comfort him. "Our tutoring agreement is suspended, Jake. I can't be around someone who behaves like a rabid animal. Stay away from me."

​Without waiting for his response, Avery turned around and marched away, her heart shattering into a million pieces with every step she took. She didn't look back at him. She couldn't. If she looked back and saw the devastating pain on his face, she would fall to her knees and confess everything.

​Jake stood entirely alone in the center of the courtyard, the whispers of the human students buzzing around him like a swarm of hornets. He looked down at his empty, shaking hands. He had wanted to protect her, but instead, he had driven her straight into the enemy's narrative.

​Twenty minutes later, the sleek, black sports car roared down the winding roads leading away from the university campus, heading toward the neutral territory lines of the city's northern district.

​Cole sat behind the steering wheel, his left hand gripping the leather effortlessly while his right hand adjusted his Bluetooth earpiece. The bruised collar of his shirt was still stretched, but the vulnerable, victimized expression he had worn in the courtyard was entirely gone. A dark, predatory smirk played across his lips.

​The line clicked, and a deep, heavily distorted voice filled the cabin of the car. “Report, Cole. Did you provoke the Crescent Prince?”

​"Better than that, Father," Cole purred, his blue eyes flashing a wicked shade of amber as he looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "I didn't even have to lift a finger. I sat at a table with his little human girlfriend, and the i***t lost his mind. He attacked me in broad daylight, right in front of half the campus. By tomorrow morning, the athletic board will have a dozen videos of their star player acting like a violent thug. His basketball career is practically over."

​A cold, gravelly chuckle came through the speaker. “Excellent. If the boy is disgraced publicly, Alpha Magnus will have no choice but to force the Ascension early. A distracted, angry pack is an easy target. But what of the girl? Is she a liability?”

​Cole’s smirk softened for a fraction of a second, his mind instantly flashing back to the way Avery had stood between them, her deep blue eyes burning with a fierce, independent fire that no human should possess. His chest tightened with a strange, possessive thrill.

​"No," Cole replied, his voice dropping into a darker, entirely serious register. "She's not a liability. She's a prize. There's something about her, Father. She thinks she's a human, but her aura... it calls to my wolf. She has a spine of solid iron."

​“Do not get distracted by a human pet, Cole. Our goal is the Crescent territory.”

​"She's not a pet," Cole murmured, his grip tightening on the steering wheel as a dark, obsessive determination filled his soul. "Jake thinks he can hide her, but he’s already losing her. She hates him now. She thinks he's a monster, and she thinks I'm the one who needs protection."

​Cole slowed the car down as he reached a red light, pulling out his smartphone. He pulled up the video file a neutral wolf had recorded of the fight—specifically the moment Avery had stepped in front of Jake, defending Cole. He stared at her beautiful, fierce face on the screen, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his lips.

​"He doesn't deserve her," Cole whispered into the empty car as he disconnected the call. "Two months until his ascension... and by the time that full moon rises, I'm going to take his pack, his crown... and his girl."