Chapter 3: Biology and Other Emergencies
1370 Words
Alpha's POV
The bell rang, loud and shrill, cutting through the chatter and clatter of trays as students groaned, grabbed their bags, and scattered toward their next classes. I slung my backpack over one shoulder with practiced ease, my tray already half-cleared, and nudged Beta with my hip.
We weren’t identical — my features were sharper, more intense, while Beta’s were softer, more expressive — but you could tell we were sisters from the way we moved in sync.
“Let’s go, we’ve got Bio,” I said, brushing a crumb off my shirt.
“Ugh, I still haven’t recovered from the frog dissection last week,” Beta groaned dramatically, tucking her pen behind her ear as we joined the flow of students heading out the double doors.
We moved easily together, weaving through the crowd.
~ ~ ~
Jace’s POV
Across the room, I stood and glanced down at my schedule. Biology — Room 207.
I blinked once, then smirked.
Same class.
I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed the crowd at a leisurely pace, naturally falling in step a few groups behind the twins. Neither of them saw me. She hadn’t so much as glanced my way.
I wasn’t used to being overlooked. And for reasons I couldn’t explain, I didn’t mind it.
As we neared the classroom, I saw her glance over her shoulder with a frown. She scratched at the side of her neck again and again, until red marks bloomed on her skin.
~ ~ ~
Alpha’s POV
I rubbed my neck again, trying to shake the weird static feeling crawling under my skin. Beta noticed and swatted my hand away.
“Stop! What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know!” I whispered. “Do you ever feel like the universe accidentally tuned your frequency to ‘awkward static’ and forgot to switch it back?”
Beta raised a brow. “You sure it’s not your Spidey sense kicking in again?”
I groaned. “If so, it’s glitching.”
“Well, if you suddenly start levitating, I’m filming it.”
We stepped into the biology classroom just as the second bell rang and headed for our usual table near the window.
I sat, shook out my shoulders, and stretched my neck. The weird buzz under my skin hadn’t stopped. I could feel something—or someone—just on the edge of awareness.
Then the door opened.
He walked in.
The new guy. Jace.
I didn’t turn, not fully, but I noticed the shift. The door clicked closed, and somehow the classroom felt a little more ... charged. My fingers paused over my pen. Was it curiosity? Yeah. Definitely. Not the dreamy crush kind, just that weird pull when someone walks in and your instincts decide they’re worth noticing.
He scanned the room once before heading straight to the empty table to the left of ours. Close. Too close.
I didn’t look at him directly, but I felt the shift in the air, like the classroom had tilted slightly.
~ ~ ~
Jace’s POV
I stepped into the classroom and spotted the empty table just left of hers. Not planned, but I wasn’t about to pass up the seat. It was close, not too close.
She didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she did and just didn’t care. Either way, it was hard to tell, and that uncertainty settled in my chest like a weight I didn’t know what to do with.
I let my bag fall beside my chair and pulled out my phone, mostly for something to do. I wasn’t trying to be weird—I just didn’t know where to put my attention. Everything here felt foreign except the wolf pacing in my head, and that didn’t exactly help.
I missed Theo. His sarcasm. His bad puns. Even his constant teasing. I just wanted someone familiar.
[Text to Theo]: Can you transfer to Wolfhaven? Seriously. I could use backup. Also ... there's a girl. Weird name — Alpha. Jax is acting weird around her.
Theo [Typing...]: What happened? Everything okay? Is this a “weird” like danger or like ... crush?
Me: Not a crush. Not really. She hasn’t even looked at me. But Jax is ... off. Restless. That never happens.
Theo: That serious, huh? I’ll talk to your dad. And pack a spare hoodie.
I pocketed my phone and exhaled slowly, glancing sideways.
Still nothing.
Interesting.
~ ~ ~
Alpha’s POV
Mr. Rowe, our gangly, perpetually ink-stained biology teacher, was already scribbling on the whiteboard.
“Welcome back, geniuses. I hope you’re all in the mood for something squishy.”
A groan rippled through the class.
Beta leaned in. “If it’s more frog guts, I’m staging a walkout.”
I smirked. “Relax. I think we’re onto anatomy now.”
Mr. Rowe clapped his hands. “You’ll be working in pairs for a two-week lab project. Don’t look so thrilled.”
I exchanged a look with Beta. We’d been partners all year.
He began rattling off names.
“Alpha and Lila.”
Wait—what?
I gave a half-hearted fist pump toward Lila, who grinned from two tables away.
“Beta and Omar.”
“Ugh,” Beta muttered. “He always tries to rhyme his notes. Last time, he turned meiosis into a rap. It started with ‘Yo, yo, chromosomes go!’ and it only got worse from there.”
I stifled a laugh. “You survived. Barely.”
“Barely,” she echoed, deadpan. “This time, if he breaks into beatboxing, I’m jumping out the window.”
Omar lit up like he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment. “Beta, we’re gonna make this cell split shine!”
“And ... Jace Calder,” Mr. Rowe continued. “You’ll partner with ... Quinn.”
~ ~ ~
Jace’s POV
I heard the name but didn’t react. Just nodded and tapped my fingers lightly on the desk.
A boy slid into the seat beside me. “Hey, I’m Quinn. Looks like we’re partners.”
“Cool,” I said.
Quinn started unpacking his notebook. I kept my focus forward but couldn’t help clocking every movement to my right.
Across the room, Beta reluctantly joined Omar, who was already warming up.
“Yo, Beta! You ready to break down the body like it’s biology karaoke?”
“You did not just say that.”
“I absolutely did,” Omar grinned, lifting a pencil like a mic. “From cardio to neuro, gonna make it flow!”
Beta’s eye twitched. “I take back every time I said I was too harsh last semester.”
Alpha and Lila high-fived and pulled out their notebooks. Lila leaned in to whisper something, and Alpha snorted out a laugh.
I was trying to focus, but Lila had this talent for saying the most unhelpful things at the most unhelpful times—like a chaos fairy armed with sarcasm.
I didn’t look. But I heard it.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Jax grumbled. “She hasn’t even looked at us.”
“Exactly,” I replied, lips twitching. “Kind of the point.”
“You’re an Alpha,” Jax growled. “You’re not exactly the ‘blend into the wallpaper’ type.”
“And yet here we are,” I thought dryly.
But Jax wasn’t quiet. He pressed in—not aggressive, just curious. Intrigued.
“There’s something about her,” he finally murmured. “Not wrong. Just ... different.”
I shifted slightly and caught her scratching at her neck again, brows drawn in mild frustration.
Jax gave a low, amused hum. “She’s feeling it ... maybe.”
“Feeling what?” I shot back.
“Something,” he said, less smug now. “Probably us. Or maybe just lunchroom nerves.”
I rolled my eyes. “Could be dry skin.”
“Could be,” he agreed, quieter this time. “But you felt it, too.”
“Feeling what?”
“Us. Me. Fate. Take your pick.”
“She probably just has dry skin.”
“Mm-hmm,” he drawled. “Let’s go with that.”
- Writer
