Claimed by the Quarter Back Alpha

CHAPTER 12 : A Win,Win

My skin still prickled where Dave’s hand had brushed mine at breakfast.

I kept rubbing my palm against my cheer skirt like I could erase the memory, but every time I blinked I saw him.

I hated how much I secretly admired him. The courtyard buzzed with seniors sprawled on benches, Ruby guys tossing a ball, the cheer squad gossiping in their usual corner. I ignored them all.

My eyes locked on Dave the second he appeared towering as his jersey stretched tight across a chest that screamed alpha. He was leaning against the brick wall near the vending machines, arms crossed looking bored as hell while some freshman tried to talk to him.

My heart was hammering as I marched straight up and planted myself in front of him, blocking his view.

“Dave,” I snapped, my voice low but sharp enough to cut. “We need to talk.”

One dark eyebrow lifted. He just gave me that signature nonchalant stare, the same one he used on the field right before he threw a perfect spiral that left everyone else eating grass.

“Do we, cheerleader? Last I checked, you bolted from breakfast like I had the plague.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. Damn him for noticing.

“That wasn’t...... never mind. Listen, Jason publicly trashed me in front of the entire school two weeks ago. He moved on in like two days, parading with Veronica like I was nothing. I want him to regret it and I need your help " He smirked as his jaw tightened.

“And how's that my problem ...?” I stepped closer enough that the faint scent of his cologne, something expensive and woodsy that screamed money and wolf wrapped around me.

I hated how it made my stomach flip.

“Because you hate him too. Don’t play dumb, quarterback. Jason betrayed your pack for the Whitmire SC. Handed over secrets, switched sides, left your whole crew exposed and I'm sure You want payback as badly as I do.”

For the first time, real interest sparked in those icy eyes. He uncrossed his arms, pushing off the wall so he towered over me properly.

The shift in height forced me to tilt my head back as the move felt way too intimate for enemies. His gaze dropped to my lips for half, long enough.

“Fake dating,” I blurted before I could chicken out. “We pretend we’re together publicly so it would look real enough that Jason chokes on it every time he sees us. You get to watch your traitor ex-teammate squirm, and I get the satisfaction of him realizing I didn’t fall apart. Win-win.”

Dave stared at me for a long, The courtyard noise faded. All I could hear was the thud of my own heart and the low, steady rhythm of his breathing.

His fingers flexed at his sides like he was fighting the urge to reach out. That same faint pull from breakfast hummed under my skin again, faint but insistent, like a warning.

“Pretend to date you?” He let out a short, humorless laugh, the sound rough and low.

“You really think I’d waste my time playing house with a human who can’t even stand me?” My chin lifted defiantly.

“You’re the one who suggested revenge at breakfast, remember? This is bigger than just us hating each other. Jason screwed us both. At least help me get back at him for betraying your pack for the Whitmire SC. Or are you scared pretending with me might actually feel real?”

The words hung between us. Dave’s eyes darkened, his pupils blowing wide as the alpha in him rose close to the surface. He stepped in until only inches separated us. The air crackled.

One of his fingers brushed the back of my hand accidental, maybe not.

I jerked back,

He recovered fast, shoving both hands in his pockets like the touch hadn’t affected him at all.

“Fine,” he said, his voice still annoyingly casual, though the edge was sharper now.

“We do this my way. No half assed performances. My arm around you in the halls, the whole damn show but the second Jason’s suffering is over, we’re done and if you start catching feelings, cheerleader...”

He leaned down, his breath warm against my ear, sending shivers I refused to acknowledge.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” My breath caught. I could feel the barely leashed power of an alpha who could break hearts without trying. My traitorous body leaned in for half a heartbeat before I caught myself.

“Deal,” I whispered, forcing steel into my voice. “But same goes for you, quarterback. Don’t get attached when we’re just pretending.”

Our eyes locked as Dave’s hand hovered near mine for one dangerous second, almost closing the gap between us.

“See you at lunch, fake girlfriend.” He walked away first, leaving me standing as my mind imagined several scenarios.

But for the first time since Jason’s betrayal, I felt something other than hurt.

I felt alive.