The Alpha Captain Hates Me

His Ex Returns

I managed to escape Suite 404 before sunrise, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. Ethan hadn't woken up yet, but the memory of his arm wrapped around my waist and that low, sleep-slurred word—*Mine*—haunted every single step

I took toward the academy cafeteria.

It was just his wolf acting on instinct.

Shifters craved physical proximity when they were injured, and I happened to be the closest warm body. It meant nothing. He hated me. I had to keep reminding myself of that.

But reality hit me like a slap to the face the moment I walked into the main courtyard after morning classes.

The courtyard was packed, but the crowd had parted to form a wide circle around the central fountain. Standing in the middle of it was a girl who looked like she had just stepped off a high-fashion magazine cover.

She had cascading blonde curls, piercing blue eyes, and wore a custom silk Astra Academy uniform that practically screamed wealth.

Victoria Sterling. The daughter of a prominent Alpha senator, the head of the campus elite, and Ethan’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend. She had been away on a pack-diplomacy trip for the last two weeks, but she was officially back.

And she was currently holding my worn-out track backpack upside down.

*Clatter.*

My entire life tumbled onto the wet concrete. My battered textbooks, my cheap pens, a few wrinkled notes for my upcoming history exam, and my only spare pair of running shoes splashed straight into the dirty puddle at her feet.

“Oh, look,” Victoria laughed, her voice like peeling silver bells as she kicked my spare shoe further into the puddle. “The traitor’s daughter really does carry her life around in a piece of garbage. Tell me, Lin, did your father teach you how to steal from the academy too, or is that just a natural Beta trait?”

The surrounding students erupted into cruel laughter, whipping out their phones to record.

“Give me my bag, Victoria,”;I said, stepping into the circle. I kept my voice deadpan, refusing to show a single ounce of the humiliation burning in my chest.

“Or what?” Victoria sneered, stepping closer. Her cloying scent was suffocating. “You think because you managed to worm your way onto the Wolfball team by injuring my boyfriend, you’re special? You're a parasite, Maya. You don't belong on the field, and you definitely don't belong in the western tower. I also heard about the dorm flood. Did you honestly think you could sleep in Ethan’s suite and nobody would find out?”

The whispers exploded around us.

“She slept in Vance’s room?”

“What a slut. She’s trying to force a pack bond.”

“Disgusting. Someone needs to put her in her place.”

My hands clenched into tight fists at my sides.

“The Headmaster assigned the room, Victoria. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him. Now get out of my way.”

“I don't think so,” Victoria whispered venomously. She picked up my main history notebook—the one containing three weeks of intensive study notes for the scholarship exam—and held it directly over the fountain’s rushing water. “You need to learn your place, track rat.”

“Victoria. Stop.”

The crowd parted instantly. Ethan walked into the courtyard, his black medical cast resting against his side, his face completely expressionless.

“Ethan, babe!” Victoria immediately changed her tone, dropping her voice into a sweet, whiny pout. She hurried over to him, wrapping her arms around his uninjured left bicep.

“Look at what she’s doing. She’s being completely disrespectful, throwing her trash all over the courtyard and bragging about staying in your room. Tell her she’s nothing.”

I stood there, surrounded by my ruined belongings, looking straight at Ethan. My heart was a cold, heavy stone in my chest. I didn't expect him to defend me—why would he?—but a tiny, stupid part of me remembered the warmth of his room.

Ethan’s storm-gray eyes flicked over the wet textbooks, my muddy shoes, and then finally settled on me. His expression was a wall of absolute stone. Cold, detached, and indifferent.

“Clean up your mess, Lin,” Ethan said smoothly, his voice devoid of any emotion. “You're making the team look sloppy. We have practice in an hour.”

He didn't say a word to Victoria. He didn't tell her to stop. He just stood there and let it happen.

A cruel smirk spread across Victoria’s face. She looked back at me, raised her manicured hand, and casually dropped my history notebook directly into the deep, churning water of the fountain. The ink immediately began to bleed, destroying weeks of my hard work.

“Oops,” Victoria giggled. “Did you not hear Ethan? Clean up your mess.”

Something inside me snapped.

I didn't cry. I didn't yell. I looked at Victoria, then turned to Ethan, letting him see the pure disgust in my eyes.

“You're right, Captain,” I said, my voice echoing clearly over the courtyard. “The team *does* look sloppy. Especially when its leader lacks a spine.”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Ethan’s eyes darkened instantly, but I didn't give him the chance to speak.

I knelt down, calmly gathered my soaking wet books, crammed them into my bag, and walked away without looking back. I was done trying to earn the respect of a team that viewed me as trash. I would play the matches, I would keep my scholarship, and I would treat them like the strangers they were.

By the afternoon, the academy was buzzing with excitement for a different reason: the annual Moon Goddess Homecoming Dance.

Huge banners were being hung across the glass corridors, and everyone was talking about who was going with whom.

I was sitting on the outdoor bleachers by the empty track during free period, trying to dry out my history notes in the sun, when a shadow fell over me.

I looked up, expecting Victoria or another one of Ethan’s goons.

Instead, standing there was a tall, strikingly handsome Alpha with sharp jawlines and warm, amber-brown eyes. He wore the dark crimson blazer of Bloodwood Academy—our fiercest rivals.

“Maya Lin, right?” he asked, a charming, easygoing smile playing on his lips.

“Who's asking?” I replied defensively, narrowing my eyes.

“I'm Christian Black,” he replied, holding out a hand. “The Captain of the Bloodwood Wolfball team. I watched the recording of your obstacle sprint yesterday. Thirteen point two seconds? Absolutely incredible. You outran Vance while wearing a weighted vest.”

“If you're here to scout the competition, you're wasting your time,” I said, turning back to my notes.

“I'm not here to scout,” Christian chuckled, leaning against the bleacher railing. “I'm here because I like a girl who can make Ethan Vance look stupid. I know about the homecoming dance tonight and I know your academy usually bans outsiders unless they are personally invited by a varsity athlete.”

Christian reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek, crimson-and-gold invitation card, placing it gently on top of my ruined notebook.

“Be my date tonight, Maya,” his voice dropped into a smooth, low register. “Let the Bloodwood Captain walk you into that ballroom. Let’s give Astra Academy something real to talk about.”

I stared at the invitation. Going to the dance with the rival Captain would be public defiance. It would infuriate the board, it would humiliate the team, and most importantly, it would be a public slap in the face to Ethan Vance.

I picked up the card, a slow, dangerous smile finally touching my lips. “thanks, I'd love to, Christian.”

Later that evening, I was in the varsity locker room grabbing my bag before heading to the dorms to change.

As I turned the corner near the equipment lockers, a towering figure blocked my path.

I almost jumped but his scent hit me fast.

Ethan was standing there, his dark hair messy, his jaw clenched tightly. He had a crumpled piece of paper in his left hand—the campus gossip newsletter detailing the guest list for the dance.

“You're going to the dance with Christian Black?” Ethan demanded, his voice a low, vibrating growl that echoed ominously in the empty locker room. “He’s our rival, you fool. You're a varsity player for Astra now. You don't invite the enemy into our house.”

“I don't recall asking for your permission, Vance,” I said, trying to push past him.

Ethan stepped sideways, cutting me off, his chest practically trapping me against the lockers.

“Cancel it,” Ethan commanded, his eyes flaring bright in the dim light. His inner wolf was clawing at the surface, his breathing heavy and ragged. “You are not going with him.”

“Who do you think you are to boss me around?”

I challenged, stepping closer until our chests almost touched, while staring right into his furious eyes. “//You don't own me, Captain. You told me I was trash. Well, guess what? This trash is going to the dance with a real Alpha.”

Ethan’s control completely snapped.

*BOOM.*

He brought his uninjured left fist down with terrifying, supernatural strength, smashing it directly into the metal locker right next to my head. The iron buckled and dented violently under his bare knuckles, the deafening echo ringing through the room.