Their Obsession, My Karma.

Chapter five~ I hate you sometimes.

Nyx:

Currently I am on my bed, scrolling through the school group chat— Obviously I have become more popular over night. A notification popped up— making me to scramble up, sitting straight now.

It was from Lia, I shouldn't open it. I didn't have to I reminded myself.

Told myself that this was the f*****g b***h who stabbed you in the back, but as foolish as I was I opened it with trembling hands.

Lia: Am sorry, but Axel deserved better— the rumours they were too much for him.

I read. Re- read again, eyes squinting and widening like the words would magically disappear soon if I don't read it faster. Deserved better.

Asshole.

I am the one who felt like an outcast in my own pack, I was the one cheated on not him, I was the one rumoured about not him. I tossed my phone on the mattress— frustration bubbling in me as I dramatically rubbed my face.

I need something— something before I lose my sanity, so I jumped out of bed padding along the hallways with my phone in hand, screen light still illuminating part of my body.Got you, princess

I don’t remember deciding to leave the house.

One second I was standing in the hallway, phone clenched in my hand, Lia’s words burning behind my eyes, and the next I was pulling on my hoodie and slipping my feet into shoes without socks. The floor was cold. Or maybe that was just me.

I needed air.

I needed distance.

I needed something that wasn’t betrayal sitting heavy in my chest.

The front door creaked softly as I eased it open, careful not to wake my mother. The night swallowed me whole the moment I stepped outside. The moon hung low and swollen in the sky, pale and watchful, like it knew exactly how close I was to breaking.

I walked without direction at first, letting my feet carry me past the edge of the property and toward the trees that marked the border of our land. The forest had always called to me, even before I understood why. Even before the whispers about my delayed wolf started.

Especially tonight.

The air shifted the deeper I went—cooler, heavier, charged. My steps slowed instinctively. My heart began to pound, not from fear, but from recognition. Something was out there.

Someone.

A low sound cut through the quiet.

Not a growl.

Not a warning.

A presence.

I stopped.

The clearing ahead was bathed in moonlight, silver spilling across the grass like liquid. And there—standing at the edge of the trees—was a massive wolf, dark as shadow, eyes glowing with an icy, unsettling calm.

Kael.

Even in wolf form, I knew it was him.

He stood perfectly still, head lifted, ears alert, body powerful and composed. No aggression. No curiosity. Just… awareness. Like he’d known I would come before I did.

My breath caught.

I should have turned back.

I didn’t.

“You’re not supposed to be out here,” I whispered, my voice trembling despite myself.

The wolf’s gaze shifted to me fully then, sharp and piercing. He didn’t move closer. Didn’t bare his teeth. He simply watched, as distant and unreadable as he was in human form.

Cold.

Always cold.

“I won’t tell,” I added, swallowing hard. “I just needed—” I cut myself off with a bitter laugh. “Never mind.”

The wolf took one step forward.

That was enough to make my pulse spike.

But instead of fear, something else curled in my chest. A strange pull. Like the forest itself was holding its breath.

“You don’t care,” I said quietly, more accusation than statement. “Do you?”

Kael’s wolf form tilted its head slightly. A gesture so subtle it felt deliberate. Calculated.

Judging.

“Everyone keeps choosing sides,” I continued, words spilling out now, unchecked. “Lia chose Axel. The pack chose rumors. My mother chose a family that feels like a cage.” My hands clenched at my sides. “I don’t even have a wolf yet. I don’t have anything.”

The wolf didn’t move.

Didn’t comfort.

Didn’t leave.

And somehow, that hurt more than anything else.

Then, slowly, Kael sat.

Regal. Controlled. His tail wrapped neatly around his body, eyes never leaving mine. It wasn’t sympathy he offered. It wasn’t reassurance.

It was acknowledgment.

You exist, his silence said. I see you. Nothing more.

And that—strangely—was enough to steady me.

“I hate you sometimes,” I muttered.

A soft huff left his chest. Not a growl. Not a laugh.

Just breath.

The moment stretched until the cold finally crept into my bones. I took a step back, then another.

“Goodnight, Kael.”

He didn’t follow when I turned away.

But I felt his gaze on my back all the way home.

School the next morning felt like walking into a cage made of eyes.

Every whisper followed me. Every stare lingered a second too long. Popularity, I realized, was just isolation dressed up as attention. My phone buzzed nonstop in my pocket—group chats lighting up, fake concern wrapped in curiosity. I ignored all of it.

Until I saw her.

Lia stood by the lockers, laughing too loudly, flipping her hair like nothing in the world had changed. Like she hadn’t carved something vital out of me and called it loyalty. Something hot and uncontrollable rose in my chest.

I walked straight toward her.

The hallway noise dulled as I approached, conversations tapering off. People noticed. They always do when something ugly is about to happen.

“Nyx,” Lia said when she finally saw me, her smile faltering. “I was going to talk to you—”

“When?” I cut in. “After you decided I wasn’t worth defending?”

Her friends shifted, backing away slightly, already sensing the fallout.

“Lower your voice,” she hissed. “You’re causing a scene.”

I laughed—short, sharp, humorless. “Funny. You didn’t mind causing one with my name.”

“That’s not what I did,” she snapped. “Axel was falling apart. The rumors were destroying him.”

“And what about me?” My voice shook now, but I didn’t stop. “I was the one cheated on. I was the one everyone blamed. But you chose him.”

She folded her arms, defensive. “You don’t understand what he was going through.”

Something inside me cracked.

“No,” I said quietly. “I understand exactly what you did.”

The hallway had gone silent. Phones were out now. Eyes were wide.

“I trusted you,” I continued, stepping closer. “And you stabbed me in the back, then had the nerve to message me like I was the problem.”

Her eyes flickered. “I said I was sorry.”

“You said he deserved better,” I snapped. “Like I was disposable.”

Her jaw tightened. “You’re being dramatic.”

That was it.

The word hit harder than any rumor.

Before I could think—before I could stop myself—my hand moved.

The sound echoed.

A sharp, hollow crack as my palm connected with her cheek.

Lia gasped, stumbling back, hand flying to her face. The hallway erupted in shocked noise.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she screamed.

My chest heaved. My hand burned. But I didn’t regret it.

“Don’t ever,” I said, voice shaking but fierce, “tell me who deserves what again.”

Teachers were shouting now, rushing toward us. Someone grabbed my arm. Someone else was already yelling about detention, suspension, consequences.

Lia stared at me like she didn’t recognize me anymore.

Good.

As I was pulled away, heart pounding, one thought settled deep and solid in my chest—

I was done swallowing everything.

And if this was the version of me the world was afraid of?

Then maybe it should be.