THE LYCAN PRINCE OF WESTSIDE EDEN

Chapter 10: Town Gossips

Isabella POV

"You're staring," a voice said behind me. "It's kind of creepy, actually."

I spun around so fast I nearly dropped my schedule. A girl with wild curly hair and an even wilder grin was watching me like I was the most entertaining thing to happen to this hallway all year.

"I wasn't staring," I said. "I was surviving."

"Same thing, honestly." She grabbed both my hands like she needed to check I was real. "Oh my God. You're actually here. I was starting to think I made you up."

"You've never even met me."

"We've texted for three weeks. That counts." She looped her arm through mine like we'd known each other for years, not minutes. "I'm Sheila, by the way. In case you forgot the name of the only person in this school who actually likes you already."

"Bold of you to assume anyone dislikes me."

"Give it an hour." She steered me down the hallway, completely unbothered by the fact that every single head turned as we passed. I kept my chin up and my face blank, the way you learn to when you've been the new kid enough times. "New people basically never happen here. You're the most exciting thing since the Founder's Day fire."

That stopped me. "There was a fire?"

"Don't ask. Long story. Weirdly specific animal involvement." She waved it off like it was nothing, which did absolutely nothing to calm the part of my brain that had been hearing wolves howl outside my window for a week straight.

We made it to homeroom, where Sheila gave me a crash course in Westside Eden's entire social order, whispered under the cover of copying down the syllabus.

"Okay, so, quick rule of survival," she said. "Basically everyone here works for, or is scared of, the Kingston family. You've met Marv, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He's dating my dad's ex."

"That's Marv's dad, technically. It's complicated." She waved that off too, apparently her signature move. "Point is, the whole town kind of tiptoes around that family. My mom says it's old money. I think it's old something, but nobody's ever explained what."

"Very reassuring."

"You'll figure it out." She said it exactly the way Aiden always did, like there was an entire conversation happening that I hadn't been invited to.

I let it go, mostly because the bell rang and I had somewhere to be. It wasn't until third period, sitting near the back while everyone filed in, that I actually heard something worth holding onto.

Two girls near the window, heads bent together, whispering in that specific way that means you're not supposed to be listening and they know it.

"...my mom said the King hasn't been seen in weeks. Not even at temple."

"That bad?"

"That's what I heard. And with the new pack showing up right when…"

The second girl elbowed her so hard she yelped, and both of them snapped upright the second the teacher walked in. I sat very still, staring at a blank page, my heart doing something uncomfortable in my chest.

The King. Not "Mr. Kingston." Not "Aiden's dad." The King... said the way you'd talk about someone dangerous, or someone you were afraid might be listening.

I told myself it was nothing. Some inside joke I wasn't in on yet.

I almost believed that too, right up until lunch, when I walked into the cafeteria and saw them.

The team from the party. The same guys Aiden had thrown out over some guy getting too close to me. They were sitting at a table like they'd always belonged there, laughing at something like it was any normal Tuesday.

One of them looked up. Nose ring, tattoos climbing one arm, the same unsettling stillness under his easy grin. He lifted two fingers off the table... half a wave, half a warning.

I didn't wave back.

"You okay?" Sheila asked, following my line of sight. "You've gone all pale and murder-y."

"Aren't those guys from a different school?"

"Oh, they transferred. Like, right before the season started." She shrugged, unbothered. "Kind of random, honestly. More cute guys, not complaining."

"They transferred here," I repeated. "To this exact town."

"That's what I said." She squinted at my face. "Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?"

I didn't have an answer that wouldn't make me sound completely insane.

Because it wasn't just that they'd shown up the same week I had.

It was what the boy with the nose ring did next... he leaned over to the guy next to him, said something too quiet to hear, and both of them turned to look straight at me.

And smiled like they already knew something I didn't.