CHAPTER 9: The Beta's First Move
1672 Words
Open this diary only if you’ve ever believed that your greatest enemy was the person standing beside the one you loved.
Sometimes, love isn’t stolen in a single moment. Sometimes, it is quietly pushed away little by little until two hearts that belong together begin believing they were never meant to meet. Today, I learned that not every smile is sincere, not every act of kindness is innocent, and not every rival announces themselves as your enemy.
I have always believed that school was supposed to be simple, you wake up, you attend classes, you struggle through mathematics, you laugh with friends, you survive the day, and then you go home.
Apparently, my life had decided to skip that version of reality, ever since everyone important had walked into Crescent High yesterday, nothing felt ordinary anymore.
Students whispered every time Jack Briggs walked through the corridor. Teachers suddenly became unusually polite whenever Gabriel Sterling appeared.
Rumors spread faster than the morning announcements. Some people claimed Jack and Gabriel were heirs to rival billionaire empires while others whispered they belonged to secret organizations and it is only a scheme of the rich to gain more influence. Nobody knew the real truth, but only I did, or perhaps… I only knew enough to realize how little I actually understood.
As I walked through the school gates, I instinctively reached into my bag and touched my diary. It had become a habit that whenever my heart felt restless, touching that little notebook somehow reminded me that I was still Marionette Miche, just a girl, and a very confused girl, but still… Me.
“I wonder what disaster is waiting for me today,” I muttered quietly to myself before forcing a weak smile. Unfortunately… the universe heard me this time.
Jack was already standing beneath the old maple tree near the courtyard. He looked exactly the same as always, calm, quiet, and handsome enough to make my heart forget its responsibilities, yet now I couldn’t stop seeing the wolf hidden beneath the human everytime I looked at him.
Every time I looked into his blue eyes, I remembered the enormous black wolf standing fearlessly between me and danger.
My cheeks immediately became warm. “Oh no,” I whispered to myself. “Now I have two versions of him to be embarrassed around.”
I quickly looked away like a coward, an absolute coward. If shyness were an Olympic sport, I would have won every gold medal.
Just as I gathered enough courage to walk toward him… Someone reached him first.
Eliza Reels.
She wore her usual graceful smile, carrying several files against her chest. She stopped beside Jack naturally, as though that place had always belonged to her.
“Jack,” Eliza said softly, her voice gentle enough to fool anyone who didn’t know better, “your father has asked us to review the council schedule after classes today. There are also several reports from the northern territories that require your approval.”
Jack accepted the files. “Thank you, Eliza,” he replied quietly. “You’ve been handling too much by yourself lately.”
“It isn’t a burden,” Eliza answered with a warm smile. “Taking care of your responsibilities has always been important to me.”
Something inside my chest tightened, she also understood his world or should I say that she might belong in it. She spoke about wolf councils as casually as I spoke about homework.
I suddenly felt painfully ordinary again. Before I could lose myself in those thoughts, Mina gently nudged my shoulder.
“You’re doing it again,” she whispered at me grabbing my attention. I blinked at first. “What?”
“Comparing yourself to other girls,” she replied, her expression softening. “Marionette, you’re your own worst enemy.” I forced a laugh and replied, “I know.”
“No,” Mina said seriously. “I don’t think you do.”
Gathering every ounce of courage I possessed, I finally began walking toward Jack, every step I took before me felt heavier than the last. I had suddenly rehearsed a simple greeting inside my head.
“Good morning, Jack,” that wasn’t difficult. Normal people greeted each other every day and I could manage that, probably. I had almost reached him, almost and so close. Then Eliza looked up, her eyes met mine for only a brief second.
She smiled politely, too politely to predict
“Marionette,” Eliza said pleasantly, “I’m sorry, but Jack and I are discussing confidential family matters. I’m afraid this isn’t an appropriate time.”
Her words were perfectly respectful, sounded perfectly reasonable. Nobody around us would have actually thought anything was wrong, Yet somehow…They hurt very deeply that I just stopped walking toward him.
“Oh…” I smiled awkwardly toward Eliza. “I wasn’t trying to interrupt.” Jack immediately looked toward me, and his expression changed.
“Marionette,” he began quietly, “that’s not—” Before he could finish, Eliza gently touched his sleeve.
“Jack,” she interrupted with another warm smile, “your father specifically asked us not to be late. You know how important today’s meeting is.”
Jack hesitated again, then, he looked at me, at Eliza and then back at me. “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “We’ll talk later.”
I forced another smile. “It’s okay,” I lied. “It really isn’t,” Jack answered softly. For one hopeful second… I thought he might stay, but instead… he followed Eliza. I just stood there watching them disappear down the hallway together. My chest suddenly felt very empty.
The rest of the morning passed painfully slowly, even my teachers noticed I wasn’t paying attention.
“Miss Miche,” my literature teacher called. I jumped from my seat and answered, “Y-Yes?”
“The answer?” she asks him. I stared blankly at the board confused and afraid. “I…” The classroom suddenly erupted into laughter.
“I don’t know,” I concluded. The teacher sighed and spoke to me directly, “Your thoughts seem very far away today.” But If only she knew, they were probably somewhere between werewolves, billionaire families, impossible destinies, and one incredibly confusing boy.
Lunch wasn’t any better.
Gabriel Sterling confidently walked into the cafeteria carrying two lunch trays. Without asking permission, he sat directly across from me.
“I had a feeling you would forget to eat,” Gabriel said with an easy smile as he gently pushed one tray toward me. “You’ve looked troubled since yesterday.” I blinked in confusion. “You bought lunch for me?”
“I did,” he answered simply back to me. “You really didn’t have to,” I replied back. “I wanted to,” His answer came so naturally that I didn’t know what to say.
He rested his arms on the table and looked at me carefully.
“Marionette,” Gabriel said in a calmer voice, “I know yesterday was overwhelming. But whatever happens between our families… I don’t want you to carry that burden alone.”
I looked at him in surprise. He seemed…sincere. “I appreciate your kindness,” I admitted honestly. “But I don’t want to become the reason two families fight.”
Gabriel’s smile became bittersweet. “The fighting began long before either of us was born.”
“What do you mean?” I ask him. He opened his mouth, then stopped. “I’ll tell you someday,” he muttered quietly. His eyes briefly wandered toward the cafeteria entrance.
Jack had just walked inside. For a brief moment… The two Alpha heirs looked directly at each other. Neither smiled, neither looked away. The atmosphere suddenly became so heavy that conversations throughout the cafeteria gradually died down.
Jack’s gaze slowly shifted toward my table, toward Gabriel, toward the untouched lunch tray sitting in front of me. His expression remained unreadable, then… He quietly turned around and walked away. My heart sank.
“He misunderstood,” I whispered. Gabriel sighed. “Unfortunately…” he startled me. “Unfortunately what?” I asks him.
“In this world,” Gabriel replied sadly, “people often believe what they see before they ask for the truth.” Those words haunted me long after he left.
That evening, I returned home exhausted. I simply locked my bedroom door, sat beside my window and opened my diary. My pen hesitated above the page for a moment, then I finally wrote.
“Dear Diary… today I realized that Eliza doesn’t need to shout at me or insult me to push me away from Jack. All she has to do is remind me that she belongs in his world while I don’t.”
A tear rolled onto the page, as I smiled sadly.
“But today I also made another promise. I won’t run anymore. If becoming worthy of standing beside Jack means discovering who I truly am, learning about the wolf world, and finding the courage I’ve spent years hiding… then that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
I stopped writing, then slowly added one final sentence.
“My biggest enemy isn’t Eliza. It isn’t Gabriel. It isn’t even the Briggs or Sterling families. My greatest enemy is the frightened girl who keeps convincing herself she’s not enough. Tomorrow… I want to take my first step toward changing that.”
I gently closed my diary. Just then, a soft tap echoed against my bedroom window.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
I frowned because my bedroom was on the second floor. Slowly, I pulled the curtains aside, and standing outside on the tree branch... was Jack. His blue eyes met mine from the distance. He raised one finger to his lips.Then whispered through the glass,
“Marionette… don’t make a sound.”
Before I could even react, a cold hand suddenly rested on Jack’s shoulder from behind, revealing one thing, he wasn’t alone this time.
- Writer
