His Online Mate

Chapter One: The Punch "Rule number one of surviving Moonlight Academy: Never look a Beta in the eye. Rule number two: Never hit one." Jess POV Being Beta wasn’t just a title; it was a leash. I stood near the shadow of the massive stone archway in Moonlight Academy’s central courtyard, my arms crossed tightly over my chest, watching the sea of werewolf students part around me like water around jagged rock. My wolf paced behind my ribs—restless, sharp-edged, and itching for a fight. Ever since the Alpha King had gone and mated a human, the High Council had decreed that our prestigious werewolf academy had to run a "human integration trial." Translation? A bunch of fragile, non-supernatural kids were being thrown into a den of apex predators so our elders could look progressive on the news. As Alpha Miller’s right-hand man, my job was simple: enforce order, protect the pack, and make sure any human stupid enough to step onto our grounds understood their place in our hierarchy. "They don't belong here, Jess," Miller grumbled, leaning his shoulder against the carved stone pillar beside me. His golden Alpha eyes swept the crowd with obvious disgust. "Keep them in check. One wrong move from any of them, and I want them packed up and thrown off this campus." "Got it, Alpha," I replied, my voice cool, steady, and unyielding. I took my role seriously. I was raised to be the wall between Miller and chaos. But as I scanned the bustling courtyard, my eyes snagged on something—or rather, someone—who didn't fit the mold. She wasn't walking with the hunched, terrified posture of the other trial humans who were clinging to their campus maps like life preservers. She wore an oversized dark grey hoodie, beaten-up combat boots, and an expression that suggested she’d rather be eating glass than standing on our manicured lawns. She was lost, staring down at the courtyard schedule on her phone with a tight, irritated scowl. Willow. The scholarship kid. The only human who had passed the brutal entrance exam for this semester's trial program. I watched two lower-ranking wolves from our border patrol deliberately shift their trajectory to cut her off. They slammed their heavy shoulders into hers as they passed, trying to spin her around and send her sprawling onto the cobblestones. She didn't fall. She caught her balance on her back heel, spun around, and called out to their retreating backs, "Hey! Watch where you're walking, fur-ball! Some of us don't have secondary senses to navigate around your oversized ego!" My eyes narrowed. The courtyard went dead silent. A few freshmen wolves actually gasped. Great, I thought. A human with a death wish. I stepped forward, cutting through the crowd with deliberate, heavy strides until I loomed directly over her, casting a broad shadow across her path. I was six-foot-two, built like a brick wall from years of pack training, and used to people taking three steps back the second I arrived. "You've got a lot of mouth for someone made of fragile bones and thin skin," I growled, letting just a fraction of my Beta authority bleed into my voice. Most humans folded instantly under that kind of psychic pressure, their knees trembling before their brains even processed why. Willow didn't fold. She slowly tilted her head up. Her hazel eyes locked onto mine—sharp, defiant, completely unbothered, and entirely devoid of fear. Up close, I noticed the faint dusting of freckles across her nose and the stubborn set of her jaw. "And you've got a lot of nerve standing in my way," she retorted, her tone dropping into an icy, smooth register. "Move." A dark, amused grin pulled at the corner of my lips. "Make me." I stepped an inch closer, dropping my chin, using my height to crowd her space and flex my position. I expected her to back down. I expected her to realize she was outmatched and slip past me into the main hall. I did not expect her right fist to fly up from her side and connect square with the side of my jaw. CRACK. The sheer unexpected force of the strike rattled my teeth against each other and snapped my head to the left. The impact echoed across the stone quad like a gunshot. Stunned, suffocating silence fell over the entire courtyard. My jaw throbbed instantly, a sharp bolt of white-hot fire shooting straight through my face. My wolf roared in the back of my mind, practically falling over itself in utter disbelief. A human just hit us. A HUMAN JUST HIT US! By the time I straightened my neck and wiped a bead of blood from the inside of my lip with the back of my hand, the human girl was already tossing her phone into her pocket and pushing her way through the paralyzed crowd of werewolves. She didn't run. She didn't look back once. She just kept walking toward the science building as if she hadn't just committed a cardinal sin at Moonlight Academy. "Jess," Miller muttered, stepping up beside me, his jaw hanging open as he stared at the back of her hoodie. "Did... did she just deck you?" "Shut up, Miller," I grunted, pressing my fingers to my swollen jaw, watching her disappear through the double doors. She was going to be the death of me. I could already feel it.