Sara’s POV
When we get to the party, it’s well underway.
There’s a huge bonfire around which about twenty kids are sitting. More are milling around the huge clearing, most with drinks in their hands. There’s music. I can’t see where it’s coming from.
Kai heads directly to the drinks, and I go with him. We haven’t been here five seconds yet and I can already feel tens of eyes on us.
When Kai gets to the keg, he is welcomed by a girl who smiles warmly at him and passes him a beer cup. He takes it, and her smile brightens…only to drop two seconds later when he turns and hands it to me.
The girl pins me with a glare. I ignore it and take a sip of the beer.
Her glare turns into an outright scowl when after getting another drink, Kai turns to me, takes my hand, and leads me away.
I pull my hand from his grip.
He looks down at me. “Shy?”
If that’s what it takes to get through this party without risking death by glaring, then yes. I’m super shy.
“Who was that girl with Christian?” I’ve been dying to ask the question since we left the dorm. I do my best to sound casual, as if I couldn’t care less who she is.
“They fuck, that’s all I know.”
If that wasn’t so obvious, I wouldn’t be asking who she is, would I? I keep that to myself.
Before I can pry further into Christian’s sex life, a familiar girl steps into our path. I recognise her right away. Her name is Viola, and she is the one who once doused me with juice in the school cafeteria.
“Hey baby,” she says, giving Kai a coy smile. And then she notices me. Her smile drops. “What is she doing here?”
I’m about to remove myself from the scene when Kai wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. I’m too busy gaping at him to see her reaction. “She is with me.”
“What?”
“Get me a drink, will you?” he tells her, and then steers me away from her. “We’ll be at the fire.”
He doesn’t wait for her response. I want badly to look back and see her reaction, so I do. She is staring after us, her mouth agape. And then she turns around and heads for the keg. She really is going to get him a drink.
When we get to the fire, some kids make space for us on a log and we sit down. Kai gets into a conversation with a few others. They leave me out of it, which is fine with me. I’m content to just sit here and enjoy my drink and the fire.
A few minutes later, Viola gets back with two beer cups. She passes one to Kai. Then, to my ultimate confusion, holds out the other one to me.
I stare at the cup, and then at her.
She tilts her head to the side. “Are you gonna take it or not?”
“I didn’t ask for one,” I tell her.
Kai takes the cup and passes it to me. “Just take it.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Do you want to remain an outsider forever?”
An outsider? What is this, a welcome ritual into their inner circle? Because if it is, I would rather remain an outsider.
He pours the cup’s content into the cup in my hand and passes the empty one back to Viola. She leaves with a grumble.
“I’m not drinking this,” I tell him.
“Why not?”
“Who knows what she has put in it?”
“Want to exchange?” he asks, holding out his cup.
I consider it for a moment and then accept his offer. Better safe than sorry.
“You can relax,” he tells me. “You are with me, no one will try anything funny.”
I want to argue that it actually works the other wayme being with him is the reason someone would try something funny. My phone rings, so I keep the thought to myself.
I frown when I see the caller ID. It’s a call from Melanie, one of my friends back home. Or at least she used to be. I haven’t seen her since two years ago. Her family is very well-off and spends a lot of time away from the pack. They left the community two years ago to travel, and I’ve not seen Melanie since then.
I get to my feet and move away from the fire. When I’m far enough from most of the noise, I receive the call. “Hello.”
“Sara! Hi! It’s been so long.”
“Yeah, hi,” I reply. While we’ve kept in touch during her absence, it’s mostly been through texting, not phone calls.
“Our family just got back,” she tells me. “I heard what happened.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry. I never trusted that asshole.”
I didn’t expect that. If she heard about what happened, then she must have heard the version that Victor and Laura spread. That I’m a scheming bitch who couldn’t take rejection. I don’t think there is anyone in Blood Moon who didn’t buy that story.
But I distinctly remember that Melanie has never been a fan of Victor. Something to do with him bullying her in elementary school.
“I’m so mad he got to be Alpha King. If I could, I would challenge him,” she says. She sighs heavily, as if bemoaning the fact that she has no chance of ever taking Victor’s throne from him. “How is the Academy?”
“Everything you’ve heard and more,” I tell her.
“I’m so sorry,” she says again. Then her voice lowers. “Listen, Sara…can you escape?”
“What?”
“The Jamesons invited us to dinner tonight. You remember my brother was friends with Victor, right?”
“Yeah.” She hated that.
“So they got to catching up on the balcony. Long story short, I overheard Victor telling my brother what he planned to do to teach you a lesson.”
“What did he say?”
“He is planning to have you attacked at school. He was so mad, talking about how you humiliated him at the Academy. You are not safe there, Sara.”
“I know,” I whisper. After what happened, I doubt Victor is going to spare me this time around. As long as I’m in North Academy, I’m like a sitting duck. He has enough influence to get anyone to carry out his revenge plan.
I know by now that even if I make it through my sentence here in one piece, I cannot go back to Blood Moon. It’s either I stay here and resign to my fate, or escape. In here or out there, he is going to hunt me down anyway. If I stay here, I’m an easy target. I’m going to end up rogue anyway. It doesn’t matter whether I violate my sentence or not.
“But even if I wanted to escape, I don’t think I could,” I tell her. If the punishers don’t get me, the rogues will.
“You have to look for a way. There must be a way. If you can get out, I have a friend I can connect you with. He’ll help you get as far away from Blood Moon as possible.”
“I’ll try,” I tell her. It’s the best I can do, because I have no idea how I would be able to pull it off. “Thanks for telling me about this.”
“Take care. If I find out more about his plan, I’ll contact you.”
“Thank you, Mel.”
When I turn around to rejoin the party a few minutes later, I find Kai leaning against a nearby tree, watching me.
“I thought you had run off on me,” he says as I walk towards him. When I get close enough, he reaches for my hand. “Let’s dance.”
My first instinct is to say no. But then I think, what will I do instead? Sit around and mope about poor old me? I came to this party hoping to have fun. I might as well have some.
When I place my hand in his, surprise fills his face. I suppose he wasn’t expecting me to agree so quickly. Makes two of us.
His surprised expression morphs into a smile as he walks backwards towards the gathering and brings me with him.
He is so breathtaking when he smiles. If he wasn’t such a player, I wouldn’t be trying so hard to ignore the sudden rapid beating of my heart.
I gasp when he stops and tugs me forward so that my body crashes into his. He wraps his arms around my waist, keeping me from pulling away. Before I can ask for some personal space, he bends his head low and whispers, “You are so beautiful.”
If this was before, I would have scoffed and told him to go try his charms elsewhere. But I can’t so easily brush off his advances nownot at this proximity, at least. This close, the bond between us comes to life with a frightening intensity.
And, of course, Edna chooses this moment to remind me that since he found out he has a bond with me, he hasn’t been acting like much of a player.
I swallow hard. No. I cannot possibly be considering Kai as the one I choose.
His promiscuous habits aside, he was a total asshole when we first met. He facilitated my bullying and enjoyed every moment of it.
That should say more about his personality than the fact that he likes messing around with multiple girls. Which is why I haven’t the faintest idea why he has been acting like a gentleman lately.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
His question draws me from my train of thought. I shake my head and give him an indulgent smile.
“I’m a better option compared to Levi, I promise,” he says. As if he can tell what I was thinking about. “I was an asshole when we first met, true, but I swear I can do better by you.”
Did I think aloud or something? Or is he also aware that his past behaviour could ruin his chances?
“Last I checked, you thought I was beneath you,” I remind him.
“I’ve never met a she-wolf who talked back to me. It threw me off.”
What an excuse.
“You are the Alpha of one of the strongest packs around. Why would you want an Omega like me as a mate?”
“Do you think the Goddess makes mistakes?”
“What?”
“She chose you for me. Who am I to question it?”
I never would have pegged Kai for the religious type. Most high-born werewolves could care less what the Goddess wanted when they find themselves fated to weaker mates.
For some, just rejecting them isn’t enough. They go as far as killingas if it is a grievous insult to their existence that they could be connected to an Omega in any way. Like Christian intended to do when he found out we have a bond.
“So, what do you say we give it a try?” he suggests, his hand rubbing up and down my back. “See if we are truly compatible.”
His hand lowers to the small of my back. He applies pressure, pressing me closer to him. That’s when I feel the unmistakable bulge of his erection against my stomach.