SERAPHINA'S POV
I stare at him silently, doubting everything I've heard before I decide to carefully place the tray on the counter in front of me and turning to him again.
He raises his hand in defense, suddenly anticipating an attack from me.
"I know what you're thinking, okay? What's my intention? Am I working for the enemy? Or rather, how dare I show my face to you after what I did last time?"
I scowl bitterly, old feelings of anger and hurt resurface and bite down hard on my heart.
"Oh, you have no idea." My voice is cold as ice, my gaze locked onto his. If looks could kill, my dear friend, Gabe, would be absolutely dead.
He seems to shrink under the intensity of my stare, his eyes flickering with regret and shame.
"Look, Sera, I messed up, okay? Big time. I hurt you, and I hate myself for it. I've wanted to do this for weeks, but as always, I've been a coward. I was a fool to underestimate that a human girl like you could make a difference - I was wrong, so very wrong. You have to be the best thing that has happened to Raven Wood in a long while, Sera."
The scoff leaves my lips before he finished his lame attempt at redeeming himself. He's the reason I swore off ever trusting anyone in this dumb school.
I was vulnerable, and he took advantage of my desperation to be accepted. He watched me choke! My so-called friend sold me out and made me a fool.
Never again.
"Calling yourself a coward is perhaps the understatement of the century. You're a slimy, two-timing, weak pathetic excuse of a rat. And that makes you worse than anyone I've ever met in this place."
His eyes fall to the ground. "I know... I thought I was protecting myself. I thought that at some point, I'd be free from being used as their dog on a chain, and maybe one day, I'd be viewed as an equal... I was stupid."
I cross my arms over my chest, trying to maintain a semblance of control, even though my heart is pounding wildly against my ribcage.
"So, what? Is that supposed to make me forgive you? You had a choice; we all do. Playing the victim is just an excuse. I'd have never done that to you."
He winces, and I can tell my words cut deep. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I just... I want a do-over. I never wanted to hurt you, Sera. I know I messed up, and I can't change that. But I want to make things right. I want to help you now, to make up for what I did."
"You can't just expect me to trust you again," I whisper.
Now, his eyes are desperate, broken, and rimmed with tears. "I'm not asking for your trust right now. I just want a chance to prove myself."
I meet his gaze, searching for any sign of sincerity. For a moment, I see a glimmer of the boy from chemistry who passed me his handkerchief-soft, awkward, genuine.
But that trust was shattered, and rebuilding it won't be easy.
"Fine," I say, finally relenting. "But don't think for a second that this changes anything between us. That ship has sailed. You can tag along in the campaign if you want."
I toss the burnt cookies down the trash and faintly hear him let out a sigh of relief behind me.
"Thank y-""
"But if you even think about trying any sneaky trick to jeopardize everything we've worked on so far..." I continue, turning to look him dead in the eyes, shoulders squared and serious. The fool he met a month ago is completely gone. "I'll make sure you rue the day you ever heard the name Sera."
A long stretch of silence falls over us for what feels like minutes, the air tightened from the tension and weight of my obvious threat. The look in his eyes seems wary, although he shows me a bit of confidence as well.
It goes on for a while until the door swings open with Juliet rushing in.
"Sera! We have a problem-" She stops briefly, looking between the two of us and stepping back "Did I interrupt something?"
"No, you didn't." I respond coldly. "What's wrong?"
"You won't believe who is standing just outside our stall." She says.
"You'd be surprised."
I don't think anything can surprise me at this point - unless there's an elephant juggling bananas on a tricycle out there, and that's almost impossible.
I follow her out front, leaving Gabe in the back. We meet up with Olivia and Alice, who are peeking cautiously to the front from a hiding spot. I follow the directions of their stares to the three boys standing just in front of us.
And sure enough, it's Jasper, Ace, and Artemis.
Again, why am I not surprised?
I sigh, walking up to them and folding my arms with a dull stare. The second I'm visible, all three pair of eyes turn to me, and he smiles.
It reaches his pretty blue eyes and glows so perfectly that it should be a crime looking that good on a hot Saturday afternoon. He's effortlessly attractive in his baggy shirt and basketball shorts, and in his hand is an orange drink he purchased in another stall.
"How can I help you?"
He sips from his drink, drawing closer and leaning against the counter that separates him from me.
"I think I should be the one asking that." He comments, looking around at the lack of customers.
I bite my lower lip, hating the fact that he gets to see me in such a pathetic state. After being stubborn about running in the elections, I haven't sold a single cookie since the stall was erected.
"I don't want your charity."
"Oh, baby girl, you need it, and by the looks of it, more badly than you realize. Don't worry, your hero is here to save the day." He winks at me playfully.
I'm about to flatly decline his offer again when I'm roughly pulled to the side by Alice, Juliet, and Olivia.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing?" Juliet begins, whispering harshly while acting like she's about to lose her mind.
She has always been the more unhinged one between her and Alice, I've noticed.
"Getting them off our stand so real customers can show up, of course."
"Don't you realize what this means?" Alice pitches in now. "Having the Alpha Prince and his group of fuckable eye-candies at our store is a huge sales pitch."
"F-fuckable...eye candies?" I stare at her like she's crazy.
"The point is, we need them - all of them."
"So, shut up and let them help." They both gang up on me
I turn to Olivia to back me up, but she shrugs casually.
"I kind of agree with them."
"Not you too, Olivia." I cry out.
Here I thought she would be on my side. The only other voice of reasoning amongst us.
"I mean, the aim right now is to gather up funds, right? You can't be picky when you're kind of hopeless, Sera." She chides me.
Another shot fired to my heart.
I bite my lower lip while nodding in defeat and walking up to the front. Artemis just finishes his cup of juice, tossing it aside and turning to me once I'm standing in front of him again.
"So, how was the consensus? Am I in or am I in?"
I hate to admit that I need this prideful bastard, but what fucking choice do I have, huh?
"Just so you realize, I'm only doing this because, for some stupid reason, girls seem to find your physical features appealing, not considering your shitty personality."
"I will take that as a yes." He smiles wickedly before turning back to Jasper and Ace who are standing idly.
"Boys!" They turn to look at him in unison. "Were in!"
After that loud cheer, I have never seen a boy take off his shirt so fucking fast in my entire life.
In only seconds, Ace takes his off shirt, tossing it aside like he's not going to need it while walking back to the dorms later.
Alice and Juliet start squealing like a bunch of overly horny teenagers, which I'm sure they are at this point. They all stare at his very well-toned pecs that, for some reason, don't do it for me.
"We'll take it from here now, Sera."
It takes only a few minutes, 15 tops, before the first customers begin rolling in like magic. And within hours, there's a long line right out front, waiting to buy dozens of cookies.
With shirtless Ace using his subjectively 'hot' body out front, drawing leering customers in with the large cut-out cardboard arrow in his hands. Jasper, on the front line, selling the product to cute giggling teenage girls and Alice's amazing cookie recipe.
Just like that, we become unstoppable.
I hate to admit it, but Artemis was right. And somewhere along the line, Gabe left, feeling too uncomfortable with him being here.
Not having much to do anymore because I'm suddenly not allowed to ice or bake the cookies, I head to the back, whiling away most of my free time.
I hear footsteps approaching, and when I look back, it's Artemis. He walks up to me with eyes staring at nothing in particular, like he really isn't there to talk to me, just taking some fresh air as well.
It's funny sometimes when I think about it. No matter how much he gets under my skin and annoys the hell out of me, moments like this aren't so bothersome.
If anything, they're quite comforting.
"You've somehow managed to displace me from my job." I mutter loud enough for him to hear me. "Not that I mind it that much this time"
"Is this your way of saying thank you?"
"You wish." I chuckle.
It comes out easily from me as something I couldn't have been able to hold back no matter how hard I would have tried.
"Hey, she's laughing." He points out with a smile. "After our last argument, I didn't think I would be able to get you laughing in a long time."
"I'm laughing because you're annoying."
"Yeah, 'cause that makes complete sense."
"I'm still mad at you."
"I know you are. You have the right to be; I was an ass."
I look at him now, just to be sure that it's the same Artemis I've known for a few months standing right next to me, and not just some fake wearing his skin.
He takes the blame so easily, accepting responsibility without so much as a fight or justification. Something he wasn't able to do before.
I remain silent, staring off into the sky that's turned golden-orange now with how late it's getting. I realize that soon enough, we'd have to close up our shop.
Still, today was very successful because they came to help.
"Thank you." I whisper, barely audible.
"Was that so hard?"
"Very actually. Nearly choked on it."
He laughs again, and this time, I join him, letting myself feel the good mood for a moment longer before packing it all up and putting an end to today, despite how reluctant I'm starting to feel about it.
The sun begins to set soon enough, and by now, we've made well over the limit we set before today and to celebrate it, we take up a bit more time packing up shop.
Alice and Juliet drool all over Ace while he flexes his pecs in front of them, and Jasper is deep in a conversation with Olivia, and from the looks of it, he makes her laugh effortlessly.
Artemis goes on a phone call, strolling far from the stall, leaving me alone by myself.
I decide after minutes of standing outside to count the money that we've made so far, to know the exact total.
But it all goes wrong the second I pull the door open.
An explosion happens right in front of me, throwing me back and consuming the whole wooden shop in flames.
"Sera!" Olivia's scream echoes first in my ears amidst the loud ringing that seems never-ending.
I open my eyes again, and I'm splayed on the floor and staring at the angry red flames consuming everything.
The world spins around me, and my vision begins flashing right in front of me.
Somehow, the shop on fire morphs into not just one small construction but hundreds - small villages that are on fire in front of me.
And standing over me is a large black wolf with blood-red eyes.