SERAPHINA'S POV
"There is no fucking way that I will move into your room with you."
"I wasn't asking you, Sera." He says sternly, tuning away to leave while I stand there, still flabbergasted by his suggestion.
Imagine waking up every single day to see the face of the literal bane of my existence. As if the school hours I've already been forced to spend with him weren't enough.
"Wait." I call out to him before he can leave, stopping him just at the door.
He halts in his tracks to look at me.
"I can't possibly move in with you - that's insane. T-that's the boys' dorm."
"I will request for permission from the administrator. I bet he will understand if I mention that Father's precious human could be at risk of dying if not."
"What about Kamila, your mate?" I can't help the incredulous tone that seeps into my voice.
He freezes on the spot momentarily, a look flashing in his eyes before he shrugs it off.
"Kamila should be the least of your worries. Being the Alpha princess, there'd be countless guards stationed at her door the second she gets to her room. Plus, she's an Alpha wolf; she heals a lot faster and has better chances of surviving a wolf attack. You, on the other hand, do not," he points out, listing the facts one by one and leaving me with no room to argue against his demand.
I frown now, deciding that regardless of all that, I'm not agreeing to any of this bullshit.
"There's no way I'm moving into your room, Artemis. I already spend too much time with you and answering to your whims. I can protect myself without your help."
His frown morphs into a deeply ticked-off scowl. This time, he leans in closer, coming down to my eye level, his gaze piercing.
"Just like how you protected yourself by jumping off a cliff to save your neck?"
"I survived a night in the woods and made it back to school in one piece-all without your help," I retort.
He falls silent for a moment, locking eyes with me, my defiance clear as day.
"I expect you in my room before 6 p.m. today. If you don't show, I'm coming to your room to drag you out myself," he states before pulling away, leaving me standing there, feeling both defeated and helpless.
So, what's the rundown of things I can't do?
I can't go after Morgan because he and his cronies could turn me into wolf chow, leaving Artemis and the rest responsible.
I can't stay in my own room for fear of another ambush, which might leave me with more than just a broken neck.
And as for helping the investigation move forward? Nada. Zip. I'm supposed to just sit here, cocooned in some kind of pseudo-safety, guarded by an entitled wolf boy who seems to think he owns me.
The conclusion? Doing any of this is not in my playbook. Hell, no.
The real challenge here is figuring out how to break all these so-called "rules" without getting caught. And believe me, I fully intend to solve that puzzle.
I turn back to Olivia's bed. Her chest just barely rises and falls, showing just how shallow her breathing is.
They must have done something so bad and terrible for her to be in this state, for her beautiful skin to turn so pale. Ironically, just that morning, we'd laughed and talked about things that don't seem matter right now.
"I'm sorry." I whisper to her, feeling my heart constrict again.
I made promises but couldn't keep them to you, and you got caught in this crossfire between Morgan and I, but I will avenge you.
For every bit of pain you've felt, I will inflict worse.
***
I finally leave the building, my thoughts consumed by everything that's going wrong in my life. As I exit the front doors, I hear my name being called from a distance.
"Sera!"
I turn around and spot Lucian sprinting toward me from inside the building, a small bag clutched in his hands. He finally catches up, coming to a halt right in front of me. His hand immediately goes to the back of his neck, a nervous gesture.
"Hey." He greets, and I can't help the overwhelmed sigh that escapes my lips now.
The adrenaline that's been fueling me seems to have finally evaporated, and the weight of exhaustion and discomfort settles on my shoulders like a heavy burden.
I'm drained, both emotionally and physically. The prospect of another human-to-wolf interaction right now feels like too much to handle.
"What is it, Lucian?" I ask, trying my very best not to come off as mean or condescending.
Our last interaction wasn't so bad, after all. He made a painting of me, and I love it even though it was unfinished. It was the sweetest and most innocent gesture ever.
"Right. I wasn't able to say anything when you came into school. I was torn between approaching you or not, seeing as you said not to."
"Yeah, I did."
"I respect that, but I couldn't hold myself again because I was worried about you. I heard as much as I could of what happened. Are you okay?" He asks sincerely.
On impulse, I want to lie and say I'm fine, hoping he'd just let me go so I could walk home and hide from the world.
But I don't.
Instead, I let the mask slip, if only for a moment.
"I don't know if I am actually." I say, trying my best to conceal my trembling lower lip by biting onto it. "My best friend's in a coma, and now I have to move in with Artemis because he doesn't think I can protect myself."
I blame everything on how vulnerable the situation makes me feel. It's not like I have anyone else to talk to about it.
Olivia is unconscious, so I'm probably going back to an empty room to wallow in my loneliness.
"I have absolutely no one right now. My life is a walking train wreck, and I have zero control over it." I laugh bitterly, blinking away the tears gathering in my eyes.
The awkward expression that had been etched on his face dissolves the moment I begin sharing the raw emotions and fears that I've had nowhere else to unload.
He doesn't interrupt, doesn't judge. He just listens, as though each word I say is a piece of a puzzle he's intent on solving.
When my rant finally comes to an end, he places a tender, warm hand on my shoulder and offers me a small yet genuinely comforting smile.
Minutes later, we find ourselves seated on a nearby bench, fully caught up on the present situation.
"It's going to be okay," he assures me, after taking a moment to absorb everything I've just unleashed.
"How can you be so sure? Morgan could get off scot-free, and Olivia might never wake up-all because of me," I counter.
"From what you've told me about this friend of yours, I don't think you should sell her short. This is the time to have faith that she can pull through this on her own, isn't it?"
I can't help but sigh. "And what about Morgan? That prick is still on the loose."
"Yes, he is. But I'm part of the investigation team too, and I promise you, the moment he slips up-and he will-it's not going to end well for him. Not in the slightest."
I pause, wrestling with the urge to let myself be swayed by his words.
"What about Artemis and his bizarre plan of forcing me to move in with him?" I throw my hands up, punctuating the word 'forcing' to underscore the absurdity of it all.
He chuckles lightly, the sound breaking through the tension and making it somehow contagious.
"Sounds like a real-life 'Beauty and the Beast' situation, doesn't it? Though it's debatable who the beast is in this case - you give hell, Sera."
Despite the chaos unfolding around me, I playfully roll my eyes, almost laughing. Everyone I've ever given hell deserved it.
"I'm being serious, Lucian!" I insist, even as he continues to laugh.
"I know, I know," he says, finally getting a handle on his laughter. "Artemis can be an insufferable jerk, but he's not wrong about being the safest bet right now."
I look at him, incredulous. "What?"
He leans in a bit, his voice taking on a more serious tone.
"He's the son of an Alpha, and not just any Alpha. He's born of the Alpha of Alphas, the Alpha King himself. That's the strongest wolf bloodline ever known to man." He enunciates slowly, as if to let it sink into my head.
I guess, being in high school and surrounded by all this drama, you tend to forget things like that-especially when he doesn't really have the ambiance to match that level of strength.
"So, trust me when I say, he can protect you. It won't take much for him to stop a group of wolves coming after you, even if it's Morgan."
I nod slowly, recognizing the truth in his words. Incompetent or not, Artemis could do it, which means there's really no need for me to fret. They could genuinely solve all this in just a week.
But why does this realization make me feel so uneasy?
"Thank you, Lucian," I say, looking up at him again.
"Anything for you, Sera," he responds, resting his chin on the heel of his palm.
Just a week ago, I would have sneered at the idea of sitting across from him like this and just talking. But now, it's the only thing that's managed to calm me amidst the brewing storm.
I can't help but study his perfectly gorgeous face and those piercing silver eyes again, seeing it all in a different light than before, and not wanting this moment to end.