Chapter 9
Freya
Misha. How did he always find me? My own personal hero at my beck and call.
Except I never call him; he manages to show up, whether I asked him to or not.
Once back in my room, I changed out of my wet clothes, but couldn’t bear to get rid of his shirt.
It was mostly dry when I slipped it back on before bed.
His scent surrounding me was a balm to my ragged nerves.
He wasn’t going to give up. Misha wasn’t going to stop pursuing me.
It would hurt us both in the end. Not to mention Bianca would be up my ass even more.
There was something dangerous in her eyes.
Not her animal, but something closer to determination—or even scarier, desperation.
With Mikhail stalking through the building shirtless after leaving my room, the whispers when I entered a space were bound to increase.
Attention and questions I couldn’t answer would be aimed at me.
Part of me wanted to use that as a reason to give in, indulge in those foreign feelings and desires Misha had stirred up in me.
A wave of loneliness washed through me. I missed my parents.
For obvious reasons, I couldn’t speak to my father anymore, but the forced silence between my mother and I was much harder.
While I was hiding out at Bartholomew, Mom was going dark to get anyone off our trail—no contact between us until graduation.
It was heartbreaking, but I knew she was doing it to protect me.
I hated it. I missed my family, knowing someone had my back.
Misha wanted to be that person, but he didn’t know what it meant, all that he would be signing up for.
There was a knock at my door, stirring me from my thoughts.
I hesitated, worrying—or worse, feeling excited—that it might be Misha.
I gently climbed out of bed and stood by the entrance, listening for any sounds.
When I didn’t hear anything, I opened it a crack, but no one was there.
I looked down to see my clothes and phone in a pile on the ground.
Scrambling, I pulled them inside and locked the door behind me.
Who would have brought them back? I dropped the clothes in my laundry basket, then plugged my phone in.
As the cord powered on the device, I was surprised at the amount of notifications littering my screen.
I didn’t text. I had social media, but I didn’t post anything, only using it to keep track of school gossip.
Quickly unlocking my phone, I clicked the most recent notification.
It opened to reveal a new post that appeared to come from my account.
Upon closer inspection, it was a picture of me floating in the lake.
From the angle, only my stomach and breasts were visible above the water, making my body look bloated and distorted.
Shame and embarrassment ran through me as I tried to delete the original post, but it had already been shared multiple times across several platforms.
Meet the new mascot! The Bartholomew beluga!
On an angry yell, I tossed the phone across the room.
Instead of helping, it appeared the sound was on, and the pings of alerts were now coming from my laundry basket.
Angrily, I ran over, digging through the basket to get the phone when I felt a piece of paper.
Pulling it out, I saw that it was a hand scribbled note.
Freya,
Wanted to make sure you got these back.
Misha
Mikhail did this? Does he know about the picture? Was everything he said a lie? A distraction to keep me out long enough for Bianca to set this up? Powering the phone off, I ripped his shirt off my body and threw it out the window.
Filled with rage, I was livid. That hypocritical oaf had the audacity to say he was looking after me when all he was doing was causing more trouble. Dressing hastily, I left the room and made my way over to his dorm. It had gone on for enough time. I had played the doormat for too long.
Windows flew open as I passed by. As I walked through the atrium, the leaves curled away from me on a hiss. Clouds filled the night sky, mirroring the storm brewing within me. I didn’t bother knocking, swinging the door open. On a snarl, Mikhail leaped out of bed until he recognized me.
“Freya? What’s wrong? What happened?” He approached me as if ready to pull me into his arms, but I stepped back.
“What’s happened? You. But more importantly, Bianca,” I said, staring at him.
“I told you, there’s nothing going on between us. I broke things off with her as soon as I saw you.” He growled.
“I never asked you to do that,” I said pointedly, and I watched as confusion and anger tinged his face.
“What? I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t ask you to break up with your sycophantic girlfriend and put me in her line of fire. Even if I believed I was your mate, why would I want you as mine when you’ve done nothing to protect me so far? ” He jerked back at that.
“You can’t be that dense. You’re supposed to be a fucking alpha, but you can’t even control the pack of heathens you call friends, especially your girlfriend.
Since I stepped foot on campus, you put a target on my back for Bianca and her mongrels.
She’s draped over you all the time, staring daggers at me, then goes out of her way to corner me whenever I’m alone.
Bianca loves to tell me how useless and ugly I am, to warn me away from you.
I do everything I can to avoid BOTH of you, and the one time I’m alone and enjoying myself, you two have to come along and ruin it.
” He opened his mouth, ready to respond, but I wasn’t done.
“I’m minding my own business, taking a swim, and your bitch and her cronies track me down to take my shit.
As if that wasn’t enough, she went ahead and posted naked pictures of me on the internet.
Then, you get to show up as a hero, give me a dumb T-shirt like that’s going to make up for the fact that the entire school will now know me as the Bartholomew beluga.
” He looked shocked, his brows drawn together in anger and color filling his cheeks. In a mocking voice, I continued.
“Mikhail, the big bad alpha.” I snorted. “It’s all bullshit. You’re a joke. Stay away from me, and fucking keep your ho on a leash. I’m done with these juvenile games. Make no mistake, I can and will make both your lives hell if you keep coming after me.”
“Freya, wait. I wasn’t a part of this. I’ll talk to Bianca. I’ll fix this.”
“Shut up. Just stop talking. Nothing you say matters. You are only seeing this from your perspective. I. Don’t.
Want. You. I don’t want a part of any of this.
I want to be left alone. Do you really care about my happiness?
Then forget I exist, and make sure your friends do as well.
Then again, with friends like yours, who needs enemies?
” I sneered, thinking of Annika and Balor, who had joined in on Bianca’s torment more than once.
I saw him getting ready to speak and lifted my hand to shush him, but my powers were swirling inside of me. As if an extension of my arm, the wind swept past me before stopping in front of Mikhail, trapping him behind an invisible wall.
“This is goodbye, Mikhail. Remember what I said. Forget about me,” I told him, watching as he tried to push through the barrier holding him back.
I walked away, the door closing behind me as a loud growl reverberated down the hall.
I only had a moment of satisfaction until the reality of what the next day was going to be like hit me.
Invisibility wasn’t exactly an option for me after that.
Bianca wanted to shame me, publicly humiliate me.
Well, she had certainly accomplished that.
All the wind left my sails once I got back to my room.
In reality, there wasn’t much I could do.
Any reply would just draw more attention to myself—even hiding out would just stir the gossip mill up more.
The best I could do was go back to keeping my head down, ignoring the people around me, and hoping some new drama would capture everyone’s attention so I could once again disappear into the background.