Chapter Six #3
“DAZE? DAZE, WAKE UP .” Firm hands shook me. “Get that fine ass up already. Paxton’s waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me to kill you for waking me up?” I snapped from the bowels of the comforter. “Tell him I’m about to grant his fucking wish.”
Chuckles floated through the silk and cotton. “Such a sweet pussy on someone with such a foul mouth.”
My hand flashed out and swatted his thigh.
“Stop trying to get something going and get up already. I told you, Paxton’s waiting. You’re going to be late.”
“Late?” I stuck my head out from under the sheets. “But we gave up on that dating stuff a week ago.”
Edric shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that. All I know is he says he has a surprise for you. Something you’ve been waiting for.”
It was curiosity more than anything that got me out of bed.
I got up, raised my brows at the clock that I fell asleep for nine hours, then left my room. I veered for the staircase that led to the main hall, but Edric called me back.
“He’s waiting for you in your office.”
“Curiouser and curiouser.”
I went back the other way, and trekked down the back staircase leading into my office. Paxton got up when he saw me, a smile already stretching his lips.
A pang of guilt went through my heart at seeing that smile. How could he be happy to see me when I not only told him he didn’t do it for me, I also gave up on both of our lives.
I wanted to live. I really, really wanted to live, but unless Luame eased up and spared me, I didn’t see how that was possible. As awful a person as people believed I was, if these were Paxton’s last days, I couldn’t spend them leading him on. He should spend his time finding his own happiness, while I focused on my sole purpose in life—making Wolf Nation safe for Hope.
“There you are,” he said, coming and popping a kiss on my cheek. “You were almost late to your own forum.”
“The forum? Paxton, it’s canceled. You know it is. The projection equipment is delayed in shipping .”
He winked. “It’s not canceled.”
“Uhh... but it is,” I said slowly. “I called the alphas on my way back to my room this morning and called it off.”
“Yes, you did.” He sidestepped me, heading for the door. “And then I called them and told them it was back on.”
“What? Why would you do that?”
Paxton was still grinning like a kid on Christmas. He was so pleased with himself, you almost didn’t notice the dark bags under his eyes or the sallow sheen to his skin. “Because I told you I’d figure this out for you, and I did.” Stepping up next to the door, he bowed deeply. “I will accept payment in the form of sexual favors.”
I rolled my eyes. “May I know what I’m paying for first?”
“I told you”—Paxton swept out the door, beckoning someone in—“the forum is back on.”
I blinked to see that someone was actually someones .
Tracy, Corinne, Davis, and Melisent walked in, waving at me. All four of them were dressed in their best sheath dresses, button-up shirts, mid-heels, and makeup. In their hands, they all carried notepads.
“I’m going to need more information, Paxton.”
He laughed. “So, listen, as amazing as I thought last week was, we obviously can’t have a repeat.” Paxton blew past me, got behind the chaise, and pushed it across the carpet. He set it in front of my desk, gestured for Melisent and Tracy to sit, then moved over two armchairs for Corinne and Davis. “I did check the secret store for projection equipment, but that was above their paygrade.”
I really need to find out about this secret store.
“There’s no way we can hold another video chat with the clan leaders and the whole school. I didn’t know what to do until I remembered what you said, Daze, about huddling around your computer.” Paxton picked up my desktop and flipped it around, facing Corinne and the others. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”
“We are?”
“That’s right.”
“Last week was too big and loud, so this time we’re small and quiet. Last week was a free-for-all, everyone speaking over each other. So this time, we’re only doing groups of four—one alpha, one epsilon, one beta, and one omega.”
Corrine and Davis waved again. Corrine the alpha, and Davis the beta.
“Every week, we’ll have another group of four, so everyone gets their chance, and no one can say we’re favoring certain wolves over the others. I also had them write down the laws they want proposed or changed, and back it up with evidence,” Paxton continued. He fished the tripod out from the office closet, and got to work setting up his phone. “If we want the leaders to take us seriously, we have to take it seriously.”
I gaped at him. “How were you doing all of this without me knowing?”
“I kept it quiet so that pretty much no one other than us in this room, and the clan leaders, would know.” Paxton gave me a lopsided grin over his phone. “I know Orion sabotaged the last forum. Last thing I was going to do was give him a heads-up so that he can sabotage this one too.
“Him and Badr don’t get that this is bigger than their beef with you. This is bigger than everyone in Corvin. We’re doing this for the good of Wolf Nation, and I said I’d make this right for you, so I did.”
I could only stare at him, jaw working. Paxton’s plan was so simple, so organized, and so much better than even Ash’s original plan for the forums.
“Th-thank you,” I stuttered, the phrase feeling forum on my tongue.
I had accepted a long time ago that I was in this fight alone. Yes, Nia was on my side, but there was so much I couldn’t tell her. Then there was Edric, but he only got on board with the full plan recently. Couldn’t forget Nyx wanted to help, but he wasn’t even here.
I made my peace with my two and a half allies, and the hope they’d carry on the fight if the broken bond killed me too soon, but... here was my third.
“Thank you, Paxton,” I repeated clearly. “This is perfect.”
He plopped down on an armchair. “Take it away, Headmistress.”
“Right, okay.” Clearing my throat, I crossed to my computer and began the video call.
All the clan alphas appeared in their boxes—bright, neat, and disapproving. You could say a lot about them, but no one could disparage their punctuality.
“Good evening, alphas,” I said, bright and cheery. “And good evening to everyone tuned in for the live chat. We’re doing things a little differently this week—smoothing out the process. We have four students eager to share with you, so they’ll each have ten minutes to do so—uninterrupted.
“When they’re finished, that will leave twenty minutes for questions from you, and”—I pointed at the camera—“the public. Sound good?”
Melisent, Corinne, Davis, and Tracy all nodded. The clan alphas looked at me like I grew another head.
“This is a surprise,” Magnus said, leaning back in a desk chair that looked more like a throne. See? I wasn’t the only one who liked them. “Seems you’ve finally gotten your act together, Headmistress .”
I just smiled at him. “Melisent, introduce yourself, and then take it away.”
Clearing her throat, Melisent stood. “Hello, I’m Melisent. I’m an epsilon that is studying, applying, and placing into the alpha track because I hope to one day become a clan leader.”
Open, and rude, scoffs followed that confession.
“Which brings me to my proposal. Not only does the approved job system need to be removed, but there also needs to be an active effort to get epsilons into law enforcement, judgeships, and other leadership positions.”
“Nonsense.”
“Ridiculous.”
Half the clan leaders sounded off, even though it was her time to speak.
Melisent didn’t let it ruffle her. “But the focus of that effort should be on getting more epsilons into the police force. Studies show that sixty percent of alphas are unlikely to report a crime. Betas seventy-four percent. Epsilons seventy-nine percent. And omegas a shocking ninety-seven percent,” she said, silencing them quick. “I repeat, ninety-seven percent of omegas don’t even bother going to the police for help if they’re victims of a crime.
“The result of these low reporting numbers is an epidemic of vigilante justice. And before you ask,” she said, cutting off Magnus. “The proof of that is in the unsolved murder and disappearance rate in every clan in Wolf Nation. Our lowest rate is still twice as high as the biggest and most dangerous city in mundane North America. Again, I will repeat that—the mundanes solve more crimes and arrest more criminals than we do.
“Wolves—from alphas to omegas—do not have any faith in our justice system, and since we are a civilized nation and not a lawless swamp, our leaders should care about that.”
“Whoo,” I crowed, earning a growl from half the alphas on my screen.
Melisent tossed me a wink. “There are many things we need to do to address this widespread and systematic problem, but like I said, I believe the first step is more epsilons in the police force. Not only are they immune to any wolf powers, but every epsilon takes a vow to serve Luame—not the council or the clan leaders.
“You’re more likely to ask someone for help when you know they don’t have another agenda.” She sat down. “Thank you for listening.”
“Thank you, Melisent,” I said, stepping in. “We’re going to move on to the next person so that—”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve, girl,” Magnus sounded off. “Our police forces are beyond reproach! They serve all faithfully and equally, and your made-up little study doesn’t prove otherwise!”
“Magnus, don’t be so silly,” Mara snapped. “Just last week we were discussing the rise in vigilante crime. I didn’t hear you offering any solutions then. Don’t kick up a fuss because she is.”
“So we empty the temples and send a bunch of barefoot, incense-reeking women after the criminals! Problem solved!”
“Sexist fucking pig!”
“What was that? What did you say!” His yellow-tinged eyes came at the screen like he was going to jump through at Mara. “How dare you!”
Mara snarled, fangs erupting.
I heaved a sigh. “And they call us children,” I muttered, making Tracy, Corinne, and the others chuckle.
It took too long, and the reminder that this entire exchange was being streamed to all of Wolf Nation, before they settled down and let Corrine have her turn. She gave a very impressive and detailed speech on mixing the clans, and allowing different elemental wolves to live where they choose. She even backed it up with studies, charts, and economic growth predictions—all in ten minutes.
Davis was in the middle of sharing his thoughts on everyone, not just me, being allowed more than one full, legally recognized mate, when the doors burst open.
“High Priestess!” Ash shrieked, tumbling into the room.
I wouldn’t lie, she startled me half out of my seat.
Her heaving chest and broken heel revealed she sprinted quite a long distance. “What on earth is going on here!”
“You know what’s going on here, and shhh! ” I hissed, reddening every part of her face not covered in tattoos. “You’re interrupting Davis’s time.”
“You did not inform me the forums were taking place again,” she cried, rushing between Davis and the screen. “I have a right to know, I am the head— vice headmistress! And turn that off!” Ash slapped Paxton’s phone, sending it and the tripod flying across the room.
A dozen mouths gaped at her.
“What are you doing, Rianna?” Kenyatta, my father’s replacement, asked. “Get ahold of yourself.”
“Excuse me?” Ash whirled on them. “We discussed this, Kenyatta. There’s a right way and a wrong way to influence change in our nation, and this is the wrong way. You agreed to stop entertaining this girl’s fanciful notions!”
“Yes,” Mara chimed in, “and then we agreed there wasn’t any harm in hearing what the students have to say. I can’t say I want women to feel safe in my clan, and then ignore said women when they tell me they don’t. As long as these forums are conducted in an organized, civilized manner—such as they are now—I have no issue with entertaining the high priestess’s fanciful notions for another day.”
Mara got a few murmured agreements from the other alphas.
“Magnus?” Ash cried, twisting to her clan’s leader. “You can’t possibly be on board with this.”
He sniffed. “This entire farce is an affront and a shamble! But,” he ground out, “my mate is an omega, and she says if I don’t participate... she’ll... leave me.” Damned if that man didn’t sound the perfect mix of furious and resigned.
“Whippped,” Paxton sang, startling a laugh out of me.
“Insolent pup!” Magnus shouted back... but he didn’t deny it.
Paxton’s and my eyes connected, sharing a wicked grin.
“Time is wasting, Rianna,” Mara said. “Stand aside, please.”
Ash’s nose shot in the air, her chin quivering with suppressed rage. I could tell she wanted nothing more than to put her claws through the screen, but someone was making an embarrassing spectacle of themselves, and this time it wasn’t me.
“Very well,” she barked. “I will allow this to continue, but there will be no repeat of last week’s nonsense. You will stay in your seats, speak when you’re spoken to, address our leaders with respect, and adhere to the time limits.”
Tracy, Corinne, Davis, and Melisent gave a baffled look at the woman who could clearly see they were already doing that.
“And your phone stays off,” Ash told Paxton. “These forums are closed sessions. End of discussion.”
“Actually, I’m going to go ahead and open that discussion back up,” I chirped. “The open forums will remain open. Paxton, bust out that phone.”
Ash spoke through clenched teeth. “He is under my authority, and if he touches that phone ,” she growled as he bent to pick it up. “He’ll receive five demerits and an escort out of this academy.”
Looking her dead in the face, I took out my phone, launched Loop Garou, and kicked off the live video. “He may be under your authority,” I said for everyone watching and listening to hear. “But I’m not.”
Forget the computer, it was my head she was going to put her claws through.
“Yes, Vice Headmistress Ash?” I pointed the phone directly at her. “You have something to say?”
Stiffly, she smoothed down her skirt, raised her chin, and took a seat in Paxton’s vacated chair.
“You are so fucking hot right now,” Paxton whispered—a confession for my ears, but that was of course heard by everyone.
I flushed deep, and thanked every deity from Luame to beyond that my dark skin concealed my blush. Deep down in the corner of my mind where my wolf lived, something thumped— hard .
“Ow,” Paxton and I cried at the same time, our hands flying up to our temples.
I blinked at him. What was that? Did he feel that too? Why—?
“Uh, Daze?” Tracy probed. “Is it my turn?”
“Huh? Oh, right, yes,” I said, rising up. “Sorry for the interruption, everyone. Let’s continue.”
Tracy inclined her head to me, then the clan leaders. “Hello, alphas. My name is Tracy. I’m an omega and his niece,” she said, pointing at Callum Bethune—the alpha of the sun clan. “My dear uncle Callum commanded my father to hand over the deed to our home, even though my father inherited it from his biological mother—Callum’s stepmother—and then he kicked us out on the street—”
“Hold on a minute,” Callum barked.
“But by us, I’m not including my mother.” Tracy raised her voice over him. “Who was forced to stay behind with Callum through threats and commands. He raped, abused, and forced my mother to stay with him, and because she ran away too many times, he finally cut her ears and threw her out of the sun clan!” Tracy was shouting over him at this point. “So if you want my opinion on the law, I propose we start holding alphas, clan alphas most of all, to the same laws as everyone else!”
“—shut your fucking mouth, Tracy!” Callum bellowed.
“And every officer, lawyer, and judge who heard my father’s and my mother’s pleas for help, but turned them away because they refused to go after a clan alpha should be thrown in the same cell as him!” She plopped down in her seat. “Thank you for listening.”
And just like that, chaos resumed.
“My gods, Callum, is this true?” Mara screeched.
“Of course it’s not fucking true! The girl’s a lying bitch!”
“How about I call up my mom right now and let you tell her yourself!” Tracy snatched the first thing she could get her hands on—a fistful of potpourri—and flung it at Callum’s side of the screen. “We’ll see who the lying bitch is then, you limp-dick rapist! Here’s an unsolved mystery: The Case of How Callum Bethune Became Such A Pathetic, Cowardly, Misogynistic Cunt!”
“Who do you think you’re talking to!” Callum was half-changed, his wolf was begging to break free and attack. “Just like my shitstain of a brother to raise a lying whore no better than the one he married. I ought to come over there and teach you the lesson he never did!”
“Come by any time, bitch!” Tracy flung back, pounding her chest.
I could only sit there gaping at her like everyone else was. The comments and emojis were flooding the chat—quick and furious. Some of them against Tracy, but most of them calling for Bethune’s head. Tracy couldn’t work up that much pain and fury over a lie.
She also wasn’t done.
“One pair of earplugs, and you’re reduced to the limp-dick cunt everyone knows you are, and everyone , will laugh their ass off when I live-stream your ass-kicking!”
“Enough! I will not entertain this slander a moment l—” He cut his feed off before finishing the sentence.
“Callum is a friend of mine. None of this can be true!”
“—very serious charges.”
“Is this why you brought us here?” Magnus went off. “To ambush us with baseless accusations!”
“There’s nothing baseless about it,” Tracy returned. “The proof of who owned and inherited Uncle Cunt’s stolen home is in my grandmother’s will. And if you want to hear my mother’s story from her own lips, let her back into the clan she was falsely thrown out of. She’ll tell you everything you want to know about the real Callum Bethune.”
“We will not—!”
“I will personally investigate these crimes,” Mara announced, silencing everyone better than a shout. “Have your mother contact me personally—the high priestess will give you my number.” Never had Mara sounded more grave nor did her voice carry more authority. “Her banishment is lifted until I discover what’s true.”
“Thank you, Alpha Mara. You’ll hear from her within the hour,” Tracy said. “I promise.”
Mara pushed back her seat. “This seems a good place to end, wouldn’t you agree?”
I spoke up. “Actually, we have fifteen more minutes, and the live chat is blowing up with questions—”
“Yes, I agree.” Ash raised her palm and razor-rimmed throwing stars appeared in the air. Corrine and Tracy shrieked as they shot over their heads, burying in my computer screen and blasting it off the desk. “We’re done.”
I didn’t have a chance to react before tiny metal chains latched around my phone, ripped it out of my hand, and sent it flying at the wall too.
“I really wish everyone would stop breaking my stuff,” I said lightly. “It’s just bad manners.”
“All of you, back to your dorms.” Ash was shaking, she was so angry. “And, High Priestess,” she hissed, casting me a searing look as she ushered Corinne, Melisent, Davis, and Tracy out, but not before I gave Tracy a slip of paper with Mara’s number. “You and I will have words—trust me on that.”
I waved her off, shaking my head as she slammed the door.
Only Paxton and I were left in the office. We gave each other wry grins.
“She’s a hard one to figure out,” Paxton said, running his hands through his thick, vanilla-scented locks. “She destroys your computer and phone, but only after Tracy finished her story and got help from Mara. Like Ash wanted to stop this at all costs, but not at the cost of harming a survivor.” He tipped his head. “Why does that make me hate and love her at the same time?”
“See!?” I threw up my hands. “That’s exactly what I said to Nia. I’m both thankful for her help, and want to kick her over the gates at the same time. It’s very confusing for me.”
“Hmm.” He shook his head, then crossed to the bits of metal and glass that used to be my phone. “The good news is the secret store has plenty of phones and desktops. These will be easy to replace.”
“What is this secret store you keep going on about?”
Paxton winked. “Not telling.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. What did you think about tonight?”
“What did you think?”
“Honestly?” I hopped up on my desk. “I loved it. The students had really good ideas, and I could tell the leaders were listening. Even Magnus couldn’t come up with a logical explanation why corrupt police forces or separate clans are such a good thing, so he blustered and insulted his way through it—making himself look dumb as shit.”
Paxton barked a laugh.
“And...” I sobered. “I saw what you saw, Paxton. A couple weeks ago, Tracy was on the edge of doing something very desperate and dangerous that would’ve ruined her life, all because of what Melisent said. Omegas feel so without hope or help, they take justice into their own hands.
“But instead of that, she confronted her monster, ripped him to fucking shreds, and made Mara hear her. We did that.” I smiled at him. “You and me. And that feels pretty good, even if Ash shuts down the forums for good.”
He sighed. “I want to say she can’t, but damn sure Callum isn’t coming back, and the sun clan needs an overhaul most of all. It’s the worst, most oppressive clan for omegas, and it’s no mystery why with him as the leader.”
“Oh, well, don’t worry about that,” I said, kicking my feet against the desk. “He’ll be dead soon.”
Paxton looked at me, brows high. “So fucking hot.”
I was once again thankful he couldn’t see my blush.
“Alright, gorgeous, come with me,” he said, making for the door. “There’s something else I can help you with, but we’ve got to hurry.”
“Help me?” I hopped off and jogged to catch up with him. “Oooh, are you taking me to the secret store?”
“No.” Paxton bumped my shoulder, and that weird thump rocked my brain again. “I’m not taking the headmistress to our stash of contraband.”
“Who is our!”
Pressing his fingertips together, Paxton mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key.
I left the water boy to his secrets, and trailed him through the hall. I didn’t know where we were going, until the bumping bass hit my ears.
“You’re taking me to detention?” I asked as he stopped in front of the door. “Have I been naughty?”
“Absolutely.” Paxton leaned on the doorjamb, his teasing smirk quickening my pulse.
What the hell is wrong with me? We settled this a week ago, I’m not into Paxton like that. We’re just friends and barely that, so if you’re trying to rev me up and point me at him, stop it.
My wolf didn’t even stir. She was fast asleep like the Nia tranquilizer shot her in the ass. She was asleep a lot these days, which made it very hard to blame this on her.
I eyed him. Well, it’s not like it’s a big deal that I find him attractive. Paxton is a handsome man— Okay, he makes handsome men want to put a sack over their heads and call it quits. Paxton is Adonis personified, and if I hadn’t seen him turn into a wolf myself, I would’ve thought he was secretly a demigod son of Adonis.
It’s just a little crush, another voice said. A little crush never hurt any—
“That’s why you need to cut all this weak and whimpering bullshit, and wolf up, Volana.”
Crush gone.
“Excuse me? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you letting them ”—he pointed at the door and the party happening on the other side—“get away with stuff like this. Look, I get it. Ash blew in here, showed you up, and got in your head. You started thinking that if you want to be a real headmistress, you have to be like her—always cool, controlled, professional, and aloof. But, Volana, you’re not a real headmistress,” he blared, blowing heat into my cheeks. “You’re twenty years old, you haven’t trained, studied, or earned this job in any way, and you haven’t even graduated from the school you’re running.
“And you know why none of that matters? Because you didn’t ask for anyone to hand you this job, you just fucking took it. Why? Because you didn’t come here to be a student, or even a headmistress, you came here to be queen.” Paxton took my hands. “You came back to rule Wolf Nation with iron claws and drag it kicking, screaming, and bloody into a new age of equality, and you and I both know that doesn’t happen by asking nicely.
“Stop trying to be a headmistress, Daze. Stop trying to be Ash.” He jerked his head at the door. “Get the fuck in there, and be a queen.”
Looking from him, to the door, then back to him... I busted through the door.
A cacophony of noise bowled me over, flattening my ears to my head. The alphas really turned detention into the party of the year.
In the corner, tables were pushed together and fashioned into a beer pong table. They were yukking it up, and cheering on the guy chugging straight vodka. Dancing on the table were no less than six naked girls, and two naked guys. They shouldn’t have all been able to fit up there, but since they were all practically glued to each other as they wined and grinded pornographically, it worked out.
Two speakers were blasting on the windowsill. The drinks were flowing, and the powers on display were stunning.
Fireballs danced and flickered in the air, replacing the harsh fluorescent lights with riveting heat and beauty. A forest wolf decorated the room in hanging vines and creeping ivy, plunging the party into the jungle theme.
Among the dancing, drinking, partying wolves, not a single one of them was doing homework, thinking about what landed them there, or looking sorry in any way.
I crossed to the other side of the room without a single person taking note of me, and punched my fists through both speakers.
EEEKKK!
“Hey, what the hell—” The shout cut off when all eyes turned to me.
I smiled. “Party’s over, everyone. It’s time for detention, and tonight, I have an assignment for you. I want one thousand words on why you’re all assholes and how you’ll stop being assholes in the future.”
Raucous laughs went up around the room.
“Want us to do an essay, do you?” Johnson stepped out from the pack, bearing down on me with a shit-eating smirk. Johnson had been sticking close to Orion and Badr ever since they took over the alpha pack—naming himself third-in-command of the douchebags.
He was a handsome enough guy with tawny skin, monolid eyes, a grinning slash of a mouth, and the face tattoo of a metal wolf. That along with him never wearing a shirt for any reason so that his muscled tattooed chest was bare for all to see, gave him the bad-boy alpha-wolf air that he was going for.
But I didn’t care how many women, and more than a few men, fell at his feet. The barely concealed malice in his eyes made him repugnant to me. Those eyes told me that Johnson hurt people, and he enjoyed it.
“And how exactly do you think you’re going to make us, Headmistress?” Johnson grabbed my collar... and straightened it. Touching me in an act of dominance disguised as a kind gesture. “You gonna do your little disappear trick, and then run away crying with your tail between your legs?”
Everyone laughed.
“Because we do all love it when you do,” Johnson crowed, “but it doesn’t scare us.”
My smile widened. “Johnson, did it ever occur to you that the best thing about my little disappear trick is how easily it lets me slip through your locked door at night, stand over you while you’re sound asleep in bed clutching your teddy and”—I gently pressed a finger to his throat and drew a line across it—“strike.”
The laughs dried up as quick as his grin. Johnson lurched back, hand flying to his throat. “That’s a nice threat, but we both fucking know you can’t touch me. Ash won’t let you.”
“How would she stop me? Does Ash usually hang out in your room in the middle of the night? Oooh,” I crowed, winking at him. “Naughty boy.”
“Fuck you! You can’t—”
“Silence, pup.” I backhanded him across the face, sending him crashing over the desk. “Your queen is speaking.”
“Arrgh!” Johnson toppled over the desk chair and took it down with him. Fighting, flailing, and clawing at the thing, it broke apart in a shadow of wood and plastic as he shot to his feet—yellow eyes and claws bared. “Bitch! I’ll kill you!”
Johnson leaped at me as I lazily phased, rolling my eyes at all the clueless dodos who couldn’t get through their fucking heads that physical attacks were useless against a moon wolf.
“Ag!” Johnson collapsed at my feet, clutching and clawing at his throat.
My wry smile morphed—brows snapping together watching him choke and gasp, raking gashes in his own neck. “Johnson?”
“Don’t spare your pity on him, Daze.” Paxton sauntered into the room. “He’s just learning the consequences of disrespecting my queen. Oh! Speaking of which...” Paxton balled his fists and smashed them together. In an instant, the alphas fell to their knees.
Toppling off desks, smashing down on the pong tables, tripping over their chests—it was raining gasping, choking alphas, and all I could do was stand there with my jaw gaping like a fish. Paxton? Paxton’s doing this!?
“Feel that?” Paxton asked as casual as could be. “That’s your lungs filling up with water, that’s the darkness bleeding into your eyes, that’s your life slipping away, and that’s your blessed alpha voice doing shit-all to stop it.”
It was true. They were all too busy hacking, coughing, wheezing, and crying to utter a single word through their waterlogged mouths.
Desperate fireballs, metal chains, wooden spears, and more flew at him. A wave rose up before him, captured them all, and washed them out the door—the barrage over as soon as it started.
“From now on, disrespecting the queen will no longer be tolerated,” Paxton drawled, uncaring of the two guys who flopped forward on the floor unconscious. “You will do what she says, when she says it, or it’s me who’ll slip into your fucking room at night and drown you in your sleep. Do you understand?”
Four people nodded—thrashing their heads on their necks.
“I said, do you understand!”
All heads were nodding now—thrashing their heads on their necks, like bobbleheads about to pop off.
Paxton released his fists.
“You fucking fish bastard!” Johnson roared, lurching to his feet. “ Kill yourself !” he commanded, blowing my eyes wide. “ Put your claws through your chest and rip your heart out! ”
“No,” I screamed, racing to Paxton as claws tore from his nailbeds, and he raised his hand. “NOO!”
“ Umpghf !” he grunted as I tackled him, wrapping my arms, legs, and whole body around his chest. “Luame, save me, woman, ravish my body later.”
My eyes lit on the little orange foam plugging his ear.
“I’m trying to teach a lesson here.” Paxton’s arm came up, and pointed at Johnson.
A tidal wave erupted from nowhere and blasted Johnson bellowing through the glass and out across the wolfball field. He flopped through the mud and grass—skidding to a hard and sudden stop.
He didn’t get up.
“Anyone else?” Paxton asked.
The screech and thud of dozens of butts hitting their seats were a shock to my ears, even though I came in here to put them in their place. I didn’t for a second believe it would be this easy.
I gaped at Paxton. No wonder you punished me for rejecting a prime piece of omega fine like him, Luame. I never considered myself a power groupie, but damned if my panties aren’t soaking.
Paxton clapped. “Now, Queen Daciana said she wanted five thousand words on why you fucking assholes are going to stop being assholes, wasn’t that right, Daze?”
“That—that’s right,” I croaked, finding my voice. “Five thousand words, and no one leaves this room until it’s finished. If you do leave without my finished essay, you can consider that your five-demerit ticket out of my school.”
Dozens of pairs of wide, red eyes and stricken faces looked back at me. They weren’t going anywhere.
“But just in case you try to test her...” Paxton crouched down, then jumped up—near punching the ceiling as two massive figures blinked into existence.
“Ahh!” I screamed, losing a lot of authority, but no one else noticed because they were too busy screaming too.
The sprites gazed around the room—still beautiful, still a magnificent creation of crystalline water and magic, still the most impossible beings I’d ever seen—but now two thousand times taller.
They towered over me, Paxton, and the wolves—their wild, undulating water heads brushing the ceiling—and screeched.
“Ahhh!” the alphas shouted, scrambling and climbing over their desks to get away.
The sprite giants didn’t follow, staying posted between them and the door.
“Get to writing,” Paxton called. Taking my hand, he rushed me goggling out of the door. “We have to go,” he hissed, slamming shut on the horrorfest inside.
“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked as we hurried down the hallway. “Will the sprites attack us too?”
“What?” Paxton removed the earplugs. “Oh, no. Course not. Sprites are harmless—big or small. I rushed you away because their singing is terrible. Poor things can’t find a tune with binoculars and a microscope.”
I gaped at me. “That—that wailing is singing!?”
He shrugged. “They’ll start dancing in a minute. Bet that will really scare those arrogant bastards.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Right on cue, the floors heaved and rolled under the merry glee of two stomping giants. The screams in the detention room ratcheted up to deafening. But all I could do was goggle at Paxton.
“You were amazing in there. I’ve seen a water wolf take down two or three enemies at once, but not two dozen of them, and then have enough strength left over afterward to summon a tidal wave and blast a grown wolf out the window.” I raked him up and down. “You’re not even winded. You haven’t broken a sweat, despite both our wolves being sick right now.”
Grinning lopsidedly, he shot me a wink. “Yeah, baby, I’m that good.”
A jolt rocked my core, tightening my lower belly and almost dropping me on my knees.
Alphas were considered the top dogs in our society, so many people tried to jump on their backs and ride them to the top. But then there were others who attached themselves to the wolves with the strongest powers—power groupies.
I never saw the point of doing either. As someone raised knowing I’d never be able to choose my partners, and that I’d have to accept whoever Luame chose for me, I couldn’t understand why people would push real love aside and date someone for superficial reasons.
But I thought that because I’d never seen Paxton and his full elemental power in action. Power groupies weren’t attracted to the power itself, they were panting over how hot that wolf looked while wielding it.
It was law-of-the-jungle attraction, baby—plain and simple.
“But you threatened them,” I pressed. “You said you’d kill them? Drown them where they stood, all for disrespecting me. Would you really have done it?”
Another shrug. “Without losing a wink of sleep.”
I nodded, humming. “I’m not a power groupie, okay? And I’m not a psycho who gets off on murder, and I’m also not a hypocrite who says one thing and does another.”
“Uhh...” His brows crumpled, confusion written all over his face. “Okay, I believe you. But why are you telling me this?”
“Because what I’m about to do next is going to make you think otherwise.”
“What are you about to—?”
I pounced on him, smashing my lips on his and swallowing his cry of surprise.