No Place to Hide
I could barely sleep. Every sound, the wind, the creak of the window, even the faintest rustle, snapped my eyes open, and my heart would slam hard against my ribs. I felt like a zombie.
“You look awful,” Lily said as we stepped out of the dorm. I’d found out yesterday she was my other roommate.
I turned to her just as Emma, standing to my right, spoke next. “Yeah, honey, you look really bad. I know your first days here are rough, we all did but you don’t look okay. Are you sure you’re fine?”
Emma. My other roommate. I sighed, running a hand through my face.
“I didn’t sleep well, that’s all.”
“Then… homesick?”
I didn’t answer for a moment. No, it wasn’t homesickness. The pack didn’t feel like home. No one wanted to associate with the anomaly of the pack. I wasn’t missing home. The main thing was the Triumvirate.
Those Alphas.
Haunting my mind, my thoughts, my body like a plague.
Heat lingered in me, even without sleep. I could still feel their hands, the way Kane’s palm had pressed over my breast, the pressure sharp and claiming. I’d never been touched like that before… not truly. Well, yes, I had but without consent. I shook the thought off.
Another thought slithered in. Those Alphas hadn’t really touched me with my consent, had they?
No. What happened under the willow tree wasn’t the same. It couldn’t be. Even now, hours later, my body still remembered the way it had arched into Kane’s hand instead of away, the way my hips had rolled back without permission. The way Saint’s tongue had felt like worship, not violation.
I hated that memory most of all.
Lily and Emma glanced at me as we walked toward the dining hall for breakfast. The campus was bright, bustling, students laughing, coffee cups in hand, sunlight glinting off the stone buildings like nothing had changed.
But everything had.
“You sure you’re okay?” Emma asked again, softer this time. She was tall, red-haired, confident in a way I envied. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
Three ghosts, I thought. With fangs, knots, and eyes that promised to ruin me.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Just… adjusting.”
Lily didn’t look convinced, but she let it drop. She knew better than to push.
We grabbed trays, eggs, toast, fruit I didn’t taste, and found a table near the back. I picked at my food, every bite sticking in my throat.
Then I felt it again.
The prickle at the base of my neck.
The slow, deliberate slide of eyes over my skin.
I looked up.
Across the dining hall, by the windows, sat the Triumvirate.
Rhys leaned back, one arm draped over Kane’s chair, lazy and in control. Golden eyes locked on me instantly, as if he’d been waiting for me to notice.
Kane leaned forward, elbows on the table, staring like he wanted to vault over every chair and drag me onto his lap. His tongue traced his lower lip slowly.
Saint, human now, largest of the Alphas, messy black hair, one ice-blue eye visible, chin propped on his hand. He didn’t blink. Just stared, like I was the only thing in the room worth looking at.
My fork clattered against my plate.
Lily followed my gaze and froze.
Emma whispered, “Oh shit.”
The dining hall seemed to quiet, like the air itself knew predators had walked in.
Rhys smiled, beautiful, terrifying, and lifted his coffee in a mocking toast.
Kane mouthed something I couldn’t read from this distance, but the shape of his lips said it all: Ours.
Saint just tilted his head, eyes locked on me, pressing two fingers to his lips then pointing straight at me.
My thighs clenched. Heat flooded my face. Between my legs.
I dropped my gaze, heart racing. Food forgotten.
Lily leaned in, voice barely a whisper. “Scarlett… breathe.”
I couldn’t.
Breakfast was over.
I shot up, eyes fixed on the Alphas staring like they wanted to devour me. I didn’t look at anyone else, just turned sharply, rushing toward the cafeteria doors. I could hear my name called, but all I wanted was to escape, somewhere I could breathe, somewhere I wouldn’t feel hunted.
Then my leg caught on something hard.
The world tipped. I fell face-first onto a tray of pudding. It splattered across my face, into my hair. The tray hit my face with a sharp, stinging thud.
Laughter filled the air. I lifted my pudding-covered face. Expensive flat shoes blocked my view. I looked up to see a blonde girl smiling.
“Oh honey, we’re so sorry. We didn’t see you coming,” she said.
I didn’t believe her. I slowly stood, tears threatening to fall, students snapping photos, laughing.
“Scarlett,” I heard my name. Lily, Emma, and Milo rushed toward me. I caught the Triumvirate out of the corner of my eye. They just stared. I could have sworn I saw a twitch of a smile.
Tears spilled.
“Is the little human crying?” a tall boy near the blonde sneered.
The word hit harder than the tray.
I was the freak. The runt. The anomaly.
And the entire dining hall watched.
Lily’s voice cut through. “Leave her alone!”
Milo and Emma pushed through the crowd, faces twisted with worry and anger. “Move!” Milo snapped at a laughing group blocking the way.
I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t stand there one more second with all those eyes on me.
Three pairs of predator eyes across the room. Just watching.
I turned and ran.
Tears blurred my vision. My shoes slapped wetly against the floor, pudding squelching. I shoved past bodies, ignored gasps and laughter.
“Scarlett!” Lily called, closer now.
I didn’t stop.
Bursting through the doors into the bright morning light, cool air hit my sticky face like a slap. My chest burned. Legs carried me across the quad, past the willow tree still scented with them, toward the only place I could think of:
The library.
Neutral ground. No designations. No dominance games.
I didn’t slow until I was inside, doors swinging shut behind me, the sudden quiet swallowing the noise.
I leaned against a bookshelf, sliding down until I sat on the floor, knees to my chest.
Pudding in my hair. Tears on my cheeks. Heart trying to punch its way out of my ribs.
I was shaking so hard my teeth chattered.
And even here, in the one place that was supposed to be safe…
But I still felt them.