A New Predator
KANE
Our omega was avoiding our eyes.
We’d claimed the entire back row like always, four seats, three Alphas, one empty spot that had her name written all over it.
Rhys lounged by the left window, one arm stretched along the back of the seat, golden gaze locked on her like a sniper.
Saint sat on the right, massive frame taking up too much space, ice-blue eye fixed on her with that sad, confused puppy stare he only ever wore when she was near.
And me? I was right beside her assigned seat, close enough to smell the vanilla-honey panic rolling off her skin.
She’d walked in with those two little Omegas, Lily and the loud one, Milo and the second she spotted us, her whole body went stiff. Green eyes flicked to us, then away so fast it was almost funny. She muttered something to her friends, voice too low for human ears but crystal clear to us.
“I can’t sit there.”
No one offered to trade. Of course they didn’t. One look from Rhys and the whole room knew better.
So she sat.
Right between us.
Now she was staring at her desk like it held the secrets of the universe, cheeks pink, fingers twisting the hem of her skirt under the table. Trying so hard not to look at us.
“Why does she avoid us?” Saint’s deep voice rumbled in my ear, low enough only Rhys and I could hear through our bond.
I turned to him. He was practically pouting—big, scarred murder machine with sad droopy eyes, staring at our girl like she’d kicked him.
“Our omega’s just being feisty,” I whispered back, sliding my hand into his hair and ruffling it rough. “She’s not upset with us.”
I leaned closer, tongue flicking the shell of his ear just to watch him shiver. “She’s scared. And turned on. Smell that slick? She’s thinking about that night.”
Saint’s nostrils flared. A low growl vibrated in his chest, but it wasn’t angry. It was hungry.
Rhys’s voice slid through the bond, smooth and dark. “Easy, boys. She’s still processing. We push too hard, she bolts again.”
I grinned, fingers tightening in Saint’s hair. “Let her bolt. I like chasing.”
Scarlett shifted in her seat, thighs pressing together. The movement sent another wave of her scent straight to my cock. I had to adjust myself under the desk before I ripped through another pair of jeans.
Saint leaned forward, elbows on his knees, staring at her profile like he was memorizing it. “Want to touch,” he muttered aloud this time, voice gravel.
She jumped, head snapping toward him. Green eyes wide. Lips parted.
Fuck, I wanted those lips around me.
My hand landed on Saint’s shoulder, squeezing once. “Not here.”
Saint whined. Actually whined.
Scarlett’s gaze darted to me next, and I didn’t bother hiding my smirk. I let my eyes drag down her body slow enough she felt it over the way her uniform hugged her tits, the curve of her waist, down to where her skirt had ridden up just enough to show a sliver of thigh.
“Morning, little rabbit,” I said, voice low. “Sleep well?”
Her cheeks went scarlet. She looked away fast, but not before I saw her bite that plump lower lip.
I leaned toward her seat, my hand clamping down on her soft thigh as my dick jerked in my pants. I brought my mouth close to her ear and whispered, “Stop biting that lip. You’re giving me some very dirty thoughts, Scarlett.”
I drew out her name and felt her tense beneath my hand. Her eyes fluttered shut, her fingers curling into a fist against her thigh.
Then she opened her eyes and turned those beautiful doe eyes at me.
Her voice was shaky but firm. “T…take your hand off my thigh. I’m not your property.”
I arched a brow, fingers tightening instead of releasing. Her skin was so fucking soft under my palm, warm and trembling. My dick jerked in my pants, already leaking at the thought of sliding higher, finding that slick I could smell dripping for us.
Rhys’s voice cut through the bond, calm and lethal. “Kane. Ease up. She’s not ready for public yet.”
I was about to lean in, whisper exactly how wrong she was, how she’d been ours the second Rhys tasted her blood, when the professor’s voice boomed from the front.
“Class, settle down. We have a new transfer student joining us today.”
The door opened.
And in walked the guy from yesterday, the one who’d carried our omega out of the woods like he had any fucking right.
Kaiden Black.
Scarlett’s entire body went rigid beside me. Her eyes went wide, lips parting on a soft gasp. Pink flooded her cheeks.
My vision tunneled.
Saint sat up straight, a low rumble starting in his chest.
Rhys’s lazy posture vanished. His arm dropped from the back of the seat, fingers curling into a fist.
The new guy, tall, built, dark hair still a little messy from whatever the fuck he’d been doing scanned the room. His gaze landed on Scarlett and stayed.
He smiled.
Not a polite smile.
A knowing one.
Like he remembered how she felt in his arms.
I was going to rip his fucking face off.
The professor gestured. “Mr. Black, there’s an empty seat in the back row. Right in front of Miss O’Hara.”
Kaiden’s smile widened. He walked straight toward us.
Scarlett’s scent spiked, embarrassment, relief, something warmer I didn’t fucking like.
He stopped at her desk, reached out, and brushed a knuckle across her forehead like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“I hope you’re feeling better,” he said, voice low, just for her.
Her cheeks went pinker. “Yes… thank you, Kaiden.”
Kaiden.
She said his name like it tasted good.
Then he looked at me, straight in the eyes and smiled again.
No scent.
No Alpha pheromones. No Beta softness. No Omega sweetness.
Nothing.
Just human… or something pretending to be.
I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like him.
And when he turned to take the seat in front of her, back to us, like he wasn’t surrounded by three Alphas who’d already decided she was ours. I had to grip the desk to keep from vaulting over it and snapping his neck.
In the bond, Rhys’s voice was ice. “He touched her.”
Saint’s growl was barely audible. “Want to kill.”
I bared my teeth. “Not yet. But soon.”
Because no one, no fucking one touched what belonged to the Triumvirate.
And lived.