Not Asked For
SCARLETT
I sighed, dragging my hand down my face.
I can’t believe I just did that.
How could I touch myself like that in a bathroom stall?
It wasn’t like I’d never done it before. I had, countless times, late at night in my room back home, muffling sounds into my pillow so no one would hear. But never like this. Never so desperate, so out of control, just from one forced kiss and a room full of pheromones.
I cleaned up as best I could with toilet paper, hands still shaking.
Pulled my panties back up even though they were ruined and smoothed my skirt down.
My face was flushed, hair a mess, lips swollen.
I looked exactly like what I was: a girl who’d just come hard thinking about three psychopath Alphas.
Great.
I splashed cold water on my face at the sink, avoiding my own reflection. My heart was still racing, thighs still sticky. Their scents clung to me like smoke.
I had to get out of here.
I grabbed my bag, unlocked the door, and stepped into the hallway.
And walked straight into a solid chest.
Strong hands caught my arms to steady me.
“Whoa, easy.”
Kaiden.
Of course it was Kaiden.
I froze, face burning hotter than before. His hands were warm through my sleeves, grip gentle but firm. Up close, he smelled like fresh rain and something clean I couldn’t place, no pheromones, no designation scent, just… him.
I couldn’t look at him. Not after that kiss. Not after what I’d just done thinking about it.
“S-sorry,” I mumbled, trying to step around him.
He didn’t let go right away. “Scarlett.”
The way he said my name, soft, curious made my stomach flip.
I forced my eyes up. His dark ones were watching me, not laughing, not judging. Just… concerned?
“You okay?” he asked. “You ran out of class pretty fast.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, voice too high. “Just… needed air.”
He let go of my arms but didn’t move back. “Air, huh?” A small smile tugged at his lips. “Looked more like you were trying to outrun a wildfire.”
I swallowed. “Something like that.”
He glanced down the empty hallway, then back at me. “Those three… the Triumvirate. They your Alphas?”
My head snapped up. “What? No!”
The word came out louder than I meant, almost panicked.
He raised a brow, smile turning knowing. “Really? Because they were showering you with pheromones like you were their mated Omega. The whole room could smell it. You could smell it.”
My face went nuclear. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me.
“They’re not… ” I started, then stopped. What could I even say? They weren’t my anything. Except they’d kissed me in front of everyone. Growled “ours.” Acted like I already belonged to them.
Kaiden’s expression softened. “Hey. I’m not judging. Just… be careful. Guys like that don’t share well.”
I hugged my bag to my chest like a shield. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
He studied me for a second, something unreadable in his eyes. “Good,” he said quietly. “Keep it that way.”
Then he stepped aside, giving me space to pass.
I hurried down the hall, heart pounding again for completely different reasons.
But even as I walked away, I felt his gaze on my back, piercing but somehow gentle.
Nothing like the burning, possessive stares I’d left behind in class.
And for the first time since arriving at Silvercrest…
I wasn’t sure which kind scared me more.
****
“Do you know you’re the talk of the whole school right now?” Emma whispered dramatically as we settled into the library chairs, me and Lily opposite her and Milo.
I sighed, already knowing where this was going.
“The whole school is buzzing about *the kiss*,” Emma continued, leaning in, voice dropping to a conspiratorial hush. “But tell us, I’m dying here, how was it? Kissing Kane? He’s one of the hottest Alphas in the entire school. Come on, how did it feel to smooch a dominant like that?”
I looked up from my book and fixed her with a flat stare. I’d come here to study, we had a test tomorrow and I definitely didn’t need the image of Kane’s soft-but-firm lips flooding my brain again.
“Emma, cut it out,” Lily said sharply, her usually gentle voice edged with steel. “What’s so great about a kiss that wasn’t asked for?”
The table went quiet.
Emma’s mouth opened, then closed. She flushed, looking down at her notes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
I stared at my book, words blurring.
Lily was right. It hadn’t been asked for.
But my body hadn’t exactly fought it either.
Milo cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood. “Anyway… let’s focus on tomorrow’s test. Behavioral Hierarchy, chapter six, pack dynamics under stress, right?”
I nodded gratefully and flipped to the page, but my mind refused to cooperate.
It kept drifting back to Kane’s mouth.
To the way his hand had cradled my jaw like I was something precious.
To how, for one terrifying heartbeat, I’d kissed him back.
Lily nudged my foot under the table. When I met her eyes, they were soft with worry.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” she whispered. “But if you ever want to… I’m here.”
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “Thanks.”
Emma leaned forward, voice quieter now. “Just… be careful, okay? Everyone’s saying the Triumvirate marked you as theirs in front of the whole school. That’s not something they undo.”
Milo gave a quiet snort. “Understatement of the century.”
I forced a laugh that sounded hollow even to me. “I’m not theirs. It was just… a power play. To scare Kaiden.”
Three pairs of eyes looked at me like I’d sprouted wings.
“Scar,” Milo said gently, “Kane doesn’t kiss people to scare random new guys. He doesn’t kiss *anyone*. Not in public.”
Emma nodded. “And Rhys let it happen. Saint didn’t rip the guy’s throat out for talking back. That’s… huge.”
Lily bit her lip. “They’re serious.”
My stomach twisted.
I didn’t want to be serious to anyone.
I wanted to pass my classes.
I didn’t want three psychopath Alphas deciding I was their forever Omega.
But my body…
My body kept remembering how it had melted under Kane’s mouth.
How slick had soaked me the second their pheromones hit.
How my heart raced when they looked at me like I was something worth claiming.
I closed my book with a soft thud.
“I need coffee,” I muttered, standing.
Lily stood too. “I’ll come with you.”
We left Milo and Emma to their notes and headed for the little coffee station in the corner of the library.
And then Lily said something that stopped me dead in my tracks.
“I’m pregnant.”