Chapter 38
“What!” Tyler deflates instantly. “Aw, man. Makes sense though. They look stupidly good together.” He sighs like a tragic poet. “Must be nice. Walking in already knowing you’re getting a guaranteed hottie. Destiny served on a silver platter.”
He and Marcus fist-bump like absolute idiots.
I roll my eyes. “You two sound like children. And fated mates aren’t that simple.”
Marcus smirks. “Says the guy with two sisters trying to climb him like a cat tree.”
Tyler nods. “Yeah, man. Let’s not pretend you’re not the main event for the student body. Future Alpha perks.”
I shake my head, but they’re not wrong.
Marcus leans in, whispering loudly enough for half the room to hear, “So who’s it gonna be? Vivian, or Ellie?”
I don’t dignify that with a response.
Marcus smacks my arm. “Bet it’s Vivian. She’s practically glowing.”
“No chance,” Tyler counters. “He’s fated to Ellie. They’ve been circling each other for years.
I roll my neck. “Didn’t I tell you both to stay out of my business? Leave Ellie out-”
Marcus squeezes my shoulder, grinning. “Whoa, no need to bite our heads off again. We didn’t say anything about either girl! Relax! It’s a good day!”
They keep bickering and despite myself, I huff out something dangerously close to amusement.
But when my gaze drifts to the door and she’s not there yet, the feeling evaporates.
Marcus nudges me again. “Don’t stress. She’ll show. And she’ll pick you. Obviously.”
Tyler gives me a teasing smirk. “Yeah, dude. Vivian or Ellie-girls love the Alpha thing.”
I don’t answer.
Then the door opens and Ellie walks in, and something in my chest squeezes before I can stop it.
“Ah,” Marcus says with a nod. “There’s the troublemaker.”
She scans the room, and for one flicker of a moment, I think her eyes might land on me.
They don’t.
Not even a twitch of recognition. Not a glance.
My brow tightens.
Before I can dwell on it, the instructor claps loudly at the front of the room.
“Welcome! Today is about connection between ‘mates.’ Choose your partner for the exercise, and yes, more than
one of you may compete for the same person. But you must choose one. So, pair up!”
The room erupts instantly. Whispers. Gasps. People spinning in circles like confused penguins.
The instructor waves her hand. “You have five minutes! Don’t be shy!”
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Marcus leans toward Tyler. “Five bucks says Vivian gets Dom.”
Tyler smirks. “You’re on.”
But before I can respond, I’m swarmed. Ellie and Vivian are nowhere in sight.
Girls bee-line straight for me, perfume assaulting my nose, hands reaching, voices overlapping like I’m some limited-edition collectible.
I stiffen, give a tight smile, and do my best not to recoil. It’s flattering, sure, but also suffocating.
And the one person I expect to push through this crowd?
Still hasn’t looked at me once.
Then Vivian slips through the crowd, landing at my side like she’s floating on air.
“Dominic?” she asks softly, fingers curling around my sleeve. “Should we partner up? I mean… it just makes sense, right?”
A few girls gasp. Someone mutters, “Of course she asked him first.”
And somewhere behind me, Marcus cheers, Tyler groaning.
I barely register any of it.
Vivian shifts closer, smile sweet andhopeful. “Dom? Did you hear me? Should we—”
“I heard you,” I say, but my attention is already drifting, snapping, tuning out the rest of the room until it narrows to one single point.
Ellie.
She’s still standing exactly where she came in. Arms crossed tight. Jaw locked. Expression full of pure annoyance like the universe personally offended her.
When her eyes meet mine, a pressure in my chest curls into a smirk.
If she’s annoyed, she cares.
If she’s pretending not to care, she still cares.
Either way, I know how this works.
She’ll cave, drop her pride, and come to me in the end.
I’m watching every tiny shift in her body like it’s written for me to read. The tilt of her head. The scan of her eyes. The inhale that looks like she’s bracing.
Then she moves.
Forward. Toward me.
A slow, smug grin starts curling onto my mouth.
There it is.
I was right. Nothing’s changed. She can play all the games she wants, but fate is fate-
23
Closer.
Closer.
Two steps away.
I open my mouth, ready with a smug little, Took you long enough—
She walks straight past me.
So close her shoulder brushes mine.
I freeze.
The world jerks sideways and my lungs forget their job.
I turn – slowly – like my neck might snap — and her eyes are locked on—
Lucas.
He grins like this was always the plan. Like he knows exactly what she wants.
“Ellie,” he says, giving a stupid little bow. “Will you be my partner?”
D
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