Chapter 42
“I’m fine, Viv. Just got a lot going on.”
A lie. A terrible one.
Because his gaze drifted again, drawn like a magnet to Ellie’s bright laugh across the courtyard.
Heat crawled up my throat, and I had to bite down to keep it from spilling out. I wasn’t desperate. I refused to be desperate. Dominic had always chosen me, because I’d given him every reason to. Ellie was the one who begged for what she could never have. But somehow, the sentence slipped out of me sounding like a gamble I couldn’t afford to lose.
I forced my voice light, airy, warm. “You know… my birthday’s this weekend.”
That got his attentionagain, but only because I said his name next.
“And I want you there, Dominic.”
He finally looked at me, brow furrowed. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’ll come.”
He offered a smile, but I couldn’t tell if he meant it. I never could.
But I did. I gave him the softest, sweetest smile I could muster, because that always won. No one questioned it.
“Great, that makes me so happy,” I whispered, holding his gaze until he had no choice but to look at me.” Because what happened wasn’t on you. She’s just being a drama queen and not considering others. Selfish. My party will mean more then that stupid course anyways, it’s going to be big. Beautiful. Unforgettable.”
And it would be.
I’d make sure of it.
Ellie made a whole scene in that stupid mate seminar, soaking up attention that should’ve been mine. After her little personality flip, she seems to thrive on chaos, on stumbling her way into other people’s moments. But I wouldn’t let her ruin another one of mine. Not this time. At my party-under my lights, my music, with every eye exactly where I wanted them-Dominic would remember where he belonged.
Next to me.
Where he was always meant to stand… and where she would never be welcome.
Ellie POV
By the time I reach the end of the east hallway, my fingers are already wandering to the faint mark on my neck.
It isn’t painful, Lucas wasn’t rough, just tender. Annoyingly noticeable if someone looks too closely.
It made it easier to have on display though, considering I wasn’t the only one.
Half the girls on campus are wearing the exact same kind of bruise today, courtesy of the mate seminar.
Man, that seminar cause way too many problems.
It’s ridiculous that something as stupid as a fake mate-course bite could shift the entire social atmosphere, but here we are. The whole campus feels like it’s vibrating – relationships imploding, new ones forming, three fights just since this morning. Someone threw a chair during lunch because their “mate-choice” didn’t pick them.
1/2
+25 Bonus
And then there was…Dominic storming out. Everyone noticed that. And that pain in my side from our bond didn’t leave for an hour. Thought I was going to puke.
I sighed, sweeping my hair over my shoulder at my locker. I don’t get it.
As I pass clusters of students, I catch the usual gossip drifting through the air.
“Did you see Lucas’s mark on Ellie?”
“Maybe she really did move on.”
“Still, she’s messing with two Alphas. What a two timing reach.”
They laugh, but I smile. Honestly, at least people were starting to not assossite me with Dominic anymore. Maybe everyone will finally understand how stupid fate can be.
I turn the corner-
And stop dead.
Through the glass doors leading to the courtyard, I see him.
2/2
.25 Bonus
