From the moment I realized Nell was absent for the day and I was left with Ethan and Lara, I felt we were on a countdown. To what, I wasn't sure. I was only beginning to learn basic patterns of lupine behavior, but even that limited knowledge was enough to know that this wouldn't be a sustainable situation long-term.
And for the life of me, I couldn't understand how Nell could think otherwise. Or perhaps she had too much faith in the stabilizing power of my proximity to Ethan. Only heaven knows. But whatever it was that took her away must have been important enough for her to trust Lara to hold the line with Ethan.
Of course, that was a mistake.
Oh, Lara was all polish, obedience, and smiles, standing right where Ethan had placed her, doing everything right. Until she wasn't.
It happened in the main hall, just after math class. Ethan and I lingered in the empty classroom. By now it had become a habit, him closing his eyes and relaxing for a minute before pulling back and forcibly resetting.
Except that day, there was no Nell. And no Nell meant nobody was there to keep Lara from checking in.
"What are you doing?!" Her sharp tone shook me before I even registered she'd entered the classroom. Her eyes were wide, shoulders pulled back, chin lowered.
Ethan didn't speak. He opened his eyes and looked at her. His spine straightened slowly. The air thickened in the familiar charged way.
"Out."
One word. Quiet.
But Lara's breath hitched as if he'd hit her with a boulder. It lasted a second before her eyes narrowed.
"Ethan." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried both shock and warning.
Ethan blinked once, slow. I sat there, paralyzed, not knowing whether to move or stay in place. It seemed none of it was a good choice.
"Out." He repeated, and it was final.
I watched Lara's throat bob up and down. Her gaze flicked over to me, cold and slippery, and then she simply turned around and walked out.
Ethan closed his eyes, breathed once, twice, until his shoulders relaxed once more. Only then did he turn towards me. He didn't smile, but his eyes were human, warm. It did something to me that had nothing to do with the pull that constantly hummed under the surface.
Outside, Lara waited against the wall at her designated place, eyes cold. She said nothing, simply slid by Ethan's left side as we walked.
We were halfway down the main hall when it happened.
Students flowed around us, quieter than they used to be, but observant. The space was filled with low-volume conversations, lockers clattering, an occasional high-pitched laugh that was quickly cut off. But their attention was always on us, even when they weren't watching, their bodies moving out of our way like water under a prow.
Lara slowed.
It was a tiny thing. Half a step. A fractional shift of weight. But in the river of movement it was like she had planted an anchor.
Ethan adjusted without thinking, a movement that looked like automatic recalibration.
Except this time, Lara didn't step just out of sync.
She stepped out of line.
Physically.
She moved two paces to the left, then turned so her shoulder faced Ethan and her back cut the hall at an angle that blocked nearly everyone coming from that side.
In a second everyone's head was turning.
Ethan caught the shift immediately. He stilled.
For a moment he looked between us.
Literally between. Lara on his left, chin up, eyes locked on him in a way that even I could see was a challenge. I remained on his right, frozen, heart slamming so hard I thought I might be shaking.
The space around us constricted.
The boys standing nearest had gone utterly silent. I saw Ryan a little way down, arm off Tess now, expression sharp and cold. Matt stood near a locker, hands loose at his sides, head slightly lowered. Watching.
Lara didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The question stood there anyway.
Where do you stand? With whom?
Choose.
Ethan's jaw clenched. A muscle fluttered in his cheek. He inhaled once, fast, pulling in scent.
Mine. Hers. All of theirs.
His pupils blew huge, black almost all the way out, then pinched back, like he physically forced them to constrict.
He knew what Lara was doing.
Everyone did.
And even though I was only beginning to learn the rules of lupine society, I understood this in my gut.
If he stepped back to me, he broadcast it to the entire hall. To the entire pack. He would have made a statement he could not walk back from.
If he stepped toward her and left me exposed, he'd broadcast something else.
That Kelsey Blackwell, the bloodkin girl, was no longer under his claim.
That she was fair game.
My stomach turned over.
I hated Lara in that second more than I had ever hated anyone in my life.
Not because she wanted him to choose her. That part made sense. From everything they told me, I gathered that she'd been raised for that. Groomed for that. Conditioned to expect that.
No, I hated her because she was willing to risk my life, Ethan's standing, maybe even a mass fight. For her own ego.
Seconds passed and Ethan remained still.
The silence ticked like a clock.
I could only imagine the storm that must've be raging within him.
His eyes flashed to mine and my spine froze.
Because I saw the tiniest hint of alarm there, buried deep. The panic of a person who knew they were standing on a fault line and that any step might trigger an earthquake.
Something inside me did a horrible, impossible thing. Before he could take a step towards me and condemn us both, I made myself lift my chin, just a fraction. I met his gaze and tried to pack an entire sentence into one look.
You have to.
You have to choose her. Find a way to keep your place or we'll both pay the price.
I let my eyes travel toward Lara's side. It felt like stepping on a path made of hot coals, and I was doing it on purpose.
His pupils flexed again. His throat worked.
Every part of my gut was screaming no, no, no , but my mind understood: if I forced him into my corner now, it was not just my heart that would pay for it.
It would be Hailey. Dad. Jack. Elise. Nell. Ethan. Everyone.
Do it, I thought, the way you peel off a bandage. Just do it.
He saw it. And I could tell every cell in his body hated it.
Still, with effort like every inch cost him, he slowly turned toward Lara's side.
He didn't completely abandon me. He didn't present his back. He shifted just enough that a casual observer would attest he chose his fiancée over the freak bloodkin girl.
Lara's mouth curved just enough to declare victory.
She moved too, closing the gap to stand half a step closer to him, shoulder nearly brushing his. The image was enough.
The energy in the hall changed instantly.
It felt like the pack had collectively let out a breath, took another, then settled back into the usual routine.
Except that guy Matt still stood a little too still, looking at us. And when Ethan shot him a warning gaze, his own held Ethan's just a second longer than usual.