Claimed by the Alpha

a

od-splattered glass. By morning, I'd almost convinced myself it was a trick of the arena lights. Eye

y. Everyone was talking about Liam's brutal takedown, about how he'd single-han

knew how ri

sized sweater hung loose on my small frame, and my worn jeans had a hole near the left knee that I'd

at eyes were following me, watching from the shadows. Eve

what crawled out f

tinez, Millfield's queen bee and Liam's on-and-off girlfriend. I slowly turned around

said, her glossy lips curving into a predatory smile. "What's

eeks. "I wasn't lu

xpensive perfume making my nose wrinkle. "Did you really think som

of hyenas. I tried to step around them, but

any grabbed my backpack and yanked me ba

My voice came out smaller than I inte

. "How adorable. You know what, Maya?

against my shoulder blades, sending shooting pain down my spine. My books scattere

ssing closer. "At the bottom. Invisible. Alone.

going

antly recognizable. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, and suddenly Liam Black

opped beati

tails I'd never noticed before. The sharp line of his jaw. The way his dark hair fell across his

ee, but there was something wild lurking in their

cruel to sweet. "I was just explaining to Maya

ttered at my feet. Something flickered across his face – anger, maybe,

t l

friends immediately stepped back, suddenly very interested in examining their

.." Jessic

ow

look that promised this wasn't over, then stalked away

ro in every teen movie, his good deed done for the day. Instead, he tur

nding to gather my scattered

voice was cold as a winter w

I looked up at him. His face was a mask of indifference, but there w

d, his voice dropping even lower. "But you saw nothing. And y

ck knew my name, and he w

stammered, getting to my fe

er, and I caught a scent that made my head spin, pine trees and winter air

ever been there at all. I stood alone in the empty hallwa

I'd done was witness his fight, seen his eyes change color for just a

t of my

e. Through lunch, where I sat alone picking at a sandwich I couldn't taste. Through chemistry, where I

n felt too tight, like something was trying to claw its way out from the insid

a conscious decision to do so. My feet just carried me

eady cleaned up from last night's game. But something pulled me forward, deeper into the

as well have been hieroglyphics. That strange pulling sensation in my chest was

told myself. *You

omething important was about to happen.

ows across the ice. It should have been peaceful, calming. Instea

I heard th

rridors. I pressed myself deeper into the shadows, my heart racin

footsteps, these ones different – the sharp scrape of sk

igure step onto the ice. Even in the dim lig

i

hing, his head tilted to one side like he was listening for

d slowly turned in a circle, his face t

ke an invisible rope connecting us. I pressed my hand ag

snapped in m

see his eyes beginning to glow. That same impossible gold

omehow, he knew exact

om here as possible. But my body wouldn't move. I was frozen

sical blow. The inhuman speed and strength. The way his teammates kept t

se entirely. Something dangerous. Something that was looking at me

oken in a voice so low and rough I fel

at