Chapter 16 Aftersoundb. /b

Chapter 16 Aftersound

ARDEN

s

“What?” Tessa eximed, shock seen in her eyes. She acted like I bhad /bjust uttered some unspeakable horror.

In this day and age, it was downright absurd to bthink /bthere was ba /bwerewolf without a phone. We had fully embraced the human culture, and in this country, we even had to deal with the mischief of Tablet Pups.

“Well,” I hesitated, choosing my words carefully, “let’s just say my mom is a little controlling?”

Tessa pursed her lips thoughtfully, then began rummaging through her bag. Momentster, she took out a wornb–/bout phone and tossed it to me casually.

“It’s my old phone,” bshe /bsaid. “But bjust /ba heads–up–it has a mind of its own.”

I stared at her, my eyes wide with disbelief. “This is way too much, Tessa. Are you sure-

Without letting me finish, she waved me off dismissively, “You’re actually doing me ba /bfavor by taking it,” she insisted. “I’ve wiped all the previous bdata/b, so you can start fresh right away. Trust me, this is a bgood /bbthing/b. It’s been my phone for so long. and I couldn’t bring myself to just throw it away. Handing it to you makes it feel like it’s not going to waste,” she added softly.

“Oh, and I’ve beven /badded the application for our school’s page,” she added, brightening the atmosphere a bit.

A small smile appeared across my lips as I unlocked the phone band /bnavigated straight to the app that required me to register my ID number to create an ount. I found myself pressing the screen multiple times for each letter to appear, but t couldn’t afford toin. My finances bhad /bbeen drained dry for first–semester tuition and the dorm lease, so I definitely couldn’t afford a brand new phone.

“The ranking is on the homepage.” Tessa pointed out. I bnodded/b, spotting it immediately. There was an overall ranking, then. one designated for men and another for womenb. /b

With the school year just beginning, I didn’t expect to see any startling statistics, but what I found made my heart sink.

At bthe /bvery btop /bof the overall list was Jaxon

“How is this beven /bbpossible/b?” I muttered under my breath.

I felt the bed dip beside me as Tessa leaned in to scrutinize the screen.

“How does he bhave /btwo hundred bpoints /balready?” I questioned, astonished. It’s only the first day of school.”

Tess chewed on her lip thoughtfully. “Well, I bheard /bhe’s racking up bpoints /bearly by sleeping with different women. It seems he wants to bovertake /bthe list pretty quickly.”

I pursed my blips/bb. /bWas I blind for the two years I loved him? How did I not bnotice /bhe was this bdesperate/b? bAnd /bbhe /bbwas /bwith Sienna. 100, but I doubt she was bupset /bbabout /bthisb. /b

The second name on the list somehow made my heart drop, too.

Cade was close behind with 190 points. I sighed band /bshook my head. He’s also an Alpha–and I bsaw /bbfirsthand /bhow he made our with that woman before.

Rowan was third and Elias was fourth. They were already dominating the list.

I diverted my attention back to the screen, trying to search for my own name. It took bquite /ba bit of scrolling before I bfinally /b

realized

“My bname /bbisn’t /blisted here. Yours isn’t either”

Tessa sighed deeply “That’s because this list only shows the students most likely to rise to bthe /btop. Only the top 100 among both bfreshmen /bband /bseniors. bDon’t /bworry. This list is more for pride’s sake. You can check your own ranking at the homepage.”

b1/2 /b

10:43 A

1

Chapter 16 Aftersound

I clicked on my name right away and bsaw /bthe measly ten points I bwon /bbwith /bCade during the dodgeball game..

Arden Stone – Rank 365

“It’s soplicated.” I groaned. “If only I bhad /bknown it was like this-

1 caught myself and swallowed the thought. No, this was my only option. I couldn’t stay with the pack any longer.

“What were you going to say?” Tessa asked.

“Nothing.” I muttered, deflecting her question.

b+5 /bFree Coins

“It’s going to be a cutthroatpetition.” Tessa continued, leaning back against the bedrest, her voice taking on a serious tone. It’s only going to get more challenging each day. So, the fastest way to climb the rankings is to have sex with the highest–ranking bAlphas/bb./b”

I didn’t respond, continuing to navigate through the school page. My eyes suddenlynded on a small ck option at the very top of the homepage, nestled quietly within the navigation bar. Without a second thought, I pressed on it, but immediately regretted my impulsiveness.

The

e room

was filled with moans.

Ah right there! Jazon, fuck me harder please,”

“You like that, you little slut?”

A video yed automatically, and it was of Jaxon and a woman that definitely wasn’t Sienna. It didn’t seem to be an edited. video. It was raw footage, almost as if it was live.

He trusted into her blike /bban /bbanimal /bin heat. The woman took it without anyints, moaning with every thrust into her body. Her fingers dug into the sheets, her hips bucking wildly as he pounded her over and over-

Yet as I scrolled bfurther/b, I found this bwasn’t /bthe only video. I tried to turn it off, but Tessa’s phone wasn’t cooperating. So, this was what she meant by the phone having ba /bmind of its own.

My cheeks flushed crimson as I flung the phone underneath the pillowb, /bprompting Tessa to erupt into a fit of bughter/b.

-I wasn’t doing anything! I just clicked on one of the buttons, band /bit led me to that. I bswear/bb, /bbI /bdidn’t mean to

Her uproariousughter interrupted my frantic defense. “Oh, Arden. You’re bso /bbadorably /bbnaive/b! You’ve only stumbled bupon /bthe Aftersound”

“Aftersound?” I echoed, bconfusion /blining my voice.

“Exactly If there’s an echo, then there’s ban /baftersound. That’s where the students of bElite /breveal btheir /bproof of sexual bpoints/b. It’d be all too easy to fabricate a story about sleeping bwith /bthe Alphas or banyone /belse, which is bwhy /bthis system is bin /bce to ensure authenticity in iming those points.”

“And no bone /bthink this is even slightly strange?” I eximed incredulously. “Isn’t this bbeyond /bbweird/b?”

turi

“It can only be essed using a valid student ID bnumber/b. Everyone here is pretty chill about it. It’s what bwe /bsigned up for in Elite”

I hit my lip in frustration.

Crap

“What have I gotten myself binto/bb?/bb” /b