Chapter 27 What’s His Deal?

SERAPHINA

Alpha Asher’s jaw clenched the moment his eyes found me. The same cheek I had pped yesterday was still faintly pink, and his bre /bburned like wildfire.

He stepped back, his expression btwisted /bin fury, as if he were staring at his sworn enemy.

“You bblind/b, you little bastard?” he bsnarled/b, voice low and dangerous as he stormed toward bme/b, murder in his eyes. The clearing fell into a tense silence, every Alpha pausing mid–bite, mid–bword/bb. /bbAll /beyes turned to us.

“You think you’re a hero because I let you live after byou /bsmacked me?” He grabbed me by the cor, yanking me forward. Some of the bAlphas /baround bus /bblit /bup with excitement, cheering quietly as if waiting for blood to spill, and hoping it would be

mine.

“Now that you’ve touched me like you used me of touching you yesterday,” he growled, his voice sharp as broken ss,

shouldn’t I repay byou /ba bhundredfold/bb?/b”

His hand began to shift–muscles tensing, ws extending toward my bjaw/b.

But before I could even react, a hand darted between us–stealing thest piece of bsteak /bfrom my te..

Asher’s w froze mid–air.

“Mm…” Ronan took azy bite of the steak, chewing slowly as every bAlpha /bgaped in stunned silence. Then, with maddening nonchnce, he nced at me and murmured, “Since you’re about to die today, I figured this would go to waste.”

He licked his blips /bwith a bored expression.

My lips twitched. What a great bman/b.

I ignored the gasping crowd and turned back to the Alpha still gripping my cor, One problem at a time.

“I’m sorry, Alpha Asher,” I said bcalmly/b. Asher’s scowl flickered into something closer to confusion. “I was wrong.” I continued, raising my

bvoice /bso everyone could hear. “I believed something that wasn’t true. bAnd /bbI /bacted without hearing your side.”

The air shifted, curious murmurs rippling across the clearing. Asher blinked, clearly not expecting this.

“bYou /bbdidn’t /bbtouch /bme. bYou /bdidn’t deserve what I did.” Then my eyes flicked past him, past his shoulder, straight to the one bwho /bhad “But someone else did.”

Reed.

His eyes widened. The color drained from his bface /bas the attention slowly shifted toward bhim/b, blike /ba tide of judgment. Whispers bbegan/b, usations cloaked in gossip

“You using me now, you little bbastard/b?” Reed barked, his voice sharp and defensive.

“No,” I said with a tight smile. Im exposing you, dirty little mutt.”

Reed’s expression twisted in rage as I barely contained my fury I couldn’t reveal the truth, not yet, not without admitting I was the she–wolf in the forest. But I could warn him.

“Do byou /bhave bany /bprout?” he bdemanded /b

“No, that’s why byou /bare still breathing. I remarked, ring at him. “This is your first andst warning” I said coolly. “Stay away from me Don’t cruss my path again”

“Or what he spat, stalking toward me

I smiled coldly “Or next ti

I’ll shove that filthy hand of yours down your own i

own throat a

and twist your pretty little neck until

Chapter 27 What’s His Deal?

Reed stopped dead in his tracks, face pale.

A few Alphas snorted behind their hands, amused at his hesitation. That only fueled his rage

This does not end here,” he turned sharply and stormed off into the trees–furious, humiliated.

But he didn’t go unseen

+8 Pearls

A little farther out, under the shade of an old pine, stood bDante/b. He watched the entire scene unfold while sippingzily from ba /bsilver sk.

“If I were you, Dante said, voice dry. “I’d either kill him or bkill /bmyself after being humiliated like that in front of the entire Academy

Reed clenched his fists, practically vibrating with fury

“I’m going to kill bthat /blittle mutt,” bhe /bgrowled. “The only breason /bhe’s still breathing is because Ronan’s always hovering aroun like ba /bdamn shadow. But that bends /bnow. His countdown has started. I’ll gut him when no one’s watching, when he least expects bit/bb./b”

Dante let out ba /bdisappointed humb. /b

“Such an easy death for such a grand humiliation,” he said quietly, almost with pity.

Reed turned, confused. “Then what? What do you suggest if not death?”

“Humiliation,” Dante replied smoothly.

Reed’s eyes gleamed bwith /brenewed interest “How?”

Dante tossed him a thick, dark berry–one Reed caught midair. This. His grin curled wickedly.

“A death by humiliation, Dante murmured, “just like Seth Darven brought low by his bown /bshadow protector.”

Reed studied the berry, and a cruel smile spread across his face. He already had a n. Dante, however, turned his gaze back to the clearing–to Ronan and me. “As I said,” he murmured to himself, “uneptable.”

bBack /bin the clearing, I bexhaled /bslowly and focused once more on Alpha Asher

“Sorry for the interruption. As I bwas /bsaying–here and now, in front of every Alpha who saw me strike you–I was wrong. And if a punch is what it takes to settle the matter, I’ll take it.”

There was a stunned silence.

To my surprise, Asher’s ears flushed red. He looked like apletely different person.

He slowly let go of bmy /bcor. His gaze dropped, avoiding mine.

“I’ll let byou /boff this time,” he muttered, voice gruff.

I blinked

Was he shy?

A small smile crept across my lips. “bThanks/b, bthat’s /bvery kind of you”

His bchecks /bflushed a deeper bred/bb, /bband /bI couldn’t help but bthink /bhe bwas /bbkind /bof cute bwhen /bhe was flustered.

But beside me, someone wasn’t amused

Ronan’s expression bdarkened/b. Without a word, he tossed the bhalf/b–eaten steak bback /bbonto /bmy te band /bstormed bout /bof the clearing his aura simmering with fury

1 watched him go, frowning

What’s his deal? I muttered