But to the girls’ complete surprise, the horror vanished from his face the second he caught his reflection.
He tilted his chin, turning slightly to the side as he aggressively began checking himself out.
"Hold on..." Julian murmured, a slow, stunned smirk spreading across his lips as he smoothed down the high hemline. "This is actually... hot. Wow. Now I don’t have to hide my ass under that shirt. I look incredible."
Lena and Khloe just stared at him, utterly speechless. If he thought wearing a revealing, belly-baring crop top to an Alpha’s training field was a brilliant fashion statement, who were they to tell him otherwise?
Khloe tried her best to breathe inside the tight custom outfit, stepping out into the locker room aisle.
Lena’s chest tightened with a heavy wave of guilt. She absolutely hated feeling indebted to anyone, and watching Khloe wear such an incredibly revealing, compromising outfit just to act as her shield felt entirely wrong.
"Are you sure you’re okay in that?" Julian asked, his voice dropping its usual theatrical edge as his eyebrows furrowed with genuine concern.
Khloe gave a small, resolute nod. "Yes."
She offered a quiet smile. Watching that smile, something shifted inside Lena’s chest. For a split second, Lena genuinely felt a warm, rare sensation–like she was finally standing next to a pair of family.
It was a stupid habit of hers. Growing up as a parentless outcast, Lena had developed a defense mechanism where she instantly tried to adopt anyone who showed her even a shred of baseline kindness. She wanted a family so badly, and her mind was desperately reaching for the comfort she had left behind with Kourtney and Martha.
"You know I’d do anything for Gemma," Khloe said softly.
The warmth in Lena’s chest died instantly.
Julian shot an awkward glance at Lena, clearing his throat before aggressively whispering to Khloe. "It’s Lena."
Khloe looked at Lena too, blinking as if suddenly remembering who was actually standing in front of her. "Oh. Right. Lena."
"Let’s just go," Lena said flatly, walking right past them.
Following close behind, Julian shot Khloe an intense are-you-serious? look, and the two of them began to argue quietly as they left the room.
...
Outside on the field, Draven stood at the front, his posture lazy and entirely joyful as his wild eyes scanned the open field. There was an intense, humming buzz of static electricity radiating from his skin–the pure, erratic frequency of an unhinged predator who was eagerly waiting for his new toy to step into his trap.
Sitting on a bench a few feet away from him was Alpha Christopher.
"The runners said you were tampering with the freshers’ intake codes. What the hell did you do to the house lockers, Draven?" Christopher growled, his deep, gravelly voice raining on Draven’s cloud of joy.
"I don’t see how that’s your problem." Draven huffed, a lazy, completely unbothered chuckle escaping his lips as he casually checked his fingernails.
"It is my problem because you have no right touching anything under my control without my permission."
"Here’s a suggestion for something you should actually focus your control on–calming your sensitive little nerves, you frightened pup," Draven smirked, not even looking back. "Let me handle whoever I want. You just focus on feeling safe on your little bench. Who knows? Maximus might have paid a shifter to turn into it. Do you need me to protect you from it?"
Christopher’s expression darkened into fury. "Fuck off, Draven. Really, you’re incredibly stupid."
"Yeah, yeah. At least I’m not a pussy," Draven chuckled, turning on his heel. "It’s a good thing I’m leading your House today. You owe me."
"Keep pushing it, Draven. Really. Let’s see if you’re even allowed on my side of the campus next time." Christopher’s voice dropped into a low frequency that made the gravel beneath his boots rattle.
Draven’s smile faded for a second when he realized the gravity of the threat. So, he decided to play nice and humor this fool.
Oh, what he wouldn’t do for his little bird.
"Relax, brother Chris," Draven laughed smoothly, casually waving a hand over his shoulder without even slowing his pace. "Life is way too short to be this miserable. Why should we ruin the good thing we have going on because of some misunderstanding?"
He would make sure to transfer his little bird to House Three next term. For now, he owed Christopher for letting him lead today.
Draven strolled casually toward the front of the field as the locker room doors finally clicked open.
Watching the Ascendants filter out onto the black gravel, his face filled with a joyful, expectant light. Draven’s gaze swept over them, his upper lip curling slightly. He wasn’t interested in these boring, generic Ascendants. They were just background noise.
Where was she?
He knew exactly what he had planted in her locker. She had thought she could hide her fiery, mouthy little attitude behind a standard school uniform... as if anyone in this school could hide from him.
He let out a low, anticipating laugh under his breath, waiting to see her step out in the tight field wear he had personally selected for her body.
But then, his laugh completely disappeared.
Walking right down the central aisle was his little bird. She wasn’t wearing the tight field wear. Instead, another she-wolf was wearing it, drawing all the stares.
The little bird was walking smoothly across the gravel, her stunning figure completely covered under a loose oversized training shirt–and standing right beside her was a tall wolf in a tight crop top.
Draven’s easygoing smile vanished, his eyes locking onto her with a sudden, dangerous stillness.
Lena and Khloe walked back to stand on their row, completely ignoring the Alphas unwavering stare.
Khloe took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing. However, her heart beats skyrocketed again the moment she turned sideways.
Draven stopped dead in front of their line, his boots grinding against the black stones. He didn’t even look at her or Julian. To him, they didn’t exist.
He simply reached out and shifted Khloe out of the row, sending her stumbling hard onto the gravel.
He stepped directly into the gap, crowding right into Lena’s personal space.
"You really think you can keep yourself hidden from me?" Draven murmured, his voice dropped into his usual low frequency that made the hair on her arms stand up.
His wild eyes lowered, tracking the heavily oversized training shirt that belonged to Julian. He hated how everything was hidden from his view.
His expression completely hardened, that dangerous flashing in his features as he stared down at the loose fabric.
Lena kept her jaw tight, her fists clenching by her sides as she forced herself to breathe against his suffocating proximity. She met his intense scrutiny dead-on.
A slow smirk crept back onto Draven’s lips at her defiance. He didn’t care that she had outsmarted his locker trap; her resistance only seemed to turn him on more.
"I just love it when they think they’re clever. You’ve made me so hard I can’t even punish you," Draven whispered, leaning closer until his breath brushed her ear, entirely ignoring the hundreds of Ascendants watching them. "But that doesn’t mean your friends get a pass."
Lena was still trying to decode what he meant when he turned away from her, locking his sour gaze directly onto Julian.
"You thirsty fool," Draven sneered, his expression turning thoroughly disgusted as he took in the tight crop top. "You made a horrible mistake lending her your shirt."
Before Julian could even draw a breath to apologize, Draven’s fist buried itself straight into Julian’s stomach.
WHAM!