Isla’s POV~
He licked the milk away and then froze.
He kept his face inches from mine, his breath ghosting over my lips.
He didn’t move away.
He just stared at me, unblinking, his eyes black were like holes.
Slade intentionally let the tension build until I was squirming in my seat, until I was about to beg him to move or kiss me.
Then, he slowly dragged his thumb across my bottom lip, smearing the wetness of the milk, and said, “Patience, Isla.
We have all day.”
My brain short-circuited.
The wet heat of his tongue.
The roughness of it.
The way his eyes locked onto mine, dark and hungry, while his brothers sat right there at the table.
It made my pussy clench.
Slade pulled back.
He looked pleased with himself.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, making the scar on his cheek move.
“Good?” he asked.
He asked it like he expected a treat.
Like a dog who just rolled over on command.
Just then, Brock’s voice cut through the haze.
“We have to leave for school in fifteen minutes.
Can you control yourself until then?”
Slade threw him a look.
It was a glare.
He turned back to me, his gaze dropping to my lips again.
He licked his lips, tasting the residue of the milk, and said, “Probably not.”
Brock glared back at him.
“Try anyway.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was in my room, staring at myself in the mirror.
My face was burning.
I had changed my shirt because Slade’s look, that predatory, starving look, had made me feel like I was wearing nothing at all.
He looked like he wanted to lick the milk and the shirt right off me.
When I walked outside, the driveway was a parking lot of black luxury cars.
SUV, sedan, truck.
They had more cars than a car dealer.
“She’s riding with me.”
Maddox’s voice.
It came from behind me.
“Why you?” Colt demanded.
I could hear the pout in his voice without even looking.
“I called shotgun.”
“Because I called it,” Maddox said.
His tone was deadpan.
“That’s not how this works—” Colt started, but Maddox cut him off.
“Actually it is.”
“She should ride with me.
I’m the—” Brock began, stepping forward, adjusting his cuffs.
“Eldest.
Yes, we KNOW!” Slade cut him off, shooting Brock a look that was pure annoyance.
“We get it, you’re the boss.
Move on.”
The three of them broke into a bicker.
It was ridiculous.
Three powerful, lethal Alphas arguing over who got to drive the girl to high school like it was a prize.
I couldn’t even find my voice to speak at the moment.
While they were arguing, Maddox moved.
He just walked over, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the sleekest black sedan.
He opened the back door, guided me in with a hand on the small of my back, and slid in next to me before Slade could even finish his sentence.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Colt shouted.
He kicked the tire of the car next to us.
“That’s cheating!” Slade added, slamming the door of the SUV he was standing by.
Brock just sighed.
He rubbed his temples.
He looked exhausted, like dealing with his brothers was a full-time job.
Maddox’s driver, a silent man in a suit, pulled out smoothly.
The other cars fell in line behind us like a military convoy.
And then, silence fell.
The partition was up.
It was just us in the back.
The air conditioning was on, but I could feel the heat radiating off Maddox.
His thigh was pressed against mine.
The leather seat was cool, but his body was hot.
“Hi,” Maddox said softly.
That’s all he could say.
Just hi.
And I was melting.
God, I hated myself for it.
I looked at him.
The profile that used to haunt my dreams.
The jawline I had traced with my eyes a thousand times across the cafeteria.
A memory hit me.
We were sixteen.
Or maybe seventeen.
He had picked me up in his beat-up Jeep.
We were going to the movies.
I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up.
He reached over and took my hand, just like this.
He looked at me and smiled, that shy, crooked smile that made him look like a boy instead of a monster.
He was my first love.
My first kiss.
My first…
everything.
I thought he was my forever.
Then he broke me.
I was frozen in the daze of the memory, the ghost of the girl I used to be warring with the woman I was now.
The one he had helped destroy.
Just while I was paralyzed, lost in the past, Maddox’s hands found mine.
His fingers interlaced with mine.
His palm was warm, and familiar.
He squeezed my hand.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Maddox’s voice was quiet.
It cut through the silence between us.
I kept my eyes on my hands, twisted together in my lap.
“Do you?”
“You’re remembering… when things were good.”
I didn’t look up, but I felt him shift.
The leather seat creaked.
“And you’re wondering if we can ever get back to that.”
My throat closed up.
I couldn’t swallow.
I couldn’t breathe.
He was right.
I was thinking about the way he used to look at me before the cruelty took over.
I was wondering if that boy was still in there somewhere, buried under the Alpha and the monster.
I didn’t answer.
I just couldn’t.
The words were stuck behind my mouth.
“We can’t,” he said.
The words hit me hard.
My heart sank, like a heavy stone dropping into a deep well.
Of course.
We couldn’t.
Then Maddox spoke again, his voice softer, almost a whisper.
“We can’t go back… But maybe…”
I looked up then.
I had to.
He was looking at me, his eyes swimming with something that looked like regret.
He smiled, but it was sad.
Broken.
“Maybe we can build something way better.”
I stared at him.
I wanted to believe him.
God, I wanted to.
I wanted to reach out and touch his face and pretend that the last three years hadn’t happened.
But I was so scared.
What if this was just another trick?
Another way to lower my defenses before they twisted the knife again?
The engine noise changed.
I looked out the window.
The brick wall of the school loomed over us.
Students were pressing their faces against the glass of the classrooms, pointing.
Here we go.
Maddox’s car pulled into a spot right in front of the main entrance.
It was a prime spot, usually reserved for teachers or the principal.
The other black SUV pulled in right next to us, the tires screeching slightly.
Doors opened.
Brock, Slade, and Colt stepped out.
They were wearing their uniforms, black blazers, clean white shirts, their ties knotted perfectly.
They looked like something out of a magazine.
My mates.
Oh God.
Everyone was going to know.
The whispers started before we even got out of the car.
I could see the girls in the hallway clutching their books, their eyes wide.
I could see the guys stepping back, making space.
Maddox got out first.
He smoothed his jacket, then walked around to my side.
He extended his hand.
It was a gentleman’s gesture.
I stared at his hand for a second.
Then I took it.
His skin was warm.
He helped me out, and as soon as my feet hit the pavement, I felt the weight of a hundred stares.
It was heavy.
Like a spotlight hitting me on a dark stage.
Immediately, they surrounded me.
Maddox was on my right.
Colt popped up on my left, grinning like we were about to go to a party.
Brock was slightly ahead, clearing the path like a battering ram.
Slade was behind me.
I could feel the heat of his chest against my back.
They were boxing me in.
Protecting me.
Claiming me.
The crowd parted.
People stepped back, pressing themselves against the lockers to let us through.
The silence was deafening.
No one whispered.
They just watched.
I kept my head down, staring at the pavement.
I knew what they were thinking.
Why her?
The freak.
The Omega.
The trash.
“COLT!” A voice resounded.
It was angry.
.
I flinched.
I knew that voice.
Bella.
She was storming toward us, her heels clicking loudly on the floor.
Her little pack of mean girls was trailing behind her like ducklings, all of them looking furious.
She wasn’t looking at me.
She was looking straight at Colt.
Her eyes were narrowed, her lip curled in a sneer.
She marched forward, cutting through the crowd, heading straight for him.
Oh.
This was going to be good.