"After finally taking a long, hot shower to wash off all the grease and dust from his body, Ethan put on clean clothes and went down to the lower level of the school. Even though it was night, the inner courtyard and hallways were quite busy, full of students chatting in groups. His stomach was already protesting; the heavy work in the workshop had dug a hole in his gut and he urgently needed to eat something.
— Hey, Ethan! — a familiar voice called out.
Ethan turned around and saw MG walking toward him, accompanied by another guy in a jacket and a laid-back posture.
— What's up, man — said Ethan, greeting MG with a handshake. Then, he looked at the guy next to him. — You are...?
— I'm Kaleb, man. I was there on the day you did a fatality on that monster — the vampire introduced himself, holding out his hand.
Ah, yeah, I remember. My bad, man, Ethan replied.
Ethan shook his hand with a firm nod.
— So, what are you gonna do now, Ethan? — asked MG, crossing his arms.
— To tell you the truth, I was going to look for something to eat in the cafeteria — Ethan replied.
— Right on time, bro, they're almost serving dinner — Kaleb commented, giving a sideways smile.
MG stepped a bit closer and tilted his head, lowering his tone of voice so no one around could hear:
— But listen... I heard through the grapevine that you were talking to Evangeline this afternoon...
Ethan nodded calmly, not really understanding the suspense.
— Yeah, it's true. What about it?
Kaleb looked around and spoke in a very low voice, getting straight to the point:
— No offense to the girl or anything, you know? But she's the biggest skank in school.
Ethan widened his eyes slightly, raising a surprised eyebrow:
— !! A skank?
MG nodded, confirming it with the utmost seriousness in the world:
— For real. She's probably hooked up with like twenty guys from this school, no joke.
Ethan let out a long, amused whistle, shaking his head.
— Damn... She just came to talk to me this afternoon, huh. Nothing much, I just talked to her normally.
— No, for sure — Kaleb weighed in, shrugging. — She's the hottest girl in school, without a shadow of a doubt, but she's also the most passed around. Just warning you so you know what you're stepping into.
Ethan let out a short, carefree laugh:
— Relax, it's all good.
MG laughed along, giving him a pat on the shoulder:
— Worse yet, the way you rolled in, bro... If you want to pick any girl in this school to hook up with, you can easily pull it off.
Kaleb burst out laughing and nodded, looking at Ethan with a hint of man-to-man admiration:
— Tell me about it... I'm even jealous of this guy. Seriously, Ethan, you've got the sauce!
Ethan couldn't hold back his laughter at Kaleb's comment, amused by that kind of locker-room banter he hadn't had in the real world for a long time. They chatted a bit more about trivial things and boarding school routine, until the smell of food coming from the cafeteria became irresistible. Ethan said goodbye to the duo and headed with firm steps to grab his tray and finally have dinner.
The cafeteria was relatively calm that night. Hope was sitting at one of the long tables next to Landon, Josie, and Rafael, talking quietly while everyone ate their meals in peace.
However, the atmosphere changed the instant the double doors of the hall swung open. Ethan walked in accompanied by Kaleb and MG, the three of them laughing and chatting as if they had known each other for years. The trio's presence attracted glances wherever they passed.
Rafael raised an eyebrow, watching the scene from afar.
— Huh... Did MG and Kaleb turn into Ethan's new best friends now?
Hope lowered her head at that exact second, focusing intently on her own plate and stabbing her fork into the food a bit harder than necessary. She was still boiling with anger because of the short, confrontational conversation she'd had with Ethan at the dormitory doors.
— Tch... I can't stand that guy — Landon grumbled, frowning as he saw Ethan approach the serving counter. — Every time he shows up, he finds a way to provoke me or walk right past me ignoring me. What does he even have against me, anyway?
Rafael looked at Landon with a bored and immediately dissenting face.
— Are you an idiot, bro?
Landon turned to him right away, indignant.
— What?! Why are you calling me an idiot?
— Of course it's because of Hope, what else would it be? — Rafael retorted, losing patience with his adoptive brother's naivety.
Landon clenched his teeth in anger, the blood rushing straight to his head. He turned his face abruptly and stared at his girlfriend, observing her tense and silent posture.
— Hope... Did he do something to you? — Landon asked, his voice laden with distrust and insecurity.
She slowly raised her eyes, keeping her voice as neutral as possible:
— No. He didn't do anything. — And she went back to eating, trying to end the subject right there.
— That's a lie! — shot a loud voice from the table right behind them.
Landon turned around instantly, his eyes flashing.
— What?! What did you say?
Hope's heart leaped violently in her chest, the air catching in her throat as cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck.
The boy from the back table—a sophomore wizard who was insanely jealous of the absurd attention Ethan received from all the girls in school—flashed a venomous smile and blurted out for everyone to hear:
— He winked at your girl this morning, right outside the cafeteria! I saw it with my own eyes!
Landon clenched his teeth so hard his jaw snapped. Pride and jealousy blinded him completely. He stood up from his chair with a dull thud, knocking his cutlery onto the table, determined to clear things up right there and then. He couldn't and wouldn't let that slide in front of the whole school.
— Landon, plant your ass back in that chair right now! Don't go starting trouble! — Rafael ordered, trying to grab him by the arm, but Landon didn't even listen. He marched with long strides down the center aisle, huffing with rage.
But in the distance, Ethan was focused, building his plate at the serving counter, grabbing a generous portion of meat, when he was hit by a violent shove in the back.
The force of the blow made him take two steps forward, and the plate slipped from his hands, shattering on the floor and scattering food everywhere.
Kaleb and MG widened their eyes, shocked at the audacity of the attack.
— What the fuck, man?! — Kaleb barked, stepping forward.
Ethan turned around slowly. The laid-back expression from seconds ago had completely vanished, giving way to a cold, calm, and dangerously focused gaze as he stared at Landon standing right in front of him.
— What do you think you're doing? — Ethan asked, in a low, raspy voice, maintaining his firm posture.
Before things could escalate into a full-on brawl, Hope jumped up and ran desperately toward the two to pull them apart. Rafael and Josie came right behind, in a state of maximum alert.
— Who the fuck do you think you are?! — Landon yelled, pointing a finger in Ethan's face, his chest rising and falling out of control. — Who do you think you are messing with my girl?! I already told you to stay away from her!
— You don't know what you're talking about, Landon — Ethan retorted, his voice cold as ice and his posture absolutely unshakable, not taking a single step back.
— I don't know?! — Landon hollered, his face red with pure fury and jealousy burning in his chest. — Do you think I'm an idiot? Think I don't see what you're trying to do?! I'm sick of you, man!
— Stop it, Landon! — Hope and Rafael shouted almost at the same time.
Rafael lunged forward, thrusting a firm hand into Landon's t-shirt to violently pull him back and try to break up the fight before the whole cafeteria turned into chaos.
Ethan, however, didn't even blink. He merely tilted his head, staring at the guy with a predatory look that made the air around them seem suddenly heavier.
— Listen, man... for your own good, I think you better back off and stay real quiet where you are — Ethan warned, his voice dropping to a low, measured tone that carried a veiled and dangerous threat.
— You son of a bitch! You hit on my girl and think you're gonna get away with it?! — Landon raged, blinded by anger, shaking off Rafael's grip.
Overcome by impulse and wounded pride, Landon threw a punch with all the strength he had straight at Ethan's chin.
The impact echoed through the hall with a dry snap. But the result left everyone around paralyzed.
Ethan's face didn't even move a millimeter. A werewolf's physical density and resistance made his body as hard as rock to an ordinary human. Instead of knocking Ethan down, it was Landon's hand that suffered the full impact of the force—the bones in his knuckles cracked painfully, tearing the skin.
— Argh! — Landon roared, taking two steps back and grabbing his own injured fist, the sharp pain bringing tears to his eyes instantly.
Ethan slowly turned his eyes toward him. His serious expression melted into a mocking smirk, and he let out a huge, loud, echoing laugh that bounced off the cafeteria walls, mocking his rival's pain.
— You're ridiculous, man... — Ethan scoffed, shaking his head with pure contempt.
Rafael, seeing his brother's humiliation and Ethan's provocative laughter, scowled instantly. He clenched his teeth, the hot werewolf blood rushing to his veins. Not liking at all to see his friend hurt and ridiculed like that, the boy lunged at Ethan without hesitation.
Unlike Landon, Rafael was a werewolf with real superhuman strength. He rushed forward in a swift burst and delivered a powerful right cross.
This time, the blow hit Ethan's face with enough impact to make him turn his head slightly to the side.
The entire cafeteria held its breath. Hope brought both hands to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock and her heart hammering against her chest, screaming desperately over the commotion:
— STOP! Keep your hands off him, now!
Ethan slowly turned his eyes toward the two, and the ordinary green vanished in the blink of an eye, swallowed by a fluorescent, bright, predatory green that radiated pure energy, making the air in the cafeteria feel static and heavy with electricity.
The exact second those green embers locked onto her, Hope's brain took a violent jolt. A shockwave raced down her spine, connecting the dots immediately: the immense dark-furred wolf, the vastness of the forest in the dream she'd had inside the van, and those very same eyes... glowing, intense, and unmistakable. It was him.
Before anyone else could breathe, Ethan's speed took over.
With a movement as fast as a snake's strike, his hand shot out and grabbed Rafael firmly by the throat, snatching him off the floor with brutal ease and hoisting him into the air as if he weighed absolutely nothing.
— Argh! — Rafael choked out, his legs kicking in empty space and his hands clawing at Ethan's iron wrist, trying in vain to pull in air.
— Drop him, dammit! — Landon roared, blinded by desperation and rage. Grabbing a heavy steel plate from the nearest table, he swung it with all his might against the side of Ethan's head.
The metal bent with a thunderous impact, but Ethan didn't even twitch his neck. The plate fell dented to the floor, without causing the slightest scratch on the ancestral werewolf.
— Ethan, drop him! Please, stop! — Hope begged, stepping forward and digging her fingers firmly into his arm in a desperate plea.
Ethan froze. The fierce, glowing green in his eyes wavered for an instant, yielding to the pressure of that voice and that touch. He looked down, locking eyes with Hope's worried face inches from his own.
Exhaling a heavy sigh that carried all his bottled-up fury, he opened his fingers.
You guys saved yourselves today, dynamic duo, Ethan sneered.
Rafael crashed down awkwardly, landing hard on his butt on the cafeteria floor, hands on his neck and gasping desperately, pulling massive gulps of air into his burning lungs."