Seris's POV
I just stood there, frozen to the spot like a statue while he sucked gently on my lips. Each kiss sent waves of sensations through my nerves.
I could have pushed him away, but as if my brain was short-circuited, no single thought of that nature came to mind.
He pulled back finally, but his hands stayed cupping my cheeks.
He licked his lips as if to savor the taste of my lip gloss. "I guess I am good at making things up, then, Alaric." He said.
I hadn't thought I could ever see Alaric look so stupid. His mouth hung open, eyes stretched wide on his head.
"I—" he tried to speak. Decided against it, and just clamped his lips shut. A couple of moments passed, and his mortification morphed slowly into a grin.
"Of the Ludwingvons, I'd always thought you were the smartest, turns out I was wrong." He snorted. "If you could choose to date a human with a fragile life, then you are the biggest fool I have ever known." He added.
He studied us for another moment, and he turned away, his men following after him.
The crawling sensation over my skin stopped the moment Kaelen released me.
We both watched Alaric and his men disappear down the corridor until it was back to just us and the stone walls.
Then I stepped away from him. Realization of what we have done came down on me in its full crushing weight.
I wiped my lips with my sleeves as if I could wipe away the kiss. "Why did you do that?" I screamed at him. "There were other ways to prove—"
"And he would have believed none. Alaric is no fool." Caelen snapped. His eyes flushed with dark rage as if he was more embarrassed at what happened than I should be.
He'd kissed me for God's sake! Kissed me so hard as if he'd truly meant it. And for some reason, a part of me had wanted and craved it.
"Still, there could have been something else you could have done," I yelled, my voice shrill with terror. "And you didn't have to kiss me that hard, like you really meant it."
He tried to counter, but nothing came out of his parted lips. His fists just tightened beside him, pulsing. Finally, he grunted. "I had to make it believable, so he could be really fooled." his jaw ticked tight with each syllable.
"That isn't—"
"I believe you want to say 'Thank You' for my help, so you're welcome, Seris. And it's certainly not been a pleasure helping you," he hissed.
Before I could respond to that, he'd turned away in the opposite direction of the corridor.
I just stood there, not moving, speechless, watching the muscles in his back, clenched hard against his tight shirt as he strode off.
This was the closest I'd ever get to seeing Caelen come to a genuine reaction to something, and it only came after he'd kissed me.
I touched my lips, reminiscing about the kiss against my own volition. I couldn't tell why, but I felt there had been some emotions behind the kiss.
He'd stayed too damn long on my lips and the way he'd reacted… I shook my head. I was just making things up in my head because I had never experienced that feeling before.
I finally found my legs, and I turned in the direction Alaric had taken.
The cafeteria stretched wide and noisy beneath high fluorescent lights. I walked in, and immediately, I was conscious of the stares from the students in careful clusters behind the long oak tables arranged in neat rows around the hall.
"Heard she'd grown from being a pet to being Caelen's Ludwingvon's girlfriend," someone chimed from somewhere.
"Yeah, I heard the same," another wolf chipped in, eyes following me into the hall. "Heard they even kissed passionately in the corridor."
The gossip and whispers spread on, livening the hall. It seemed no one had anything else to talk about except gossip about Caelen and me, and they didn't bother to be hushed about it. They wanted me to know, and I did.
"How could an ordinary human be able to bag Caelen when we have tried to no avail?" Someone chimed near me, disdain coating her voice.
"She isn't even beautiful. I look better than her," another she-wolf hissed and proceeded to check herself out with exaggerated admiration, twirling her pink curls with her fingers.
I just pretended I heard nothing and saw nothing, while the stares followed me like a tracker even after I went to the counter, took my food, and settled into a seat.
The air on my neck and arms stood erect as I continued to receive attention while I ate. I chewed so hard at the salad as if it offended me, and I refused to look up.
It's barely been an hour after the kiss. How the hell did everyone come to know so fast? Was this how fast rumours spread in Blackthorn?
The air in the room suddenly shifted from one of quiet observation to tension. I lifted my head, and I spotted Alaric.
He smirked, carressing his lower lip with his thumb as he approached my table.
He dropped quietly before me. "You should have told me you were dating my rival." He said, his tone teasing. "...and perhaps, I would have treated you differently."
"How different," I asked, chewing gently on my salad, staring at him through the rim of my eyes.
There was a moment of pause. I wasn't kidding myself that he was afraid, but rather was searching through his little brain for a punchline.
He finally found it. "I would have killed you right on site. And excused your death on your fragile existence."
I sneered. Was that the best he could come up with after so many seconds of thinking?
I said nothing and kept busying myself with my salad. With someone like him, silence was a big weapon, and I knew just how to wield it.
The whole hall was a graveyard for more than a minute. I ate, he seethed with rage from my silence, and everyone watched.
He leaned closer towards me. "Fucking say something, human." He grunted low through clenched teeth.
"Say what?" I answered, making my voice unnaturally loud.
Rage flared in his eye, and his chin trembled as he whipped his gaze to the hall and then back to me. "You might think you are protected by being Caelen's girlfriend, but—"
"I accept your offer."
His jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. "What?" He responded aghast.
"I accept your offer," I repeated, ignoring the confusion on his face. That told me I had scrambled his little brain just like I intended.
I took up my tray and rose to my feet. I grinned down at him. "I have to go meet my boyfriend," I said, nudging my eyes beyond him to the triplets who just entered the cafeteria. "Goodbye, partner," I added.
"Partner." He grunted, repeating that more to his confused self than me.
But I just walked past him to join the triplets at their table. For the first time since arriving at Blackthorn, I wasn't prey. I was part of the game.