Sabrina is the petty mean girl type and she’s mad she isn’t getting her way. I wasn’t expecting an attack like this but looking back, after the hallway incident, I should have seen it coming. I won’t make that mistake again.
“Give us a name,” Rafael demands.
I shake my head but then stop when the room spins. “No. You guys are making a big deal out of nothing. You need to worry about Pack, remember? I’m not Pack so this isn’t your problem. I’ll handle it.”
“You’re one of us!” Jordy snarls.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not Pack. Don’t you get it?”
Zheng clears his throat and all our heads swivel toward him. “She’s protecting you. If you get involved it becomes a conflict between factions. What would your dad think, Rafe? Would he go to war for a lone wolf?”
Rafeal’s lip curls into the beginnings of a snarl.
Zheng holds his hands up. “I’m not saying she’s not worth it.” His gaze flicks toward me making sure I understand. And I do. I nod my head and he continues, “But think about how this will go down. Whoever went after her is of the magical variety. Witch, druid, fae, any one of them could have done it. I can’t smell anything aside from whatever magic shit they hit her with. Can you?”
Rafael’s scowl is fierce as he leans toward and sucks in a breath. He jerks back sneezing and rubs at his nose. “Shit. No. I can’t smell a damned thing beyond the disgusting stink of magic and wolfsbane.”
Jordy begins pacing the room. “Fuck. Fuck. He’s right, Rafe.”
A silver sheen rolls over Rafael’s eyes. “For the record, you’re not expendable and one way or another, I will figure out who did this.”
I shrug. “Good luck. Just don’t expect me to help.” His scowl darkens and a growl rumbles deep in his chest. “Look, I just had the pleasure of throwing up my breakfast and would love to wash my mouth out. Can we move this show along?” I shove past them and head for the door, grateful when no one rushes to immediately follow.
22 Rafael
“She was attacked,” Jordy says as soon as Isa leaves the room.
A snort from behind has all three of our heads turning toward Zheng again as he shakes his head, jaw clenched and hands fisted at his sides. “Way to point out the obvious. Wonder who’s fucking fault that is?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I advance on him, but he doesn’t cower, which only serves to piss my wolf right the fuck off.
“You know exactly what it means, Rafe. Or did you forget we used to be friends? I know how that head of yours works. You don’t think I know you wanted her targeted when she first showed up here? That you didn’t plant your little seeds in the school to make her life difficult?” He briefly looks up to the ceiling and laughs, but the sound is harsh and mocking. “Every fucking girl in this school is going to go after her now. And you,” he digs his finger into my chest and a growl works its way past my lips. “You’re the one who put the target on her back.” He shakes his head. “I might have my demons, but at least I’m not a selfish prick like you.” He storms out of the classroom, leaving me reeling with his last statement.
“Fuck,” I yell as soon as Zheng is gone from the room.
Two sets of grim stares meet my own. “We didn’t really consider how chicks would respond when you claimed her,” Desmond tries to reassure me, but we all know what Zheng said is true. I did this. Me. No one else. I knew what would happen and I did it anyway. I might not have known the girls would stoop to a magical assault, but I should have suspected this was a possibility. Stupid. I am so fucking stupid.
“I need to fix this.” Neither one disputes my statement. The question now is, how?
Jordy rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t make things better when I told the school to ice out Sabrina. This could be retaliation for that. She can’t do anything to us, but…”
“But she can go after Isa because she isn’t Pack. Dammit. And now here she is, fucking protecting us the way I should have been protecting her from the start.” I shake my head. I fucked up and I’ll own it. “We need more information. If Sabrina attacked her, I’ll deal with it, but we need to be one hundred percent sure. We can’t risk issues between factions. This needs to be kept quiet.”
Jordy’s dark brows furrow. “One of us is going to need to be with Isa at all times.”
“How the fuck are we supposed to manage that?” I ask, anger burning a hole in my gut. She was hurt. Someone put their fucking hands on my girl and hurt her. Whoever did this is going to pay.
“Isa’s not gonna help on that front,” Jordy says, and I can’t help but agree.
“Rafe, are we sure we want to go down this road?” Des asks.
I level him with a hard stare, both man and wolf taken aback by the question. “Are you fucking with me right now?”
He lifts both hands in a placating gesture. “Hear me out.” he says, his voice devoid of emotion. “She’s not Pack.”
“That—”
“Just listen,” he growls, and I tamp down my anger and wait. He sighs. “Isa isn’t Pack,” he says again, and I tense, baring my teeth. I want to know who did this and I’m going to make damn sure it doesn’t happen again. Everyone at this school needs to know they can’t hurt my girl and get away with it. Isabella Romero is mine.
“We don’t have any formal grounds to retaliate. We need to be smart about this.”
“Then what the hell do you suggest?” Jordy bites out, his anger nearly matching
