“Who is she?” Maya asked when Emma’s attention reverted to her.

  “She’s Claire. I think your cousin would give you a better rundown on her identity, since they both seem close,” Emma said, aware of the anger starting to simmer within her.

  The memory of her first day in college came rushing back, and she wondered how—and why—she had still gone ahead to date Derek after that.

  “Claire?” Maya muttered, trying to place the name.

  “She’s Clem’s twin sister. You’ve forgotten already?” Derek cut in, his attention already snagged the moment his little witch hinted that he and his beta’s sister were close.

  What was Claire even doing here? Didn’t she almost talk their ears off for choosing college over morning pack training?

  “Oh, right,” Maya muttered, snapping him out of his thoughts.

  He knew she had figured it out. Whether that was good or bad, he couldn’t tell. The two women had never gotten along. Maya was fine with Clem, but never the twin. He had never known why.

  “Seems you know the bitch too?” Emma almost retracted the words as she considered Maya being a fan of the bright yellow-haired witch. She shrugged it off. What’s the worst that could happen?

  “Yeah. And trust me, she’s bad news,” Maya replied, casting another glance at the professor and the new girl. The man was gesturing for Claire to take a seat, explaining that he was almost done with the class anyway.

  “Oh, puh-lease. Tell me what I don’t know,” Emma said, relief softening her irritation. It felt good—really good—to have someone on the same page.

  “Well… here she comes.”

  Emma followed Maya’s line of sight, her stomach tightening as it landed on her first real enemy since arriving in this strange land. The blonde was walking toward them, a smug smirk plastered on her face.

  “Don’t tell me she’s coming over here to sit with us.” Emma’s anger bubbled again. What is wrong with this girl?

  “Well, she is. Always brewing trouble,” Maya said with a hiss, drawing a few glances their way. She didn’t care. Her focus was on Claire.

  What tricks does the bitch have up her sleeve now? she wondered, memories of her early teen years—and why she never got along with Clem’s twin—resurfacing.

  Emma sighed and turned to glance at Derek.

  He was staring at Claire too, his expression carefully blank. Emma’s chest tightened. Does he like her too?

  She tapped his arm, raising a brow when he turned to her.

  “Why is your friend coming here? Can you tell her to sit somewhere else? You can follow her to wherever that is. I know she’s coming here because of you—but I don’t want her sitting here.”

  Derek sighed. “I’ll tell her to go somewhere else then.” He couldn’t wait for class to end so he could apologize—he missed her already, missed the smiles she saved just for him.

  “Hey, guys.”

  Emma cringed, hearing Claire’s sickly sweet shrill.

  She glanced at Maya and saw the latter filing her nails with an invisible file, completely ignoring Claire’s presence.

  This is going to be interesting, she thought, a smirk forming as she shot the newcomer a defiant look. The professor had already left the classroom; chatter filled the class.

  “Well, it seems some people have stuff stuck up their ass. Not my business though. Derek, could you remove your backpack, so I can sit there?” Claire requested with a fake smile, dusting off the hostile welcome, pointing to the seat beside Derek.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “It’s occupied, Claire. You should find somewhere else,” Derek said blandly, leaning back against the wall. A smile tugged at both his cousin’s and mate’s lips.

  “But—”

  “You heard him, miss,” Maya cut in sharply. “Find somewhere else to sit and stop bugging us.”

  —

  Claire restrained herself from stomping her foot in annoyance as she took a seat at the far end of the classroom, anger simmering beneath her skin.

  She nearly regretted asking her father to put her in college at all. He had been surprised by the request—but he had still pulled strings and worked it out.

  She almost bit her lip bloody as she watched the human girl laughing and chatting with Maya, while Derek himself sat there, absorbed in whatever he was doing on his phone, his face blank, detached, as though he hadn’t humiliated her mere minutes ago.

  Claire bristled as mutterings floated around her. Her wolf hearing was still underdeveloped—she hadn’t turned yet—but some words still reached her clearly enough.

  “Good for her.”

  “She thought she could just walk in on the first day and win Most Handsome.”

  “I pity her though. I don’t think she has a chance with that redhead having so much influence on Derek.”

  “True. I heard she told him to cut the newcomer off.”

  “Like, seriously?”

  “Yeah. And the other newcomer agreed too.”

  “Oops for her. She should pick someone else.”

  “Yeah. Enough about the daunted newbie… have you picked a dress for the party? It’s tomorrow night.”

  Claire tuned them out, nostrils flaring as she stared at the trio who had turned her into a laughing stock.

  I will wipe that smile off her face soon, she vowed silently, eyes locked on Emma, who was busy laughing with Maya over things Claire couldn’t hear.

  The sight made her ache to have her wolf already. Next week couldn’t come fast enough. She and her twin would be turning eighteen then. She was only days older than Derek—and soon, she would have her full strength.

  “Hey.”

  She shelved her thoughts as a voice reached her—human male. The scent gave him away before the sound fully registered.

  “Hey,” she replied flatly, already bored. She hated humans. The only man she cared about was Derek—and the fact that he was the same one who had just publicly dismissed her made her stomach twist.

  “I… uh… my name is Zack,” the human with shaggy brown hair said, extending his hand for a handshake.

  “Okay… Zack. What do you want?” she asked, folding her arms, deliberately ignoring his outstretched hand.

  “I was… uh… wondering if you’d like to go with me to a party tomorrow night,” Zack said carefully, hoping the beautiful blonde wouldn’t shut him down outright. He needed to win the bet his friends had pushed him into.

  Watching her blank, uninterested expression, he immediately regretted agreeing to it. This girl wasn’t impressed by his looks—looks that had landed plenty of girls in his bed before.

  “Not interested,” Claire said coolly, grabbing a book from the stack on her desk, not even remembering when she’d brought it out. Her anger over Derek’s rejection still burned too hot.

  “Oh… okay. But if you ever change your mind—”

  “I won’t. Quit bugging me,” she snapped, biting her tongue as she realized she had used the exact words Maya had thrown at her earlier.

  It made her wonder—how had Maya gotten close to Derek again?

  From what she knew, Derek had been ready to kill the traitor the next time he saw her. His older cousin had betrayed him. Betrayed their pack.

  So what changed?

  She stared at the trio again. How did they reconnect? And where did the human girl fit into all of this?

  They looked… protective of the redhead.

  Her insides boiled.

  “He’ll be there too.”

  “Who?” Claire snapped, turning back to Zack, momentarily forgetting he was still standing there.

  “The guy you were staring at. The one who turned a beauty like you down. I’m talking about Derek,” Zack said, carefully avoiding sounding insulting.

  “I wasn’t staring at him and—”

  “You don’t have to deny it,” Zack cut in smoothly. “We all get that sometimes. Anyway… he’ll be at the party.”

  “And how sure are you?” Claire asked, her bored fa?ade finally cracking.

  “A hundred percent,” Zack lied easily. Anything to win the bet.

  “Okay. Where is it?”

  “Not so fast, beautiful. You’ve got to accept my offer first,” Zack said with a grin, licking his lips. He was pleased—far too pleased—that he had her attention now.

  Claire resisted the urge to slap the smirk off his face. She stared at him with thinly veiled disgust.

  “Fine. I’ll be your date,” she said, flashing a perfectly fake smile. She would deal with him later.

  “Great. Can I get your number?”

  “Sure.”

  She held out her hand for his phone. He handed it over without hesitation. She keyed in her number, returned the phone, the false smile never wavering.

  “That’s it then. We’ll talk about the time later,” Zack said before heading back to his friends.

  “Did she agree?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow.”

  “Man, you’re good.”

  “I told you... she’d cave.”

  “What did you say to convince her?”

  “I thought she’d slap you.”

  “That look on her face though…”

  “That’s girls for you—always pretending.”

  “So you won the bet. You gonna sleep with her?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Zacky—”

  Claire clenched her fists as she listened, fury coursing through her veins.

  She blamed the human girl.

  If not for the redhead, Derek wouldn’t have humiliated her. She wouldn’t be the subject of bets and laughter.

  She was halfway to standing up and walking out of the classroom, when a lecturer walked in.

  Clamping down on her rage, she reclaimed her seat, inhaling deeply.

  Later, she promised herself.