She laughed awkwardly. “I never held it against you. It was pretty obvious you guys were all playing a larger game. But I hated being alone with this secret while you all had each other.”
“And you put your trust in the wrong person and look how it turned out.” His fingers drifted up over the scars on her arm, making her shiver. “So you understand the risks we were facing while trying to decide whether we should trust you or not. Our game here at the academy aside, if you had told anybody about Theo and Moses’ abilities, they would be dead, and the rest of us wouldn’t be much better off. I promised to protect those boys, and that’s exactly what I did, even if it was against you. Now, I’m promising to protect you too. And I’m so fucking sorry this had to be so hard for you.”
“I guess it’s okay.” She let her eyes fall, watching as his hands settled against her forearms, that comforting feeling tingling all over her again. “But I have a … request. Can I have a request?”
“Sure.” He sounded like he was smiling again. “Why not.”
“I don’t care if Alphas are more aggressive and territorial. Whatever they’re allowed to do in the Stone Dahlia, so am I. If they’re allowed to do it with whoever they like, then so am I. Just because I can emotionally handle it doesn’t mean I should have to.”
“You’re right.” He grimaced. “Elijah and Gabriel are already transitioning out of their rooms down there—”
“Since when?” she interrupted, confused.
“Elijah sent us a message this morning that they were going to become floaters instead. They’re going to look around for something else to get into so that they’re settled for when the Track Team tries to recruit the others.”
“Oh.” She wondered if that was after her conversation with Elijah that morning in the chapel. He hadn’t really said that he liked what he did, only that other people liked it.
Maybe he didn’t want to bring any of the other Alphas into something he wasn’t even enjoying that much … or more likely, there was a larger plan in motion, because it was Elijah.
“So I’m free to do what I like, then?” she asked, her eyes flicking up to Kalen’s.
Immediately, his gaze narrowed. “No, princess. Not when you’re in my room. And that has nothing to do with double standards. When you’re with me, the rules I gave you last night still apply. When you’re in my room, I own you.” He eased back, clearing his throat. “Other than that, yes. But be as considerate of them as they are being of you.”
“I thought they were just indifferent,” she challenged.
He smirked. “Gabriel, maybe. Elijah is indifferent to no one. And Theo is definitely keeping Wallis at arm’s length because of you. It would serve him better to be all over her for the cameras. At the moment, he’s coming across as a shitty boyfriend and that doesn’t help his reputation at all.”
“Well.” She shrugged, feigning indifference. “If I ever get a fake boyfriend, I’ll be just as considerate.”
Kalen’s hands twitched on her arms, but his expression didn’t shift. “Make sure he’s not easily broken. Any other stipulations?”
“Don’t the other guys need to agree to that one?”
“They’ll do what I tell them to do.”
“Even Oscar?”
“No. Good luck with Oscar.”
She smiled despite herself, shaking her head a little. He sounded like he was joking, but he was probably serious.
“Okay.” She gave him a succinct nod. “You have a deal.”
18
Green Is Golden
The storm had eased up a little, but not much. Isobel spent the rest of her fifth period in Kalen’s office, despite attempting to go back to class after their discussion. He had stopped her the second she picked up her bag, directing her to a seat opposite his desk downstairs instead, and then disappearing. He came back with a tray of coffee for them both, plus a few bowls of snacks, and she gave up her protests almost immediately.
She needed to prepare her audition for Lye’s class, anyway.
She curled up in the chair, sipping her coffee and flipping through her playlist as she nibbled on a shortbread cookie. Her finger paused over the song she and Elijah had danced to, her brow crinkling.
Shoving the rest of the cookie into her mouth, she pulled up his number and sent him a private message.
Isobel: Do you still want to dance with me?
He didn’t respond immediately, and she brought up one of her social media accounts, flicking through to see if any of the other second-years had posted pictures of their preparations for final assessments. When Elijah’s name popped up along the top of her screen, she almost choked on the buttery cookie that threatened to lodge in the back of her throat. She quickly swallowed and clicked on the message.
Elijah: I organised with Lye to submit a video application.
Isobel: For us both?
Elijah: If you want.
Isobel: Why a video application?
Elijah: In case I surge again. Sorry about that, by the way.
Isobel: Um.
Isobel: That’s okay?
Isobel: Can you explain why that happened and why Gabriel made me leave? I’m confused about when I’m supposed to stay and show that I’m safe, or leave to keep myself safe.
Elijah: You’re always safe. Gabriel was the one who wasn’t safe.
Isobel: Why?
Elijah: He was taking you away from me.
Elijah: And it happened because … I wasn’t expecting us to be so good together. I knew you were feeling self-conscious and that’s why you didn’t want to dance with me, but then you let go and the way you were responding to me was just …
Elijah: It was lovely. You were lovely.
She had felt lovely dancing with Elijah. It was the best she had felt since waking up in the hospital, and she was almost deliriously happy that he was offering to dance with her again.
Isobel: Thank you.
Elijah: So you’ve taken on one of us. How about two of us?
Isobel: You mean Gabriel? But we didn’t practise any three-way choreography?
Elijah: I have something prepared. I’m sure you can memorise it quickly enough. Gabriel wants to apply for Lye’s third-year class as well.
Isobel: It sounds fun, actually.
Elijah: That’s my girl.
She stared at the screen, re-reading his last message as he kept typing. He obviously wasn’t trying to claim her as a mate or anything and she certainly wasn’t hoping he would, but for some reason his choice of words had butterflies flaring up in the pit of her stomach anyway.
Elijah: Meet us in your usual training room for a few practice runs at the choreography before we go outside. Cian is going to film the performance. Wear something simple and easy to move in. We’re going to make this count. I don’t like coming in second place.
She began to type out the fact that it was raining but then backspaced over the words. Obviously, he knew it was raining. Instead, she told Kalen that she needed to get ready to shoot her submission video and padded into Kilian’s room to sort through the dresses he had brought over from Dorm O.
She picked out a couple and laid them out over the bed, snapping a picture of them and sending it to the group chat, since Cian, Elijah, and Gabriel would all be involved in the video.
Isobel: Which one?