Chapter 209: The Alpha Princess’s Revenge
Nina
Thanks to Luke’s help, I was able to get a little more sleep that night before I would have to go to class. A bit of rest was greatly needed to get over my hangover, and I felt a bit of peace wash over me at the thought of the antidote not only working during the test, but also the fact that Luke had found a witch who helped us. Not only was my wolf not completely missing now, but Luke planned on putting a hex on Selena to keep her from opening a portal.
All thanks to Luke, I now had a little more time. And this time, I knew that I could just be patient and let Enzo come to me. With my wolf’s presence returning, I knew that he would be able to pick up my scent; as his true fated mate, I was positive that he wouldn’t be able to resist it. Then, when he eventually came to me, I could try to get him to remember.
When I woke up again that morning, my headache was a bit better and I didn’t feel as though I would vomit again. I still felt a bit woozy and sore, especially thanks to the horrible things that those men tried to do to me, but my wolf’s presence helped me heal a little bit – enough to ease some of the soreness, at least. On my way to class, I stopped at the dining hall and picked up a coffee and a greasy breakfast sandwich, which both helped immensely.
However, despite all of these things, I knew that I needed to steel myself before I walked into class. Selena would most definitely be there again, and if she had any idea of my attempt from the night before to make Enzo remember me, then she would be out for revenge.
And she was. Almost as soon as I walked into class and sat down, Selena came in behind me. She sat down directly behind me, except this time it seemed that she made some new friends.
I could hear them whispering about me before class even started. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, I simply couldn’t tune it out. It seemed that Selena wanted me to hear it as well.
“You know, I really don’t get why guys are so obsessed with her,” Selena whispered, causing the other girls to snicker nastily. “She’s not even that pretty. And she’s too skinny.”
“I heard that she’s been starving herself ever since her boyfriend disappeared,” another girl chimed in. ” What a joke. Why anyone would even want to look like a stick really beats me.” “Maybe it’s because she was obsessed with that one grad student for a while,” the third girl whispered then. “He is gay, after all. Maybe she thinks that he’ll like her if she looks like a boy.”
By now, I was already fuming as I listened to Selena and her friends. Of course I knew that people always gossiped about me at this school, but I thought that they had stopped since the attack from the Crescents. It seemed that now, however, Selena was instigating more gossip. She was just doing it to get under my skin, though; I knew that much.
“But that guy disappeared, too,” one of the girls whispered then in response to their mention of James.
Selena chuckled. “I guess she’s just driving all the guys away, huh?” she said. “Must be her smell.”
I wanted to say something, but I decided not to and just kept my head down. By that point, the professor started class anyway, and I was able to have some reprieve from the nasty comments coming from behind me. All I needed to do was keep myself focused on my studying and lay low, because it was only a matter of time anyway before Enzo remembered me and Selena was exposed for who she really was.
However, as the class went on, Selena and her new friends didn’t relent with their bullying. On more than one occasion, I felt them throw wads of paper at the back of my head, followed by their quiet snickers and whispers.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Selena reached out beneath her desk with her foot and firmly kicked the back of my chair, causing me to lurch forward and nearly spill my coffee everywhere.
“What is your problem?!” I said out loud, turning around in my seat to face her. But even as I did that, Selena and her friends acted completely oblivious; and, given our spot in the classroom, no one else saw the way that they were bullying me and so I didn’t have anyone to vouch for me.
“Miss Harper?” the professor said.
I slowly turned back to look at him, my face red with a combination of rage and embarrassment. The professor stood at the front of the room with his arms folded across his chest.
“Sorry, Professor,” I muttered. “It’s
just that these girls-”
“What you all do in your spare time is up to you,” the professor interrupted impatiently, “but this isn’t the time or the place for high school antics. I’m going to have to ask you to leave. All of you.” My eyes widened. “But I didn’t-”
“I don’t care. You’re being disruptive, and all of your peers are quite literally paying to be here. You can all catch up in the next class when you’re ready to start acting like adults.”
As the professor spoke, I felt the undeniable sensation of tears pricking at the backs of my eyes. My palms began to itch with anxiety, and I quickly stood and gathered my things. Selena and her friends sullenly packed up as well, but I stormed out before they could follow me.
I couldn’t believe that Selena got me kicked out of class for her own actions. It was clearly an attempt to get under my skin; she didn’t care about school. She was only here to mess with me, and the money she spent was probably nothing but pocket change for the daughter of the Alpha King. And, to make things worse, she knew that I couldn’t do anything about it because she held too much power over me.
With tears in my eyes, I quickly made my way out of the building. As I stormed across the quad toward the infirmary, just wanting to focus on getting my work done, I supposed that 1 was too caught up in everything to pay attention to where I was going.
And, as a consequence for not paying attention and for staring down at the ground, I felt myself bump into something solid.
“Oh-Sorry,” I said, taking a few steps backwards and lifting my eyes from the pavement.
“It’s fine.”
My eyes widened as they met none other than Enzo’s still in his disguise, of course, but undeniably his eyes nonetheless. We both stood there for a moment, staring at each other. I wasn’t sure if I should apologize for what happened the night before, or if I should ask him if he picked up my scent, or if I should just run away; but it seemed that he already had his mind made up.
After staring at me for a few moments, hopefully transfixed by my scent, he finally ripped his gaze away from mine and suddenly brushed past me. I was frozen to my spot; I didn’t turn around, but I could hear Selena’s shrill voice in the background as Enzo approached her, and I knew that she was talking about me.
With one final glance over my shoulder, only to feel my heart break as I saw the two of them hugging each other, I continued on my way to the infirmary.
How long would it take for Enzo to finally remember me and break out of Selena’s spell?
