Alpha Bully (Wolf Ridge High 1)

Turns out I couldn’t have anyway. She plants her body directly in my path so I have to stop. Her posture is aggressive: hands on her hips, chin up, jaw set.

“I’m sorry if I caused a problem,” I say immediately, even though it’s not my fault their dad is an abusive asshole.

Her nostrils flare. “You did,” she says. “You stay away from my brother or I’m going to kick your ass. He hates you, anyway.”

She aimed to hurt and she succeeds. Whether it’s one hundred percent true, or only partially true—her barb pierces because I know she’s right.

Cole does hate me.

There was violence in his kisses last night. Pent up anger, blame, resentment.

But they were still kisses.

Kisses that incited a wildfire inside me. That kept me up all night touching myself, trying to get relief from the pulsing in my core.

And I didn’t sleep before we met outside his window, either. I crawled into bed with my mom when she got home, and I told her about Cole and we both had a long cry over the situation next door.

I didn’t tell her about Brumgard. I’m still not ready to open that subject with anyone but Cole.

Casey’s gaze shifts from my face to the end of the hallway behind me and she grimaces.

I turn to see Cole and his buddies gathered, Cole staring down the hall at us.

Casey points a finger in my face. “I’m serious. You stay away.” She starts backing up.

“Stay out of it, Case.” Cole’s voice is low and his tread silent as he approaches us without his friends.

Casey stops her retreat and squares off to him.

“Pink is my problem, not yours.”

His problem.

I have the urge to just walk away. Escape this conversation about me between the siblings. Leave before the knife twists deeper.

But my feet don’t obey my brain. They stay planted right where they are. Needing to be near Cole.

“Interfere and I’ll make you sorry, little sister,” Cole warns.

I am somewhat relieved to see that despite the threat, she doesn’t appear afraid. Their dad may be abusive, but the siblings must be tight. Casey just watches him like she’s trying to decipher his intentions.

Or maybe that’s just my projection, since I’m somewhat desperate to know them, myself.

After a few beats, she shakes her head like she’s disgusted with both of us and walks away.

Cole catches her arm and rubberbands her back. “Leave it, Case. Stay out of my business.”

She shoots a glance in my direction, then back at Cole. “It affects both of us,” she says tightly.

My gut twists. She’s right. If Cole spending time with me enrages their father, it would affect both kids.

Cole shakes his head. “Nothing else will happen. Now leave it.”

Her face colors slightly. “Fine.” She turns and flounces off, back to her friends while I stand there with my own cheeks burning.

“I told Brumgard not to mark you absent,” Cole murmurs as soon as she’s gone. “Everything’s cool.”

My relief is not around being marked absent or present, it’s knowing Cole still has my back. My shoulders relax. I tuck my hair behind one ear and duck my head, suddenly shy. “Thank you.”

But of course, Cole can’t ever just be kind. “I don’t want your thanks,” he sneers, pinching my chin to lift it.

I flinch under his dark gaze.

The hatred is still there.

I don’t know why my core tightens and my toes curl when he looks at me like that. There must be something wrong with me. Why would a girl get turned on by a hate-glare?

He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and thrusts it at me. It’s an old model and the screen is broken. “Text yourself,” he commands.

I’m not dumb enough this time to get excited. He wants my number—so what? It might just be to communicate about Brumgard so he doesn’t have to stop and talk to me in person again.

I text myself the word “text” because I can’t think of anything clever and hand the phone back.

I turn to go but he grabs my arm, just like he did his sister’s. “Hey.”

I turn to face him with my own glare this time.

His brow furrows and he lowers his face to mine. “Don’t ever come out of your house when my dad is there,” he orders. “Don’t let him see you. Got it?”

My stomach churns and all the angst over he-likes-me, he-likes-me-not evaporates. This is so much bigger than teenage drama. Cole lives a nightmare every day.

“I don’t care what you hear, you stay inside,” he warns.

I can’t help it. Tears pop into my eyes.

“Don’t,” he snarls. He slams his fist into the lockers behind my head, denting them. “Don’t fucking cry for me.”

I drop my eyes because I’m crying more now and the tears freefall to my Day of the Dead skull Chucks.

And then it happens again. His hands are on my ass and my nape, his lips are over mine. It’s punishment.