Chapter 5

• Ayla Cross
• “Get to your classrooms. Now!”
• The voice cut through the panic like a gunshot. One of the teachers—some substitute no one knew by name—stood in the middle of the hallway like a wall no one wanted to test.
• Everyone scattered. The frozen crowd turned into a stampede, diving into classrooms like that would save us. Outside, chaos still roared—screams, growls, something heavy crashing into the school walls. I ran with the rest, lungs burning, heart racing.
• Why attack here? Why now? A school full of wolves? They had to know we were trained. Armed. Protected.
• The fact that they got in anyway?
• Terrifying.
• Inside the nearest classroom, the door slammed shut behind us.
• “Lock it!” Brooke’s voice shook as she practically climbed on top of Jace Reyes. He shoved her off and turned the lock with a grim click. Zane stood near the window, watching the shadows outside like he could see straight through the walls.
• Brooke kept clinging, though. Like a tick in designer clothes.
• All around me, girls clung to their boyfriends like human shields, sobbing, shaking, hoping muscle would save them. I stood near the back, alone. Figures.
• “Pathetic,” Renee muttered beside me, arms crossed, jaw locked tight.
• That’s when the door handle started to rattle.
• Everyone froze.
• Then came the scratching. Slow, deliberate.
• My heart dropped.
• The monster peered through the glass on the door—just one glowing red eye but it locked onto me.
• I felt it in my spine, like a wire pulling tight.
• Its stare didn’t break.
• Thenboom.
• With one impossible kick, the door flew off its hinges.
• Students screamed.
• I couldn’t move.
• It wasn’t a wolf. And it wasn’t human. It was something in between jagged, wrong, stitched together by nightmares and rage.
• It launched at me.
• I didn’t think. I just screamed and threw my hands over my face.
• I was going to die. Here. In front of everyone. My face was all I had, and I braced for it to be torn apart.
• But it never came.
• Instead: a growl. A blur of white fur. A crash.
• I peeked between my fingers.
• Zane and Jace had shifted—two massive white wolves—and were tearing into the creature with pure, furious precision.
• It was chaos. Claws. Roars. Blood.
• My brain didn’t even try to keep up.
• It just… shut off.
• I came back to consciousness slowly—everything dull, heavy. The voices were too loud.
• “She probably fainted before the monster even touched her,” someone scoffed.
• “Of course she did.”
• “She’s always been extra.”
• I knew those voices. Judging. Laughing. I stayed still, eyes shut.
• Then Brooke: “Honestly, if she got my boyfriend hurt just to get attention—“
• My eyes snapped open.
• Students surrounded me, all giving me the same look: mild concern mixed with high-key irritation. Like I’d ruined their day by almost dying.
• I sat up, scanning the room. Where were they?
• Then I saw them.
• Zane and Jace sat against the far wall, blood soaking through their shirts. Zane’s side was torn open. Jace’s arm hung limp, shredded down to the bone.
• Brooke hovered over them like she was their savior, dabbing at Jace’s face with a tissue that did nothing.
• “Don’t take another step,” she hissed when I moved closer, practically shielding him with her body. “You’ve done enough.”
• I ignored her and dropped to my knees beside them. My stomach twisted at the sight of their wounds.
• Renee appeared beside me. “They’ll heal,” she whispered. “Faster than us. But yeah, that thing messed them up bad.”
• I nodded slowly. “Still…”
• I tugged the scarf off my neck, tore it in half, and reached for Jace’s arm. He flinched—just a little—but didn’t stop me. I wrapped the fabric tight around the worst of it.
• Then I moved to Zane.
• He watched me. Just watched. His eyes didn’t blink.
• I pressed the scarf to his side.
• He didn’t say a word. Didn’t even flinch. Just let me.
• I didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew I had to do something.
• Brooke snorted. “Wow. Acting like some nurse now, are we? Trying to earn brownie points for being the damsel?”
• I didn’t answer.
• Because she wasn’t entirely wrong.
• “I’m sorry,” I said finally. Out loud. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t mean to pull you into it.”
• Zane’s expression didn’t change. But his silence was loud.
• Kyle—Jace—snapped instead.
• “Then leave. You want to apologize? Great. Now get out of our faces.”
• I swallowed. But I stayed.
• “I know you’re pissed,” I said softly. “But you protected me. And I’m not pretending I deserve that—but I won’t pretend like it didn’t matter either.”
• Zane’s jaw ticked.
• “You could’ve died,” he said, voice flat. “And we’d still be bleeding for it.”
• Renee tugged my sleeve gently. “Come on.”
• But I didn’t move.
• The teacher from earlier reappeared at the front of the class, blood on his shirt, scratches on his arms—but still standing tall. His voice cut through the tension:
• “Listen up.”
• Everyone turned.
• “We’re officially under lockdown. Campus is barricaded. No one leaves. No one enters. You’ll sleep in here tonight. Group up. Twos and threes.”
• Groans echoed across the room. The couples immediately clung to each other again.
• I looked around. Everyone paired up. Even the loners found someone.
• Except me.
• And Renee.
• Two lone girls. No claws. No built-in protection.
• Just each other.