Keenan's POV

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This morning my dad wanted to take me on another “business trip” but I convinced him not to, buy convincing my mom that I wanted to take my education seriously now and therefore, I needed to return to school. She was just happy to see that I was “caring” about my education, and thought I was finally becoming a responsible young man.

Yeah sure, mom.

Already, I can smell her overwhelming scent engulfing the entire school.

I didn’t miss it. I don’t.

Tanner, Alan, and Mark bound it their way over to me.

“Keenan! You’re back! I thought you had pack business today?“

“I convinced my mom to let me go to school, has shit calm down here?“

Tanner chuckled nervously, “yeah, um, kind of?“

I gave him a blank stare.

“Okay no, it hasn’t really.“

“Of-fucking- course not.”

——————————————————————————————————

It wasn’t long before I realized something was off, she didn’t show up to our first class together, which was Gym. She also didn’t show up to the cafeteria, even though I could tell from her fresh lingering scent that, she was at school today.

I had to give it to her, she was a lot more clever, or at least more susceptible to the bond than I thought. Every time I tried to pinpoint her whereabouts, using the pull, she was already seated in her next class. And I couldn’t very well just barged into her class without looking like a weirdo, or worse, giving away my secret.

When I couldn’t find her at her lunch spot, I traced her sent, by the time I got an accurate location, she was already being driven out of the parking lot by Jean.

Fine, I’ll give her this one hour.

So I waited…and I waited.

So many times I almost had her in my clutches, almost backed into a corner, and still, she evaded my grasp like a slippery rope.

Then I remembered we had a test in anatomy today.

There was no way she’d missed that, being the goody two-shoes that she was.

—————————————————————————————————

But she didn’t show. The teacher didn’t even call her name for attendance. What is she up to?

Mindlinking Alan, I asked him if Angeline’s been in class. Allen shifted uncomfortably in his seat but finally answered.

Nah, she hasn’t been in this class for weeks now.

Alan has always been one of my closest friends, but he was never really involved or concerned with the demise of my mate, unlike Tanner and Vivienne. In fact, he was always uneasy and preferred to just observe from a distance.

That’s weak.

If he plans to be my future gamma, then he has to have the stomach for these things. With 20 minutes left in class I got up and left, Mrs. Blank didn’t stop me, she wouldn’t dare.

I followed the pull of the bond and it led me to a part of the school I honestly didn’t know existed. I stop abruptly in my tracks when I hear the sound of the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

It sent shivers down my spine, even my wolf was entranced. The voice sang in a foreign language I couldn’t understand, but it didn’t matter, it spoke to my being. Filling me with a feeling so intense, all other thoughts were tarnished. I followed the voice where my mate’s scent was the strongest.

And there she was, in a room, that I can only describe as the choir room, and she was singing. Not alone, two other girls stood beside her, but her sweet voice easily overshadowed theirs. She was the primary focus of everyone in the class, including mine.

I didn’t know she could sing.

It was so strange, to see her so loose, so absorbed and lost within herself that she couldn’t see anyone else. Every emotion, every thought, every expression plastered on her face for all to see. She showed her vulnerability, her sincerely, and she wasn’t trying to hide it. She was absolutely captivating.

What?

It didn’t register how engrossed I was watching her until the dismissal bell rang, knocking me from my trance.

I’ll wait here patiently if that’s what it took. She evaded me for long enough.

But what I didn’t expect was for Britney to pop out of this very class.

The minute she saw me her eyes brightened and she made a beeline for me, almost jumping on top of me.

“Oh, babe! You’ve been waiting for me outside my class? That’s so sweet!” She gushed, planting a wet kiss on my lips. I turn my head away, annoyed. Not that she noticed, she was already talking my ear off at this point, clinging to my arm, much like her sister used to.

Speaking of which, Vivienne was now approaching us at an alarming speed.

Oh fuck, not again. They were already throwing insults at each other before I could even get a proper hold of Britney, Mark and Tanner had Vivienne on the other side.

“Don’t think you’re anything special Britney, he’ll just use you up just like he used to me! In fact he’s only doing this to make me jealous!“

“You think everything is about you! It’s not! We’re in love! He’s my chosen mate! We can’t help how we feel, we didn’t mean to hurt you but you have to accept that we’re together now Vivienne! You can throw a tantrum all you want but it won’t change anything!”

That only Infuriated Vivienne even more, “you bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are!? I made you!”

I guess the hold I had on Britney wasn’t secure enough because a second later Vivienne was dragging Britney by her hair across the floor.

I feel the onslaught of a headache beginning to form at my temples.

“Stop this shit right now!” Immediately they freeze when they hear me use my alpha voice, something I wasn’t allowed to use in school. “I don’t have time for this shit! Get out of my way!”

While I’ve been dealing with the stupid nonsense my mate escaped my grasp… again.

As I finally reached the parking lot I’m almost relieved to see all the buses still there. Then I spotted her, my mate, she’s not on the bus yet either. She’s kneeling on the floor, picking up her books.

Walking up, I stood mere feet behind her, she freezes when she feels me near.

“Did you really think you were that slick?”

She said nothing, just continue cautiously stuffing her bookbag.

“Did you really think you could avoid me forever?”

“No, but I was hoping to,“ she muttered under her breath.

My eyes narrowed, when did she get some spine?

“Do you wanna repeat that?”

When she finally turned to face me, I was surprised to see a fire blazing in her eyes that wasn’t there before.

“I said, ‘no, but I was hoping to.’”

I took a threatening step closer, she hugged her books tighter to her chest.

“You want to get mouthy now? Now? Where was all this defiance when they held you down and took your nudes? Where was it when I made you break into a police car? Where will it be when I feel like making you carry and distribute my illegal goods? Or when I tell you to rob the nearest bank simply because it amuses me? Where will it be then, huh? Because we both know you’re gonna end up doing what I say.”

“It will be where it is now.”

“Nonexistent?”

“It’s sad that you have to bully people smaller than you to feel better about yourself. You’re the one with the issues, not me. Whatever you’re compensating for, I hope you figure it out and grow up. In the meantime, you need to leave me alone. You and all your friends do.”

Compensating? Grow up? Who the hell is she talking to?

I laughed condescendingly, “wow, Jean tells you a few encouraging lies and now you think you’re better than everyone?“

“I don’t think I’m better than anyone, I just know I’m better than you.”

“That so…“

“Yes, it IS so. I don’t harass people and make them feel like crap, I don’t go about ruining the relationship of two sisters, and I’m not a selfish or obnoxious prick. I don’t threaten people or blackmail them when I don’t get my way like some child. So yes, I am a better person than you could probably ever hoped to be.“

I stayed silent for several seconds, contemplating her harsh words.

“Have you forgotten already? I still have-”

“I don’t care anymore, post them if you want, it won’t change anything, I don’t have friends now, I won’t have friends then.“

We stare at each other for a solid moment, her expression filled with determination, mine with disdain. She should know better than to test me, so I hit her where it counts.

“I’d be such a shame for your dad to lose his job at the hospital while he already makes minimum-wage.“

Her eyes slightly widened with alarm, but she quickly tried to mask it.

“But you don’t care anymore, right? Your dad is a fucking loser just like you, his life doesn’t have importance now, it won’t have any then either, so what does it matter if it’s your fault he lost his job?”

Immediately I see her confidence start to falter and her eyes well with traitorous tears, she tries to blink them away. “Don’t talk about him like that!”

“Or you’ll do what? Huh? Get smart with me again and I’ll make your nobody failure of a daddy my bitch instead. You have no idea who the fuck you’re dealing with.”

She opens her mouth to speak, she’s cut short by the sound of someone calling my name.

“Keenan!“

What the fucking shit now?!

Just a few feet away are Tanner, Vivienne, Britney, and Mark.

Why the fuck do they always have to follow me when I need them least?! Can’t a man just get some goddamn peace?!

Even Jean, the meddling bitch, was watching from a distance, standing behind the door’s window. She hid in the safety of the school like a little coward.

“Babe! Why did you just leave like that?“ Britney pouted, clinging to me like a magnet again.

“Oh look!“ Tanner exclaimed ″you found the Trailer Trash Vermin! I’ve been wondering where the hell you’ve been hiding these last few weeks. It’s been boring without having you do stuff we tell you.”

“What are we gonna have you do today?” Mark pitched in.

At this point, the parking lot was more than half empty and all the buses were gone.

Angeline’s wheezy breathing became heavier and faster as she looked at us surrounding her, she resembled a paranoid schizophrenic caught in a trap.

Vivienne is pulling at my right arm, and Britney binds herself to my left side, grasping my jacket in her fist.

“Let go of my boyfriend, you bitch!“ Britney screeches.

I see Tanner and Mark slowly closing in on Angeline, step-by-step. She takes out her little blue inhaler from the pocket of her overalls and tries unsuccessfully to hide the panic on her face.

Before she could inhale, Tanner snatches the inhaler from her hand.

“Hey! Give that back!”

Tanner and Mark laugh, throwing the inhaler back-and-forth to each other, with Angeline trying to catch it from the middle. I shove both Vivian and Britney off me, can’t they all just fuck off?!

Immediately Vivienne jumps and hugs me from behind again.

“Keenan, I’ve missed you. We can get through this, don’t give up on us” she said it almost tearfully, it sounded strange coming from her.

“That’s not funny! Give it back!“ Angeline yelled, her voice breathy and frantic. “Please! Please give it back!”

I try being gentle as a pry Vivienne’s needy intertwined fingers from my stomach, but I’m so fed up I don’t care if I break them.

“Please… give… back… PLEASE!”

I freeze in my movements. Somethings wrong.

My wolf is roaring in my head at the sound of her strangled voice.

She’s bright red.

Tanner stops and holds it out to her, “You want it back? Fine. Then go… GET IT!!” Tanner shouted, throwing it so far into the air that it disappeared into the woods, and entire football stadium away.

I stood there paralyzed, watched it play out in front of me as if in slow motion, watched as my mate crumbled to her knees, clutching her chest. Her face a dangerous side of purple. No sound coming from her mouth.

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING YOU IDIOT?!?!” Tanner’s grin is wiped off his face when he sees my rage directed at him. “GO GET IT!!!”

The whole world ceases to exist around me, and a fear I’ve never known before takes a hold of me.

Before she can completely fall to the ground, I’m at her side in a millisecond, clutching her to my chest. I watch helplessly as her small body tried desperately to draw in a breath.

“Breath goddamnit! Breathe!” I shook her, I didn’t recognize my own voice, so raw and full of desperation.

Her eyes stared up at mine, they looked so far away…

“Please breathe!” She was turning blue.

Oh god no.

I looked up and they all just stood there, watching us, horrified.

“Oh my god, is she his ma-”

“ALL OF YOU! DON’T JUST FUCKING STAND THERE! GO FIND IT!”

I stared down at her, desperate, the dread in the pit of my stomach growing.

“Please!” I cried through the lump in my throat, touching my forehead to hers, “breath.”

She stopped jerking in my arms and went completely still.

No.

No no no no no no no.

I shook my head.

I let out a long anguished cry, a mix of both animal and man.

I was breaking, like the string tethering me to this world had just snapped. I was being torn in two, a part of me was dying. My chest felt like it was on fire, I could taste blood in the back of my throat.

I lay on the floor beside my dying mate, convulsing as my chest spasmed, it felt like my insides were doused in acid. But the physical pain was nothing in comparison to what I felt in my soul.

I broke it, it’s broken… the bond.

Come back to me.

Come back.

The last thing I see before everything went black, was a name appear on my inner wrist, jagged and raised.

Angeline.