Rejected by the Beta, Claimed by the Alpha

Chapter 153: Horror

CLARK – POV

"Curious little lamb, aren’t you?"

The voice was so close, so soft and low, that it slithered straight into my spine like ice. My body jerked like a live wire had touched it—my feet nearly left the ground. I spun around with a strangled yelp only for a hand—cold as death—to clap over my mouth, muffling my scream.

In a blink, I was slammed up against the wall.

Hard.

His body pressed into mine, and we were too close—way too close—his breath grazing my cheek, his icy presence bleeding into my skin like frostbite. To anyone stumbling in on us, it would’ve looked like a moment straight out of a romantic BL anime.

But this wasn’t romantic. This was a goddamn horror scene.

Because I knew that face.

The pale, ghostly guy. The senior I’d asked for directions on my first day—the one who had appeared out of nowhere, just like now.

Where had he come from? Why hadn’t I heard a single step? No shadow. No sound. Just one second I was alone, and the next—this.

"You shouldn’t disturb wolves while they’re having fun," he whispered, his lips brushing my ear.

Wolves? What the actual hell was he talking about?

I stared at him, heart battering my ribs like it wanted out. His eyes were pitch-black, unreadable. His face was smooth, elegant even—but there was a wrongness about it. Not wrong in a way you could point out, but wrong in the way a mask of a human might look after too long. Almost too perfect. Too still.

I tried to push him off, but he didn’t budge.

His body was like stone—unmoving, unyielding, cold.

"I-I wasn’t trying to disturb anyone," I managed to squeak once he eased the hand from my mouth. My throat was tight, dry. "I was just looking for my friend."

He smiled.

God.

It wasn’t a friendly smile. It was the kind of grin a predator gave before taking its sweet time.

"Funny little thing," he murmured, almost affectionately. "Always wandering into places you shouldn’t."

His breath smelled faintly metallic.

Like rust.

Or—blood.

My stomach turned. My knees felt weak.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I said, stammering.

"Wolves can’t just enter the school vicinity like that," I blurted. I didn’t even know what I was saying at that point. Maybe if I kept talking, he wouldn’t eat me. That felt like a valid fear now.

He let out a soft, amused laugh.

"Oh, little lamb, I meant Man wolf" he breathed, nostrils flaring as he sniffed my neck.

I froze. Fully, entirely frozen. My brain screamed He’s going to bite you, and for a horrifying second, I was almost too scared to care.

he?! Some kind of twisted

that was just

quickly. "You’re not saying... like...

told myself. Distract him. Maybe someone would come down

His grin widened.

pressed his nose

I went rigid.

don’t bite me, don’t bite

smiled—teeth a

"You don’t believe me?"

I didn’t answer.

because I was

Because I physically couldn’t.

dry. My limbs felt like jelly. And for a heartbeat, the hallway around us faded into nothing but cold, walls, and a deathly still presence standing

ear. "Humans," he whispered, "are such silly, amusing little

smell fear," he whispered. "But not just fear. Something else. Something..." He closed his

do you want from

opened.

understand," he said, brushing a thumb down the side of my throat like he was mapping where my artery ran. "That this place... it’s not for humans. Not really. You’re just decoration. Distractions. Food. Most of you never realize it. You’re so busy partying and chasing dreams, you never see the monsters in

tilted his head, and for a

almost too fast.

at least I

you’re still figuring it out. But

leaned forward again. "You

collapsed. My body had gone completely numb, legs trembling, heart clawing at

eyes still trained on me like he was watching

Be a hero. It

the one that had been under renovation since I’d arrived. It

place students were

before I could open my mouth to

Like gone gone.

he was right

And the next?

Poof.

opening,

to escape my chest. "What the fu—" I yelped, louder than I meant to, and stumbled

What just happened?

Was he a... ghost?

Ghosts couldn’t touch you. Couldn’t pin you to a wall. Couldn’t sniff you like a bloodhound trying

was with that whole wolves having fun

No. Nope. No way.

a messed-up

Right?

a senior with an overactive imagination and a flair for drama. Maybe they’d drugged

to be it. That,

why did his touch still

stared into the abyss and

the old wing slowly, against every cell in my body screaming do not go in there. My feet moved anyway. Because Sara might be in there. Because if she was, and something had happened to her—and I hadn’t even

overhead lights dimming into flickers. The doors here were sealed with tape and signs reading "UNDER RENOVATION – NO ENTRY" but someone

And the door?

It was ajar.

"Sara?" I whispered.