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.

kind of

No, that was

I said quickly. "You’re not

someone would come down the hallway. Maybe I could escape

His grin widened.

pressed his nose against my

I went rigid.

me, don’t bite me, don’t

a

"You don’t believe me?"

I didn’t answer.

because I

Because I physically couldn’t.

for a heartbeat, the hallway around us faded into nothing but

my ear. "Humans," he whispered, "are

just fear. Something else. Something..."

you want from me?"

eyes opened.

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.

his head, and for a brief second, his

almost too

he said lightly. "But at least I

finger to my chest. "You... you’re still figuring it

leaned forward again. "You smell like

then, and I nearly collapsed. My body had gone completely numb, legs trembling, heart clawing at my

eyes still trained on

then. Be a hero.

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

students were told not

open my mouth to ask what the hell he meant—he was

Like gone gone.

second he was

And the next?

Poof.

door opening,

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

What just happened?

Was he a... ghost?

you to a wall. Couldn’t sniff you like a bloodhound trying to decide if

that whole wolves having

No. Nope. No way.

just a messed-up hazing thing,

Right?

imagination and a flair for drama. Maybe they’d drugged the

it. That, or

still linger on my skin like

like I’d just stared into the

every cell in my body screaming do not go in there. My feet moved anyway. Because Sara

the overhead lights dimming into flickers. The doors here were sealed with tape and

And the door?

It was ajar.

"Sara?" I whispered.