Rejected by the Beta, Claimed by the Alpha

Chapter 154

Chapter 154: The School Monsters

Clark POV:

That sentence did more than shake me.

It broke the spell that had frozen me in place.

I turned.

And ran.

But I didn’t get far.

From the shadows of the room — those corners I hadn’t dared look at before — something moved. No, leaped. A blur of snarling, growling muscle, all fur and fangs and pure nightmare.

A shadow dog. No, not a dog — not really. Something worse. Bigger. Thicker. Made of fur and long fierce jaws filled with sharp teeth and something even deeper, like it didn’t exist entirely in this world. The thing slammed into the wall just inches from my head, claws gouging through the concrete like cardboard.

I screamed. My legs almost gave out.

Another one followed it. Then a third. They were crawling out of the darkness like it was a door.

Three in total. Each had the outline of a hound but the wrong anatomy. Their joints bent the wrong way. Their eyes didn’t reflect light — they drank it. Their fur shifted unnaturally, like smoke clinging to a shape that didn’t want to be seen clearly.

One opened its jaws and let out a low, unnatural growl. The sound made my teeth hurt.

Nope. Nope nope nope.

I turned back and bolted into the hallway. My shoes slapped hard against the tile. My breath came in harsh gasps. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.


They were behind me.

I could hear them — the scraping of claws, the deep, almost wet-sounding snorts as they sniffed the air behind me. One howled. It didn’t sound like a wolf. It sounded like a dying child wrapped in a bear’s growl.

I shot through the narrow hallway, barely dodging fallen scaffolding and busted tiles. My shoulder clipped a doorway, and pain flared, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I just knew I had to get out.

Had to survive.

Had to tell someone—anyone—what the hell I’d just seen.

Except... who would believe me?

"I walked in on werewolves doing God-knows-what to a girl in a sealed building" wasn’t exactly going to get me anything other than a padded room.

And what if that girl had wanted it? No... no, Clark, stop thinking like that. You saw her eyes. You saw her face.

It wasn’t lust.

It was terror.

I rounded a corner and nearly crashed into an overturned desk. My shin hit the edge and I went sprawling.


"FUCK!" I shouted, barely catching myself.

There was a locker door ahead. I didn’t think. I dove toward it, yanked it open, crawled inside — knees tight to chest — and pulled it shut.

Darkness. My heartbeat slammed in my ears so loud it drowned out everything else.

Then... footsteps.

Not the padded ones of the creatures. These were... barefoot.

Deliberate. Slow. Echoing.

A shadow passed the narrow slits of the locker vent. It was tall. Too tall. The hallway light flickered, and for one brief second, I saw a silhouette — hunched over, arms too long, neck too thin. Not human.

fingers along the lockers. Not claws — fingers.

knew I was

lecture room? Had they sent

praying to a God I wasn’t sure even worked on

The scratching stopped.

right


"You smell like fear."

blood turned to ice. I squeezed my eyes

slow footsteps again, fading. A beat passed. Then another. Then a minute.

Was it gone?

Was it—

SLAM!

locker door burst open and I screamed, falling out. I thrashed wildly, expecting claws, teeth,

"kid?"

My eyes snapped open.

Reed.

arms folded, his yellowish-ringed eyes

magnet for trouble," he muttered, grabbing me by the arm

tried to form words, but they wouldn’t come out. My mouth


into the old wing?"

"There were these—these things—wolf-faced guys. And then dogs—huge dogs. And—there was a girl. A girl

me a sharp look. "You

Sara and—and she disappeared and

Stop breathing like that. They can still

at

in. "You think this place is just some ordinary university? kid, there are corridors on

turned his head, listening. The hall

Too quiet.

"But lucky you, I’m sentimental when it comes to

You—you knew they were in there? What

But I’ll give you one hint, Clark—this university isn’t a place

in ever so slightly — not enough to break skin, but


doing this. They’ve seen your face. They’ve

this," I muttered. "I don’t believe in vampires or werewolves or—or shadow

again, his lips barely an

don’t believe in you

by the hand and

someone annoyed they were once

heart pounding so loud it echoed in my ears. The distant thrum of

It didn’t.

Not even close.

were quieter now. More abandoned than before. All the excited chatter had faded, replaced with cold

But then—

I heard it.

A sound.

Whimpering.

soft. Coming from just around the corner

sound human. Or maybe it did, and that made it worse. That breathy, wet

just enough to

in shadow. Too dark. Too quiet. Like the air was

But

as he

kill, that darkness would’ve exploded into ash. He stared at

me in the opposite direction. I almost tripped over my own feet trying to keep

not sure I

He didn’t respond.

Didn’t have to.

whole posture

wasn’t for human

a predator himself—shoulders tense, eyes scanning every shadow like

felt even more dangerous. The

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