I Was Ruined, Then Hunted By Two Alphas

The final bell had rung twenty minutes ago.

The lockers stood cold and silent in the dim afternoon shadows. I pressed the ruined notebook against my ribs, shivering in my damp, soda-stained clothes. Every breath felt like dragging broken glass through my chest.

A heavy shadow detached from the wall near the exit.

Rowen stepped directly into my path, his tall frame blocking the doorway. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his dark jacket.

“Stop walking,” he said.

I froze, clutching the soggy cardboard tighter. “I’m going home, Rowen. Let me pass.”

“Look at me.”

I forced my chin up. The cold numbness in his gray eyes made my stomach twist.

“Whatever you felt when you touched my hand,” Rowen said, his voice flat and cutting, “let it rot in your gut.”

My throat tightened until speaking hurt. “You know what it was.”

“I told you to forget it.”

“How can I forget the Goddess?” A tear slipped down my cheek, hot against the sticky mess on my skin. “You felt the snap just like I did. You know what we are.”

“We are nothing,” Rowen snapped, stepping closer, his presence pressing down like a suffocating blanket. “Don’t think you can latch onto me. Don’t start dreaming about destiny or second chances. I don’t need a mate, Nora. I don’t need you.”

The words struck deeper than any fist Jax had ever thrown.

I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes fixed on his combat boots. My fingers dug into the pulped pages of my journal, but I refused to let another sob escape.

“Understood,” I whispered.

Rowen stared at me for another second, his jaw clenched tight, before stepping aside to clear the hall.

“Well, isn't this a touching little reunion.”

The mocking voice cut through the silence from behind us.

I spun around.

Jax leaned against the glass frame of the athletic trophy case, clapping his hands together in a slow, sharp rhythm. His lower lip was split and swollen where Rowen had cracked it open, dried blood caking his chin. But the careless, laughing frat boy from this morning was gone.

His eyes burned with an unhinged, venomous fury.

“Jax,” I breathed, shrinking back.

“Shut your mouth, Nora,” Jax growled, pushing off the glass. He took three long strides toward us, his chest heaving, veins bulging along his neck. “You were down on your knees sobbing for me an hour ago. You looked me in the eyes and said yes to my roses. And the second my back is turned, you’re in the shadows rubbing up against him?”

“She didn't do anything,” Rowen said, his voice deadly calm. “Walk away, Mercer.”

“I’m not talking to you, stray!” Jax roared, pointing a trembling finger at my face. “Serafina, what gives you the right?”

I gasped at the name. He hadn’t used my full birth name since we were children.

“You tricked me,” I cried, fury flaring through my misery. “You threw soda on me! You read my journal to the entire school for a fifty-dollar bet!”

“And you took it!” Jax snarled, crossing the distance until he was inches from me. He reached out, his fingers catching my wrist in a vice grip that made my bones grind. “You loved me! You’ve loved me for three years, writing your pathetic little notes every night! That means you’re mine!”

“Let go of me!” I yanked against his arm with all my strength.

“You belong to me!” Jax yelled, his grip tightening until my fingers went numb. Spittle flew from his lips, his pupils narrowing into wild slits. “Do you hear me? Even if I throw you in the garbage, even if I break you into pieces and feed you to the dirt, he doesn't get a turn! Nobody touches what's mine!”

“She isn't an object, Mercer,” Rowen said.

Before Jax could blink, Rowen’s hand clamped onto Jax’s wrist.

A sickening crunch echoed down the hallway.

Jax howled in pain, his fingers involuntarily releasing my arm. He stumbled back, clutching his crushed wrist, his eyes flashing brilliant gold as his wolf clawed to the surface.

“You’re dead!” Jax shrieked.

His bones popped with grotesque cracks as fur sprouted along his forearms, his jaw elongating into a snarling muzzle. He lunged forward with a deafening roar, his claws slashing toward Rowen’s throat.

Rowen didn’t back down.

A terrifying gust of wind whipped down the enclosed hall, tearing loose papers off the bulletin boards. Rowen’s frame expanded, his shoulders broadening as his own wolf surged forward, gray fur exploding over his skin.

*BOOM.*

The two wolves collided in midair.

The shockwave rattled the metal lockers, denting the doors inward. Dust rained down from the ceiling tiles. Jax tore his claws across Rowen’s ribs, drawing thick, dark blood, but Rowen didn't even flinch. He grabbed Jax by the scruff of his neck, driving his knee straight into Jax’s midsection.

Jax choked on a mouthful of blood and slammed into the concrete floor.

“Get up,” Rowen growled, his voice half-human, vibrating with terrifying power. “Get up and try again.”

Jax scrambled backward, coughing crimson onto the tiles, but the madness in his eyes hadn't faded. He glared past Rowen, his bloodshot gaze locking onto me.

“You think he’s going to save you, Nora?” Jax wheezed, his mouth dripping red. “You think you found a hero?”

I stood frozen in the middle of the hallway, my chest aching so violently I could hardly draw air.

I looked at Jax. The boy who had taken my devotion, dragged it through the dirt, and laughed while I drowned in soda. Yet now, seeing another male stand between us, he was foaming at the mouth with sick, jealous ownership. He didn't want my love. He just wanted to make sure nobody ever pulled me out of the grave he dug for me.

Then I looked at Rowen.

He had defended me with bone-breaking violence, bleeding for my sake. Yet his words from moments ago still echoed in my ears like poison: *I don’t need you. Let it rot in your gut.*

One wanted to possess my destruction. The other despised the bond that tied our souls together.

“Jax, stop,” I choked out, tears finally breaking free. “Just stop!”

Jax bared his bloody teeth in a twisted grin. He ignored the blood pooling on his chin and dug his fingers into his jacket pocket.

“You think this is over?” Jax hissed, his hand emerging with a silver pack whistle between his bloody knuckles. “You think your little rogue pet can fight the entire council?”

He raised the whistle to his lips.

“Don't,” Rowen warned, his wolf flashing in his eyes.

Jax blew.

A high-pitched, piercing screech ripped through the empty school, vibrating straight through my teeth—a full pack distress alarm that signaled an attack on the Beta heir.

Within seconds, the distant howls of full-grown pack enforcers answered from the edge of the campus woods, closing in fast.