Not Yours Anymore, Alpha

My fingers shot out before Felix could react.

I snatched the phone right out of his hand, gripped the casing tight, and hurled it into the asphalt.

The screen exploded in a shower of black shards.

Before Felix could register what happened, I brought my combat shoe down on the wreckage, twisting my sole until the metal chassis bent into a twisted wedge. The tiny speaker fizzled and died.

"What the fuck did you do?" Felix roared, lunging forward with his arms out.

I stood my ground, staring straight through him. "Problem solved."

"That was my phone, you crazy bitch!" His fists shook at his sides, his chest heaving with fury. "You destroyed the only proof!"

"You wanted to show it to the school?" I shoved both hands into my pockets. "Show them now. Go on, pick up the scrap metal."

Felix bared his teeth, his jaw twitching so hard a tendon threatened to snap. "You think you won something here? You're nothing! When the pack assembly comes, I'm going to strip your title and throw you to the outer fringes. You'll starve in the dirt where you belong!"

"Keep barking," I said, leaning in until our foreheads were inches apart. "Wait and see who makes who suffer first. Try me."

I bumped his shoulder hard as I passed.

He didn't chase me this time. I heard him curse violently, kicking the crushed plastic across the empty stalls.

Walking away, my thoughts locked onto one absolute goal: Felix wasn't going to reject me on a podium. I was going to make that arrogant bastard crawl through the mud and beg on both knees.

To break an Alpha like him, I needed leverage.

I needed Joe.

***

The next afternoon, the high school cafeteria sounded like a zoo.

Trays clattered. Voices competed against the hum of industrial ventilation fans. Every table was crowded—except for the long booth tucked beside the concrete pillars in the corner.

Joe sat there alone.

He was broad-shouldered and sharp-featured, with a thick line of scar tissue cutting through his left eyebrow. Unlike Felix, who bathed in the adoration of his sycophants, Joe carried an aura so freezing that nobody dared sit within five feet of his shadow. His pack and Felix's pack had been at each other's throats for three generations.

I grabbed my red plastic tray from the counter and walked directly toward his booth.

Whispers broke out along the nearby tables.

"Is she insane?"

"Where is she going?"

"That's Joe... he put two senior Betas in the ER last winter."

I ignored the murmurs, reached the empty seat directly across from Joe, and pulled the metal chair back with a screech.

I sat down.

Joe didn't flinch. He kept chewing, his fork stabbing into a portion of rice, completely ignoring my existence.

I picked up the pair of plastic tongs from my tray, plucked my roasted chicken drumstick, and dropped it straight into the center of his plate.

A drop of dark gravy splashed onto his thumb.

Joe stopped.

He set his fork down against the rim of his plate with a dull clink. Slowly, his dark eyes rose from the food to fix on my face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Joe asked, his voice low, raspy, and dangerously quiet.

"Giving you lunch," I replied.

"I didn't ask for it."

"Take it anyway."

Joe leaned back against the vinyl seat, his arms folding across his broad chest. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows, exposing dark ink crawling up his forearms. "Get lost, Maya. I don't share tables."

"I'm not here for company," I said, leaning my forearms against the table. "I want to team up with you to take down Felix."

Joe stared at me for two beats, then barked out a short, mocking laugh. "You? Team up with me?"

"You heard me."

"I don't work with Omegas," Joe said flatly. "Especially broken ones who got their brains scrambled in the woods."

"I'm not broken."

"You're a liability," he countered, pointing a fork toward my nose. "You think because you kicked two cheerleaders in the courtyard, you're a fighter? Felix runs the strongest pack faction in this district. You're an ant beneath his boot."

"And you've been trying to stomp his faction for two years," I countered, keeping my voice level. "How's that going for you?"

Joe’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Watch your tongue."

"Your pack lost the southern border run last month," I said, leaning closer so only he could hear. "Felix took the supply depot, and you got pushed back to the rail line. You want him buried just as badly as I do. The enemy of my enemy is a friend."

Joe let out a dry scoff, picking up a napkin to wipe his thumb. "You talk a big game for a girl who was on her knees weeping for him three weeks ago."

"That wasn't me."

"It's all over the gossip forum," Joe mocked, tossing the crumpled napkin onto his tray. "Every kid in this school has seen the video of you begging him not to discard you like trash. You expect me to trust an obsessed ex who might fold the second he flashes an Alpha growl at her?"

"The phone with that video is in three pieces in the south parking lot," I answered evenly. "And Felix knows exactly who broke it."

Joe raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity cutting through his cold mask. "You smashed his phone?"

"Crushed it with my boot."

"Bold move. Still doesn't prove shit." Joe picked up his fork again. "You're unpredictable. You're emotional. If I move against Felix, I need a steel pipe, not a stray dog looking for revenge."

"Give me a test," I said.

Joe paused, his fork hovering an inch above his plate. "What?"

"Test me. See if I'm a stray or a weapon."

Joe smirked, his tone dripping with skepticism. "Why would I waste my time testing an Omega?"

"Because you have nothing to lose," I said. "If I fail, Felix crushes me, and you remain untouched. If I succeed, you get the opening you've been waiting two years to find."

Silence stretched between us. Around us, the cafeteria noise seemed to blur into white noise.

Joe studied my face, looking for hesitation, fear, or a tremor in my voice. He found none.

"What's your plan?" Joe asked, lowering his voice until it was nearly a rumble.

"The school football championship is next month," I told him, tapping the edge of the laminate table. "Felix is the star quarterback. The entire pack council will be in the VIP bleachers. His father, the elders, every alpha in the county. It's his crowning glory."

Joe's gaze sharpened. "Go on."

"I will humiliate him in front of every single one of them," I said. "On the field, in the open, where his father can't cover it up. I will tear down his golden-boy image until he's the joke of the territory."

Joe watched me with an unreadable expression. He picked up the chicken drumstick I had tossed onto his plate, turning it over in his hand.

"If you fail," Joe said slowly, "Felix won't just reject you. He'll have you thrown beyond the perimeter fence. You won't survive a second night in those woods."

"I won't fail," I said.

Joe took a bite of the meat, chewing slowly while his dark eyes locked onto mine.

"The championship game," Joe said after swallowing. "Make him crawl in the dirt where everyone can see. Make him a laughingstock."

"And if I do?"

Joe tossed the clean bone back onto the plastic tray. A fierce, predatory glint sparked behind his scarred brow.

"If you have the guts to pull that off," Joe said, leaning across the table, "I'll give you everything you need to break his neck."

A shadow fell over the corner of our table before I could answer.

Across the room, standing beside the cafeteria double doors, Felix was staring straight at the two of us, his face drained of all color.