ed to pull her away from me, swinging their heads left and right to catch who may be looking. Tears pooled in my ey

deserve it, though. You know how I feel about bullies." He kicked a stone. I blinked, trying to piece the conversation together. Was he talking about Tess? Khalid gave another hum of agreement before he glanced at me and said, "Right. I'll handle it from here." He ended the call, slipping his phone into his pocket before turning back to me. "What was that about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I can't seem to figure him out at all. "Just ensuring someone handles this Tess thing," he said casually, as though he hadn't just slapped the Alpha's girlfriend in public and gotten us both into a colossal mess. "You seem to be worried about it." "Who are you?" I blurted out. Could he be a beta himself? It wouldn't be crazy to think Ethan's betas were with him. But why would they all move here? He smiled faintly, the warmth of earlier seeming to creep back into his expression. "Your partner in crime given the situation." "That doesn't answer my question," I pressed, growing increasingly frustrated. "Why did you even step in? Do you realize what you've done? Higan-" I caught myself, correcting, "Alpha Sinclair-isn't going to let this slide!" His gaze hardened for a moment, but his voice stayed calm. "I know exactly what I've done. And you shouldn't have to deal with people like her." I flinched at the intensity in his tone. He made it sound so simple, but this wasn't just about Tess. This was about my entire miserable place in the pack's hierarchy after my public rejection. "I'm not going to school anymore," I muttered, more to myself than to him. The thought of walking into that building and facing Higan, Tess, or anyone else after this was unbearable. I could defend myself but for how long? "Good. You shouldn't," Khalid agreed, as if it were the most obvious choice. I looked up at him, startled by his immediate support. "I actually don't want to go home. My mom's already stressed enough without me showing up in tears again. And if Higan finds me before I figure something out-" "Come with me," he interrupted, his voice steady. "What?" I blinked in surprise at the sudden idea. "Come with me," he repeated. "I'll take you somewhere safe for the day. You don't have to deal with any of this right now." I hesitated, eyeing him warily. "Why should I trust you?" "Because," he said, his tone softening again, "I just stood up for you, didn't I? And if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble." That wasn't exactly reassuring, but he had a point. Still, the idea of going anywhere with him felt reckless. I still didn't know him that well. "Where would we even go?" "My place," he said simply with a growing grin. I froze. "Your place?" "Sort of," he admitted. "It's not far. A quiet spot out of the way. Nobody will bother you there. Well nobody you wouldn't want to bother you would be there, I think." I bit my lip, torn between skepticism and the undeniable fact that I had no better options. Higan and Tess were both unpredictable, and my mom didn't need more reasons to worry about me. "Fine," I relented after a moment, sighing. "But if this is some kind of trap-" "You'll bite me again?" he teased with a grin. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the faint smile tugging at my lips. After all, I could be dead this time tomorrow, I should appreciate the little funny things in life even if it's a bipolar boy with th