Chapter 5 Cornered.

STAR

My heart skipped so hard I genuinely thought something snapped inside my chest. Liam was way too close for comfort; his body towering over mine while his hands stayed planted against the locker beside my head, trapping me completely.

His scent wrapped around me annoyingly fast, something cinnamon and expensive mixed with cedarwood and warning sirens, and it made my brain feel stupid for a second. I hated that. Absolutely hated it. His grey eyes dragged slowly over my face before they dropped lower and suddenly his smirk deepened like he'd caught something amusing.

“Well,” he murmured, voice low enough to crawl beneath my skin. “Why are you so red?”

My throat tightened instantly. “I'm not red.”

“Hmm little liar,” he grinned lazily, then his hand suddenly slid to my waist and my breath caught sharply. “Don’t tell me you’ve already got a crush on me, Princess.”

My eyes widened at the contact and heat rushed through my entire body so fast it pissed me off. “Get your hands off me,” I snapped, shoving hard against his chest. Liam barely moved but he let me push him back anyway, amusement dancing all over his stupidly handsome face.

“Oh, she’s feisty,” he mocked.

“Your lack of boundaries and respect for personal space is incredulous,” I glared. “Seriously, do you act like this with every girl or did I just get the stepsister special package?”

Liam barked out a laugh while the students around us watched openly now. Some looked entertained, others looked terrified to even breathe in the twins’ direction. Levi still stood beside them silently, hands in his pockets, eyes unreadable.

Honestly, the quiet one unnerved me more. Liam at least acted like a jerk openly. Levi looked like the type to destroy someone without changing expression.

“You should watch that mouth of yours,” Liam said, straightening up a little.

“Or what?” I challenged immediately before my brain could stop me. “You’ll dump me on another roadside?”

The smirk on his face disappeared.

Oops.

For the first time since I met him, Liam actually looked annoyed, genuinely annoyed, and weirdly enough it made me feel accomplished. His jaw flexed while his eyes narrowed dangerously at me. “Careful.”

“No, you be careful,” I folded my arms across my chest despite my pulse still acting embarrassingly stupid. “You don’t get to treat me like I should be down on my knees begging for your acceptance. Trust me, if I had another option I wouldn’t wanna be around either of you.”

Liam took one step forward and the air shifted instantly. I felt it. Everyone around us felt it too because the hallway had gone painfully quiet. His eyes darkened, silver bleeding deeper into grey while his wolf probably pushed close to the surface. Werewolves were terrifying enough normally but powerful bloodlines? Even worse.

Then Levi moved.

It happened so calmly I almost missed it. One second Liam looked ready to rip into me and the next Levi’s hand was around his arm, stopping him effortlessly. Liam looked irritated instantly. “What?”

Levi didn’t even glance at him. His eyes stayed on me the entire time and suddenly I understood why people feared him more.

“Enough,” he said quietly. Liam scoffed. “She keeps running her mouth.”

“And you’re proving her point.”

Something passed between them silently before Liam clicked his tongue and stepped back. My shoulders loosened a little but not fully because now Levi was walking toward me instead.

Fuck.

I swallowed hard trying not to react as his tall figure stopped right in front of me. Up close he felt… colder somehow. Bigger too. The heterochromia in his eyes looked even stranger nearby, one grey and one auburn staring straight through me like he could peel every thought out of my head. Unlike Liam, he didn’t touch me at all. Not once. Somehow that left me with a bruised skin.

“You talk too much,” he said flatly. I opened my mouth then closed it again because suddenly my bravery wasn’t braving anymore.

Levi leaned down slightly, not enough to invade my space completely but enough to make me feel small for the first time in forever. “Listen carefully... Star.”

The way he said my name sent something uncomfortable through my stomach.

“You will not introduce yourself in this school as our stepsister,” he continued quietly. “You will not embarrass us by telling people that such a low weakling is related to us. Understand?”

My throat went dry.

There wasn’t even anger in his voice which somehow made it more intimidating. He sounded calm, certain, deadly serious, and I hated that my body reacted before my pride could.

I nodded.

Levi stared at me for another second. “Use your head and maybe you’ll survive here.” Then he straightened up and walked away like nothing happened.

Liam smirked at me one last time before following after him. “See you around, Princess.”

The moment they disappeared down the hallway I finally breathed properly again. My lungs felt tight like I’d forgotten how oxygen worked around those two psychos.

“What the hell,” I muttered under my breath, rubbing my temple. “What a new day. What a new school.”

The hallway slowly returned to normal but I could still feel eyes following me everywhere. Great. First day and I’d already gotten into drama with the school kings and the queen bee. Mum would literally pass out if she knew.

I exhaled deeply and adjusted my bag over my shoulder before pulling out my schedule. I needed to find the principal’s office first and maybe avoid getting murdered before lunch. Honestly, solid goals.

I started walking down one of the hallways, heels clicking softly against the marble floor while trying to follow the directions printed beneath the schedule sheet. Left wing. Administrative hall. Second floor.

Easy enough.

Except five minutes later I realized I was definitely lost.

“This school is built like a damn maze,” I muttered while turning another corner too quickly and smashing directly into someone.

Books scattered everywhere.

“Oh my God!” a soft voice squeaked.

“I’m so sorry!” I bent immediately, kneeling to help gather the books spread across the floor. “Shit, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“N-No, it’s okay,” the girl said quickly, crouching down too. “I should’ve been paying attention.” We both reached for the same notebook and paused awkwardly.

“Sorry,” we both said at the same time.

A tiny laugh escaped her while I smiled a little despite myself. Up close she looked really cute in that nerdy hot way. Round glasses, dark burgundy hair tied into a messy ponytail, oversized uniform cardigan. Total nerd vibe. Yet hot.

“I swear I’m not usually this clumsy,” I sighed dramatically while handing her another book.

“It’s fine,” she smiled nervously. “You’re new right?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Well… kinda,” she admitted shyly.

I stood up after helping her collect the last book. “I’m actually trying to find the principal’s office but I think this school hates me already because I’ve somehow ended up completely lost.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh, you’re headed the wrong way.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” she nodded quickly. “The administrative hall is upstairs near the east wing.”

I blinked slowly. “I have no idea what any of those words mean.” She laughed softly again and adjusted the books in her arms. “I’m heading that way actually, so I could show you.”

Relief flooded me instantly. “You are literally saving my life right now.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“Trust me, it is. Another five minutes and I would’ve ended up outside the country somehow.”

That earned a bigger laugh from her and weirdly enough it relaxed me a little. We started walking together down the hallway while students continued staring openly at me. Some whispered behind their hands. Others quickly looked away when I noticed them.

“So…” I glanced at her curiously. “What’s this school’s deal exactly?”

“Hm?”

“Everyone acts like it’s some elite military camp mixed with a prison.”

She looked surprised for a second before smiling awkwardly. “I mean… Dusk Shade Academy is kind of a huge deal. Most of the students here come from important bloodlines. Alpha families, Beta heirs, Lycans…”

“And spoiled rich kids,” I added. She tried not to laugh. “That too.”

“I already miss my old school,” I muttered.

“You’ll get used to it eventually.”

“Doubtful.”

She glanced at me carefully before speaking again. “You caused a lot of attention today.” I groaned instantly. “Great everyone knows about it. Gossip travels fast here too.”

“No, I mean…” she hesitated. “I think it was cool.”

I looked at her weirdly. “Almost getting attacked with coffee is considered cool now?”

“No,” she smiled shyly. “Standing up to Daisy was.”

I shrugged. “She was being an annoying bitch.”

“And... Liam and Levi too.” That made me snort. “Those two are definitely the kings of annoying.”

The girl stared at me like I’d just confessed to punching the moon. “What?” I frowned.

“You’re either really brave or completely insane.”

“Probably both.”

“Okay. I don't know how things were ran at your old school but here in Dusk Shade Academy; no one talks back to the Blackthorne twins,” she said seriously. “Ever.”

I frowned slightly. “Why?”

“Because they’re powerful and terrifying.” I immediately thought about Liam smirking against my locker and Levi leaning down toward me with those cold eyes.

Still.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “They just seem like dramatic assholes.”

The girl nearly choked. “What?”

“You really are insane,” she whispered.

I laughed softly, shaking my head. “Trust me, I’m starting to realize that.”

We finally stopped in front of a large dark wooden door with PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE engraved across it in silver letters. I exhaled in relief. Finally. “This is it,” she said.

“You’re officially my favorite person here.” Her cheeks turned pink instantly. “I should probably get going now and submit these before class starts.”

“Wait,” I stopped her. “I’m Star.” 

She smiled softly, tightening her hold on her books. “I'm Imogen.”

We waved goodbye as she disappeared into the next office door. 

I stared at the giant wooden office door for a second before inhaling deeply and knocking twice. A muffled “come in” sounded from inside and I pushed the door open carefully, stepping into the office while adjusting my bag higher on my shoulder. 

The office itself screamed expensive in a tacky way; gold framed certificates hung on the walls beside pictures of graduating students and pack leaders, there was a giant dark desk sitting in the middle of the room with silver wolf carvings around the edges and shelves stacked with books that honestly looked untouched. Behind the desk sat a woman who looked somewhere in her late forties with quite the makeup and bright red nails tapping against a tablet screen.

Her eyes lifted toward me and immediately dropped to my Birkin.

Not my face.

The bag.

Interesting.

“Well,” she smiled quickly, standing up. “You must be Star Ashton.” I returned the smile politely. “That’s me.”

“Welcome to Dusk Shade Academy, dear.” Her eyes flickered toward my bag again before she motioned for me to sit. “I’m Principal Delaney.”

“Nice to meet you.”

I sat down across from her while she kept giving my outfit little sneaky glances every five seconds like she was mentally calculating how much everything cost. Honestly, if she stared any harder at the bag she might accidentally marry it.

“So,” she clasped her hands together. “Daughter of Luna Evelyn and stepdaughter to Alpha Frederick Blackthorne himself, hm?”

I nodded carefully.

“How lovely,” she grinned and there it was again; that weird gleam in her eyes. “You’ll fit in perfectly here.” Something told me she didn’t mean personality wise.

Her gaze moved over my blazer, then my heels, then right back to the Birkin. Yeah. Definitely money obsessed.