Chapter 2

"What? You own the school now? I can't be here?" Bradley tilted his head, that annoying smirk getting even bigger, his whole body screaming defiance.

Even though he'd just saved her, the second Evre saw him, irritation bubbled up inside her.

He was her childhood friend—Bradley. Despite having noble Alpha blood, he was known as the family's useless troublemaker. He was also the only person at this school who knew who she really was.

Evre had no clue why he even came to this school. To keep her secret safe, she'd been dodging him since the first day, keeping their interactions to a minimum.

And just as she expected, even being at school couldn't change Bradley's carefree troublemaker ways he'd had since they were kids. If he wasn't getting into fights or breaking school rules, he was cooking up his next scheme.

His fighting skills and his personality were complete opposites. His wolf form was ridiculously strong, but he never took any official matches seriously.

Still, showing up when he did had kept her identity from being exposed.

Evre automatically moved to hide behind Bradley. The small movement made something unreadable flash in his eyes for a second.

Veronica's face twisted with annoyance. "Bradley, you'd better stay out of this."

Bradley raised an eyebrow, casually pulling Evre behind him with one hand, his eyes darkening with a hint of threat. "Sorry. Her business? I'm making it mine today."

Veronica opened her mouth to argue, but the two girls behind her tugged nervously at her sleeves.

"Forget it, Veronica. We can't mess with Bradley's family," one whispered urgently.

Veronica looked at Bradley's unusually serious face and the faint dark fur starting to show on his forearms—the clear sign of an Alpha about to shift.

She couldn't figure out why a high-ranking Alpha would stick up for someone without a wolf, but she knew better than to challenge the Bradley family. With one last hateful glare, she backed off.

"You're lucky today!" Veronica spat at Evre before the three of them stormed off.

Once they were gone, Bradley turned around. That lazy, troublemaker grin was back on his face.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, tilting his head as he looked at Evre, a smug, annoying smile on his lips. "Not going to thank me?"

Evre took a deep breath, her voice cold. "I could have handled it myself, even without you."

"Oh, really..." Bradley dragged out his words, his eyes dropping to her hand that was still shaking slightly. "Your fingertips were literally bending the air just now. If I hadn't shown up, how exactly were you planning to hide your little secret?"

Evre quickly hid both hands behind her back.

As much as she hated to admit it, she knew he was right. Even if she'd used her spatial power to mess with Veronica's memory, there was no guarantee someone else wouldn't have seen it happen.

Bradley stepping in had been the best possible outcome.

But she couldn't understand why he'd helped her. They'd never been close.

A gust of night wind swept through the courtyard, lifting the torn pieces of the letter off the ground. Evre instinctively reached for them.

Bradley glanced down, his eyes pausing for a moment on the ink-stained pieces.

"Your love letter sucks," he said, pointing to a silvery-white mark on one piece. "What's this supposed to be? A cotton ball?"

"It's a Silver Moon Wolf! Sebastian's signature wolf form!" Evre shouted, her face turning bright red. "If you don't get it, don't make fun of it!"

That was what she hated most about Bradley. He'd been picking on her and teasing her since they were kids. If their families weren't so closely tied, Evre would have loved to leave a few claw marks on that good-looking face of his.

She expected his usual stream of insults. Instead, he went strangely quiet, his dark eyes fixed on her with an intensity she'd never seen before.

Evre wondered if she was seeing things, because for a split second, she thought she saw sadness in Bradley's eyes.

This carefree, useless troublemaker... feeling sad?

"Do you really like him that much?" Bradley asked suddenly.

Evre blinked, realizing he meant Sebastian. She nodded firmly.

Bradley's throat moved several times. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but nothing came out.

Footsteps echoed from behind them.

Evre turned automatically.

Under the moonlight, a figure appeared from the far end of the hallway.

He wore a deep navy uniform, walking with smooth, measured steps. Silver-white hair drifted gently in the night breeze, framing features so perfectly sculpted they looked like they were carved from stone. His skin was pale and translucent, and the moonlight seemed to wrap his entire body in an almost otherworldly glow.

The moment Evre saw him, her heart skipped a beat. Her fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of her skirt, and suddenly she couldn't breathe.

He was the reason she had risked everything to come here. Sebastian.

"Se... Senior Sebastian." Evre stammered, her voice barely there.

Her face was burning, the tips of her ears turning bright red. She couldn't make herself look at him.

Sebastian looked at her flustered state, a gentle smile crossing his lips.

"I was actually looking for you," he said, his eyes resting on her face. "Are you free tomorrow evening?"

Evre's mind went completely blank, nervousness stealing her voice.

"There's a concert at the downtown concert hall tomorrow night." Sebastian tilted his head slightly, the silver-white strands framing his perfect profile, his eyes warm and inviting. "Would you come with me?"

Evre felt like she was dreaming. Without thinking twice, she blurted out: "Yes! I'd love to!"

Sebastian smiled, pulling a ticket from his uniform pocket and placing it in her hands. "It's settled then. Tomorrow at seven. I'll meet you at the main entrance of the concert hall."

Evre took the ticket with both hands, nodding hard. "I'll be there! I promise!"

Sebastian held her gaze for a moment longer, that beautiful smile growing. He said nothing more, just gave a slight nod, and turned to leave.

She watched his retreating figure under the moonlight—tall, graceful, otherworldly. Long after he'd disappeared down the hallway, Evre stood frozen in place, drowning in disbelief and pure joy.

"Did you see that?!" She spun around, her excitement bursting out as she turned to Bradley. "Sebastian asked me out! He invited me to a concert!"

She was rambling, practically bouncing, completely forgetting that just moments ago she'd been bullied, that the cut on the back of her hand was still bleeding, that the bump on her head from hitting the wall was still throbbing. None of it mattered. Because Sebastian had asked her out.

But the space behind her was empty.

Bradley had disappeared without a word.

Evre frowned briefly, but the thought vanished as quickly as it came. Humming to herself, she skipped happily toward the dorm building.

Far behind her, hidden behind the trunk of an old oak tree, Bradley leaned against the bark, hands shoved in his pockets, silently watching that happy, retreating figure.

"Good luck, my girl," he whispered, the words dissolving into the night wind like a sigh.