Chapter 3

After getting dressed, a glance in the mirror reassured me—I was satisfied with what I saw. The jeans hugged my wide hips, an inheritance from my mother, though she and I both shared the same small, perky bust. My Black mother and white father had given me a complexion the shade of light caramel, but my curly brown hair made sure no one ever mistook me for anything else. High cheekbones and slightly slanted, cat-like eyes completed the picture—a face people often stared at longer than they intended.

As I stepped out of my room, I waved at Coraline, my nosy neighbor, and her tiny, yappy dog. She was already tugging him along toward the park—her sacred morning ritual. My apartment building creaked ominously as I shut the door, the plaster peeling in jagged strips along the stairwell. It wouldn’t surprise me if the whole thing collapsed one day. My parents would cluck their tongues and tell me they’d warned me, but honestly? I’d rather be buried under these bricks than move back home and commute from there. Sweet as my family was, being the middle child meant living in the shadow of everyone else’s noise. I needed space—even if that space came at the cost of forfeiting luxuries like my rare liquid blush.

Oh my God, I was still mad about that one.

I hailed a cab, and in less than five minutes it rattled me to the front of my department. My stomach sank the moment I stepped out. Jacob was there, leaning casually in front of the building like he had all the time in the world.

I knew he was waiting for me.

“Shit,” I muttered, trying to slide past unseen. Too late. He caught me before I could retreat.

He planted himself in front of me, broad shoulders blocking my way. “Hey, Allison,” he said, closing the gap with the easy confidence that once made other girls swoon—including me—but now made me want to scream.

“I told you to stay away from me,” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended, but not sharp enough to cut through the knot in my chest.

“That breakup text you sent was garbage. You didn’t even care that I’d gone missing. What if I had died?” His voice rose, edged with accusation, pulling attention from students around us like iron filings to a magnet.

Of course they stared. They always did. Jacob was that guy. Tall, athletic, smooth in a way that made it seem like the world bent toward him. Girls whispered about him as their “chocolate prince,” the millionaire’s son with the smile and the style to match. I’ll admit it—his rings and diamond studs were what first hooked me. But what good is shine if the man behind it disappears for a week without a word?

“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I know you deserve an explanation. I was attacked by a wolf, Allison. Knocked out cold,” he blurted, his eyes wide, desperate.

I barked out a laugh. “Oh really? Just one wolf, or was it a whole pack? Maybe a lion too while you’re at it?” My sarcasm curled sharp. He reached for me, but instinct jolted me back, my skin crawling at the thought of his hand on me again.

“I swear to God I’m telling the truth! I’m an A student—why else would I miss lectures? Miss you? I’ve been healing…”

“Stay away from me,” I hissed through clenched teeth, and turned on my heel.

A wolf. In this city. Did he think I was stupid?

The rest of the day crawled. Classes blurred together under the drone of lectures, made worse by Jacob’s friends cornering me between sessions, pleading his case. My only anchor—the one spark in the gray monotony—was the thought of Lucien. The moment I could get home and hear from him. That small miracle kept me from unraveling.

We’d only been talking for a short while, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“Rumors are flying that you and Jacob broke up,” Sarah said, her voice infuriatingly casual as we walked out of our first class. She was just behind me when the words landed, and my heart stumbled in my chest. “Now every girl’s circling him. Rich, handsome, and newly single—and with you as his ex, his value just skyrocketed.”

Her words clung to the air, heavy with implications I wanted no part of. I dropped my bag onto the chair in the next class with more force than I meant to, its weight suddenly unbearable.

“Well, that’s their fucking business. I don’t care.”

“You sure?” she teased.

“Like they haven’t always been after him,” I muttered, resignation and irritation tangling in my voice as I forced a smile at a few classmates. Sliding into my seat, I tried to make it sound final. “They can have him for all I care.”

Sarah sat down beside me, unbothered as ever. “I’m making mac and cheese later. You eating?” she asked, her tone softening into the kind of everyday comfort that almost steadied me.

“Yeah, sure. What do you think?” I forced a lighter tone, praying she wouldn’t catch the exhaustion curling under my words.

The lecturer walked in, papers in hand, but I barely registered it. My pulse quickened, panic slipping through the cracks of my composure. Could I really move on from Jacob? And if I saw him with someone else—what would I feel then?

After classes we swung by the library, and the moment we got home I bolted straight for the bathroom—I’d been holding it in forever. By the time I emerged, Sarah was already in the kitchen, pots clattering as she moved with her usual restless energy—a jarring contrast to the storm still twisting inside me.

It was the first time I’d managed to ignore Jacob for an entire day, and the effort was gnawing at me, leaving my thoughts messy and unsettled.

“I see you cleaned,” she said, her eyes flicking around with a sly gleam.

“I always clean.” A faint smile tugged at my lips.

“And I always cook,” she shot back, smirking as she chopped with practiced ease.

“That’s why we’re the best flatmates ever.” I blew her a kiss before collapsing onto the couch, the cushions swallowing me whole as if they could absorb the weight pressing down on my chest.

I flicked on the TV, letting the familiar hum of Netflix fill the silence, desperate for a distraction. But before the opening screen even loaded, Sarah was suddenly beside me. I blinked. How the hell did she always move so quietly?

“Stop sneaking up on me!” I yelped.

“Sorry.” She laughed, not sorry at all.

Then, with a mischievous spark in her eyes, she dropped it. “So… can I have Jacob?”

The remote slipped from my fingers, clattering against the coffee table. Her words hit out of nowhere, sharp and merciless, leaving me breathless.