Maya Pov

Jade's following me. Again.

"I have History next," I say without stopping. "Opposite side of the building."

"Me too. Room 108 with Mrs. Chen."

I stop walking. Turn around. Jade nearly crashes into me.

"Are you following me?"

"Following you? We have the same schedule." She pulls out her paper again, and I see she's right. English, History, lunch, Chemistry, Math, then Physical Training. Same as mine, period for period.

This never happens. I specifically requested the advanced track that most sophomores avoid. It's harder, more homework, no free periods. Exactly how I like it.

"Guess we're class buddies." Jade says it like it's good news.

"I don't do buddies."

"Well, you do now." She starts walking, and I have to follow because she's going the wrong way.

"History is left, not right."

"I knew that." But she changes direction, still smiling.

We make it to History just as the late bell rings. Mrs. Chen gives us both a look but doesn't say anything. She's strict about tardiness, marks you down even for being thirty seconds late. I've never been late in my life.

I take my usual seat in the back. Jade sits next to me. Again.

This is a problem. A big problem. Because three rows ahead, Brittany turns around in her seat and stares directly at Jade, then at me. Her expression shifts from bored to interested.

She smiles.

My stomach drops.

We're dead, Nina whispers.

Not yet, I think back. But soon.

---

The cafeteria smells like grease and disappointment. I grab a tray from the stack and join the lunch line behind a group of freshmen who won't stop laughing at some video on a phone.

Lunch is my least favorite period. There's nowhere to hide in the cafeteria. All the tables are visible from all the others. The ranked families sit near the windows. The warriors and their kids take the middle. The rest—the omegas, the unranked, the invisible—sit along the walls.

I usually eat in the library, but Mrs. Grayson started locking it during lunch after she caught two seniors doing things that definitely weren't studying.

"Is the pizza safe here?" Jade appears beside me with her own tray.

"Nothing's safe here," I mutter, but I grab two slices anyway because I'm starving. Add some wilted salad, an apple that's more brown than red, and a bottle of water.

Jade piles her tray high. Pizza, fries, three cookies, two milks, and a cup of fruit. She eats like someone who doesn't worry about anything.

"Where do we sit?"

We. She keeps saying we.

"You can sit wherever you want," I tell her. "I'm going outside."

"Cool. I like outside."

She's not getting it. Or she is, and she doesn't care.

I pay for my food and walk fast toward the exit. The cafeteria doors lead to a courtyard with a few benches and some sad-looking trees. In September, it's still warm enough to eat outside. In two months, it'll be freezing, but I'll sit out here anyway.

There's a bench in the far corner, partially hidden by an overgrown bush. That's mine. Has been since seventh grade when I figured out nobody bothers you if they can't easily see you.

I sit. Jade sits.

"You don't have to eat with me," I say, opening my water.

"I know."

"Brittany's going to notice."

"Who's Brittany?"

"The girl in History who looked at you like she was deciding which bones to break first."

Jade takes a huge bite of pizza. "The blonde one with too much makeup?"

"That's her."

"She doesn't scare me."

I almost laugh. Almost. "She should."

"Why?"

Where do I even start? How do I explain that Brittany Cole has made my life a living nightmare since sixth grade? That she has the entire school under her thumb because her dad's on the pack council and everyone's too scared to cross her? That she's sent me to the pack hospital twice—once with broken ribs, once with silver burns—and both times it was ruled an accident?

"She's not nice to people who talk to me," I finally say.

"Then she's not nice to a lot of people, huh?"

"No. Just people who talk to me. Which is nobody. Until you."

Jade shrugs. "I've dealt with worse."

I doubt that, but I don't argue. I bite into my pizza. It tastes like cardboard, but I'm too hungry to care.

We eat in silence for a few minutes. It's not comfortable exactly, but it's not terrible either. Weird, maybe. I'm not used to sitting with anyone.

"That training this morning was intense," Jade says suddenly. "You're really good."

My hand freezes halfway to my mouth. "What?"

"At training. The way you moved during that defensive drill. You're fast. Like, really fast."

I put my pizza down. "Commander Drake paired us randomly."

"Yeah, but you still took me down in under ten seconds. He said that beat some record."

"That was just luck."

"That wasn't luck. That was skill." Jade leans forward. "How long have you been training?"

"Since I was five. All pack kids train."

"Not like that. Most people our age are still figuring out basic stances. You fight like someone who's been doing this for years. Real fighting, not just practice."

I look at her carefully. Really look. There's something in her eyes—knowledge, maybe. Experience. She's not just some random pack girl staying with relatives.

"Who are your parents?" I ask.

"Carlos and Maria Martinez. They're elite guards for the Alpha King."

Elite guards. That means her parents are two of the fifty best warriors in all the packs. That means Jade has probably trained with some of the most skilled fighters alive.

That means she knows what real skill looks like.

"Oh," is all I say.

"My parents have been training me since I could walk," Jade continues. "I've been to warrior camps, competed in junior tournaments, sparred with guards from different territories. I know what good looks like. You're better than good."

"I'm not—"

"You are. And you're hiding it. Why?"

Because if people know I'm strong, they'll wonder why I let Brittany hurt me. They'll ask questions I can't answer. They'll find out about Nina, about the fact that I got my wolf two years ago, about all the things I've been hiding.

"I'm not hiding anything," I lie.

Jade doesn't look convinced, but she drops it. "Okay. Fine. But if you ever want a real training partner, I'm available. Morning sessions before everyone else shows up?"