Chapter 15 Fifteen

Chapter 15 Fifteen
Harper’s POV
Ever since Koda agreed to help me destroy my mother’s marriage, everything changed.
Not loudly. Not all at once.
Just… whispers.
People stared longer when we passed in the hallway. Conversations stopped mid-sentence when I walked by. Phones lifted, then lowered too quickly. Even Catherine, who had always tried to shield me from school gossip, sat me down one afternoon with a careful look on her face.
“People are saying things,” she’d told me gently. “About you and Koda.”
I had laughed it off then. I didn’t care what they thought. I couldn’t afford to care. This alliance with Koda was a means to an end—nothing more.
But the school cared.
And Molly cared the most.
I was walking alone that afternoon, my books hugged to my chest, my mind replaying fragments of plans and half-arguments with Koda, when something hard hooked around my ankle.
I didn’t even have time to gasp.
My foot caught, my balance tipped, and the next thing I knew I was crashing forward, my palms slamming into the floor as pain shot through my knees.
Laughter exploded around me.
Sharp. Cruel. Loud.
I sucked in a breath, teeth clenched, humiliation burning hotter than the sting in my skin. My books slid across the hallway. Pages scattered. Someone stepped on one deliberately.
I pushed myself up onto my elbows—and that was when I saw her.
Molly.
She walked toward me slowly, like a queen approaching a kneeling subject. Perfect hair. Perfect uniform. A smile curved on her lips—not warm, not friendly. Predatory.
“You really shouldn’t forget where you belong,” she said sweetly.
The girls behind her giggled.
Molly crouched slightly, close enough that I could smell her expensive perfume. “And that,” she added softly, “is on the floor.”
Her eyes dragged over me with disgust. “You wolfless peasant.”
The word peasant hit harder than the fall.
My throat tightened.
I stayed silent.
I gathered my books with shaking hands and stood, dusting myself off slowly. Every instinct screamed at me to lash out—but I didn’t. I refused to give her the satisfaction.
I turned to walk away.
Her hand snapped out and grabbed my wrist.
I froze.
Her grip was iron-strong—unnaturally so. My fingers tingled where she held me, pressure biting into my skin.
She had her wolf close to the surface.
“Let go of me,” I yelled, trying to wrench free.
“Lower your voice,” Molly said calmly, tightening her hold. Her nails dug in, sharp and deliberate. “You don’t get to yell at me.”
Pain flared. I hissed despite myself.
Students slowed around us. Some stopped. Most pretended not to see. No one stepped in.
Molly leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper meant only for me. “You’ve been getting awfully bold for someone who can’t even shift.”
I met her gaze, refusing to look away.
“Stay away from Koda,” she said. “Or else.”
“Or else what?” I shot back before I could stop myself.
Her smile widened.
“Or else we remind you,” she said softly, “exactly how powerless you are.”
Her wolf pressed forward.
I felt it.
A suffocating weight crashed into my chest, making my lungs burn. My legs wobbled. My vision blurred at the edges. This wasn’t physical force—it was dominance.
Omega suppression.
I gasped, my knees threatening to buckle.
“That’s better,” Molly murmured. “Know your place.”
Something inside me snapped.
Not my wolf.
Something older. Quieter. Meaner.
I straightened despite the pressure, my pulse hammering. “If you’re so threatened by me,” I said hoarsely, “maybe you’re not as powerful as you pretend.”
The laughter behind her faltered.
Molly’s eyes flashed yellow.
“You think you’re special now because koda looks at you?” she hissed. “You think that kiss made you important?”
My blood went cold.
“So it’s true,” she continued. “You really are delusional.”
She shoved me backward.
I hit the lockers hard, metal rattling, air leaving my lungs in a sharp burst. Pain bloomed across my spine.
Still, no one moved.
Cowards.
“You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as him,” Molly said. “You’re nothing. Wolfless. Weak. A mistake.”
Her grip tightened again, cutting off circulation. Stars danced in my vision.
And then—
“Get your hand off her.”
The voice cut through the hallway like a blade.
Molly stiffened.
Slowly, she turned.
Koda stood a few feet away.
His expression wasn’t angry.
It was lethal.
The hallway had gone silent. Even breathing seemed too loud.
Molly went pale the moment she really saw Koda.
Not just standing there—but looking at her.
Her confidence cracked almost instantly.
“It—it isn’t what you think, Koda,” she said quickly, forcing a shaky smile. “She hit me first. I was only defending myself.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
She really had the nerve.
Koda didn’t even look at me. His eyes stayed locked on Molly, cold and unblinking.
“I don’t want to hear it,” he said flatly.
Molly opened her mouth again, panic flickering across her face.
“Get out. Now.”
The word shouted didn’t even cover it. His voice thundered through the hallway, sharp enough to make several students flinch.
Molly recoiled as if he’d struck her.
“O-okay,” she muttered, already backing away. She turned sharply, grabbing her friends by the arms. They hurried off down the hallway, heels clicking too fast, whispers following them like smoke.
The tension lingered even after they were gone.
Koda turned to me.
“Let’s go.”
The command was gentle this time, but firm.
Before I could respond, another voice cut in.
“And where exactly are the two of you going?”
Kai appeared out of nowhere, stepping into the space beside us with a lazy grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. His gaze flicked from me to Koda, then back again.
Koda sighed. “Not now, Kai.”
Kai raised an eyebrow. “Not now? You just scared Molly half to death in the middle of the hallway. That is now.”
I shifted awkwardly, my wrist still aching.
“We’re leaving,” Koda said shortly.
Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me. “She okay?”
I nodded before Koda could answer. “I’m fine.”
Kai hummed. “Doesn’t look like it.”
Koda stepped closer to me, placing himself subtly between me and the rest of the hallway. “I’m taking her somewhere quiet.”
Kai smirked. “Since when do you do quiet?”
“Since people think they can put their hands on her,” Koda shot back.
That made Kai pause.
“…Her,” Kai repeated slowly.
Kai scoffed. “From when did you start playing hero?”
His words sliced through the air, loud enough to make a few students nearby slow their steps. I felt Koda’s grip on my wrist tighten slightly, like Kai had struck a nerve he hadn’t meant to expose.
“You were the one laughing when she fell weeks ago,” Kai went on, disbelief clear on his face. “You didn’t care then. So what changed? Or should I ask who changed?”
Koda’s jaw flexed. “This isn’t your business.”
Kai raised a brow. “Everything you do is my business. Especially when it’s stupid.”
I finally turned, yanking my wrist free. “Wow. Great family bonding moment,” I said bitterly. “Can I go now, or do you two need a few more minutes to analyze my existence?”
Koda’s eyes snapped to me. “That’s not what this is about.”
“Then what is it about?” I demanded. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you only stepped in because Molly embarrassed you. Not because she hurt me.”
That one landed.
For a split second, something raw flashed across Koda’s face—anger, guilt, something darker. Kai noticed it too. His teasing expression faded, replaced by something more calculating.
“So you do feel it,” Kai said slowly, voice low. “That’s why you’re acting like this.”
“Stop,” Koda warned.
“Feel what?” I asked, my stomach twisting.
Kai ignored me, eyes locked on his brother. “Ever since that kiss, you’ve been off. Distracted. Territorial. You think I didn’t notice?”
My heart skipped.
Koda took a step forward, towering over Kai. “I said stop.”
Kai leaned in instead, voice dropping to a whisper meant only for the three of us. “You think she’s your mate.”
The hallway seemed to freeze.
Students passed, laughed, talked—but everything felt muted, distant, like I was underwater.
I laughed. A sharp, humorless sound. “Oh, don’t tell me you believe that too.”
Kai finally looked at me. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Koda’s fists clenched. “Enough.”
“No,” I snapped, surprising even myself. “If you’re going to talk about me like I’m not here, at least have the decency to finish.”
Silence.
Koda exhaled slowly, like he was trying to keep himself under control. When he spoke, his voice was rough. “I didn’t step in because I was embarrassed.”
“Then why?” I challenged.
“Because she touched you,” he said simply.
My breath caught.
Kai’s eyes widened slightly. “You’re serious.”
“I don’t know what it means,” Koda continued, eyes never leaving mine. “I don’t know why it feels the way it does. But when I saw her on the ground, when I smelled her fear—something in me snapped.”
I felt that strange warmth again, curling in my chest, answering his words in a way I didn’t want to understand.
I crossed my arms, forcing my voice to stay steady. “That’s not my problem.”
His gaze softened, just a fraction. “It is if people keep coming after you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Kai laughed dryly. “Yeah? Because it looked like Molly was about to tear your arm off.”
I shot him a glare. “Thanks for the confidence boost.”
Koda stepped closer, lowering his voice. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
I stiffened. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“Too bad,” he said. “You’ve got one.”
I stared up at him, anger and something far more dangerous twisting together inside me. “You don’t own me.”
“I know,” he replied quietly. “That’s what scares me.”
Kai straightened, breaking the moment. “Wow. This just got uncomfortable.”
I took a step back. “I’m leaving.”
This time, Koda didn’t stop me.
But as I walked away, I could feel his eyes on my back—heavy, possessive, conflicted.
And for the first time since coming to this school, I realized something terrifying.
Whatever Koda was feeling…
Whatever I was feeling…
This wasn’t going to fade.