Chapter 13 Jade's Intervention (Scarlett POV)

Chapter 13 Jade's Intervention (Scarlett POV)

"Hey, princess. Wait up."

I keep walking. "Not in the mood, Jade."

"When are you ever?" She catches up anyway, falling into step beside me. "You got plans for lunch, or are you gonna sit alone in the corner again while your bodyguards stare at everyone?"

"They're not my bodyguards."

"Right. They're 'educational observers.'" She makes air quotes. "Which is totally normal and not at all suspicious."

I stop walking and turn to face her. The hallway is crowded, students pushing past us to get to fourth period. A group of freshmen nearly collides with me, mumbling apologies before scurrying away. I catch the whispered word "gang" as they pass.

"What do you want?"

"To talk. Privately." She nods toward an empty classroom across the hall. Room 217. The door is propped open with a doorstop. "Five minutes."

"I have class."

"So do I. Five minutes won't kill us." Her expression is serious now, the usual playfulness gone from her eyes. There's something else there. Something that looks almost like fear. "Please."

Something in her tone makes me hesitate. Makes my wolf perk up with interest instead of suspicion. Then I follow her into the empty classroom.

The room smells like dry erase markers and old textbooks. Desks are arranged in neat rows, a periodic table poster hanging crooked on the far wall. Someone's left a sweatshirt draped over a chair in the back.

Jade closes the door and leans against it. For a moment, she just looks at me, studying my face like she's trying to solve a puzzle. Her jaw is tight. Her hands are shoved deep in her pockets.

"You flinch every time someone says his name," she says finally.

"Whose name?"

"Don't play dumb. Danny Walter. Someone mentions him and you go rigid. Like you're bracing for impact."

I cross my arms. My wolf is growling low in my chest, warning me that this conversation is dangerous. "So?"

"So I've been watching you for two weeks now." She takes a step closer. "The way you track him in the cafeteria even though you sit on opposite sides. The way you know exactly when he's about to walk past in the hallways. Yesterday you turned the corner and immediately went the other direction. Three seconds later, he came around from where you were headed."

My stomach drops. "You're imagining things."

"The way you position yourself to maintain exactly fifteen feet of distance," she continues like I haven't spoken. "Always. Even when it means taking the long way around. Even when it means being late to class."

"That's just..."

"The restraining order specifies five meters. That's sixteen point four feet. You're giving yourself a buffer." She tilts her head. "How do you even know where he is without looking? It's like you can sense him or something."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Am I?" She pulls out her phone and starts scrolling. Her thumb moves quickly across the screen. "Because I did some digging. Found your old Instagram before you deleted it. Interesting posts."

My heart stops. I deleted that account two days after I got the restraining order. Scrubbed it from the internet. Luna told me to remove any trace of supernatural talk before someone connected the dots.

She turns the phone toward me. Screenshots. Posts I made months ago, before I even transferred to Crescent Ridge. Before I knew who Danny was. Before my life became this nightmare.

Can't wait to meet my destiny.

The Moon Goddess knows what she's doing.

True mates are out there. Just have to be patient.

The words stare back at me. Words I typed late at night when I couldn't sleep, when Luna was drilling pack law into my head, when the weight of prophecy and expectation felt like it would crush me. I thought posting about it would make it feel real. Would make me feel less alone.

"Those could be about anything," I say, but my voice sounds weak even to my own ears.

"Could be." She scrolls to another screenshot. "Except there's this one."

A post from three weeks ago. I remember typing it. Remember the surge of hope and certainty that flooded through me when I first saw Danny across the gym.

Finally found him. Everything makes sense now.

Posted September 8th at 3:47 PM. The same day I transferred. The same day I walked into that gym and felt the mate bond snap into place like a key turning in a lock.

"Posted the same day you transferred here," Jade continues, her voice matter-of-fact. Clinical. "The same day you met Danny Walter. Coincidence?"

I reach for the phone but she pulls it back, holding it away from me. "Where did you get those? I deleted that account."

"Internet's forever, princess. Especially when you know where to look." She pockets her phone. "Wayback Machine. Cached pages. People who screenshot things before they disappear. You'd be amazed what you can find if you know how to search."

"Why were you looking?"

"Because you're interesting. Because you don't make sense." She leans back against the door, watching me carefully. "So here's what I think. I think you believe in some kind of supernatural soulmate bullshit. I think you saw Danny and convinced yourself he's your destined mate or whatever. And I think that's why you have a restraining order against you."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

She crosses her arms, mirroring my defensive posture. "New girl shows up, immediately fixates on the quietest kid in school. Transfers into all his classes. Follows him around. Makes comments about dreams and destiny. Kid gets freaked out and reports her. Girl gets a restraining order but can't seem to stay away." She ticks off each point on her fingers. "From the outside, it looks like obsession. Delusion. But I don't think that's what this is."

"Then what do you think it is?"

She steps closer. Close enough that I can see the scar on her cheek clearly. It's thin, pale, raised slightly. Like it was made by a claw dragged across skin.

"See, the thing is, I know about the supernatural world. I know werewolves are real. I know about packs and Alphas and all that hidden society crap." Her voice drops lower. "So when I see a girl who moves like a predator, who has 'observers' following her everywhere, who talks about Moon Goddesses and destined mates, I start connecting dots."

The room suddenly feels too small. Too hot. The walls pressing in. My wolf is snarling now, caught between the urge to run and the urge to fight.

"Your mother," I say quietly.

Jade's expression doesn't change, but something flickers in her eyes. Pain. Old and deep and never fully healed.

"Was killed by a werewolf three years ago. Torn apart in our apartment while I hid in the closet. The police said it was a mountain lion. My aunt believed them. But I saw the body before they took it away."

She takes a breath. Her hands are shaking slightly.

"I saw what was left of her. The claw marks. The bite radius. The way her bones were snapped." Her jaw clenches. "That wasn't any mountain lion."

"Jade, I'm sorry..."

"I don't want your sympathy." Her eyes are hard now. Gemstones that have been pressed and compressed until they're nearly unbreakable. "I want answers. I've spent three years researching, digging, trying to find proof that werewolves exist. Trying to find the one who killed her. And then you show up. Posts about Moon Goddesses and destined mates."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about." She steps even closer. We're inches apart now. "My mother died because something with claws and teeth decided she was prey. I watched from a closet while it killed her. While it tore her apart. And then I spent three years being told I was traumatized. That my brain was protecting me by making it seem worse than it was. That monsters aren't real."

Her voice cracks slightly on the last word.

"But I know what I saw. And I know what you are."

"I can't help you."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both." I move toward the door but she blocks my path. She's smaller than me. Lighter. Completely human. I could move her aside without even trying.

But something stops me. Maybe it's the desperation in her eyes. Maybe it's the fact that she's the first person in weeks who's looked at me like I'm a person instead of a problem.

"Tell me the truth," she says. "Are you a werewolf?"