Chapter 152
Ellie's POV
The late afternoon sun was already sinking behind the pines when I decided to take the shortcut through Pine Trail. Stupid decision, in hindsight. But I'd been running late after Professor Paulsen's office hours stretched longer than expected, and the main path would've added another fifteen minutes to my walk home.
Home. Still weird calling that place "home." The safe house Jackson and I had moved into barely three weeks ago. The place where we were supposedly living our perfect little college romance while secretly preparing for war.
War with a guy who thinks we're just some random couple having relationship problems.
I smiled at that thought. Our "fake breakup" was working better than expected. Between Samantha's eager reporting and Caleb's apparent obsession with monitoring Jackson's "family training," the Alpha heir seemed convinced we were nothing special. Just two college kids whose relationship was falling apart under stress.
The trap caught me mid-step.
One second I was walking, the next my ankle was yanked upward by a rope mechanism hidden under dead leaves. The world flipped. My backpack flew off. And suddenly I was hanging upside down from a tree branch, swaying like some cartoon character who'd walked into a hunter's snare.
Thalia surged forward instantly.
Shift. Tear. Escape.
"No," I hissed through gritted teeth, forcing her back down. My fingers itched to extend claws, to slash through the rope and drop into a perfect crouch. But I couldn't. Not here. Not when this could be exactly what someone wanted me to do.
My heart hammered against my ribs. Blood rushed to my head. I twisted, trying to get a look at the mechanism—
"Well, well."
The voice came from behind the oak tree to my left. Smooth. Amused. Slightly accented.
Caleb Martinez stepped into view, hands in his expensive wool coat pockets, that same condescending smile I'd seen in the Computer Science Building plastered across his face.
"You know," he continued, tilting his head as he examined me like I was some interesting specimen, "for someone supposedly dating a Wilson, you have remarkably poor situational awareness."
I forced myself to stay still. To breathe. To think.
The trap was... amateurish. I could see that now. The rope was visible if you looked closely. The trigger mechanism was positioned right on the main path, not hidden well at all. This wasn't a real attempt to harm me.
This was a test.
"Mr. Martinez," I said, keeping my voice level despite being literally upside down. "Fancy meeting you here. Don't you have office hours?"
His smile widened. "Finished early. Thought I'd take a walk, enjoy the sunset." He gestured at me. "Though clearly you're enjoying it from a more... unique perspective."
Thalia growled. She wanted out. Wanted to show him exactly what I could do.
Not yet, I told her. Let him talk. Let him show his cards.
"Are you going to help me down?" I asked. "Or just stand there being creepy?"
"Creepy?" He laughed. "I think the word you're looking for is 'cautious.' After all, I barely know you. You could be dangerous."
The irony would've been funny if I wasn't hanging like a piñata.
"Right. Super dangerous. That's why I'm currently trapped like a cartoon rabbit."
"Exactly." He stepped closer, and I caught it—that distinctive scent beneath his cologne. Pine and earth and pack. "Which raises the question: if you can't even avoid a simple snare trap, how exactly are you supposed to be a threat to anyone?"
There it is. The real reason for this little encounter. He was trying to assess me. Figure out what I was. What I meant to Jackson.
"A threat?" I let confusion color my voice. "Why would I be a threat? I'm just a computer science major who's really bad at watching where she steps."
"Hmm." His eyes—hazel, sharp, calculating—studied me. "You know what I find interesting, Miss Green? Your boyfriend has been acting very... Alpha lately. Training. Pushing himself. Building strength." He paused. "Almost like he's preparing for something."
My stomach dropped, but I kept my face neutral.
"Jackson's always training," I said. "It's a family thing. His uncle is really intense about—"
"And yet," Caleb interrupted, "his relationship with you appears to be... deteriorating." The word dripped with satisfaction. "Strange, isn't it? Usually when a wolf finds his mate, he becomes more stable, not less."
Mate.
The word hung in the air between us. He'd just confirmed what Jackson and I suspected—that "mate bonds" or "fated mates" or whatever wolves called it was a big deal in their world. Something that changed the power dynamics.
I could deny it. Claim I had no idea what he was talking about. But something in his expression told me he was testing for exactly that reaction.
So I did something unexpected.
I said nothing.
I just hung there, upside down, meeting his eyes with a blank stare.
The silence stretched. Five seconds. Ten. Twenty.
Caleb's smile faltered slightly. "Nothing to say?"
Still, I remained quiet. Let him wonder. Let him fill in the blanks himself.
"Since you and Jackson aren't fated mates," he continued, voice taking on a strange, almost relieved tone, "I really don't have much to worry about, do I? He's just playing at being an Alpha. And you—" He waved a hand dismissively. "You're just a distraction. A phase. Something he'll outgrow once he realizes what he could actually have."
Not mates. He thought we weren't mates. That was his whole conclusion from Samantha's intel and his observations. Jackson and I were just dating, struggling, probably about to break up.
Which meant he saw me as... what? Unimportant? Not worth the effort?
"This has been fun," Caleb said suddenly, like a kid who'd gotten bored with a toy. "But I have dinner plans. Do try to be more careful, Miss Green. Cedar View can be dangerous for the unaware." He paused at the edge of the clearing. "Oh, and tell Jackson to stop wasting everyone's time with his little Alpha fantasy. Some of us have actual responsibilities."
He turned to leave.
Just like that.
Set a trap, made his point, delivered his cryptic warning, and... walked away. Like this was all some kind of game. Some juvenile prank to prove he was smarter, more aware, more Alpha than everyone else.
"Hey," I called after him. "You're really just going to leave me here?"