Fated To Two Alphas Under One Roof

Jax didn't stay at the bleachers.

He shoved off the rail and started across the grass. Slow. Hands in his pockets. Like he was strolling to the cafeteria line. Sienna trotted after him, ponytail swinging.

"Well, well," he called. "Look at this."

The crowd turned with him. I felt it before I saw it. Dozens of eyes swinging off Kael and landing on me, heavy as wet sand.

Kael's fingers flexed on my arms. He didn't move.

"Ten seconds," Jax said, loud enough to carry. "That's how long it took. Ten seconds, and she's already climbing on another Alpha."

My mouth fell open. "What?"

"Don't play dumb, Wren. Everybody saw it." He spread his arms wide to the crowd, like a game show host. "She cries, she runs, and boom. Straight into Draven's arms. Real smooth."

"I tripped," I said. "I ran into him. You know that's not—"

"You *tripped*." Jax laughed. "Into the one guy on this field who outranks me. What are the odds?"

Somebody near the front snickered.

"Oh my God," a girl whispered. "Is that true?"

"I mean, she *is* still holding onto him."

I wasn't. Was I? I glanced down. My free hand had curled into the front of Kael's hoodie. I hadn't even felt myself do it. I yanked it back like the fabric had burned me.

That only made it worse.

"See?" Jax pointed. "Guilty."

"You were kissing *her*," I said. My voice wobbled. I forced it louder. "Two minutes ago. In front of everyone. And I'm the one who's guilty?"

Sienna rolled her eyes. "Here we go."

Jax didn't even blink. "I was saying goodbye to a friend."

"With your tongue?"

A few people laughed at that. Real laughs. For one hopeful second, I thought maybe someone was on my side.

Then Jax's face went hard.

"You want to do this? Fine. Let's do this." He stepped closer, stopping just outside the reach of Kael's shadow. "Everybody here knows what you are, Wren. You're an *Omega*."

The word hit the air and hung there.

I felt the shift in the crowd. Not loud. Just a ripple. Heads tilting. Eyebrows going up. Most people at Ridgemont hadn't known. I'd never said it. I'd kept my scent quiet, kept my head down, kept my mouth shut.

Jax had known. I'd told him. In his car, the second week, holding his hand. *Please don't tell anyone. They treat Omegas different.*

He had kissed my knuckles and promised.

"An Omega," he went on, slow, enjoying it, "who got lucky. Got claimed by an Alpha she had no business standing next to. And instead of being grateful, instead of knowing her place, the second things get a little rough—" he jerked his chin at Kael "—she goes shopping for an upgrade."

"That's a lie," I said.

"Is it?"

"You *know* it is."

"Then why does he smell like you?"

I froze.

Because Kael did. I could smell it too. My scent, soft and sweet, soaking into his clothes where I'd crashed against him. And worse, under it, his scent sinking into me. Pine and cold rain and something sharp I didn't have a word for.

Behind me, someone sucked in air.

"Wait, that's her *stepbrother*."

"Dude. They live in the same house."

"Oh, that's so gross."

"No wonder she moved in so fast."

"Her mom married the dad, and she went after the son? That's—"

"Stop," I said. Nobody heard me. "Stop, that's not—"

"Two Alphas," a boy said, grinning. "Greedy little Omega."

"Bet that's why Jax dumped her."

"Bet she was doing it the whole time."

The words came from everywhere. Left. Right. Behind. I spun my head trying to find the faces, but they blurred together, mouths moving, phones creeping back up even after Kael's order. A red recording light blinked at me from the third row.

My chest heaved. Both bonds yanked at once. Jax's thread twisted tight, and it *hurt*, because some stupid, broken part of my wolf still wanted him to stop. Still wanted him to take it back. The other bond burned hotter, so hot I felt sweat prick along my neck.

Jax smiled at me. That same lazy smile from outside the gym, three months ago.

"Honestly, Wren," he said, softer, like he was being kind, "I'm not even mad. I just think people deserve to know who they're dealing with."

And that was when I stopped crying.

Just like that. The tears dried up mid-cheek. My eyes went hot and empty.

"You told them," I said quietly. "You promised you wouldn't, and you told them."

For a flicker of a second, something passed over Jax's face. Not guilt. Annoyance. Like I'd gone off script.

"Nobody's going to believe her," Sienna said, linking her arm through his. "She's literally still standing in his arms."

I was. Kael hadn't released me. His hands were still locked around my arms, and now I could feel them. Not gentle anymore. Rigid. His whole body had gone so still beside me it was like standing next to a statue.

I didn't dare look up at him.

What if he believed it? What if he was standing there thinking the same thing everyone else was? *Desperate Omega. Clingy stepsister. Throws herself at anything with Alpha blood.*

He already hated me. Now he had a reason.

"Kael," I whispered, without turning. "I didn't—I swear I didn't—"

He said nothing.

The silence from him was louder than all of them.

"Look at her," a senior said, laughing. "Begging."

"Draven doesn't even want her."

"Somebody tell her to stop embarrassing herself."

"Hey, Omega!" A voice from the back. "Which one are you going home with tonight?"

The crowd howled.

My face burned so hard my ears rang. My knees felt like water. I wanted the ground to open. I wanted to disappear into the grass and never come back to this school, this town, this life.

Jax tipped his head toward the crowd, soaking it in. Then his green eyes cut back to me, and he spoke loud enough for the very last row to hear.

"Go ahead, Wren. Tell them. Tell everybody which one of us you really belong to."

The field went quiet. Waiting.

Every eye on me.

And above my head, so low I almost thought I imagined it, Kael let out a sound I had never heard from a person before.

A growl.

Deep. Rolling. Rising from somewhere inside his chest that didn't feel human at all.

His hands slid off my arms.

He was letting me go.

And I suddenly understood that was the most dangerous thing that could happen.