I followed her gaze to find Chrissy and her two blonde friends walking toward our table, smirks on their faces.
In my peripheral, I saw a tall, muscular figure entering the dining hall with a whole entourage of girls trailing after him. My gaze fell on Ryder directly, startled to find him glaring at me. I tore my focus from him to find Chrissy was already standing beside me. Her hands were on her hips, paired with a sour look on her face. “So, you’re the new girl?”
I peered up at her, aware she wasn’t here for pleasantries. “Stating the obvious.”
“Oh, well,” she snorted a laugh, glancing from one friend to the other, who both mimicked a fake laugh. “She’s as unpleasant as she looks.”
From across the table, Hattie sat as still and stiff as a plank, as if she feared any movement would draw Chrissy’s attention. I didn’t blame her.
“If I’m that unpleasant, why are you standing here?”
She huffed. “Just to lay down some rules for you, as you already seemed to have broken two.”
“Huh?” I blinked up at her. “Could you elaborate?”
Chrissy reached out and grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling hard. “First rule you broke. Your hair. Why is it not tied up?”
“Wait, what—Ow!” I grabbed her hand, fighting to untangle her fingers from my hair. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Didn’t anyone give you a list of the rules?” she hissed at me.
“Let go—ugh.” I shot up to my feet, managing to tear her hand away, losing a good clump of hair along with it. “Have you lost your mind?”
She glared at me. “Did you, or did you not, get a list of rules?”
“No!”
“Harley,” Chrissy sighed, holding her hand over her shoulder with an expectant look. “List. Now.”
One of the blondes shot past her toward their table, grabbed a backpack, and rushed toward us while she unzipped it. She stopped beside Chrissy, pulling out a sheet of pink paper and putting it into Chrissy’s hand. Chrissy shoved the paper at my chest.
“Another rule you broke.” Her head turned toward Ryder across the cafeteria, then back to face me. She smirked. “It’s on the list. The most important rule. There’s a punishment for breaking the rules.”
I stared down at the list, my mouth dropping open.
CHRISSY’S RULES.
Stay away From Ryder Dane. He belongs to CHRISSY WELLS.
Girls are not allowed to wear anything from the designer, Kellabeigh Moon, except for Chrissy.
Girls must wear orange at parties, except for Chrissy, who can wear her favorite color, baby pink. (Orange is so not flattering on anyone.)
No girl (except for Chrissy, Harley, and Kimmy) is allowed to wear their hair down unless it’s shorter than shoulder length.
I peered up at Chrissy, sputtering a laugh. “Are you freaking kidding me?” At that moment, I realized that I was the only girl in the room with my hair down besides Chrissy and her two blonde friends.
I peered at the list again, unable to contain my incredulous laughter.
Stay away from Ryder!!!
On Fridays, three selected girls will tend to Chrissy, Harley, and Kimmy and their needs. This includes the opportunity to do their nails and hair, clean their room, and do their laundry. You’re lucky if you get picked!
Three girls will be selected each week to serve Chrissy, Harley, and Kimmy food.
Ryder Dane belongs to Chrissy Wells.
No touching Ryder Dane.
No talking to Ryder Dane.
No staring at Ryder Dane.
If Chrissy tells you to do something, you listen. You can be rewarded by her grace or receive a suitable punishment.
No one except Chrissy is allowed to eat chocolate bars in the school. All chocolate bars go to Chrissy’s stash.
Ryder Dane will never be yours. Look away, cupcake.
Do not say Ryder Dane’s name.
Do not—
I stopped reading. There were thirty rules, where about twenty of them were about Ryder and how he belonged to Chrissy. “What other supposed rule did I break?”
Chrissy lifted a hand and stabbed a finger over rules 9 and 10. No talking or touching Ryder Dane. “Well, come to think of it. You broke three.”
“You are literally the most unhinged person I’ve met.” And that was saying a lot, as I’ve dealt with my fair share of crazy. “And you really expect everyone to follow these dumb rules?”
“Chrissy is the queen of this school,” Kimmy stepped in beside Chrissy, giving me a flat stare-down. “What Chrissy says, goes.”
“Yeah? Well, no can do from me.” I crumbled the paper into a ball, resulting in a low hush of “oohs” and “uh-ohs” across the dining hall. When I was done, I tossed the paper ball at Chrissy’s chest. It bounced off one boob and landed on the floor.
Chrissy’s face turned an ugly shade of pink, and I could tell she was a heartbeat away from losing her shit. “Pick. It. Up.”
I crossed my arms to my chest. “No.”
“No?” Chrissy tilted her head to the side as if she was convinced she misheard me. “Come again?”
“You heard me.” I glared at her. “I said no. I’m not picking it up.”
She suddenly straightened, a mean grin working on her lips. “Well, I guess the punishment is due.”
Hattie leaped from her seat and picked up the paper ball, handing it to Chrissy. “She’s sorry. She’s new, and she had no idea—”
Chrissy waved her off. “Guess she’s about to learn the hard way, then.”
Not a second later, someone grabbed my hair from behind and shoved me forward onto the table. My hands blocked my fall just in time, preventing my face from planting in my burger. I barely processed what happened when a large, solid chunk of my hair fell onto my meal. It was no longer attached to my head.
Someone moved in behind me. It was Chrissy as she snapped. “This is a warning. Next time, I won’t be so easy on you!”
A splat sounded, followed by a cold wetness pressing down on the back of my skull. White and green gunk dripped over my hair-cloaked burger. Someone just dumped a bowl of sour-smelling coleslaw over my head.
“Teach your new bestie some manners!” I heard Kimmy shout as they moved away from our table. The dining hall was dead quiet, but I didn’t need to raise my chin to know everyone was watching.
I swallowed back a sob, refusing to show a flicker of emotion. Instead, I wiped off as much coleslaw as possible, only to discover my hair was trimmed to my skull, with a few long stray strands in the mix still present.
My hair was gone.
I’m fine. I’ll be fine.
I will not cry.
I straightened, offering a stiff smile to Hattie, trying to let her know it’d be okay, and marched out of the dining hall as if I didn’t have a care in the world, my gaze colliding with Ryder’s. His expression was as blank as a piece of paper, but I knew he saw this whole thing go down.
Not that it mattered. He hated me anyway—I just wish I knew why.
Will. Not. Cry.
Lana.I crossed my legs and lifted my chin, schooling my expression to indifference. While, in fact, every part of me was screaming.I will not cry.I will not cry.I will not cry. “There she comes!” Mother clapped her hands as she bounced in her seat like a wolf pup high on moondust. I bit my lip, tearing my gaze from her to my sister. “She looks like a princess. Isn’t she breathtaking?”“Absolutely,” my aunt gushed, elbowing my mother. “And not just a princess, no. A luna.” They weren’t wrong. As much as it felt like a dagger slicing through my heart each time I looked at my sister, I wasn’t going to deny what was right in front of me; she was stunning. She wore her dream wedding gown, a mermaid snow-white dress encrusted with thousands of tiny diamonds. It must have cost a fortune. But, considering she was marrying the alpha of our pack, you couldn’t expect any less. The exact alpha–who, until last week–had been my boyfriend for five years. Until last week, I was convinced he w
“Miss?” A heavy pressure fell onto my shoulder. “Miss Lunaris?”My eyes shot open to see tall, bushy trees brushing the star-spotted sky until a face popped into view. It was the driver. “Miss, we’ve arrived at your destination.”I pushed up from the backseat to find the car door wide open where my head had been resting. The driver rounded the car to retrieve my luggage, revealing where I would now call home. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”I shifted closer to the open door to get a better look, blinking profusely as if what I saw would spontaneously morph into something better.But no matter how much blinking I did or how many times I repeated under my breath, “This is not happening,” the dark, horror-book-worthy castle still stood firmly erect in front of me. When I lifted my gaze, I could see small, black shapes shooting back and forth over the tiled roof of the castle. “Are those bats?” Just then, a lightning bolt came crashing down on the ground beside the car. Tiny sparks of fl
“W-what?” I asked, struggling to free my hair from his clenched fist. He barked a bitter laugh, shoving me away. “Makes sense now. I should have known.”I blinked, dazed, and massaged the back of my skull. “What the hell are you on about?”“And there it is.” He swooped closer, baring his teeth. “The Lunaris entitlement.”“I literally have no idea what you’re on about.” I sidestepped him, reaching for one of my bags, but he blocked me. I crossed my arms. “Look—”“I’m going to take a wild guess here,” he leaned in. “Your parents had a problem and now they used blood money to take care of the problem?”My brows furrowed, ignoring the part where he referred to the money as ‘blood money.’ My parents may be a lot of things, but they worked hard for their money. Even if it meant neglecting their kids emotionally while stuffing their hands with cash. “You mean me?”“What else?”He wasn’t wrong about one thing. My parents used a small fortune to get me here and pay for everything I’d need fo
Helga escorted me to the dining hall and ditched me with a, “Find me after dinner. Have fun!” Then she hurried off, leaving me to the mercy of wide open doors and a massive room filled with students. My eyes shot toward the server bar, and I wondered if I could make it there, grab some food, and find a corner where no one would notice me. Or would I stick out like a sore thumb?There were so many people here that I was sure someone would notice me. And with my luck, it would be the loudest, mouthiest person in the room.I peered over my shoulder, considering finding the girl’s bathroom and hiding there until dinner was over, then head over to Helga. Doubt she’d be any wiser. I was about to choose the latter, turning away from the dining hall and going to look for the girl’s bathroom, when a girl around my age stepped into my view with a wide grin. “You must be Lana?” She swooped toward me, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Hattie!”I blew a face