Chapter 4

Meryn

After the class is over, I sit down in the library with Weston. He is currently eating a pizza slice with his hands, and I watch him gulp it down like a starved animal before he licks each and every finger clean.

“So fucking good...” He mumbles. “Best pizza in town. Thank you for buying it for me.”

I cringe when he throws the empty pizza box over the other one on the floor. I’m shocked at this guy’s metabolism. He eats like a...well, like a wolf but has a freaking eight-pack poking through his T-shirt. But I guess that’s the benefit of being a werewolf with an actual inner wolf. Weston is also an Alpha, so that might explain his food craze.

I look back at my laptop screen. “Don’t you have a meal plan?” I ask in a low voice, hoping not to offend him. The last thing I need is to fight with another Alpha today.

“Yeah, but I’m not a fan of the food served in the cafeteria. My tastebuds are far too evolved for that.”

Jesus Christ. What a pompous, spoiled bastard—that’s what I want to say, but instead, I fake a smile. “I see...”

“I really wish we had bought a third pizza...” He pats his stomach with an unhappy pout, looking like a puppy that just lost its favorite toy. “I’m still hungry.”

“Please don’t order another one,” I mumble. “If you keep spending my money like this, I might have to rethink our deal since I will be broke within a week.”

“I will pay you back once my assets are no longer frozen,” Weston assures me, then thoughtfully adds, “And I could pay you a lot more if you helped me with my other subjects.” 

I grimace. “I don’t need money.”

This piques his curiosity. “If you don’t need money, then what do you need?”

Silence. 

Peace. 

A wolf. 

Friends. 

An arranged funeral for Alpha Reinar. 

“Nothing.” 

“Lies,” Weston yawns and stretches in his chair. “Everyone needs or wants something...”

“Not me,” I lie. 

“Is that right?” he opens his emerald eyes, studying me thoughtfully while stroking his chin. There is some scruff there. “How about I fake date you in return?”

I snort at his ridiculous offer but stop laughing when Weston stares at me. Oh shit, was he actually serious? Damn. So these sort of trades doesn’t only happen in movies, then?

I straighten my shoulders. “No offense, b-but I don’t see how I would benefit from that.”

He grins and folds his arms over his chest, balancing off the table on the back legs of the chair. “It would raise your status on campus to date the star quarterback and the Alpha of the Sumhair pack.”

“Or it would put a target on my back since every woman would want to trade places with me,” I mutter. 

“Nah, not if I told my pack that you’re my girls and anyone who hurts you will get beaten to a bloody pulp .”

His words surprise me. Wouldn’t he be embarrassed to call me his girl? An ugly duckling like me? 

“Y-you would do that?” I ask, hesitant.

“Of course... Do we have a deal?”

Before I can respond, there is a loud gasp, followed by my sister walking toward our area with her high heels clopping over the marble floor. Her lips are parted in surprise as she stares between me and Weston.

“Oh wow. This is surprising. Are you guys friends now?” she asks, but then seems to think better of it and laughs. “Wait, of course not. You’re probably just helping Alpha Weston with one of his subjects since you’re so smart,” her smile is wide and fake as she turns around to regard Weston. “There is no way an Alpha would want to be friends with you, especially one as handsome as Weston.”

My face burns with humiliation, and I hang my head in shame, not wanting to see Weston’s expression. Is he laughing at me? Probably. It’s no secret that I’m not very popular: I don’t even have friends, unlike my very popular sister. 

Everyone wants to hang out with her, especially the guys. This makes it possible for her to date to the right and left; meanwhile, I’ve never even had a boyfriend—something my more beautiful sister likes to remind me of.

Still, I never expected her to bully me in front of Weston. 

“So, Weston,” my sister bats her eyelashes at him in a fashion that tells me she is into him. She even sinks her teeth into her lip. “Are you hanging out with my sister because you see her as a charity case?”

I expect Weston to laugh, but he doesn’t.

“A charity case?” he asks in a low voice, his chair creaking when he stands up to his full height. My eyes widen when I realize how much taller he is than my sister and me. It never really hit me earlier. “No, that’s not it. I actually just asked Meryn out on a date.” 

When my sister turns around to stare at me, Weston smirks before he mouths, “Do we have a deal, Meryn?”

I gawk at him. 

Do I accept his deal or not?

And what happens if I do?

Hesitantly, I also stand up and turn my attention to my sister. My whole face is burning, yet I manage to say, “And I was just about to say yes.”

My sister’s mouth hangs wide open before she closes it, and then she stamps her foot like a spoiled little girl. “No. You didn’t.”

“I did.” I squint my eyes at my sister. Is the thought of Weston asking me out really that alien to her? She looks like she can’t believe what she is hearing. 

“But...why?” she looks between us, disbelief written over her features. Weston arches an eyebrow, and my sister swallows before finally speaking, “Meryn doesn’t have a wolf, and she is...bigger.”

Wow.

The unspoken assumption that I am not worthy of attention because I’m not as slim and pretty as my sister crashes down on me with the weight of a thousand bricks. My chest tightens, and angry tears burn behind my eyelids—I can’t believe my own sister seems to think I’m worthless!

Frustration runs through my veins. I want to be mad at my sister and ask her what the hell she is doing, but I know better. She is the only reason I have a pack, and even though she is rude, being a rogue would be a much more cruel fate. There are many vampires in this city, and without an inner wolf to protect me, I would be dead before morning.

Weston glances at me, then back at my sister. “I actually like curvy women.”

What?

That’s a big fat lie, and we both know it. It was only yesterday Weston told me he doesn’t date girls that aren’t fit. He also said I must be a virgin since there is no way a man would want to stick their dick in me.

But I suppose Weston needs to lie to appear convincing, and so I plaster on a smile when my sister narrows her gaze, studying us with her snake-like eyes. 

“Alpha Reinar isn’t going to like this...” She says, lifting her nose into the air before her eyes return to Weston. “And you would be much better off dating me.”

A smile spreads over his lips, and I inwardly roll my eyes. Here it comes, the part when the guy decides to date my sister because she is the most beautiful—

“I’d rather cuddle up to a cobra than suffer through an evening with you. It’s not even a real choice, given that any snake has more charm than you can ever hope to possess.”

Wait, what? 

Did Weston really just turn down my sister?!

The air around us is charged with shock. My sister and I are both surprised by Weston’s bold words, but when I look at him, there is a twinkle in his eyes and a sly smirk on his lips. He seems proud of himself for standing up to my sister, and I can’t help but smile back at him. 

My sister, however, looks like the entire sky has fallen down upon her. She stands there in stunned silence as the realization that she was rejected for the first time in her life sets in. She probably never expected this outcome, and I watch in fascination as her face crumples up. Tears well up in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembles before she turns away from us and runs off while crying. 

I listen to the sound of her footsteps fading away until all that is left is an almost tangible silence between Weston and me. He has won some of my respect, and I sigh. 

“That was some good acting,” I say in a low voice.

“Oh, I wasn’t acting,” he says coolly and then adds, “Your sister and I go way back.”

“You do?”

“Yes, but that’s a story for another time,” he fishes up his phone from his jeans and grimaces. “Shit, I’m almost late for football practice...”

“Don’t let me keep you.”

He snorts. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re obviously coming with me.”

“I am?”

“Uhh, yeah?”

When I stare up at Weston, entirely dumbfounded by his words, he starts packing my stuff. I’m frozen as he does it, and he grumbles something to himself before grabbing my wrist, tugging me along with ease. 

“Do you know nothing about fake dating?” he asks while we approach the elevator. “We obviously need to be seen together, Meryn. This means spending time together.”

“B-but I have more classes!”

“You will be skipping those today,” Weston decides for me, releasing my wrist briefly to tap the elevator button. When it dings, he pushes me inside by bumping into me with his ripped stomach and chest. 

I’m too amazed by his presence and physique to function properly, and Weston brings us to the right corner of the elevator. We aren’t alone but surrounded by curious students. 

“Perfect,” Weston mumbles above me. 

I look up at him, incredibly self-conscious about the fact that I’m face-to-face with his broad chest. “W-what is?”

Without explaining, he instead lazily brings his hand to the wall, resting his muscular arm directly above my head. I gulp at the size of his ridiculously large bicep. My mouth drier the longer I stare at it while the smell of his cologne is starting to make me feel a little light-headed.

The elevator starts moving, and I try to focus on anything other than Weston’s overwhelming presence. But it’s easier said than done. I feel his eyes on me and turn my head to meet his gaze. His eyes are a piercing green that makes my heart race. I quickly avert my gaze and stare straight ahead—right at his hard nipples. Holy mother of...is there not a single flaw to this guy?! He is walking sex-on-a-stick!

“I guess I could skip my classes...” I mumble, mostly because his appearance makes me a little starstruck. 

Weston chuckles above me. “Good choice.”

The elevator pings and I’m about to enter through the doors when Weston’s hand grasps my arm. I turn to face him, my breath hitching when his lips crash down on mine in a passionate kiss that rocks my entire freaking world. 

Oh my god... 

Alpha Weston Avery is kissing me—I repeat, ALPHA WESTON AVERY is freaking kissing me right now!

I can feel his strong arms wrap around my waist as he pulls me closer, deepening the kiss. My mind is spinning with confusion and desire. I’ve never felt this...light before. It feels like I’m flying on little pink clouds.

As the kiss ends, Weston pulls back, looking deep into my eyes with a smoldering gaze. “We have to make this believable, Meryn,” he says, his voice husky before a smirk tugs on his lips. It’s probably because I’m gaping up at him, and I blush when he slowly closes my lips with the help of his pointer finger. “That means being intimate in public.”

Weston steps away from me and grabs my hand. My mind races as he leads me out of the elevator and into a crowd of stunned students. I can feel the stares of everyone around us, but I’m too busy staring at Weston’s muscular back to pay them much attention. 

And as I watch him, my heart aches. Perhaps agreeing to fake date Weston wasn’t the best idea? How am I supposed to prevent myself from falling for him when his kisses make me forget my miserable life?