Trevor’s POV

A thorn.

That word hasn’t been in my vocabulary for so long, but in the last few days, it has been used more times than I can count, and it’s all because of her. My second chance mate, Sireen.

The name drags a rake through my brain as I think about it, and it leaves a bitter aftertaste.

I don’t want to think that I can be capable of hate, but I’m coming close with how much her very being has wrecked my existence since she came around, and I don’t even mean when I found out she was shoved into my life by the moon goddess. I mean when I found out she was there with my Kylie on the day of the attack and did nothing to stop it.

If she had been a true werewolf and done something different, anything, Kylie would probably be in my arms now, and I wouldn’t be battling the earthquake inside me, tempting me to smash a stranger’s face into the toilet mirror next to me because of her, then chase her down and kiss her all over again.

I hate that I’m being plagued with this irresistible urge to want her all the time, after she took what was most dearest to me, so of course, I’d do anything to humiliate her out of my system.

Again, I did not think I was capable of hate before now, but for Sireen, I’ll be that man, or I’ll try to because I couldn’t even bear to watch for more than two seconds as Kristy tried to rip her throat out.

Staring down the male across me who is smiling smugly, daring me to do something, my blood boils again, and even if I know that he’d be a bull to take on, I’m willing to show him who has the alpha blood between us…who is alpha in training.

“You stay away from her or I’ll make sure your last days in this pack, my pack…” I stress, “…is a living nightmare to experience. You got it?” I warn him again for the last time while hating that against my wishes, the damn pull I have to her wouldn’t let me watch another man give her any attention.

The smug bastard speaks, and I expect it to be a threat of his own because I’m really looking for a reason to let my claws out, but it’s something else I’m met with.

“The same way you’re experiencing one hell of a living nightmare as well, right?”

My brows draw together and I ask with a scoff. “What do you think you mean by that?”

The guy, Enzo, lifts his shoulders, making himself appear taller, and he stares me down with a deadly look, not that I care.

“I mean the way your parents, who are the Alpha and Luna of this pack, making them and not you the owners, make your pitiful life a living nightmare. That’s the same thing you want to do to me, am I right? You have all the training in the world for that, I’m sure.”

In the end, he smiles like he knows something, and if I have any bad feelings toward him before, it is multiplied now.

“What do you think you know?” I ask him, and I’m surprised my voice is still leveled and holding as much detest as it was for him seconds ago.

I don’t need him to reply, I just know he is right.

“A lot more than you could imagine, boy,” he responds with a jest, and my teeth grind against each other almost to the point of chipping, but I hold myself back for a second. Before I can gather the words, he goes on. “You’re a fraud, and I know your secrets, so cross me and see what happens. Hurt the girl, and you’ll be sorry you did.”

Now that I was thinking about it, who the hell was this guy exactly? I could tell that he went to school here and he was a senior with a face girls would hate each other for, but who was he and why did he know or think he knew my business? My personal life?

Instantly, I realize that this is not one of those things to overlook, and most importantly, he was bad for Sireen.

‘The same way I am bad for her,’ a voice taunts in my head, but I ignore it.

“Sireen is off limits to you,” I ground out finally before storming away from him without waiting for his response.

As I get out of the restroom, my whole body is heated and I feel mad uncomfortable in my own skin. I can only think of her, Sireen, and I hate it, so I think of Kylie’s lifeless body in her arms, Sireen’s face smeared with fake tears. I think of all the things she could have done to protect my Kylie and not a single one that she did, and I hate her once again.

I take one last look at the restroom door as I walk as far away from it as possible, and I wonder what Enzo knows about my relationship with my Mom and Dad, how he knows it, and what other guarded secret of mine he knows. Nobody knows what goes on in my personal life, so him slapping me with that information on our first interaction means I have to be wary.

Kristy joins me before I know it and we’re stuck in a class with her long arm tapping away on my bicep, and the more I allow it, the more irritated I get. She’s droning on and on about something, but I pay no attention as my mind once again drifts to someone with far more delicate and unusual features than anyone else. Bright hazel eyes that pop with her contrasting fiery red hair which is much shorter than I remember from a year ago and now looking like she went through it with a hacksaw. Her lips, the scattered freckles on the top of her nose, her…NO!

I get up in a hurry, shoving everything about her out of my mind, and the innocent textbook to the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Kristy asks, shocked at my erratic reaction, and I shake my head as I gather my things.

“I’m out. Skipping the rest,” I say, and I’m almost out of the door before Kristy can yell again, confused.

“Wha…well, tomorrow’s the mandatory maze games so try not to skip that!”

If it’s mandatory, that means I am going to see Sireen again. Possibly.

Well, if I have to be around her against my will, it's better to know who I’m up against, and there’s only one way to do that.