Wrong Way, Wrong Mate Chapter 02

“Willow, I washed your dress and left it on your desk!”

At noon, two weeks into the semester, Lacey sends a voice message to our five-person group chat.

When I open the dorm room door, the first thing I see is my white dress, carelessly crumpled into a ball on my desk.

A huge smear of yellow mud stains the hem.

I pick up the dress, take a picture, and send it to the group chat.

“The dress is dirty. Please take it to the dry cleaner. If the stain won’t come out, I expect to be reimbursed for the full price.”

The group chat falls silent for a minute before Lacey sends a crying emoji.

“Willow, you’re so mean! It’s just a dress. I only got it dirty because I went looking for you.”

The next second, Paxton sends me a money transfer for exactly two hundred dollars.

“Stop giving Lacey a hard time.”

Zane chimes in right after him. “It’s just a dress. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?”

I stare at the two hundred dollars, a bitter ache rising in my throat.

I bought this dress with the prize money I won at the Warrior Selection Trials. It was my eighteenth birthday present to myself, and it cost $2,800.

I don’t accept the transfer. Instead, I type out a reply.

“The dress cost $2,800. If the stain won’t come out, I expect to be reimbursed for the full amount.”

The group chat falls silent again.

A moment later, a private message from Nathan pops up.

“You know what Lacey’s family situation is like. She doesn’t have a mother, and she barely gets any spending money. As the children of our pack’s Alpha and Luna, it’s our responsibility to look after her. She’s our adopted sister.”

“Are you seriously trying to push her over the edge with this?”

I stare at the self-righteous accusation on my screen and can’t help laughing.

Lacey doesn’t have a mother, so does that mean she can just take my favorite dress whenever she wants?

Lacey doesn’t have money, so am I supposed to accept the loss and pretend it doesn’t matter?

I put the dress in a paper bag and reply, “That’s not my fault.”

At the freshman mixer that afternoon, an upperclassman asks everyone to introduce themselves in turn to break the ice.

When it’s Lacey’s turn, she stands up with a bright smile.

“Hi, everyone! I’m Lacey Winfield, and this is Willow Bellrose, sitting right beside me. She’s absolutely hopeless at finding her way around!”

“When she was little, she couldn’t even remember where her own house was.”

“She once wandered around our pack territory for three hours before someone finally found her crying beside a trash can.”

The students around us burst into laughter.

I sit frozen in my seat, feeling the color drain from my face.

Paxton is sitting in the back row. Instead of telling her to stop, he slaps the table and laughs louder than anyone else.

Zane leans back in his chair, laughing along with the others. He even adds, “If she ever goes on a wilderness training exercise, she’ll probably get lost and lose her own pack.”

Nathan sits beside Paxton, the corners of his lips lifting into a faint smile.

“That’s why we tease her. Otherwise, life would be pretty boring.”

At the word tease, my fingers tighten around the hem of my shirt.

Right. They’ve always turned my fear into their favorite form of entertainment.

When the mixer ends, heavy rain begins to fall outside.

Paxton naturally opens the only umbrella and holds it over Lacey’s head.

“Lacey just washed her hair. She can’t get it wet, or she’ll end up with a headache.”

Nathan walks over, pushing his bike, and pats the back seat.

“Hop on. You said your ankle was aching yesterday, so I’ll take you to the campus health center to get some medicine.”

Lacey cheers and jumps onto the back of Nathan’s bike.

Paxton holds the umbrella over her while Zane carries her bag and books.

The four of them walk off into the rain together.

I stand alone beneath the bar’s awning, clutching my laptop bag.

When we were little, Nathan used to tilt his umbrella toward me, too.

Half his own shoulder would be soaked, but he’d still smile and say, “As long as Willow stays dry, that’s all that matters.”

But now, someone else stands beneath his umbrella.

That night, I run all the way back to my dorm in the pouring rain. By the middle of the night, I’m burning with a high fever. The thermometer reads 101.7°F.

My head throbs, and chills wrack my body. Even my werewolf healing abilities can’t bring the fever down.

I fumble for my phone and call my brother, “I have a fever. I feel awful.”

On the other end of the line, I hear someone slicing fresh ginger. Paxton’s voice is casual, almost distracted.

“Lacey got caught in the rain a little today, too. I’m making her some hot ginger tea so she doesn’t get sick.”

“Just find some fever medicine and take it yourself. Go to bed early. You’ll feel better once you sweat it out.”

The line goes dead.

I stare at the dark screen and don’t call him back.

Bracing myself against the wall, I struggle to my feet, change into dry clothes, grab an umbrella, and make my way to the campus health center alone.