“I said I’m fine, drop it.”
The whole class was looking at her now and Destiny’s frown became more evident. Mrs. Baker was sporting her own look of concern. Destiny slid further into her seat, but she wasn’t able to get the anger and embarrassment out of her chest. It only angered her that Noah’s confusion had dissipated into concern. It even angered her that all this was because of something Megan said. It didn’t help that it was something she spent a lot of time thinking about. Megan had given voice to her fears and that didn’t sit well with Destiny.
“Hey Rags, what’s gotten your panties into a twist?”
Destiny ignored the remark. It wouldn’t be what drove her to commit murder. A simple snide remark, how would she explain that to the juvenile kids when she joined them. It was too shameful an act to be apprehended for. Most of them in there probably did hardcore stuff and she’d be turning up with the ‘I killed someone because they said something I didn’t like’. Too stupid.
“She’s got some nerve making herself the center of attention. I mean, we literally had to stop to listen to her talk. Unbelievable.”
“Stop it this instance,” Mrs. Baker said and Destiny offered her a small smile.
“It’s okay Mrs. Baker. I’m used to silly comments like this.”
“Silly?”
Destiny recognized that voice and she cringed. No one told her Damian was back. The school probably exaggerated how bad he was. But leave it to Damian to take up a case that wasn’t his.
“Can you run that sentence by us again Rags.”
“Damian!”
“Calm down Mrs. B, we won’t do anything to her. I really didn’t get the complete sentence, so I’d like for her to repeat it, courtesy and all.”
“She’s been hanging out with Noah, so he’s been upping her self-confidence or something.”
The next line made Destiny freeze. Someone had insinuated that she was having sex with Noah. She did nothing, said nothing, she just sat and stared straight ahead waiting. She couldn’t tell why she waited, but she knew what she waited for. She was waiting for the same thing her classmates were waiting for. A confirmation or a denial. In her case, it was the latter and a defense. Maybe Noah would say something, tell them off but he said nothing. No one did, not even Mrs. Baker. Unable to help herself, Destiny laughed out loud.
The confusion wasn’t just on Mrs. Baker’s face, it was visible on everyone’s face, but Destiny was way past the point of caring. She laughed for longer until she wasn’t sure why she was laughing. She stood up as the bell rang and shook her head.
“That was a good one Tim. I’ll give you that. But to quell your curiosity, all of your curiosity, I’m not sleeping with Noah.” Destiny laughed some more, but even her didn’t hear the humor in the laugh. “I was his friend though and I thought he was mine. But what do I know? You’re all right, I’m probably not worth shit.”
“Destiny,” the whisper from Mrs. Baker was so low that if Destiny hadn’t stormed past her, she probably wouldn’t have heard it.
Even though she couldn’t tell where she was headed, Destiny still headed out of the class. It was only logical that she headed to her next class, and that was exactly what she did. Halfway to the class, someone pushed Destiny into the lockers and she groaned. Looking up, she saw Damian glaring down at her, his band of Destiny’s harassers right behind him.
“Silly huh?”
Destiny wished she couldn’t believe Damian, but she could. It was what Damian did, he made life a living hell for her. If she was being honest, it was what everyone she knows lived for. Her mom, Ronnie, the kids in school and now Noah. The betrayal was what hurt her more. Her aching back meant nothing to her. Damian grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up. Destiny realized in that moment that she was sick of it all. Maybe everyone was right, maybe Damian and the other kids treated her this way because she let them. Destiny didn’t want to believe she was the only kid on scholarship in the entire school. There had to be others, so why did everyone pick on her and call her Rags? The answer was glaring her right in the face; she let them.
Enraged with herself than with the entire school, Destiny kneed Damian in the balls. Damian let her go and clutched his jewels, cussing the entire time. Destiny bent to collect her things, ignoring the shocked looks on people’s face and the murmurs that enveloped the halls. Damian recovered quicker than the actors in movies. The actors made it look like they went to space and got stuck for a while, but Damian got more enraged and it was as though the rage he felt superseded the pain coursing through him. He slammed Destiny into the lockers with more force than he had ever used. Destiny refused to groan or show any sign of pain to give Damian any satisfaction.
“Let her go. Right now.” The words were carefully enunciated and there was no mistaking the source. Behind Damian, Noah stood with his fist balled and he all but glared at the back of Damian’s head. What Destiny found surprising was the darkness in Noah’s eyes. His eyes had gone from grey to plain old black. Too intrigued than scared, Destiny marveled at Noah’s eyes.
Without turning, Damian replied, “Don’t get involved man. It’ll ruin your growing reputation. Rags here had it coming. She’s already submitted to her fate, quit trying to play hero.”
“Let her go,” Noah gritted out slowly. Either Damian was clueless, or he didn’t care how angry Noah was at that moment.
It happened too quickly and before Destiny could warn Damian, even her couldn’t figure out why, but when she told Kimberly, she said Noah looked like a raging bull ready to tear Damian apart, limb from limb.
In a split second, Noah was tearing Damian away from her with an ease that made her feel sorry for Damian. He slammed Damian into the wall and everyone gasped. Damian was barely recovering from the attack that landed him in the hospital and Noah looked ready to send him right back. Before Noah could get a punch in, Natalie was by his side pulling him up. Destiny marveled at her strength and braveness. She pulled him up and dragged him out of the hallways and Noah didn’t turn back to see if she was alright.
Destiny gathered her things and stood up, only to be sent back to the floor. Her cheeks burned and when she looked up, Ben was glaring down at her. Destiny opened her mouth to talk but it didn’t matter because Ben had moved away from her and walked to help Damian up. They walked away with Ben supporting Damian’s weight the entire way.
The remaining audience shot her a look before walking away and Destiny felt incredibly proud of herself. She had finally stood up for herself and it felt great. She picked herself up from the ground, unable to believe that Noah had actually jumped to her defense. Her arm hurt and she massaged it while trying to forget that no teacher came to her aid. No one cared about her and even with their no bullying policy, she still wasn’t safe.
Noah didn’t return the entire day.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NOAH
“What exactly were you thinking,’ Natalie asked and Noah bowed his head. “NO, that wasn’t a rhetorical question Noah. I’m passionately curious, what the hell were you thinking?”
“He was harassing her. What was I supposed to do? Stand by? She already thinks I don’t want to be with her and standing by would worsen things.”
They were home now and Natalie had been going at him non-stop. He didn’t expect Natalie to understand where he was coming from. It broke his heart that Destiny didn’t think she was it. Hell, she didn’t believe he was her friend when all he wanted was to be more than friends to her. He had expected their date to work wonders for him. Convince her it was her or nothing, but Destiny clearly couldn’t take the hint. And there was Natalie who was glaring down at him. Damian had a lot of thanks to offer to Natalie. She had saved him from another trip to the hospital, and when Noah had ripped him off Destiny, he had every intention of sending him back there.
“Can’t you see what you’re doing? You’re trying to endanger the clan again; we’ve been through so much already. Being with Destiny will complicate things an
d we can’t have that. I really do care about you but I’m not about to lose everything because of Destiny.”
Noah watched Natalie leave the room and he had no idea what to say. He cared about Destiny, more than he’s ever cared about anyone. He felt her, her craved her, he needed her and hell, he wanted her. Destiny needed him too. He knew it and as stubborn as she may be, Noah knew she realized it too, and maybe that’s what scared her.
He was making excuses for Destiny and he had no idea why. He wondered what she was up to, was she fine. Now, he regretted allowing Natalie to drag him home. He should have stayed back and figured out what was wrong with Destiny because she didn’t look to good when she came into the class. And before she came in, Megan and her minions had stepped in looking incredibly pleased with themselves.
Noah managed to remain calm, occasionally looking at the clock to ensure he was right on time for when school closed, so he could go over to school and see Destiny. He’d finally get to know who had actually bothered her before she came into the class. Between waiting for time to pass and doing nothing to keep himself from becoming bored, exhaustion took him over and he fell asleep. The next time Noah woke up, it was his mother who had woken him up. Noah looked out the window and the frown was evident on his face; it was dark outside.
He looked at him mother. “What’s the time?”
“A few minutes after seven, why?”
Noah got up in a hurry that stunned him mom. “I’ve got to be somewhere.”
“We all have to be somewhere. The hunts tonight, no one forgot. But before we leave, your father wants to talk to you.”
Noah stared at the retreating figure of his mom. He had completely forgotten that the hunt was tonight and above that, he wasn’t talking about the hunt, he was talking about going to see Destiny. He groaned and left his room. What could his father possibly want to say to him. Noah couldn’t think of anything; did he want him to hunt quietly or something? Noah couldn’t begin to guess. He cursed himself for falling asleep. If he hadn’t, he’d have gone to see Destiny and it wouldn’t matter now. He wondered how she was and cursed everyone for her not having a phone.
When Noah got downstairs, he found his father with his mother, and Natalie stood at the far end of the room. He didn’t understand why but Noah didn’t need telling that his father was not in a good mood. His mother had her hand on his knees and she was drawing circles on it with her fingers. He’d seen that gesture a million times to know his mother was trying to calm his father.
All attention went to him and his father clenched his jaw.
“Go easy on him,” was all she told his father. Slowly, his father walked to him but Noah had refused to be intimidated. His father had told him to be the alpha, he had to be able to make eye contact, speak confidently and with respect and above all, know when you’re wrong.
Right now, Noah was functioning on lesson number one, make eye contact.
“What were you thinking?” his father bellowed. “Fighting in school? Is that how you were raised? You can’t just go about fighting people Noah, it’s wrong and unacceptable.”
“I didn’t go about fighting people Dad, I defended someone. It was different. He was going to hurt her. I couldn’t stand aside and watch.”
His parents grew silent and exchanged looks. Noah ran his ran through his head. It brought him greatest satisfaction to see Destiny knee Damian’s balls. She stuck up for herself, and as far as Noah was concerned, no one had ever looked gorgeous with that amount of rage in their eyes.
“Well, in that case, we’re proud of you. Sticking up for someone is a very brave thing to do, and we’re grateful for what you’ve done. Hope you got him good?”
“Dad!” Natalie yelled from where she sat and strutted into the living room. “That doesn’t excuse what Noah did, he tried to expose us. All he talks about these days is Destiny this, Destiny that. It’s all he thinks about and if he carries on seeing this girl, we’ll be done for. I’m not trying to rise above your authority but don’t encourage Noah’s crush. He’d meet someone new but if because of Destiny we lose everything, I’d never forgive any of you.”
No one said anything as Natalie stormed out. Noah sighed. “I didn’t mean to put the clan in danger.”
“You didn’t but Natalie’s right. If you keep this up, we’ll be doomed. Save this Destiny girl, but not all the time. Allow someone else to play hero once in a while.”
“That’s the problem dad. No one would save her; they treat her like trash. Not a single person in that school know her name; they call her Rags. They’ve called her it for so long that no one actually remembers her name. They’ve bullied her out of doing the one thing she loves more than anything and the school administration does nothing, because she’s not from a rich home. Hell, someone hits her and she doesn’t report because she doesn’t want to make things any harder for herself. She’s still human, you know, it’s not her fault she’s on scholarship. She matters.”
His father sighed. “We’ll talk to the school authorities and get them to do something about it. Just lay low, alright.”
“I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because dad I see her, more than I’m supposed to. When I breathe, it’s her scent, when I close my eyes, her face is in my head, when I see her, I feel a squeeze in my heart: she consumes me. I don’t want to be this way about her but I can’t help it. She’s all that matters to me.”
The room fell silent as they all stared at Noah. There was tears in his eyes. He wasn’t joking. The way he felt about Destiny scared him but he didn’t know how to stop. He wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“She’s your mate,” his father said and Noah nodded slowly.
“Oh Noah,” his mother said and Noah ran his hand through his hair.
No one said anything after that. They just stood around and Noah knew his parents understood how he felt, even if Natalie didn’t.
“Go get ready for the hunt and do your best. You’ll be Alpha someday.”
Noah nodded and went back up to his room.
***
“Hey Noah, you look like shit.”
Noah didn’t bother looking up. Even in the darkness, he could recognize the voice of his best friend.
“Fuck you, Josh.”
Josh’s laughter pierced through the serene night and he came to stand beside Noah and he threw his hand on his shoulder. “You know you miss me. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
“It’s a miracle you’re still alive. I keep you alive, how are you not dead?’
Josh scoffed and dropped his hands from Noah’s shoulder. “You keep me safe? I saved your life.”
“One time. I’ve saved your life more numbers than you can count.”
The two boys got into a deathly stare and ignored that the rest of the clan arrived, taking no notice of them.
“Okay, you’ve saved me one number higher than the number of times I’ve saved you.”
Noah laughed and hugged Josh. Josh hugged him back. He and Josh had been friends for as long as Noah could remember. There was absolutely nothing he couldn’t tell Josh; the boy never judges. Josh was a taller boy with dark skin. He was Latin American but Noah couldn’t tell when he went from Rogelio to Josh. Josh’s excuse had been people were constantly pronouncing his name wrongly. They forgot the g was silent.
“Are you alright though?”
Noah gave him a long look. “Well talk after the hunt.”
Josh nodded as a few boys their age came over to say their hellos. The boys stood together chatting and trying to make up for times they spent apart. Noah realized he missed that, in fact, he missed everyone. The crowd wasn’t really huge and Noah was forced to remember the ones who had died at copper.
His father came up, and before them, he transformed into a wolf. One by one, the pack joined. He howled into the night sky and they followed him howling back.
***
Josh’s reaction when Noah told him he had found his mate
had surprised Noah. He had expected Josh to laugh, not to whistle and say one good thing came out from the attack. Noah had told him he didn’t feel like it was a good thing and he told Josh everything about Destiny, not sparing any details. He even mentioned the wolf bit and how he had carried Destiny home and saw the condition she lived in. Josh didn’t judge and he only asked if Destiny knew what he was. When Noah didn’t reply, Josh shook his head. He had told Noah to tell her now and get it over with. If things were to progress further, Destiny might not forgive him.
The conversation was what brought Noah to Destiny’s neighborhood. He was parked outside the dark building, cursing himself for not knowing what to do next. After tiring himself by sitting in the car, he stepped out. The area was quiet, and Noah looked up at the starry sky and prayed for guidance. He walked up to the building, planning out what he was going to say when someone bumped into him. It was Destiny and she had tears running down her face. She was barefooted and her shirt was ripped at the neck.
Noah’s jaw twitched but Destiny wrapped her arms around him and broke down. Stunned, Noah still managed to wrap his hands around her. Unlike the last time she ran out of the building, someone came after her. When the person came out, it was her stepfather and he was wearing nothing but shorts. His erection was very visible.
Destiny hid behind Noah and her stepfather took in Noah as Noah did him. His stare caused Destiny to back away from Noah and without turning back to look at her, Noah ordered her to get in the car. Destiny scrambled towards the car and her stepfather ran after her, calling her a slut. Destiny’s sob reached him and Noah clenched his jaw. He balled his fist and the second Destiny’s stepfather reached him, Noah grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. He got on him and punched him. Noah punched him several times and with blind anger that he didn’t notice, he had bloodied the man’s face. Destiny was by his side begging him to stop. The calm he needed was brought by Destiny’s voice and he stood up and glared down at the man.
Destiny: BWWM High School Romance Page 13