Hailee's POV
"Please stop!" I yelled again, louder this time, but they didn't listen.
Callum and Nathan were fighting like wild animals, punching and growling, their bodies already starting to change. Their wolves were close to coming out. Their eyes glowed, and their muscles tensed like they were about to shift right there in front of everyone.
Students gathered around, watching in shock. No one dared to move.
I backed away, trembling. If they shifted here, in front of everyone—it wouldn't just be a fight. It would be a bloodbath. And I would be blamed. I was the omega. The scapegoat. The one who was supposed to be invisible, not the cause of an Alpha brawl.
Do something, my mind screamed. Anything.
And so I did something incredibly, incredibly stupid.
I threw myself between them.
"Stop it!" I screamed, pushing against whoever I could reach first, my small hands useless against the brute strength of two half-shifted Alpha heirs.
But they didn't stop. A fist—meant for Callum, or maybe Nathan, I couldn't tell anymore—slammed into my head.
Pain shot through my skull, and everything went blurry. The world spun. My knees gave out, and I dropped to the ground. Voices turned into echoes. Faces became shadows.
And then—
Everything went black.
••••••
Voices were yelling around me. Everything sounded far away and loud at the same time. It made my head hurt badly.
"It was you who hit her!" Nathan's familiar voice sounded.
"If anything happens to her, I'll kill you and send your dead body back to your pack!"
"I didn't hit her, you idiot!" A voice I assumed was Callum shouted back. "It was your elbow!"
"Liar! I stopped as soon as she stepped in! You were the one swinging like a madman!"
They were arguing loudly, and my head was spinning badly.
Then I heard a sound—fast footsteps. Someone said, "She's awake."
I groaned a little. Everything was too bright. My head pounded.
"Hailee?" Callum's voice was closer now, softer. "Can you hear me?"
I blinked and slowly opened my eyes. I was lying on a bed in the school clinic. The lights above me were harsh and white.
I turned my head a little and saw Callum on one side of the bed and Nathan on the other. Both of them looked worried and angry.
Callum's lip was healed. Nathan's fists were still clenched.
"What… happened?" I asked, my voice rough.
"You stepped between us," Nathan said quietly.
"You got hurt because he threw a punch," Callum added.
"I did not!" Nathan snapped.
"Just man up to your act!" Callum shouted.
"Stop…" I groaned. "My head hurts. Don't yell."
They both shut up.
I slowly sat up. "Tell me no one saw me pass out," I muttered.
They didn't say anything. That was a bad sign.
"Great," I sighed. "Just great."
Nathan gave me an annoyed look. "You shouldn't have stepped in."
"I had to," I whispered. "You were going to shift… in front of everyone."
Callum cursed softly. Nathan didn't say anything.
I looked at both of them and sighed. "Please… just leave. Both of you."
They hesitated.
"I mean it. Go."
Nathan left first, slamming the door behind him.
Callum didn't move. Rather, our gaze held, and then he sighed and simply said, "See you around." With that simple word, he turned and also left.
Left alone in my room, I slumped onto the bed and groaned. As if my life wasn't already complicated, and now this!
The door to the room opened, and Lila walked in with a relieved look on her face.
"You're awake," she said with a big sigh, walking over quickly.
I nodded and tried to sit up again, my head still throbbing like a drum.
But before I could say anything else, she gasped dramatically and placed a hand over her heart.
"Wait… do you even remember who I am?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Don't tell me that punch gave you amnesia!"
I blinked. "What?"
"I'm Lila," she said in a mock-serious voice, pointing to herself. "Your best friend, your ride-or-die, your partner in crime since ninth grade. You love chocolate chip cookies, hate broccoli, and once cried because your favorite book character died."
I stared at her for a second, then laughed. "You're so dramatic."
"Oh, thank goodness," she grinned, flopping down on the chair next to my bed. "For a second I thought I'd have to reintroduce myself with a friendship résumé."
I rolled my eyes and smiled, the tension finally easing a little.
"But seriously," she leaned in with a playful smirk, "you are officially the most talked-about person in school right now."
I groaned. "Why? Because I got knocked out like an idiot?"
"Uh, no," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Because two Alpha heirs basically went full beast mode over you."
"They weren't fighting over me," I muttered, embarrassed.
"Mm-hmm," she said, clearly not believing me. "Tell that to the students who saw Nathan practically murder Callum with his eyes when you fainted. Or to the group that swears Callum was about to rip someone's head off because you got hurt."
I blinked. "People are actually saying that?"
"Oh, honey," she grinned. "By tomorrow, you'll be the lead in every rumor. Some are saying you're the secret lover of one of them. Others think you've got both of them wrapped around your finger. And my favorite? Someone said Nathan likes you and seeing you with Callum angered him."
I stared at her in horror. "That's insane!"
"Insanely awesome," she corrected, giggling. "I mean, sure, you almost got a concussion… but on the bright side, you're now famous."
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "Please let this be a dream."
"Sorry, sweetie," she said, patting my knee. "This is your life now. Welcome to the spotlight, Hailee."