The Alphas And The Orphan

Monday 3rd January cont……

Alexei’s POV

Lunch is in 10 minutes. Thank the goddess, both of my brothers have had classes with Star. It’s not fair, I have Art and training with her this afternoon, but it’s a long time between this morning and lunch. Come on, stupid bell.

I still can’t believe she punched Charlotte. That was awesome, stupid slut. I bet she will run to daddy. That was some punch, though. And there is the bell. I shoot out of my seat and rush to the cafeteria; we had decided we would have to find a way to sit with Star at lunch, our Beta and gamma, and of course their mates, know that Star is our mate, so they will follow our lead.

I am hiding in the corner waiting for Star to join the queue. As soon as she does, I slot in behind her. She gives me a side-eye, but ignores me. Come on Alexei, start a conversation. Why am I so f*****g nervous?

She starts putting things on her tray, an apple, a bottle of water, a bread roll and a side salad. She is definitely eating more than that; I pick up a bowl of carbonara and 2 slices of garlic bread and put them on her tray. “Hey what are you doing Alexei Ravenwood?”

Goddess, I love hearing her say my name. “Mum is worried that you have lost weight. She said she had to give you a smaller uniform at our party, so we are to make sure you get enough to eat.” She looks a little sad for a second. “That’s all well and good, but some of us are on a budget Lexi, I can’t afford this.”

I add a huge piece of chocolate cake to each of our trays ” here’s the deal If I put the food on, then I pay for it, so stop your bitching, fairy-girl, mum said she can’t get uniforms any smaller and you are her best server, so if you want to keep her happy, eat the food”

She opens her mouth, then closes it. I can see she is trying to think of an excuse. Then her shoulders drop and she breaks my heart.

I don’t want people to think I am your next rank bunny.

f**k, what do I say? I have to think I could really offend her. And she will reject us. OK, here goes nothing. “Fairy-girl, no one would ever think that you or your friends would ever stoop to being rank bunnies, OK?”

I say it again in my head, making sure I didn’t call her fat or something, no I think I am good. “Then why are you all acting so weird? I mean, Ashton actually spanked my a*s earlier.”

Oh s**t, I should have known that would bite me in the a*s. Sorry bro, but you are going under the bus, both wheels. “You know, Ashton, he has trouble talking to ladies. He only knows how to behave with whores.”

She gives me more side-eye, but thankfully we are at the register. I point to both trays and pay, and we move away from the counter. My brothers and all of our friends are sitting with a very confused Maxine and Suzie. I sit down, leaving the only seat between me And Ace. I hear Star sigh and sit down. “OK, guys, what the f**k is going on? You have NEVER sat with us; I mean, look at poor Suzie. She is gonna have a heart attack at being so close to the popular kids, and you are seriously damaging Max’s street cred.”

Both her friends flip her off. Sophia speaks up, “Well, it’s kind of my fault, I really hate Charlotte, and thought she may cause a scene, but as you punched the crap out of her, I thought she would stay clear, as I am obviously the most popular person in the group these losers followed me, perfect punch by the way coach will be proud.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Ace sends her a withering glance. Aiden, one of our warriors/friends (maybe ex friend if he is not careful), pipes up. “Actually Star, I was going to catch you later; I got completely lost in maths today. I swear, Mr Stevens was speaking an unfamiliar language. How would you feel about tutoring me again this term? I’ll pay, of course, maybe grab some dinner in town?”

Ace growls at him, what the f**k is wrong with us, I see Maxine staring at me, then Star, then Ace and Ashton, then back at Star, I see the cogs going around in her head, then her eyes widen in understanding, I shake my head and mind link her. “No” she looks at me and smirks.

“she is your mother f*****g mate, isn’t she?” I give her a look. “Yes, but we want her to experience it on her birthday. We just need to be close and keep her safe. Another bruise, like today, and someone is dying.”

She nods just a touch, then I see anger flair in her eyes “Her f*****g family is a bunch of assholes. I will keep the secret, but you guys need to back off a bit. If I can work it out, so can she. I take it you are accepting her?” I give her a duh look. “Of course we are. Who would reject Star? A crazy person, that’s who.”

She smiles and nods at me. While we have been having our conversation, I missed Star’s response to Aiden’s invitation to dinner, it must have been a no though because Ace looks quite relaxed, he and Star are talking about an English assignment they had given them for the term,

“You have a free period after training today, right? Do you want to meet in the library and see what author we can use?” She nods slightly and frowns “But you normally pair up with Oliver, don’t you?” Olly’s head pops up, Ace obviously mind linking him.

“Yeah, but Mrs Thompson said we should try different partners. We barely passed last term’s assignment. And let’s face it, you are top of the class, so you could seriously help. We can’t have one of the Alphas failing English, right?”

She smiles shyly and agrees to meet him later, s**t I need an assignment to work on with her.

Lunch is over, and as we all get up, Ace turns to Star. “Wanna walk to history with me?”

“I need to go past my locker first.”

“me too, let’s go.”

And he walks out with my girl.