Page 93 of Toxic

So I snapped at him right from the start, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ever since our fight over David, we hadn’t spoken a word to each other.

My purple alpha brother shot back with the same scowl. "I’m just giving Nathaniel a ride! Don’t think I actually care about your stupid graduation, loser."

"Idiot."

"Jerk."

"C’mon, can we not do this today?" Nathaniel muttered.

Shortly after I moved to the student section, I saw Soren from a distance, but I didn’t pay him any attention. I stayedclose to Gabriel and Archer, who were cheering for me and Alvin, clapping their hands.

After getting my diploma, while I was still on stage, Finn Delgado came over to congratulate me with a wide smile. I was grateful for his presence and thanked him for his help, but I didn’t invite him to join the celebration dinner with my family since Winter, his ex, was there too, and that could’ve been awkward.

As soon as I said goodbye to Finn and stepped off the stage, I turned toward my family waiting at a distance… that’s when I saw him again.

Soren.

He stood among the other students but turned to me, and came closer with a strange, determined look on his face.

He seemed different, like his whole figure had changed colors, everything turning black and white—monochrome. He seemed flat, meaningless, like a photo you’d swipe left on.

And that’s exactly what I did when he started talking—I just walked past him and headed toward my family, who were loudly applauding and waving. They immediately surrounded me, hugging me tightly.

I kept telling myself over and over that I had to close this chapter—probably a hundred times by now. But deep down, part of me still wanted to turn around and run back to Soren. I couldn’t, though. I couldn’t let myself be that foolish, showing everyone how much of an idiot I was for falling for the wrong person. Just thinking about what he did made my stomach churn. Don’s smug face haunted my mind after Soren offered him a bj.

If that’s how he wanted to end things, then I wasn’t about to show him any leniency now. My anger was too strong—no way could I say even a single word to him.

My brothers surrounded me like a protective wall, and my parents embraced me warmly. Only Storm looked somewhere behind me, then said, "Who was that?"

"Nobody important," I growled, clenching my jaw. I didn’t need him prying into my business.

"I think you should talk to him, might be worth it," Storm muttered with a strange grin, but the rest of my brothers quickly made him shut up. He cursed and turned away from us.

I whispered to my dad, "Let’s head back to the dorm. I’m already packed. There’s nothing left for me here."

His turquoise eyes darted toward Soren as well, but when he noticed my sour expression, he gently placed his hand on my shoulder and said softly, "Of course, honey. Let’s go. We’ve got a drive ahead, and it wouldn’t be great to hit traffic."

I was glad he saved me from an uncomfortable conversation about this idiot. We started walking away, but for some reason, Storm kept glancing back at Soren and then squinting at me. I had no idea what was going on with him, so I just snarled, "Already thinking about sleeping with him?!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s not my type."

"Never stopped you before, with all the exes you’ve fucked!"

"But this time it wouldn’t work."

"Why? Is your dick malfunctioning? Poor thing, so many exes waiting to be fucked by the mighty alien, and you can’t get it up?"

His eyes flared at me—he well remembered how we used to tease him with that nickname when we were kids. But he stopped himself from reacting and only muttered,

"No, he wouldn’t fall for me."

"Oh, why’s that? The purple alpha charm always worked before! No personality or decency needed, just the fucking monster dick and monster look. You’re welcome to try your luckhere; he’s all yours!" And I waved toward the crowd where Soren had disappeared.

Storm’s face looked tense, like he was tempted to say something. His eyes, turquoise like mine but in an even more intense, glowing shade (the ones we also teased him about, calling them ‘UFOs’), locked with mine for a second. He was clearly angry, but for some reason, he just clenched his jaw and muttered, "You’re as stupid as ever. It’s your loss."

"C’mon, guys," Nathaniel muttered again. "Can we please NOT do this today?"

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