Page 38 of Beg for It

I nod, because what else am I going to do? I know for a fact I won’t be running to him anytime these guys cause issues for me. I’m an adult. I can deal with this myself.

Like you did so well the last time.

Leaving the classroom, I check my phone quickly to see that Jamie said he’s coming to pick me up. Something about going out to eat.

I sigh, knowing I don’t have the money for that, but don’t want to turn him down.

Then I remember I was supposed to start my job the other day. Fuck!

Quickly, I call the club. Thankfully the manager picks up, and I’m able to tell him I was sick in the hospital and that I’m so sorry for missing my first shift. They tell me it’s okay, and to come in tomorrow night.

I sigh and thank him, telling him I’ll be there.

Slipping into a bathroom, I wait in there until Jamie texts that he’s outside. “You can do this, Cam.” I tell myself in the mirror. “You will not take the easy way out. You just need to get your degree and then you're free from this life. You can do this. You’ve survived this long, what's a few more years of bullshit.”

Easier said than done when the men who're supposed to tear the world apart for you, hate you with a passion.

Would they still feel that way if they smelled me, if they knew I was theirs?

It’s not something I’m willing to risk.

CHAPTEREIGHT

HENLEY

Obsession and calculated desperation, that’s what I’m feeling. I only know for sure Camden is alive outside of the professor’s word because he called the club to apologize for not coming in to work. Meanwhile, all bets are off as far as privacy.

I no longer care, I need to know where he is and if he’s safe. I have this feral itch to know everything I can about the beta. The memories of the way he was slumped in Professor Kennedy’s arms are keeping me up at night.

His words haunt me, my bullshit meter silent because I know the teacher is telling the truth. He’s a good man, and not the pervert I believed. I really think he was helping him.

I just need to know why and what happened that night. Did someone hurt him? I don’t remember seeing any bruises, was he jumped possibly?

My thin control is on the verge of snapping. I want to see him before he goes into work his first shift, but I’m aware Camden may be working even harder to avoid my pack and me. It’s difficult to keep your secrets when you have people breathing down your neck, desperately wanting to rip them away.

There are now cameras in Camden’s room, the closet, and the dorm bathroom. If I end up seeing some beta ass for my troubles, then so be it. Every movement will be tracked until I can slide the tracker under the pink-haired beta’s skin.

No one else is allowed to touch him outside of my pack and I. Jamie is the only one who gets a pass due to circumstances outside of my control, but the smug glances he’s been throwing at me on campus are pushing me in a very dangerous direction. The alpha needs to watch his back.

Brooks and River are leaving it to me to bring Camden to heel. As unhinged and obsessive as I am, I also have ways of getting shit done without anyone ever knowing where I am or what I’m doing. My pack mates and best friends aren’t as discreet as I am, nor are they allowed into the beta dorms.

No, this job falls solely to me.

The hours drag on as I stare at the different camera angles on my phone, not a hint of Camden’s furtive glances anywhere.

“Any luck?” River asks me, sitting next to me on a bench outside of my next class.

A few of the clubs I’m in have expressed their concerns that they haven’t been able to find me, so here I am in plain sight. While I’m in the throes of being consumed with finding Camden, I still have to balance the house of cards I’m building at Crown Well Academy. Everyone wants my attention, yet no one but the lost beta has mine.

“None,” I grunt, putting my phone very slowly down on my thigh. River doesn’t deserve to experience my crabbiness.

“Take a break,” he says. “Come to the club. He’s supposed to begin bartending tonight. There will be no hiding from us there.”

“I’m going to want to follow him home,” I confess, rubbing my face. I have the beginnings of stubble I need to remove. I value my appearance, and I’ve been neglecting it.

“I would never expect anything less,” River reassures me. “Make it through the day, pretend to give a shit when the sycophants come to ask you about things that don’t matter, and I’ll make sure you’re well rewarded.”

I know they matter, but only in the small scope of their lives. Perception is how we keep ourselves at the top of the school.

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