Chapter 480: School Life

Two weeks had passed since Silviana’s attempt to sacrifice Faye for her sister, and the consequences of her actions had finally caught up with her. The council and the Kings family had officially denounced Silviana Kings, while Adam had filed for divorce and rejected her as his mate in front of the council, breaking the bond they had once shared. With the empty council seats now occupied by members of the Deanson bloodline, the balance of power in Oakland had changed, and Adam Kings was the only one left sitting at the head, representing his grandfather as the Alpha King.

Meanwhile, Faye and her friends were enjoying their lunch break in the school cafeteria, where the atmosphere was unusually busy because of the ongoing examination week.

Half of Faye’s hair had now turned white, blending with the remaining brown strands to create a mixture that the Omega had grown rather fond of. She had even developed a new hairstyle with front bangs that made her look younger and cuter, at least according to Princess, who could never resist teasing her girlfriend about how adorable she looked.

However, while most of the students were busy preparing for their examinations, there was one person at their table who seemed determined to sacrifice his entire existence for a place among the top ten.

Malone Griffin.

The boy had a goal, and he was not about to let anything stand in his way.

At the moment, he was reading his notes with such intense concentration that he barely seemed aware of his surroundings. Beside him, Henry was busy feeding him, and the Lycan boy had somehow mastered the art of using both hands at once, one holding his own food while the other delivered spoonfuls into Malo’s mouth.

Sasha watched the two boys for a while before shaking her head.

"MG, you are stressing the boy. Focus on one task at a time."

"I need food to feed my brain, and I need my brain to feed these words into my memory and store them without missing any data," Malo explained seriously, accepting the next spoonful from Henry without taking his eyes off the notes.

Faye paused in the middle of eating and looked at him.

"Cramming is not going to guarantee you a perfect score."

"Coming from the queen of cramming. I don’t need a perfect score!" Malo immediately protested, finally raising his head to look at her. "All I need is a score high enough to climb above those two students. Me and you, Faye, we are graduating together, just as we have always dreamed. Friends forever, till death do us part!"

The seriousness in his voice caught Faye off guard. For a moment, she could only stare at her best friend, feeling a small pang of guilt settle in her chest. Malo was working himself to exhaustion because he genuinely believed they would graduate together, just as they had promised each other years ago.

Unfortunately, Faye had other plans.

She intended to leave after graduation, and although there were still two terms before that day arrived, she knew she would eventually have to tell him the truth. She simply had no idea how to break the news without hurting him, especially when he was putting so much effort into fulfilling their shared dream. More like his dream.

Before Faye could respond, a familiar voice interrupted their conversation.

"Sup, losers! Long time no see!"

A large figure suddenly dropped into the seat beside them, making the entire table feel smaller. Everyone except Henry paused what they were doing and lifted their heads to look at the unexpected visitor.

Peamah Frost.

Sasha stared at the Beta’s enormous body, her eyes travelling from his broad shoulders to his thick arms before finally returning to his face.

"Are you getting bigger and taller than a tree?"

Compared to Peamah, the rest of them looked like a group of rabbits gathered around a giant, and Sasha was beginning to wonder whether the boy had secretly been replaced by someone else during the weeks they had not seen him.

"Seriously, what have you been doing to your body?" Faye asked, looking genuinely concerned. "Are you taking some special protein or what exactly?"

Peamah glanced down at himself, seemingly pleased with what he saw.

"I have no idea. I wake up every day and find that I need a different-sized bed. I am not even sure beds fit me anymore." He shrugged, as though growing at an alarming rate was the most ordinary thing in the world. "This has been happening for about three weeks now."

Malo briefly looked up from his notes, examined the giant sitting beside them, and shook his head.

"Your body is going to explode someday."

Having delivered his warning, he returned to his book without giving Peamah another thought.

Sasha, however, was not finished with her questions. She leaned closer to the Beta, her expression turning curious as she studied his muscular build.

"How do you even manage it? Do you crush them into powder when you have sex?"

Peamah’s mouth curled into a smug grin.

"Nah, I am the bottom, and my boyfriend really knows how to handle me."

Sasha blinked.

"Who?"

"He is dating the captain of the boys’ basketball team," Malo muttered absent-mindedly, his eyes still scanning the words in his notes.

The moment the information left his mouth, the entire table fell silent. Peamah slowly turned his head towards the boy.

"How did you know about that? That is supposed to be a secret!"

His expression changed as he looked around the table, trying to figure out who had betrayed him. Eventually, his gaze landed on Faye, who was already shaking her head.

"No, I did not even tell my girlfriend, let alone Malo!" Faye quickly defended herself, raising both hands as though she wanted to make it clear that she had nothing to do with the situation.

Peamah pushed himself to his feet.

His enormous frame cast a shadow over Malo, covering the boy almost completely, and even Henry was partially swallowed by the darkness falling across the table.

Malo finally looked up from his notes.

The moment he saw Peamah standing over him, his expression changed. The boy who had been confidently memorising examination answers just seconds earlier suddenly looked as though he regretted every decision that had brought him to this cafeteria.

Henry, on the other hand, continued sitting calmly beside him, seemingly unconcerned by the giant looming over their table.

"Sit down, Peamah," Faye ordered before the situation could get any worse. "Maybe I slipped, so do not touch him."

She had no intention of letting her best friend get beaten up over something he had accidentally revealed while studying.

Peamah stared at Malo for another moment before reluctantly sitting down. Although he appeared calmer, his expression made it clear that he was not particularly happy about the situation.

"Relax. Nobody outside this group knows," Faye assured him.

"Okay," Peamah muttered, finally returning his attention to his food.

Sasha, who had been watching the entire exchange with amusement, suddenly turned towards Malo with a mischievous smile.

"See, MG? You are the only single person at this table. Actually, tell me, why are you still single?"

Malo slowly lifted his head, glaring at her as though she had just asked the most offensive question imaginable.

"Maybe my soulmate died, or maybe I do not have a soul."

Faye immediately pressed her lips together, desperately trying not to laugh at his answer.

Unfortunately, Malo noticed.

His glare shifted towards her, and the Omega quickly pretended to be interested in her food, although the twitching corners of her mouth betrayed her.

Henry suddenly raised his head.

"I am single, so that makes two of us."

Sasha turned towards him, looking genuinely surprised.

"Oh, Henry, really? We all thought you were in a relationship with that snake because she is always the one you take everywhere. I am sure she is even inside your bag right now."

"Kali is my favourite best friend," Henry replied innocently. "And yes, she is inside my bag pack, sleeping."

Faye immediately looked offended.

"Hey! I thought I was your only friend."

Henry turned towards her with a reassuring smile.

"You are my number one friend, and I can still have many other friends."

"N-number one friend since when?" Malo interrupted, his expression changing so quickly that even Sasha could not help staring at him.

The boy slowly turned towards Henry, looking deeply troubled by the revelation that he had apparently been competing for a position he had never known existed.

And just like that, Malo’s possessiveness over friendship began.

Peamah watched the scene unfold, shook his head, and muttered under his breath, "Losers..."

Faye’s head snapped towards him.

"Hey! We ignored you the first time. If you say that word again, you are going to be in serious trouble, you big protein giant!"

Peamah immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry."