Chapter 111: Uncooperative Wolf

"Oh my Goddess," Okami wheezed, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye as his laughter settled. "And here I was, sweating bullets, thinking she was off the market. I was expecting the absolute worst, thinking you had somehow managed to get there before me." He shook his head, finally calming down. "But hearing that I still have a chance? That makes me very happy. You lost man."

Kage glared at him, his expression becoming serious. "It seems like you’re not understanding me, Okami. That girl is dangerous. She is nothing like the other human women we’re used to. I don’t even understand why the clans are suddenly obsessing over her, but I’m telling you as a friend, something is seriously wrong with that girl. Stay far away from her."

"We can’t all be cowards like you, Kage." Okami chuckled, pushing himself up from the sofa with a smirk. "I’m not staying away from her. You know me, Kage. Danger has never exactly been enough to scare me off. If anything, you’ve made me even more determined to get to know her." He moved toward Kage and patted his shoulder twice. "Now, I’ll leave you to return to your dramatic wallowing. I have a girl to hunt for my clan."

"Okami, seriously. Stay away from that girl," Kage called out as Okami strode toward the entrance. "Just leave this one for the Crown Princes to deal with."

Okami reached the front door, turned his head with a flashing grin, and simply threw up a hand without stopping. "Nope!"

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving the room in silence once again.

Kage stared at the closed door for a few seconds before shrugging. Well, at least he had tried to warn him. Whatever happened to Okami next was entirely on his own head.

*****

Okami strolled down the third-floor corridor of Solstice House with his hands tucked into his pockets, humming a cheerful, upbeat tune to himself. A brilliant grin sat on his face. Every few seconds, another laugh escaped him as he replayed his conversation with Kage.

He had genuinely thought Kage had somehow beaten him to the finish line. Instead, the coward had practically thrown himself out of the race. Okami hummed louder. That meant the field had narrowed considerably. The only real competition remaining for Starlight’s attention was the Imperial Twins. He completely dismissed Sera and Beatrice from the equation. There was no way either girl stood a chance against him, especially when he was almost certain Starlight wasn’t interested in women in the first place. He had an insanely sharp eye for those things, and he was a hundred percent certain Starlight did not swing that way. When he saw someone who was attracted to the same sex, he just knew, and Starlight wasn’t one of them.

Which meant Sera and Beatrice had exactly zero chance. Nikolai and Mikhail were his only real competition, and as far as Okami was concerned, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from winning her over.

His happy humming slowed to a halt as he rounded the final corner leading to his private room. Standing right in front of his entrance, leaning casually against his door with her arms crossed, was Beatrice Hawthorne, the last person he wanted to see.

If there was one person among the five great clan heirs and heiresses he despised with every fiber of his being, it was Beatrice. He hated everything about her: her voice, her pretentious attitude, her smug expressions, her constant scheming, her very existence. They could never share the same space without mutual hostility. Most people assumed they simply didn’t get along. That was putting it mildly. Okami would rather spend an afternoon trapped inside a cage full of starving direwolves than willingly share the same space as Beatrice Hawthorne. Seeing her outside his room not only put him on edge, it instantly ruined his mood and wiped away every trace of the good mood he had been enjoying moments ago.

Narrowing his eyes, he called out, "Hey, bitch, what the fuck are you doing here?"

Beatrice looked up from her polished nails and straightened from the wall. "You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting for a while. Where did you go?"

Okami frowned, taking a careful step forward. What was it with this woman talking as if they were friends? His eyes narrowed into sharp slits.

"I asked you what you’re doing here."

"Calm down, calm down, Okami," Beatrice said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. "I’m not here to pick a fight. I just want to have a talk with you. Can you open the door so we can speak inside?"

"The hell I will." Okami scoffed, a dark, dangerous edge entering his tone. "There is absolutely no way in hell I’m letting your foul self inside my room. You’d better spit out why you’re here right now, or I’m throwing you out of Solstice House myself. Who even let a Perigee princess inside the building anyway?"

"Okami, seriously, just relax for one second—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Okami lunged forward. In a flash of movement, he seized her by the throat and slammed her back hard against the corridor wall. The sharp thud echoed through the empty hallway as Beatrice let out a shocked gasp. She had known talking to him would be difficult, but she had never expected it to become a life-threatening experience. Okami tightened his fingers around her neck, pinning her effortlessly against the wall.

He leaned in until his breath fanned against her pale skin. His expression had gone completely cold. "I’ll ask again. What do you want with me, Beatrice?"

"Okami..." Beatrice croaked, clawing uselessly at his wrist, her heart hammering against her ribs. She hated this bastard. He was just as unhinged and wild as Otto, completely devoid of basic decency. "Please... let go...of—"

"Do I need to squeeze tighter, or are you going to start talking?" Okami growled, his grip firm enough to choke back her air.

Good Goddess, there was no reasoning with this crazy bastard. "Fine!" she choked out, her voice raspy. "I’m here because of Starlight Dawson!"

Okami’s eyes flickered, the pressure on her neck easing a fraction, but he didn’t let go immediately, keeping her pinned firmly against the wall.

"Keep talking."

"Can you... at least let me go first?" Beatrice gasped, glaring daggers at him.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her. Then, finally, he pulled his hand back and stepped half a pace away. Beatrice stumbled forward, rubbing her neck and coughing as she greedily sucked air back into her lungs. Okami crossed his arms over his chest, studying her with absolute disdain.

"I’m all ears."

"At least let me inside. We need to discuss this somewhere private."

Okami let out a low, mockingly amused chuckle. "Do you genuinely think that, in your wildest dreams, I’d ever let your sneaky self step foot inside my personal space? That’s never happening. Either you start talking right here, or you start walking."

Beatrice glared at him as she rubbed her sore throat, letting out a sharp, frustrated breath. "Talking to you is just like talking to a brick wall," she muttered before straightening her posture. "Fine. I want you to do everything it takes to pull Starlight Dawson away from the Crown Twins." She huffed and folded her arms across her chest.

Okami raised an eyebrow. "I don’t remember needing your permission or your encouragement to do that. I was already planning to." A smirk tugged at his lips. "So what exactly do you want from me, Beatrice?"

Beatrice sighed. "Do you really think you can pull it off all by yourself?" she asked, her tone laced with condescension. "You think you can just stop the Twins on your own? In case you haven’t noticed, they’ve already done more than enough to get close to her. It’s ridiculously easy for them to win her over right now, unlike you. She barely even knows who you are. You’re going to need my help if you want even the slightest chance of competing with them."

Okami threw his head back as a full laugh burst out of him, loud and mocking. "I don’t need a damn thing from you. So what if she doesn’t know me yet? So what if the Princes have been throwing themselves at her repeatedly? I can start throwing myself at her too. It’s not too late. Last I checked, they aren’t dating, and she doesn’t belong to anybody. So yeah, I still have every chance in the world, and your help is utterly useless to me. Now I’ll ask again: what do you actually want, or do you miss my hands around your neck already?"

Beatrice immediately took a step back.

"Look, you will need me. You know how first-year combat classes need upperclassmen to assist the instructors? I know for a fact that all the slots were filled yesterday. But I can use my influence to strip a third-year student of their spot and replace them with you. That gets you directly into her combat class. You can start making your move from there."

Okami stared at her for two seconds, his face entirely unreadable, before shaking his head with a bored click of his tongue.

"Nope. Don’t need your help with that either. I can literally strip any third-year student of their position myself whenever I feel like it. I don’t need you to book anything for me. So get out of my sight."

"You’ll regret this if you don’t—"

Okami shoved past her before she could finish, brushing his shoulder roughly against hers as he brought his thumb down on his door scanner. The lock clicked open. He stepped over the threshold, then turned back just before slipping inside and offered her a cold, venomous glare.

"Don’t ever let me see you anywhere near Solstice House, let alone near my room, or I’ll make you regret it."

SLAM.

The door slammed shut right in her face, locking automatically with a metallic thud.

Beatrice stood frozen for a split second before stomping her heel hard against the floor in sheer fury. "You ungrateful, arrogant, psychotic bastard!" she screamed at the closed door, her face flushing bright red with rage. "I hope you rot in hell with that wench! Fuck!" She turned on her heel and began marching down the hallway, her heels clicking angrily against the floor.

Talking to Okami had been a complete waste of time. She had hoped to manipulate his rivalry with the Twins to her advantage, but the guy was too unhinged to cooperate with anyone.

’Fuck, fuck, fuck,’ Beatrice cursed internally, running a hand through her hair in pure frustration. Does this mean she has to rely only on that reckless Otto now?