Aiden looked for Dylan, but there was no one at the table. Was he still in the office? What was he in trouble for? He sat down and sent a text asking him what was going on. Hanna joined him.
“Where’s Dylan?” she asked as she set down her tray.
“One of the hall monitors came to take him to the office. She wouldn’t say why.”
“I hope he’s not in trouble.” She sat close to him but didn’t take his hand. She was as cautious as he was. Then Aiden wondered if she knew about the incident that morning. Probably not.
“Hey, Conner came up to me this morning and accused Dylan of doing something to Dalton. He said he went missing this weekend.”
“Oh, yeah.” She frowned. “We heard about it on Saturday. My parents joined the search party. He just… disappeared. His trail went to the barrier and stopped. He wouldn’t leave, not without a pass.” She shook her head. “Conner thinks Dylan hurt him?”
“Or something.”
Then, as if summoned, Conner stalked toward them, packmates in tow. “Where the fuck is he?”
Aiden didn’t have to ask who he meant. His stomach went cold and tight as the sensation of fur surrounded him. “The principal’s office.” Beside him, Hanna tensed. Oh, crap. With Dylan gone, that meant only Aiden stood between her and the werewolf pack.
Conner snorted. “So they know he did it? We told the cops it was him and they said they’d look into it, but I thought they were full of it. Too bad. I wanted to get my hands on him.”
“Dylan didn’t do anything.” Aiden’s voice shook a little and he prayed that Conner would just go away. Behind the alpha, the other werewolves glared with yellow eyes.
Conner leaned close and Aiden flinched. “You think I’m stupid? We know your boyfriend did it. Dalton is probably buried out there somewhere. Probably just a pile of ashes with some dirt kicked over it.” His eyes glistened with moisture.
It was hard to breathe, and little spots danced in Aiden’s vision. Beside him, Hanna whined. Aiden put an arm in front of her as fear rolled through him. If he reacted, he could hurt Conner and the pack, which was bad enough, but worse than that, he could hurt a lot of other kids. Could he get out of the lunchroom? Or at least find a hall monitor to hide behind? But he couldn’t make himself move.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
Both he and Conner turned. Maggie stood in the aisle, hands planted on her hips. The sparkly unicorn sweatshirt didn’t make her look intimidating, but she was doing her best to glare. As much as he was worried about her getting hurt, it also warmed his heart that she would stand up for him.
The werewolves growled.
“Sit down,” Conner said. “This isn’t your business.”
“We’re making it our business,” Sakura said as she and Izume moved to join Maggie.
If all of them fought the pack, the odds were now even. Aiden prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
“Yeah, leave him alone.” Toby and Tina came up behind Aiden.
Conner looked around, and for a moment his eyes narrowed. Aiden forgot to breathe, worried he would start a fight anyway.
“We want Dylan. He’s the one responsible. If you see your boyfriend, you tell him to come find me or I’ll find him.” He turned, taking the pack with him.
Aiden slumped against the table.
* * *
Dylan stayed at the pit until he was exhausted. As he walked home, his phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he saw six new texts and a missed call, all from Aiden. Crap. All of them were variations on Where are you?
He texted back, Cops questioned me. Let me go. Pissed, so I went to the pit.
Seconds later, a reply. Conner threatened me at lunch.
Dylan stopped. Are you okay? He hadn’t even thought of that. Leaving meant Aiden and Hanna had no one to defend them. Aiden was perfectly capable, but unwilling.
Fine, came the reply.
Maybe Aiden was busy and didn’t have time for a longer reply. School had just ended. He might be grabbing his things, on the way to the bus. But Dylan couldn’t help reading more into that one terse word. Turning, he went back through the gravel pit in the opposite direction, toward Aiden’s house.
When he was almost there, he debated knocking and asking Aiden’s parents if he could wait, but he didn’t want to explain why he was there. Besides, it would be awkward. So he went down to the bus stop, hoping he remembered the right place. He’d come home with Aiden once and the bus had dropped them off a block or so from the house. Dylan shifted his feet and paced, looking up anytime he heard a vehicle approaching.
How long did it take for the bus to get here? Maybe he should just call Aiden. No, he wanted to apologize to his face. Dylan had been selfish and abandoned him. He’d failed Aiden, again.
Finally, the bus arrived. The kappa kids— Toby and Tina— walked off the bus, staring. Aiden was right behind them.
“Is something wrong?” Aiden asked.
“Want to talk to you.” He’d forgotten about Toby and Tina and didn’t want to do this in front of them.
“Okay.” Aiden drew the word out.
“What happened? Why weren’t you at lunch?” Toby asked.
Dylan glared at him and the boy dropped his gaze, shoulders slumping.
“Don’t be a jerk,” Aiden muttered.
Dylan sighed and walked toward Aiden’s house.
After almost half a block, Aiden asked, “So what is it?”
Dylan cleared his throat. “I, uh, want to apologize. For leaving. Are you really okay? Conner didn’t hurt you?”
“No. He came looking for you at lunch, and when you weren’t there… He didn’t actually threaten me, I guess. I was just so scared I started freaking out.” Aiden didn’t look at him. “Maggie came over to defend me, and the fox sisters, and Toby and Tina.” The troubled look on his face became a smile.
“Was there a fight?”
Aiden shook his head. “Conner walked away. He didn’t like the odds, or he thought about how he’d get suspended again. Either way, he left.”
“I’m glad nothing happened.” He should have been there.
“What happened with you and the police?” Aiden finally looked at him. “You said they questioned you?”
“Yeah. That’s why they dragged me down to the principal’s office. Two cops were waiting there and questioned me about Dalton’s disappearance.” Dylan snorted. “Guess even the cops think I’m suspect number one. But they let me go because they’ve got no evidence.”
“So you were upset and went to the pit?” Aiden turned up the walk.
“Yeah. I shouldn’t have left you.”
Aiden reached the door and paused. “Maybe it’s best you did. If you were that mad when Conner came over at lunch… there would have been a fight.”
Dylan pictured that asshole growling at him yet again. “Yeah, probably.”
Aiden put a hand on his arm. “If you need to leave to control your anger, I’d rather have that than a fight.”
“Like I said, if it came to that, I’d take it outside.”
Aiden sighed. “Thanks for coming to talk to me. For you, that’s… super thoughtful.” He smiled. “And I accept your apology.”
“Thanks.” Was there anything he could do that Aiden wouldn’t accept an apology for? Dylan didn’t want to find out.