"Pure bitter black coffee will do."
Ryan gave his order, and the rest followed suit. Ever since he was a child, he had ordered his coffee black. He needed that sharp, unyielding bitterness to remind him of what it took to survive. He lived strictly by his family's unyielding motto: kill or be killed.
Ryan had felt her approaching long before she reached the table. His senses, honed from years of rigorous training and brutal battles, were sharper than those of an average hunter. It was how he had survived this long, relying entirely on his instincts to become the best at his age. He had felt her presence stirring from afar, all alone. Because it carried no immediate killing intent, he had let her be. Still, something about her felt completely impossible to place. Everything about her screamed danger—like a predator quietly surveying its prey from all sides.
It wasn't until she arrived at their table that he saw her eyes clearly. They were the brightest eyes he had ever seen. At a glance, pure innocence seemed to pool in them. But the longer he looked, the more he realized that behind that innocent facade lay a coiled, lethal danger and an underlying killing intent. Those innocent, pure eyes had already dragged many to their graves.
"Sir, your coffee as you ordered," Kira said.
But before she could turn to take her leave, an angry voice snapped behind her. "Wait!"
It was the boy, Ryan. "Didn't you listen to instructions? This isn't what I ordered."
"Oh! Sorry, sir, I might have brought you the wrong order. I might have added a little bit of sugar," she said, her voice deceptively calm.
"And why?" he asked, his tone dropping into a nonchalant drawl.
"I just thought black coffee was too bitter for you," she said, flashing an innocent look, inwardly hoping he would come around. "So, I really wanted to show you that it can be better with just a little sugar added to it."
"I love my coffee black, without sugar. You shouldn't change a customer's order as you please," he pointed out, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his brows.
"I apologize," was all Kira responded. Ryan raised his head, staring at her for a long moment before turning his face away in dismissal.
"Is your customer service always this poor?" the older man, who had been sitting quietly the entire time, asked angrily.
"No, sir," Kira quickly replied with a slight bow, biting down a feral growl.
"Call your manager. I need to complain to her directly," he demanded. Kira quickly ran off to the back to find Celina.
A few minutes later, Celina walked into the storeroom where Kira was waiting. By the look on her face, she was far from happy.
"Celina, look, I just added a little bit of sugar. What's the fuss about?" Kira muttered, a low growl slipping into her unhappy tone.
"Please stop, Kira! You should have noticed that those two are hunters, right? And by the looks of it, they aren't your average hunters," Celina whispered angrily, her eyes wide with stress. "So why would you go out of your way to provoke them? What you did was dangerous! I know you hate hunters, but please don't drag me down with you. Don't make me regret taking you in."
"I'm sorry," Kira apologized, looking away.
"Please, just don't do that again. They were furious about what you did, and I really don't appreciate your behavior today," Celina said, calming her tone slightly.
"I won't," Kira said. She knew she had gone too far, but in her heart, she genuinely didn't see anything wrong with her actions. To her, it was a simple matter. Provoking them was intentional; if they decided to act up, she would end them right then and there. Kira lived by a brutal philosophy—the strong trample the weak—and she was absolutely certain she possessed the strength to trample her foes.
Despite the rough morning, the rest of the day passed smoothly.
The next day arrived as a beautiful morning, bright sunlight peeping through the curtains. The cheerful chirping of birds drifted into the bedroom from the balcony.
"Ah, please stop..." Kira muttered. She had been forced to set an alarm so she wouldn't be late for her very first day of school.
Waking up, she took a deep, shaky breath. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her palm and leaned her head against the headrest, trying to stabilize her breathing. It was a mandatory morning routine. Every single night she went to sleep, her final memories of her family played out like a vivid nightmare. Waking up every morning left her agitated, burning with an intense urge to spill the blood of the hunters who took them.
Usually, the only way to clear her mind was to go on a wild run through the Chihuahuan desert with her wolf pack. But because it was her first day of high school, she couldn't afford to run with the wolves today.
Leaving the bed, she walked into the restroom to shower. Afterward, she dried herself and her hair. She dressed in black jeans, a black crop top, a black jacket, and heavy black boots. She combed her thick, wild brown curls up into a neat bun. Grabbing her backpack, she walked back into the room, slid her phone and wallet into her bag, and she was good to go.
Standing at the entrance of the school, Kira felt terrible. The mere thought of being trapped in the same building for hours with human strangers and hunters—smelling that dislikable, suffocating scent radiating off them—made her skin crawl. It was something she would never get used to.
She stopped right at the school's threshold and let out a heavy sigh.
Suddenly, she stiffened as a familiar, detestable scent cut through the crisp morning air.
It was the sharp, metallic tang of silver and old blood, layered beneath an expensive, clean cologne. Her inner wolf bared its teeth, pacing violently behind her ribs. Kira's eyes narrowed, systematically scanning the bustling courtyard filled with chatting teenagers, slamming car doors, and the loud, artificial energy of a high school morning.
Her gaze locked onto a sleek black truck pulling into the student parking lot.
The driver's side door swung open, and Ryan stepped out. Stripped of the heavy jacket he had worn at the cafe, he wore a simple dark hoodie. Yet, his posture remained just as rigid, arrogant, and hyper-aware. He threw his backpack over one shoulder, his hazel eyes scanning the crowd just as he had done at Alli's Cafe. He moved like a predator in a room full of sheep, completely oblivious to the fact that a much wilder beast was watching him from the steps.
Kira gripped the straps of her backpack so tightly the fabric groaned. Of all the schools in El Paso, he had to end up here.
As if feeling the weight of her intense stare, Ryan's head snapped in her direction. His hazel eyes locked onto hers across the courtyard. For a fraction of a second, a flicker of recognition and deep suspicion crossed his face. His nostrils flared slightly as he tried to read her scent, just as she was reading his. Kira masked her expression instantly, turning on her heel and blending into the sea of students pushing through the double doors.
The inside of the school was a sensory nightmare. Lockers echoed like gunfire every time they slammed shut. The overhead neon lights hummed at a painful, high-pitched frequency. The sheer volume of human sweat, cheap perfumes, and hormonal anxiety made her dizzy. She kept her head down, her wild brown curls shielding her face as she navigated the crowded hallway to find her first-period classroom.
She slipped into the back row of the history class, choosing a seat in the corner right next to the window. It was the only place she felt remotely safe—a direct line of sight to the open sky and an easy escape route if she needed to jump.
The bell rang, cutting through the morning chatter. As the teacher began writing on the whiteboard, Kira let out a slow, measured breath, trying to calm the rhythmic thumping of her heart. She just needed to get through the day. She could ignore the humans. She could ignore the suffocating claustrophobia.
Then, the classroom door creaked open.
"Sorry I'm late, ma'am," a smooth, nonchalant voice drawled from the doorway. "The administration office took a while with my schedule."
Kira didn't even need to look up to know who it was. The toxic scent of a high-level hunter flooded the small classroom, instantly suffocating the air.
"No worries at all, Ryan," the teacher said with a warm smile, gesturing toward the back of the room. "Welcome to El Paso High. There's a seat available right in the back corner. Go ahead and take a seat next to Kira."