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“Um.” She tugged Theodore’s sleeve, forcing him to bend down so that she could whisper in his ear. “I think you need Alpha strength for that.”

“Right.” He swiped up the tennis ball, the veins in his forearm bulging as he crushed it with a loud pop that had half the classroom jumping in fright. “There, I did it for you. Feel better.” He dropped the tennis ball carcass onto Bellamy’s desk.

“Thanks,” Bellamy said flatly, though there was a little hint of amusement in his voice. “That was so helpful.” Like a cat bringing a dead mouse inside , he added inside Isobel’s head.

She rubbed at her face to hide her smirk.

Professor Chen entered, calling for everyone to put their phones away and stop gossiping, which was the most ironic thing Isobel had heard in a while, since their Influencer Intensive lessons mostly centred around phones and gossip.

Once the lesson ended, they rose silently as the rest of the students immediately merged together to check their phones again.

Isobel fell behind the group when she realised Bellamy was trailing behind them like a ghost—the same way she had been trailing her own support system all morning.

She fell into step next to him, but they didn’t talk.

“I hope your new pet is toilet trained, or he won’t be allowed in the dorm,” Oscar said lowly, casting dark eyes over his shoulder to fix them both with a look.

And yet, when some of Bellamy’s friends tried to approach him again, Oscar, Moses, and Niko all snapped at them to get lost.

When they entered the dining hall, Bellamy grabbed a tray and stared sightlessly at the piles of food that Isobel truly didn’t understand the theme of.

There was shrimp served in some sort of mushy white sauce, fried chicken, and several fish dishes.

There was more fried chicken, this time on waffles, and more shrimp, this time mixed into a dish with sausages, chicken, and rice.

She spotted barbequed ribs, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, and several casserole dishes.

“I think my arteries are bloated,” Cian muttered, stepping up to Bellamy’s other side.

“What do you want? Some of this stuff?” He pointed at a random dish.

Bellamy nodded, not even looking. Cian and Isobel began to fill up his tray, and then they picked out a few things for themselves and led the way to their usual booth.

Bellamy slid in on the end of the seat beside Isobel.

Niko tossed him a protein bar. “You’re probably not hungry, so here.” The protein bar whacked against Bellamy’s chest before falling into his lap. He stared down at it.

“That’s his love language,” Isobel whispered. “You can’t refuse him. He doesn’t take rejection well.”

Niko scoffed, giving her a warning look that somehow seemed … flirtatious. Whoa . Maybe they only had room in the group for one moody bastard at a time.

Bellamy began unwrapping the protein bar but paused as two Betas stopped at the end of the booth. Travis, maybe, or Keane—Isobel had forgotten which one was which—lifted a hand in uncertain greeting.

Moses looked up from his food slowly, one brow raised. “Don’t.”

They froze.

Elijah sighed, rubbing his temple.

Oscar made a show of wiping his mouth with his napkin, the gesture somehow inherently threatening, and then he leaned forward just slightly, his voice low and calm, but gritty with barely restrained violence. “Start backing away.” The words hit the air with a shiver.

Neither boy moved, not right away, but then they both seemed to snap out of their shared stupor, stumbling back and sharing confused looks before hurrying away.

Bellamy said nothing. He didn’t react at all.

He just dropped his half-unwrapped protein bar and stared at the table.

Isobel watched him for a moment, feeling that ever-present pressure building again behind her ribs.

“I remember it was like this for me,” she said, for the sake of the cameras.

He was acting far too devastated for the story Ironside was trying to spin.

Maybe he hadn’t fully figured it out yet, but challenging their narrative without a plan wasn’t a good idea.

“I didn’t know I was an anchor then, but …

anyway, I remember it being very hard after the Death Phase. ”

“Isn’t love precious?” Moses snarked, still sneering at the table of uncertain Betas casting their booth quick glances.

Bellamy forced a smile. “Yeah. I … ah … yeah. The Death Phase kicked my ass, man.”

Isobel reached out and gently placed her hand on his knee under the table.

He glanced down at it and blew out a short breath. “Thanks,” he muttered.

She squeezed slightly, then pulled away as possession began to burn hotly through the bond, and she was assaulted with several violent urges, probably Oscar and Niko fantasising about ripping off the leg she had touched.

“It makes sense you were drawn to the Alphas,” she said, hoping the statement would draw out her friend’s sarcastic personality. “I was the same. Their power is very potent for a soul still stitching itself back together. ”

Bellamy shot her a disbelieving look. “I’m here for you, idiot.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself.” She nudged the protein bar closer to him, and he picked it up with an incredulous sound huffing out of his chest, tearing into the protein bar as he shook his head.

“You’re the worst,” he said between small bites.

Her chest clenched, seeing how hard he was trying to force the food down.

“Love you too,” she said.

“That’s enough of that,” Theodore snapped. “Kilian, switch seats with Bellamy.”

Isobel held up her hands. “I take it back, okay!”

“You better,” Theodore snipped, draining his water glass aggressively before snapping it back down to the table. “You’re not allowed to date—and that includes telling men you love them.”

“What if I love you?”

“Obviously, that’s acceptable. I’m your surrogate.”

“Noted.” She smirked at him.