Frightened.

It's the first Monday of November. Last night, Jayden cornered me inside the Gamma locker room where I take my showers, and proposed to me right then and there.

I was blindsided by the stunning ring he was offering to me, a family heirloom, and I was enchanted by the grand gesture - no doubt he was scared that Skylar would manage to prospect me after the wonderful weekend we just spent together in Boulder.

Whatever it took for him to do this gesture, I really appreciate it. He is the one that I wanted to be with. He is the boy who conquered my heart when I wasn't even expecting anybody to do that.

Anybody who would want to do that. *gets emotional*

This would be fine except for the fact that somebody filmed us without our knowledge and now the proposal is going viral on social media. Probably because nobody has ever proposed inside a changing room before. Especially not a same-sex couple - though it would be even weirder if a man was inside a female locker room. O.o

Skylar confronted me just before I walked to the line for breakfast in the cafeteria, demanding to know what my answer was since it was not clear in the video. I pulled him aside and whispered to him what I had told Jayden, in so many words.

Jayden was called away to his grandfather's office - he might not have an Instagram account, but he has eyes and ears, not to mention dozens of employees who report to him - and afterward, he arrived at the cafeteria claiming they already know who the culprit is that filmed us.

It turned out to be a girl. Bitch! *grunts in annoyance*

I could not harm a fly nor would I ever film anybody inside the freaking locker room. The male locker room, might I add. What the hell? I was wearing only a towel wrapped around my waist when Jayden proposed. That is not how I would have liked to be proposed to, much less filmed. But now it's too late.

Before we left the cafeteria, there was a general alert on our phones telling us to report to the Stronghold Auditorium for an emergency assembly. You know what they say, rules must be obeyed. So I brushed my teeth and did as told. As did everybody else, naturally.

"Good morning, students. I am sorry for pulling you away from your morning classes, but apparently, I was not making myself clear the last time I spoke to you." Headmaster Lockwood greeted us with an irritated tone, staring his grandson down in the Alpha section of the seats. I mean, it's not an official section but all the Alphas sit together anyway.

"First of all, you were all given a brochure with the rules and regulations of this academy. You were told there was nowhere to hide here if you did anything against the rules. I just did not imagine I would ever have to point out that it is NOT OKAY TO FILM PEOPLE INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOMS!" He shouted the last part for effect.

"How the hell does anyone think this is acceptable behavior?" He stared down at us, beyond annoyed at the situation. The retired Alpha was wearing his classic three-piece suit. His gray hair was particularly whiter today and he seemed angered. No doubt by Jayden's move last night.

"I knew when I started this job that there would be rule breaking once or twice. I told you before that nobody from outside of your House is allowed inside the locker room [of another house], and then boom! On the first day of school, my own grandson entered the Gamma locker room to take a shower." He called him out with a fierce glare.

"The last time I checked, he is an Alpha so why was he there, I am not sure." He glared at him as if the two of them were the only ones in the room.

"As if that wasn't enough, then I heard Mr. Stronghold was caught having sex inside the Gamma showers." He stared at Skylar, purposefully dragging him along the public shaming. He blushed the reddest I have ever seen before from the collective stares.

"Now I know what I signed up for when I took this job. I don't care about your little parties on the rooftop or sexual encounters inside your dorm rooms. As long as they are consensual, it's none of my business. I am running a school, not a convent. I wasn't born yesterday." He stated, staring at the crowd.

Yeah... it's not a good combination to put 162 hormonal teenagers together like this. This is why the school nurse distributes prophylactics on a daily basis. In fact, there is a vending machine that distributes condoms in all three corridors of the dormitories.

"But what I will never tolerate is disrespect. It is bad enough if one of the male students did this, but a female who wasn't even allowed inside the locker room in the first place! Had she been there to take a simple shower, fine. It's not the worst crime, like I said before, I am not running a nunnery. But she filmed two students without their consent doing something that they meant to be kept private!" He raised his voice, very irritated.

"I consider myself to be a lenient person. I can tolerate many things, but never a flagrant disregard of Ravenwood's rules. It's not about the act of making a short video. It is highly disrespectful to your fellow classmates who never asked to be filmed in a place where cameras shouldn't even be allowed!" He shouted, annoyed at having to give this speech.

"I don't care if you like to film yourself naked while you're taking a shower. Or if you like to have phone sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend inside your dorm room. But if your roommate is there, just don't turn the camera on him or her. It's that simple. Don't film anybody without their consent, especially when they are not even dressed." He continued, now looking at me in the crowd.

Lockwood was pacing back and forth on the stage, anxious and nervous, but mostly irritated at all this.

"I did not think I would need to give this particular lecture. Silly me - gives an unhumorous chuckle - who thought people should treat others the way they'd like to be treated. It's the basic human principle. I shouldn't have to tell you this! If my grandson wanted an audience, he would have proposed in the cafeteria." He glared at Jayden as he said that, feeling antagonized.

"The student who committed this indiscretion is already in the process of being expelled from the Ravenwood Academy. Mr. Kirchner, our Head of Security, is accompanying her to gather her belongings and I have phoned her parents to notify them of her expulsion. Trust me, they were just as baffled by this as I was." He breathed out a frustrated sigh as he said that.

I could tell the embattled Alpha was irked today. He rarely smiles, but this morning something ticked him off for real. However, it does not take a genius to know what it was.

"Make no mistake, students. This is a serious establishment and nobody is above the law here. You are all free to come and go as you please, I can not hold you back as adults, or tell you what to do. But while you are here, what you do is a reflection of this Academy's values, and what it stands for. You are here for a purpose and filming undressed students without their consent is not one of them." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Now, to address the topic of the moment. I thought I made myself clear before, that no student can commit to another without their parents' approval. Unless I am already getting senile, - he chuckled - I am pretty sure I just reiterated that you need your parents' approval before a contract can be signed." He glared at Jayden as he said that, furiously.

"I am sure my grandson thought he could pull off some 'Romeo and Juliet' type of thing, but that is not how it works in real life. He was not allowed to offer anybody the ring that belonged to MY MATE!" Lockwood is shaking in rage right now, feeling disrespected by his own kin.

"This is not how we do things here at Ravenwood. If you want to go rogue, that is your choice. I can not stop you, but I will say this: you are Jayden Lockwood, the heir to my pack. If you choose to go through with this, you will never be the Alpha of my pack for as long as I draw breath. You will be banned with no contact with your family and no money to support you. Let's see if your prospect accepts you in these conditions. An outcast of society with nothing to offer him, not even money for you to attend college." He fulminated Jayden with a death glare that was making everyone uncomfortable.

Yeah... I see where he is going with this and most importantly why he is telling him this publicly - especially with me witnessing the threat.

"You are giving back your father's ring as soon as he and my daughter arrive here at Ravenwood later today." He demanded, surprising me with this information. Jayden's parents are coming here? Oh, my Goddess!

"Did I look like I was kidding when I told you students that this is a serious establishment, with a clear goal and rules of engagement? Did I stutter when I told you that you needed parental approval of your prospect? Did any of you think that was just a suggestion?" He is now addressing the crowd, angrily.

"I make it my mission to offer the students here the best of the best that our society has to offer. I want you all to succeed, believe me. But we are werewolves. There is a right and a wrong way of doing things. And if you go about it wrong, you'll do so without any support from your pack. I can only speak for myself, but I am nothing without my pack. My family means everything to me. But my daughter understood her assignment when she attended this academy and so will her son. Either that or face the consequences, which I promise will be mighty harsh." He stared Jayden down, menacingly.

I don't think I have ever seen the Headmaster so mad like this before. He was beside himself angry, legitimately betrayed by his grandson's move. This was a massive stab in the back for him, it was easy to see that.

The room was silent as they heard our leader's angry speech as if it were a warning. A cautionary tale. Don't try your way because it's their way or the highway. I agree with Lockwood on one thing: I would be nothing without my family.

If I were to be banned from my pack, I would be devastated. That is the last thing I would ever wish upon Jayden. Or anybody else, for that matter. Anyway... the Alpha is coming.

"Everyone except for Mr. Broderick is dismissed." He concluded and I gasped in shock at this. What did I ever do to him? I was not the one who proposed. I was just as blindsided by this as he was. Not to say that I am complaining about it. I can't lie, I loved it.

"Headmaster, you can't expel Jake, please! He did nothing wrong!" Skylar pleaded my case to him, surprising everybody in the process. He even rose from his seat to address Lockwood directly.

"Mr. Stronghold, did you read the rulebook you were given when you entered Ravenwood?" He questioned him, sounding annoyed. This question took Skylar aback.

"I-I skimmed it." He stuttered, nervously. All the students were drawn to this confrontation, unable to leave the auditorium yet. I had to stay anyway. *grabs the popcorn*

"Well, let me spoil it for you, it's not against the rules to be proposed marriage to. So, unless he was the one with you when you had sex in a locker room that you should have never entered in the first place, we have nothing to talk about." He took a jab at me in the process. This is old gossip, but most of the students didn't know about it, only Seth and me.

"Obviously, it wasn't him and you already knew that." Skylar growled at him for the insinuation. Of course, it wasn't me. He was with Carla at the time, remember her? She slapped Skylar because she thought he had taken advantage of my heat. Fun times...

Allow me to tell you some gossip, if I may.

This bitch - pardon my French - was walking towards the female locker room when she heard voices inside the men's room next door. This piqued her curiosity, so she spied from the entrance to see what was happening. That is when she realized what was going on and decided to film it.

If that wasn't bad enough, she shared it on social media and the rest is history. Now she is being put on a flight back to wherever the fuck she came from. *grunts in annoyance*

Aggravated, Skylar walked out of the auditorium with the rest of the students, but not before he wished me luck as he exited. Who would have thought that he would be the one standing up for me? Not me, that's for sure...

* LAST NIGHT WHEN JAYDEN PROPOSED *

"This is everything that I wanted to hear from you. I love you and there isn't a part in me that is not screaming for me to say 'YES'." I started my reply to his proposal.

"Hear me please: I want to be with you. That is all I want to do and that hasn't changed. But if I say yes right now, it will be in defiance of your mother and that is not how I would like us to start our relationship. I never wanted to steer you away from her or your family. I want their approval and I want your love." I continued in a somber tone.

"I am elated that you are fighting for me and that you have your father's approval to ask me to marry you. I would marry you tomorrow if that wouldn't put you on a direct path against your mother. I do not wish for her to separate us. I never wanted to be kept away from you, but I can not, in good conscience, indulge in the fantasy that we can do this despite her. I would never want her to think me inconsequential or thoughtless." I told him, and it broke my heart to have to tell him this. It really did.

"It's not an 'NO', please understand me. I do want to marry you, I really do. But I would never do so in opposition to your mother, who I am sure means just as much to you as mine does to me. I love you, Jayden. And I think we still have a chance to be together. Properly." I concluded, then pulled him up to give him a tight hug. I missed us being together.

It was the right thing to do. I want nothing more than to marry him, but I would never do so in defiance. I do think it is unfair that Jayden's mother never got to know me, as such, I would never accept this act of defiance to her. As much as I love him, I believe we can find a way forward. We can keep trying until she hears me out, hopefully.

My Goddess, I wanted nothing more than to say: 'YES'. *swoons*

https://youtu.be/E0oyglKjbFQ

A|N: BOOM!

You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?

Have you met me?

I am Team Jayden, but I am a writer first. Let's not put the carriage ahead of the ox (Brazilian proverb, loosely translated).

Now, shall we meet the Alpha?

You can hardly wait! It's about to go down!

OFF: It's funny. I am writing chapter 37 of the book and I thought by now I would be already losing steam with the story, but I am far from it. Rarely do I get so into it that I can not stop writing. The last time it happened was with the notorious "Mean Streak". I guess it's good for you, my dear readers. The war for Jake is far from over.

PS: Literally googled the title to find this song. I like the singer, but it is one of those discoveries I make as an author who puts songs in all his chapters.

Next is "Am I Wrong?". Spoiler alert: no, you are not. You can never do no wrong in my book, boo. <3

Love,

Léo.