The sun was high, the quad buzzing with gossip, laughter, and restless energy. Kaylee walked with her friends, ponytail bouncing behind her, trying to ignore the whispers that always seemed to trail her name lately. She was still irritated about Jackson's constant pestering earlier in the week, and her so-called friends whispering about the brothers wasn't helping her mood.
Then it happened.
Four girls stepped in front of her, blocking the path. The infamous K4.
Everyone knew them. They weren't officially anyone's girlfriends, but they clung to the Miles brothers like leeches, orbiting them like vultures over a kill. Mean-eyed, sharp-tongued, and armed with too much perfume, they lived for moments like this—an audience, a target, a stage.
"Look who it is," sneered the blonde, folding her arms. "The transfer girl who thinks she can play with fire."
Kaylee arched a brow, unimpressed. "If this is your way of saying hi, you need better material. Move."
The brunette crossed her arms, her smirk cutting. "Not so fast. We've been watching you."
Kaylee's eyes narrowed. "Creepy much?"
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Heads turned. Phones rose. Everyone loved a scene.
The brunette tilted her head. "Don't act clueless. You've been seducing them."
"What?" Kaylee's voice snapped sharp.
"Oh, please." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Don't defend her. Everyone has seen it. She acts uninterested but she wants their attention. That's her game."
Kaylee's jaw tightened. "Excuse me? You're accusing me of what?"
"Stop pretending," the brunette hissed. "You're nothing but a cheap tease trying to seduce them."
The words landed like a slap. The crowd gasped, whispers rippling faster. Kaylee's friends shifted uneasily behind her, exchanging looks.
Kaylee's stomach twisted—not from shame, but fury. She glanced back at her friends, expecting them to step forward. But they didn't. They stepped back. Their eyes darted, envy and hesitation dripping off them like sweat.
They believed it. Or maybe they wanted to.
Kaylee's fists curled. "You've seriously lost your fucking minds," she spat. "I don't need to seduce anyone. Least of all them."
"Oh really?" The brunette's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Then why do they look at you? Why does he follow you?"
And then the word came again, this time sharper, uglier.
"Whore."
Kaylee froze. Her pulse roared in her ears.
"What. Did. You. Just. Call me?"
The leader leaned in, eyes glittering with triumph. "You heard me. Everyone knows it. You're nothing but a whore trying to trap the wrong guys."
That was it.
Kaylee's fist flew before the girl could blink. The crack of knuckles against jaw split the quad open, and chaos exploded.
"You bitch!" one of the K4 shrieked and shoved her shoulder.
Wrong move.
Kaylee's instincts flared like fire. She twisted the girl's wrist, sending her stumbling, then spun to drive her knee into another's stomach. Nails clawed her cheek, and Kaylee snarled, slamming her elbow into ribs, shoving another face-first into the dirt.
The quad erupted into a frenzy.
"Holy shit, she's fighting them!"
"She just dropped Jessica!"
"Who the hell even is she?"
Kaylee's friends froze, their eyes wide, jealousy glinting behind their fear. They wanted to help. They should have helped. But the image of Kaylee tangled up with the brothers, the possibility that the rumors were true—it kept their feet nailed to the ground.
They let her fight alone.
"Pathetic," Kaylee spat, shoving another girl back.
The K4 lunged together, shrieking, clawing, four against one. Kaylee fought like hell, hoodie torn, lip bleeding, her hair slipping free of its tie. Her blood burned hotter than her fear.
The crowd roared, cheering, recording, feeding on the violence.
The K4 didn't notice it. The students didn't notice it. Even Kaylee, blinded by rage, didn't notice it.
The silence creeping in.
The weight pressing down.
Until a hand caught one of the girls mid-swing and wrenched her back so hard she screamed.
Kadeem.
He flung her to the ground like garbage, his grin sharp and feral.
"Really? Four against one? Fucking pathetic."
Only then did the rage snap into silence.
The crowd parted. Breath stalled.
They were here.
The Miles brothers.
Kadeem stood at the front, menace in his smirk. Kaden strolled in behind, lollipop lazily rolling in his mouth, eyes gleaming with dangerous amusement. Kadin followed, calm, calculating, his gaze like steel. And finally—Kayden. Silent, unreadable, cigarette burning between his lips, his presence heavier than all three combined.
The K4 froze, their bravado evaporating into fear.
Kadin's voice sliced the air, smooth but sharp as a blade.
"Touch her again, and you'll answer to us."
Kaden grinned, his words casual but final.
"She's ours. Don't forget it."
Phones shook in trembling hands. Whispers spread like wildfire. Ours. The word branded itself into every soul watching.
Then Kayden stepped forward. He didn't speak often, but when he did, the world bent to hear him. His glare swept across the K4, then the crowd, then lingered—just for a second—on Kaylee.
"Listen carefully," he said, voice low, lethal. "Stay. The fuck. Away from her."
The command rang like thunder.
No one doubted it.
And before Kaylee could move, before her pride could scream against it, Kayden bent and scooped her into his arms like she weighed nothing.
She gasped, fists clenching against his chest.
"Put me down—" she hissed under her breath, cheeks flaming as the quad erupted into shocked whispers.
But Kayden didn't even look at her. His jaw was tight, his grip iron. The other three brothers closed in around them, their formation unbreakable.
The message was clear.
Kaylee wasn't just some girl anymore.
She was theirs.
The crowd didn't cheer. They didn't laugh. They just stared—some in awe, some in envy, some in fear. Her friends stood frozen, their jealousy choking them, their friendship with Kaylee crumbling into ashes right there on the quad.
And as the brothers carried her away, dragging her straight into their shadows, Kaylee's heart pounded with fury—and something darker. Something she didn't want to name.
Because part of her hated it.
And part of her… thrilled at it.
One thing was certain—her life would never be the same again.