After Rebirth, I Joined A Reality Dating Show To Ruin My Trashy Mate!

Odessa's Pov

"Let me go!" I shrieked, my voice cracking as I fought to get out of Nickolai's tight grip on my hair. I tried to twist and turn, but his fingers were tangled in my wild mess of a ponytail.

I fought back the tears stinging my eyes as my foot landed on a now-squashed bottle of hand sanitizer. The contents of my bag had been emptied all over the floor of the locker room. My makeup products were scattered everywhere, my coffee was a dark puddle on the tiles, my hair was a tangled mess, and now, my laptop was in his hands.

I already knew exactly how this was going to go down. He'd make me grovel and beg him for it before I could get it back, or even worse, he'd take it into his own possession and return it whenever he felt like it. I knew I shouldn't have been stupid enough to come to the locker room. I should have known better than to believe that dumb text asking me to show up, even though I had assumed it was from Damien.

It's my last year of college, and I still feel like a piece of garbage getting bullied every single day. I couldn't bear to tell my parents what was happening; they'd just make me take classes from home and I'd miss out on the entire college experience, which wasn't even entirely pleasing to begin with. I was the perfect prey for the De Luca triplets, especially Hades and Nickolai.

The third, Rowan, had never once spoken to me. As a matter of fact, he barely ever showed up to school, only on days when they had practice or a championship game in the sport they were all stars at, hockey or "morphleton" as human fans called it.

The entire world adored them. Humans and shifters alike all loved them. Countless blogs and magazines had already predicted their immense success even before they had finished high school. But I was the one exception in this world.

He chuckled, tightening his grip on my hair even further as Hade's grabbed my laptop from him. "I heard you got a boyfriend, didn't you?" He laughed with a teasing smirk.

"Yes, that f*cker Damien or whatever," Nickolai said, chuckling, before letting go of me completely. I stumbled, trying to catch my breath as I rubbed my scalp.

My boyfriend, Damien, was a pretty great guy, and a pretty good choice for a boyfriend. We had just started dating three months ago, and I adored him.

He had absolutely no idea about what they did to me. I hated being modest, but I didn't want it to seem like I was only dating him for protection, especially since I was here undercover as a middle-class student while my family owned the top hockey management agency, the very agency the Star Triplets were under.

"So what if I'm dating him?" I snapped, my voice laced with defiance.

"Hey, you better watch that tone, tesoro," Nikolai warned, pointing a finger at me.

"Nothing really, just thought you could do better," Hades smirked, his eyes glinting mischievously.

"What is going on here?" A deep, velvet voice suddenly echoed through the hockey room. We all turned to see Rowan standing in the doorway. He was wearing a sweatsuit, and a towel was draped around his neck. He had just finished training. He was handsome. The word "handsome" felt too basic to describe him.

He was awfully attractive, just like his horrible brothers, but with a more manly appeal. He had long black curly hair, dark blue eyes, a bulkier frame, and a presence that made my stomach flip. I couldn't discern if the feeling was fear or pure attraction, but I knew for sure that I shouldn't find another man attractive, especially since I had a boyfriend.

"It's nothing, Ro. We're just playing around," Hades chuckled, looking at me as if he wanted me to play along.

Rowan approached us slowly, scanning me briefly before his gaze settled on his brothers. "Give the girl her laptop. You're bigger than this," he muttered under his breath, his voice low and firm.

"Yeah, we were going to give it back," Nikolai said, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Gamma Reggie's looking for you two. See him on your way out," Rowan informed them, his tone still even.

"This isn't over yet," Hades grunted in a whisper as he shoved the laptop into my hands.

I couldn't believe this. They actually listened to him?

Reluctantly, they brushed past Rowan and left the scene, leaving me stunned in their wake.

I blinked out of my daze as Rowan squatted on the floor and started picking up my scattered belongings with his silver-ringed, tattooed fingers. I didn't understand what was happening. This could also be another trap. Why would he take my side and not theirs?

"It's okay, I've got it," I muttered, dragging the bag away from him as I started picking up my stuff swiftly. He stood up with me as I finished packing it all up and slung my bag onto my shoulder.

"I apologize for what happened. They're not—"

"It's okay. I don't know what this is about, but I seriously don't have the time for another new plot or whatever this is. We're graduating in two weeks. If you guys think that's more than enough time to continue with this, then bring it on."

This was probably just another attempt. Get one of them to win my trust and find out what they'd planned for me. They had to be up to something.

"Odessa, what are you even talking about?"

"You know my name?" I asked, my voice laced with suspicion.

"Of course I do. It's—"

"Exactly. I've never told you my name before. Nice try, Rowan," I scoffed, cutting him off.

"Yeah, knowing my name is allowed, but I can't know yours?"

"Everyone knows your name. You're literally the face of the school; it's on the billboard at the entrance. But me? That's an entirely different story. Whatever you and your brothers have planned for me, this method is totally weak." I scoffed once more, walking away from him.

The memory of that humiliating incident replayed in my head on a loop. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched Nikolai present my entire thesis, word for word. Six months. I had worked on that for six long months.

"Youth Hockey and Child Protection Laws: Safeguarding Young Athletes by Nikolai De Luca," the title was on the screen. He had edited the whole PowerPoint slideshow, taking sole credit for what was essentially my life's work. I thought I was so smart. I had uploaded it to the cloud and a flash drive.

A flash drive. That's how they did it. I turned to Rowan, who was sitting in the back, watching with a look of pure disinterest on his face. The flash drive was in my bag that previous day. He must have picked it up and given it to them.

My lips trembled as I got up from my seat, rushing down the staircase, a chilling certainty settling in my gut. It was over for me. I wouldn't graduate this year. My grandfather would be so ashamed of me, and I wouldn't get to work at Montgomery Athlete Management after four years of chasing my law degree. They've ruined me. They've absolutely f*cking ruined me.

"A round of applause for Mr. De Luca, an insightful presentation if I must say," I heard one of the professors say as I slammed the door shut behind me.

"Odessa!" I heard someone call out. It was Damien. I turned to look at him with bloodshot eyes, running into his arms the next minute as he hugged me tightly. "Baby, are you okay?"

"They stole my thesis," I sobbed into his chest.

"Who did?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"The De Luca brothers."