Lucas paced back and forth across the Persian rug of his apartment, his jaw clenched. Liam sat stiffly at the head of the long mahogany dining table, his fingers drumming a restless beat. Graham stood by the window, staring outside with a scowl carved into his face.Robert Hawthorne set down his worn leather briefcase on the table. His silver hair caught the flickering light as he slipped out of his wool coat and hung it carefully on the back of a chair. His presence was commanding even without the aura of power that came with being the top lawyer in the realm of high-ranking wolves.“I just got back from meeting Alpha Dean,” Robert began, his smooth baritone quiet but firm. “He’s given me his full blessing to do whatever it takes to make sure none of you end up behind bars.”Lucas let out a humorless laugh. “That’s comforting to hear, Robert. But in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re practically prisoners already. We can’t step outside without someone whispering that we’re violent br
Maya and Lily pushed through the heavy wooden doors of the lecture hall, the faint echo of their footsteps swallowed by the large space. The day was gradually going by but things in Lily’s life felt they were going at a standstill and she had no control over what was happening. The massive room, with its high arched ceiling and rows of polished oak benches, was nearly empty except for a few early arrivals flipping through last-minute notes.Lily could hear Maya talking beside her, but her mind was lost in an abyss of her own creation, making it hard to even concentrate.“I can’t believe we have to sit for this exam today,” Maya said, hugging her textbooks tight against her chest. Her eyes darted to the darkened corners of the hall as if expecting the shadows themselves to bring more bad news. “I’ve barely read a single chapter. Every time I tried, I just kept thinking about Lucas, Liam, and Graham" Maya said and she dropped her head in a dramatic way.Lily’s eyes flickered to her
The pulsing beat of music thrummed through the floor of the common area, a popular student lounge called The Den in Moonshine College.In the middle of it all sat Ethan, sprawled comfortably on a plush chair with his legs extended and an untouched glass of whiskey in his hand. He looked unbothered, leaning back with that trademark smirk playing on his lips, the healing scratches on his face already fading thanks to his privileged wolf blood.Around him, his friends were talking loudly, occasionally shooting him admiring looks. One of them, a lanky wolf named Seth with shaggy brown hair, was recounting the latest gossip about the Alpha twins’ humiliating arrest.“Bro, I still can’t believe you’re sitting here with us,” Seth said, eyes wide. “I mean, after what they did to you… they could have killed you.”Ethan raised his glass lazily. “Luck has nothing to do with it. It’s all strategy.”Ethan’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he checked the screen, his smile widening as he excused
The cold fluorescent lights of the student security building hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow over the tense group. Lily’s hand was still trembling in midair, her eyes burning with fury as they locked onto Ethan’s smug, composed face. Lena’s fingers closed around her wrist.“Lily,” Lena said softly but firmly, her voice cutting through the room like a bell, “don’t.”Lily turned her head sharply, her eyes brimming with tears of rage. “Let go, Lena! He deserves it—”“No,” Lena insisted, her grip tightening as she slowly lowered Lily’s hand. “Slapping him will only make this worse. You’ll give him exactly what he wants—a reason to twist things against you. You need to calm down.”Ethan’s thin lips curled into a satisfied smirk as he watched them. He folded his arms across his chest, his eyes glinting with condescension.“Listen to her, Lily,” he drawled, his voice carrying that insufferable mix of amusement and superiority. “You wouldn’t want to end up here with the others, wou
The small, sterile room in the campus security building smelled faintly of bleach and stale air. Harsh fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting cold beams on the faces of Lucas and Liam as they sat slumped on the narrow metal bench of the holding cell. Graham sat beside them, his posture tense, eyes flicking between the twins and the two girls standing just outside the bars. Lily stood closest to the cell. Her usual aura of poise was gone, replaced by barely-contained fury. Behind her, Maya hovered like a storm cloud, arms crossed, lips pressed into a bitter line.“You absolute idiots!” Lily’s voice cracked like a whip, cutting through the cold, stale air. Her words reverberated off the concrete walls. “You told me you didn’t lay a hand on Ethan. You lied to my face. Do you know how stupid you’ve made me look? How humiliated I feel right now?”Lucas’s bruised face crumpled. “Lily, we—”“Don’t you dare start,” she snapped, pointing a shaking finger at him. Her voice was low but
The silence in Lena’s dorm room felt like it could swallow her whole.Today’s exams had been nothing short of a nightmare. She had barely been able to read the questions, much less answer them. Every time she tried to focus, Ethan’s face swam into her mind—pale, bruised, lost—and she was left wondering if he was even still alive.She felt so damn angry. Angry at all of them.Lena stood by the window, hugging herself as if that might keep her from falling apart.“I hate them all,” she whispered into the empty room. Her voice shook with rage. “I wish I could just… destroy them.”A sudden knock on the door startled her out of her dark thoughts.She frowned, wiping at her eyes before stalking to the door. She flung it open—and there stood Aiden, looking like he had just stepped out of a magazine photoshoot with his disheveled dark hair and soft eyes. He held a pizza box in his hands, and his tentative smile faded a little when he saw the storm raging in her eyes.“Hey, Lena,” he said,