CHAPTER 8: Fallout

Thirty seconds passed before I finally reacted, my eyes scanning the crowded room as if searching for an exit that didn’t exist. It was only my second day at school, and the last thing I needed was to be branded as a delusional she-wolf before I’d even learned anyone’s name. 

Then a flash of red light swept over me; bright, accusatory, inescapable! 

My chest clenched. The air left my lungs all at once. 

“What a lying bitch!” someone scoffed. 

“So,” Muriel said, tilting her head with a slow, savoring smile, “you really do like my mate!” 

“No! I didn’t say anything!” I shot back; my skin prickled with humiliation. 

“Oh, that’s the thing,” one of the girls chimed in, almost sweetly. “Silence counts as a lie, too. So really, your best option is just to tell the truth!” 

“I didn’t come here for this!” 

But they ignored me. 

“This is fun!” Instead, Muriel called Soren over, a teasing smile on her lips. “Babe, give Gwen another question.” 

The room’s noise collapsed into a single, breathless quiet. Every face turned toward him, lit up with the kind of excitement that only comes at someone else’s expense. 

“Is it true you don’t know where your mother is,” he said, “or are you just using her disappearance to get closer to me? To make me feel sorry for you?” 

My whole body went rigid. 

How could he turn my mother into something for everyone to laugh at? He knew the truth, or at least, I thought he did. 

But maybe I was wrong, because in that moment, I saw exactly how he saw me, just someone desperate for sympathy. 

Tears burned at the edges of my eyes. Around me, laughter bloomed. Soren hesitated, as if realizing he’d gone too far.  

“Forget it,” he said, waving a hand. “I was just joking!” 

‘Joking?’ 

While I stood there, completely humiliated? 

I hadn’t spoken a word, but the light flared red again, because apparently even falling silent while you tried not to cry counted as a lie here. 

“Walk! Walk! Walk!” the crowd chanted in unison. 

Panic surged through me as I tried to run, but an invisible force yanked me back and hurled me into the center of Luminous Isle, sending my already fragile senses spinning. 

“We told you, didn’t we?” Muriel’s voice drifted over the ringing in my head, her smirk audible even before I looked up and saw it. “No one escapes once they’ve lied, Gwen.” 

“The only way out,” the woman said, “is to finish the walk of shame.” 

“Just get it over with.” Soren’s voice was flat, almost bored. “It’s only a walk.” 

It was clear I had no choice. I forced myself forward, holding back my tears with everything I had. It was only my second day, yet Soren had already broken something inside me, not just my love for him, but the friendship and trust I once gave so freely. 

I never imagined that walking down that aisle, surrounded by a sea of people, would feel like stepping on blades. Their laughter, their whispers, their eyes, each one pierced through me like thorns, catching and tearing my skin with every step.  

I wasn’t just humiliated, I was breaking in ways no one could see. 

‘Moon Goddess… after everything I’ve given you, why is this happening to me? I’ve always believed, I’ve always prayed. How could you watch this and do nothing?’ 

By the time I reached the end, I felt drained, like I had been stripped of everything I was. Soren stood there watching, his throat moving as he swallowed hard, but he didn’t stop it. He didn’t even try.  

Maybe because watching me break fed his ego. 

Then suddenly, alarms echoed across Luminous. The lights shifted, turning a deep, unsettling red. 

“What is the meaning of this?! This area is restricted, no students are permitted here today!” a voice thundered, it sounded like the Academy’s Chancellor. 

“Arrest all the wolves who violated the rules! This is unacceptable!” another voice barked. 

I was still within the university grounds, where magic was suspended, wolf abilities sealed off entirely. Whatever wounds I was carrying, I would have to carry them a little longer. I couldn’t heal. I couldn’t even feel my own instincts clearly anymore. 

My mind blurred, and my heart burned out. 

The world tilted, and my knees finally gave way as I collapsed onto the polished floor. 

Before my head could hit the ground, someone caught me. 

An arm found my waist before I could strike the ground, and I was gathered upward. I should have registered nothing in that state, but something registered anyway… 

A sudden warmth spread through my chest, not painful, but gentle and comforting. 

My wolf stirred, restless and insistent, urging me to stay close to the one holding me. For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel fear. 

I felt safe… protected. 

He felt it, too, as his arms loosened; he was pulling away. I instinctively tightened my grip on his shirt. 

Slowly, I forced my eyes open and met his green gaze. Deep down, I knew… I had finally found him, on the very day I almost stopped believing in the Moon Goddess. 

“My mate,” I breathed, before the darkness took me.