Chapter 9

Aliyah's POV

The cheers around the circle faded into a low vibration as the question lingered around.

“Would you like to go somewhere private with me, Aliyah?” Jude asked again, louder this time.

My stomach clenched. The world spun. My tongue felt thick. I tried to push myself up from the ground, but my balance wobbled.

“What… did you put in my drink?” My voice cracked.

Jude laughed it off. “Relax. It’s nothing crazy. Just something to help you have fun.”

“Jude, she looks like she’s about to pass out,” a girl said.

“She’s fine,” Jude shot back, but his eyes flicked over me with something sharp—panic or annoyance, I couldn’t tell.

No. No. Not again. Not like that night I couldn’t remember.

I tried to stand fully this time and stumbled forward, catching myself on someone’s shoulder. They pushed my hand off.

“Maybe she can’t hold her cola,” someone joked.

I forced my legs straight and shoved Jude’s approaching hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

He froze for half a second—then regained that stupid charming smile. “Come on, Aliyah. Let’s step inside. You’re dizzy.”

“You drugged me.”

The accusation came out hoarse but loud enough to make a few heads turn.

Jude’s expression snapped. “I didn’t drug you. Why would I do that?”

I backed away from him, but my vision blurred in and out. “Because you did it before.”

The entire circle murmured.

Jude’s jaw flexed. “Watch what you’re saying.”

“Leave her alone, bro,” someone added, but Jude turned on him with a glare that shut him up immediately.

I needed to get away. Now.

I staggered toward the house, gripping chairs, walls, anything that could steady me. Jude followed, quick and close.

“Aliyah, stop walking like that. People are staring.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped.

He grabbed my wrist. Hard.

I jerked. “Let go.”

“You’re going to fall,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Let. Go.”

Before he could respond, a sharp voice cut through the music.

“Aliyah?”

I whipped my head around—too fast—nearly falling. Kelly stood near the sliding doors, eyes wide, face tense.

Her gaze snapped from me to Jude. “What’s going on?”

Jude plastered a polite smile. “She drank too fast. I’m helping her upstairs.”

“No,” I shot back. “I’m leaving.”

Kelly’s face shifted instantly. She marched toward us and slapped Jude’s hand off my wrist. “She said no.”

The shock on his face was almost comical.

Then it disappeared.

Jude grabbed Kelly by the arm. “Stay out of this. It’s a private matter.”

Kelly shoved him back with surprising strength. “Touch me again and I’ll break your nose.”

People were watching now. Whispering. Recording.

Jude’s smile thinned to something dangerous. “You’re overreacting.”

“No,” Kelly said, “you’re cornering a girl who can barely stand.”

As she spoke, my vision clouded again. My knees buckled.

Kelly caught me under the arms. “Aliyah. Hey. Look at me.”

I blinked at her. “I—I don’t feel right.”

“I know,” she said quickly. “We’re getting out of here.”

Jude stepped in front of the exit. “She isn’t going anywhere with you.”

Kelly didn’t back down. “Move.”

“Or what?” Jude challenged.

Kelly reached into her bag, pulled out her phone, and raised it. “Or I’ll call the chairman. My father. Your scholarship-sitting ass can’t afford to cross me, Jude.”

His expression morphed instantly—anger, confusion, then a forced calmness.

“You wouldn’t,” he muttered.

“Try me.”

A tense silence rippled through the crowd.

Finally, Jude stepped aside, but not without leaning close to me. “You’re making a mistake, Aliyah. A big one.”

I glared at him, even though it felt like my eyelids weighed bricks. “Stay away from me.”

Kelly wrapped an arm around me and guided me out of the house as people whispered behind us.

We didn’t stop until we were outside and halfway down the driveway.

“Aliyah,” Kelly said, breathless, “what happened?”

“He… tried… something,” I managed.

Kelly cursed under her breath. “I knew something was off about him tonight. Leah said he was acting weird.”

I swallowed the nausea rising in my throat. “I can’t… breathe properly.”

“That’s it. I’m calling Leah,” Kelly announced, pulling out her phone.

Before she could dial, a familiar car screeched to a stop in front of us.

Deep black. Sleek. Expensive.

My heart stuttered.

The driver’s door swung open and Professor Tyler Deville—combat instructor, the man my wolf called mate—stepped out with a stormy expression.

He looked at me once.

His eyes went from emerald to pitch black in a blink.

“What the hell happened to her?” he roared.

Kelly stiffened. “She—she was at a party and—”

Tyler didn’t wait. He strode forward, scooped me off the pavement like I weighed nothing.

“Put me down,” I croaked weakly.

“No,” he said, voice low, furious, protective. “You’re shaking. What did they do?”

“Nothing,” I whispered, barely able to keep my eyes open. “Just… got dizzy.”

His jaw ticked. “This is more than dizzy.”

“Jude—” Kelly began.

Tyler’s head snapped toward her. “Jude what?”

Kelly inhaled sharply. “He invited her to the party. After the games. I think he—”

“Where is he?” Tyler demanded.

“In there,” Kelly pointed toward the mansion. “But—”

Tyler didn’t wait.

He gently set me in the passenger seat, fastened the seatbelt with hands that trembled with restrained anger.

Then he shut the door hard enough to shake the car.

Kelly stepped back. “Is he about to—”

Tyler stormed toward the mansion like a beast let loose.

And for the first time since the spinning started, I felt a flicker of safety.

Kelly opened my door again. “Aliyah, should I go after him?”

“No,” I whispered, slumping back. “He’s… he’s fine.”

“Fine?” Kelly muttered. “He looks like he wants to murder someone.”

My vision blurred again. My chest tightened.

Kelly grabbed my hand. “Hey, stay awake.”

“I’ll… try.”

“Okay. I’m calling Leah, then following him in case he needs backup.”

“Kelly…”

“Relax. I’m not fighting a professor. I’m just making sure Jude doesn’t end up dead tonight.”

The distant sound of shouting erupted from the house.

Kelly cursed. “Yep. He’s fighting someone.”

I felt cold. Then hot. Then nothing.

My head slumped sideways.

Kelly shook me gently. “Aliyah. Hey. Aliyah!”

I tried to respond—tried to say I was fine—but darkness swallowed everything.

And right before it did…

I heard Tyler’s voice—feral, furious—echo from inside the mansion.

“Who touched her?”

Then—

Nothing.