Chapter 2

The next morning, my dorm room door was smeared with rotting blood.

Someone carved the word LEECH into the wood.

Red paint was scrawled on the wall: 【LEAVE ETTELGARD. STOP STAINING Julian’S NAME. – THE FRESHMAN CLASS.】

I wiped the disgusting liquid off, my face blank.

During Tactical Theory class, the students in front of me moved three rows forward in perfect unison.

Like I was carrying a plague.

Scarlett’s little follower, a girl named Clara, made a point of stopping by my desk.

She placed a bottled protein shake down.

“Scarlett sent this. Didn't want you starving.” Clara’s smile was pure poison. “Post a public apology today. Admit you threw yourself at Julian. Do that, and Scarlett will kill the story.”

I coldly pushed the drink back toward her.

“What was inappropriate about talking to my own family? I’ll apologize when she gives me back my honor medallion.”

Clara stared at me like I was insane, then walked away with the drink.

At lunch, the cafeteria terminal flashed: PERMISSION DENIED.

My account was frozen.

The black card Julian gave me?

Scarlett had turned it over to the Enforcer Council as “evidence.”

My personal account had 47 credits left.

Nineteen days left in the month.

That meant living on the cheapest cafeteria scraps a day.

I grabbed my sad excuse for a meal and found a corner to sit.

My roommate, Amelia, pushed half her roasted meat toward me.

“Here, eat mine,” she whispered, thinking I was just broke.

I shook my head. “No thanks. I’m watching my figure.”

She frowned, her face full of pity. “You’re only a hundred and ten pounds. What is there to watch?”

I gave her a bitter smile. “I’m trying to get light enough for the wind to blow me away. Then this hellhole won’t be my problem anymore.”

That afternoon, I went to the Enforcer Council to get my card back.

Scarlett was there, looking elegant as she sorted files.

She held the black card between her fingers, her expression bored.

“This card is registered to Julian Valerius. Until he personally confirms it’s yours, we have the right to hold it. This is to protect the assets of an Alpha heir. What if you really were blackmailing him?”

Her voice was calm, like she was reading a legal statute.

As if she were the judge, and I was the criminal.

I reached for the drawer. “But you have no right to freeze my basic living account.”

Scarlett slammed her hand down on mine.

Her eyes flashed with malice.

“What now, Aurora, robbery? There are three Enforcers outside that door. You touch me, and you’ll be in a holding cell by morning for assaulting an Enforcer!”

I snatched my hand back.

Her silver ring slashed my hand.

Three deep gashes.

The silver burned.

It instantly killed my Lycan healing.

Blood dripped onto her desk.

Scarlett smiled and opened her door, gesturing for me to leave.

“Julian returns from his Trials the day after tomorrow. You can face him then. If he says the card is yours, I’ll return it immediately. But if he doesn’t…” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll recommend the academy strip you of every honor and resource you have for this semester.”

I stood in the hallway, staring at the blood seeping from my hand.

The Enforcers outside saw the whole thing.

None of them moved.

In their eyes, I was just a parasite.

A parasite getting hurt?

That was just justice being served.

I scrolled through my contacts.

My parents were overseas on pack business; comms were delayed by at least twelve hours.

My grandmother, Seraphina, didn't know how to use any of this new tech.

And Julian was still a ghost.

A new post popped up on the network.

【DEEP DIVE ON THE PARASITE: FRESHMAN AURORA SELLING HER BODY, SPOTTED LEAVING ALPHA HEIR'S PRIVATE SUITE.】

The post had a photo of me leaving the Alpha penthouse where his suite was located.

I was wearing the jacket he’d given me.

The angle was terrible, the light was dim.

It looked exactly like a walk of shame after a midnight hookup.

I shut off my phone.

Last month, Grandma had mind-linked Julian, telling him to look after me.

He’d agreed so eagerly.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll raise her like my own daughter.”

His “own daughter” was now starving, broke, wounded by silver, and her reputation was in shreds.

Some protection that turned out to be, Uncle.