Jason's POVEverything feels fuzzy and distant, like I'm watching the world through thick glass while drowning in honey. The drugs they gave me are making it hard to focus, hard to understand what's happening around me. My thoughts feel slow and sticky, like trying to think through molasses.The IV in my arm feels heavy and wrong, a foreign intrusion that makes my skin crawl. I can taste something metallic and bitter on my tongue, and my mouth feels dry as sandpaper. When I try to move, my limbs feel disconnected from my body, like they belong to someone else.But I can hear voices. Familiar voices saying things that don't make sense through the chemical fog in my brain.Kaelen is here. Kaelen is talking, his voice shaking and desperate, saying words that filter through the haze: "I lied... everything was fake... I fabricated evidence..."The words don't compute at first. My drugged mind struggles to process what he's saying, to understand why he would be here, why he would be confess
Avalon's POVThe crowd is getting more agitated by the second. As Kaelen continues showing evidence of his lies and Lord Ravenscrest's involvement, people are starting to shout questions and demands that echo through the auditorium like thunder."If the evidence was fake, why did the council vote to expel him?""How many other students have been falsely accused?""What else has Lord Ravenscrest been lying about?"I watch from my position near the stage as several council members try to leave, but parents and students are blocking the exits, demanding answers. The three council members Kaelen mentioned—the ones he bribed—are looking panicked as people start pointing at them with accusatory fingers."Now wait just a minute," a council member calls out, his voice shaking with barely contained fear. "These are very serious accusations, and we can't just take this boy's word—""You took his word when he was lying about Jason!" someone in the crowd shouts back, their voice cutting through H
Ivan's POVThe moment Kaelen's words sink in, something snaps inside me. All the rage I've been holding back, all the fury at watching my mate be tortured and humiliated, comes roaring to the surface like a dam bursting under pressure.I break free from the guards holding me—they're so shocked by the confession that their grip has loosened—and I'm moving toward Kaelen before anyone can stop me. My vision goes red, my lycan nature taking complete control as every protective instinct I have screams for blood.This is the bastard who destroyed Jason's life. This is the piece of shit who fabricated evidence, who bribed officials, who sat back and watched while my mate was drugged and caged like an animal. Every lie he told, every false report he filed, every moment of suffering he caused Jason—it all crashes over me in a wave of pure, murderous rage.My fist is already swinging toward Kaelen's face, claws extended, ready to tear his throat out, when Avalon appears between us like a ghost.
Kaelen's POVMy hands are shaking as I push through the crowd toward the auditorium stage. Every step feels like walking toward my own execution, but Jason's pain is still echoing through my chest, and I can't bear it anymore. I can't bear knowing that he's suffering because of my lies.The glass enclosure holding Jason is center stage, and I can see him inside—pale, barely conscious, with some kind of IV drip attached to his arm. They're drugging him. Actually drugging him like he's some kind of dangerous animal."Stop!" I shout, my voice cracking as I leap onto the stage. "Stop what you're doing to him!"The auditorium falls silent. Lord Ravenscrest turns toward me with surprise and anger, while the guards holding Ivan look confused about whether to stop me or not."Kaelen," Lord Ravenscrest says, his voice dangerously low. "What are you doing here? You should be—""I lied," I interrupt, the words tumbling out before I can lose my nerve. "Everything I told you about Jason, everythin
Avalon's POVI don't wait to hear more of my father's speech. The sight of Jason trapped in that glass prison, the terror in his eyes, the way Ivan is being held back by half a dozen guards—it all crystallizes into one burning certainty. This has to stop. Now.I push back through the crowd, ignoring the whispers and stares that follow me. My feet carry me toward the dormitory with desperate purpose. There's only one person who can end this nightmare, only one person whose confession could free Jason from my father's machinations.Kaelen.The door to his room is still unlocked when I reach it. He's exactly where I left him, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, still pale and shaken from our earlier confrontation. The scattered papers and evidence are still spread across his desk like accusations.He looks up when I enter, his amber eyes widening with fear. "Avalon, I—""Shut up," I snap, pulling the folded paper from my pocket. "Your father asked me to give you this."I
Avalon's POVThomas Hillson leads me into his study, gesturing for me to take a seat in one of the leather chairs by the fireplace. The room smells of old books and pipe tobacco, comforting in a way that reminds me of what a real father should be like."Tea?" he offers, but I shake my head."This isn't a social call, Mr. Hillson. I need to tell you what your son has done."His expression grows serious as he settles into the chair across from me. "I was afraid you might say that. Kaelen has been... different lately. Secretive. Angry."I tell him everything. The fabricated evidence, the bribes to council members, the orchestrated public humiliation of Jason. Thomas's face grows paler with each revelation, his hands gripping the arms of his chair until his knuckles turn white."My God," he whispers when I finish. "I knew he was ambitious, but this... this is monstrous.""He destroyed an innocent person's life to try to win Lord Ravenscrest's approval," I say, leaning forward. "And he nea