Chapter 3

The silence didn't last.

"Did she just rip it up?"

"Has she lost it?"

"Maybe she's doing it for attention. You know how she is."

"No way. Did you see her face? She's serious."

Adrian's expression changed for a heartbeat. A muscle jumped in his jaw, his eyes narrowed, the way they did when something didn't go according to plan.

I'd seen that micro-expression a hundred times in my past life — every time a council vote went against him, every time a pack member questioned his judgment. Then the smooth mask settled back into place and he walked past me without a word to the empty seat behind mine.

His sleeve brushed my shoulder as he passed. The scent of his cologne hit me, cedar and something clean, familiar.

My body remembered him before my mind could stop it. A flicker of warmth in my chest, involuntary, the ghost of a bond that hadn't been severed yet.

Then I thought of wine. I thought of marble.

The warmth died.

Lila slid into the chair beside Adrian at once, quick and quiet. The way a bird lands on a branch.

"Adrian?" Her voice was soft. "Are you angry?"

He didn't answer. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head.

Lila dropped her voice to a whisper that carried across our entire row, the kind of whisper meant to be overheard.

"Kaia doesn't mean it. She adores you. Everyone knows that."

"She's having a bad day. Please don't misunderstand her."

I turned around.

Lila at eighteen was skinny, round-eyed, trembling under my gaze. A pitiful omega who couldn't hold eye contact for two seconds.

Her uniform was a size too large, the sleeves covering her knuckles, and she had a habit of hunching her shoulders as if trying to take up less space.

She looked nothing like the woman who'd stood in a doorway wearing my luna crown, silver gown catching the light, her voice dripping honey as she promised to take my place.

But the words were the same. That brand of defense that made things worse. Reminding everyone that I was the desperate one, the obsessive one, while she hovered at Adrian's side.

How had I not seen through this for years?

"I didn't mean what you think I meant," I said.

Lila's eyes went wide. Her mouth opened and closed.

"Don't speak for me." I held her gaze until she flinched.

"You don't have the right. Not now. Not ever."

Her face flushed red. She shrank back in her chair and didn't say another word. A few students exchanged glances.

I turned back around. Done.

The cafeteria smelled like overcooked pasta, cleaning solution, and bread that had been sitting under heat lamps since morning. I grabbed a tray and loaded it up. Full plate of chicken and rice, two bread rolls, a bowl of vegetable soup, and a cup of juice.

I set it down across from Tessa.

Tessa choked on her milk.

"What is that?" She pointed at my tray with her spoon.

"You're on the grapefruit diet! You haven't eaten carbs in six months! Last week you almost passed out in gym!"

Tessa was in the class next door. Loud, blunt, fierce in her loyalty, the one person at this Academy who'd never made fun of me for chasing Adrian.

My best friend. My only real one.

"I'm done starving myself." I picked up a bread roll and bit into it. The bread was warm and soft and tasted better than anything I could remember.

My body needed fuel, not punishment. "It was bad for my body. I'm not doing it anymore."

Tessa set down her spoon, studying me with narrowed eyes. "Is the rumor true? You tore up the wish letter?"

"Yes."

"You're done with Adrian Blackwell? No takebacks, no crying about it at midnight, no 'I was just testing him'?"

"Done."

I braced for the argument.

Instead, Tessa slammed her palm on the table so hard her milk carton bounced.

"Finally!" She was shouting. Heads turned from nearby tables.

"Kaia Ashbourne, I have been holding my tongue for three years. Three years! That boy is a self-righteous, two-faced, smug-smiled—"

She caught herself, looked at the staring faces, and lowered her volume by a fraction.

"If you hadn't been so obsessed with him, I would have said all of this years ago. At full volume. With visual aids."

Something warm spread through my chest. Simple and clean.

Not the desperate heat of chasing Adrian, not the sharp ache of rejection. Just warmth.

In my past life, I'd been too wrapped up in Adrian to keep up with Tessa. Every free minute went to Adrian's schedule, his events, his ambitions.

I made excuses, cancelled plans, left her messages unread for days. We drifted apart. By the time I died on that marble floor, I couldn't remember the last time we'd spoken.

This time, I'd protect the people who cared about me.

"So." Tessa leaned forward, grinning wide.

"The mating dance. If not Adrian, who are you bringing?"

"Nobody." I took another bite of bread. "I want to focus on my studies. My grades."

"Train harder. Get my combat ranking up."

Tessa raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to inherit Silvercrest and become a female Alpha."

Her mouth fell open. For three seconds, Tessa Morgan was speechless.

Then she started clapping. Alone, in the middle of the crowded cafeteria, full applause.

"You absolute legend," she said. "The first female Alpha in history."

"When you're Alpha, I'm your Beta. I'll fight anyone who says otherwise."

I was still smiling when the commotion started. Students checking their phones, whispers spreading table to table.

Someone stood up and shouted: "The confession wall got attacked! Every wish letter written to Adrian was destroyed!"

The cafeteria went quiet. Then every head in the room turned toward me.

Before I could open my mouth, Adrian appeared in the doorway. He strode across to my table, jaw tight, a crowd behind him. His composure was cracking at the edges.

"You had every right to pursue me, Kaia." His voice was controlled. His eyes were ice.

"But destroying other students' letters? That's beneath even you."