Chapter 003

Cassie's Pov

This couldn’t be happening, no, no, it can’t be gone.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but the panic didn’t fade, it grew, sharp and sickening. Someone took it, they had all my secrets. All my raw and unfiltered words, all my erotic texts. My vivid wet dreams documentation.

And the worst part? My name was written so boldly on the top cover of the diary.

I knew exactly what was written on the last page.

The page I wrote not fifteen minutes ago. My throat tightened until I could barely breathe.

If someone read that… if someone saw everything. I pressed my trembling hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound.

Because the quiet girl’s last safe place, the only place where I was allowed to want anything, was gone. Everything seemed blurred. I hoped silently that no one had found it yet. I moved quickly, my legs barely carrying me back to the art classroom.

The way the campus felt like it was holding its breath as I walked back toward the main building, every step heavier than the one before. I wanted to pretend everything was normal, that the diary would magically reappear in my bag, that I hadn’t foolishly left it in class.

But when I turned the corner, I heard it. Their loud and mocking laughter. My heart sank instantly, they had found it.

Katie stood at the center of the hallway like a queen on display, surrounded by her cheer squad. They were huddled around a phone, shrieking as if someone just showed them the funniest joke in the world.

“Katie,” one of them gasped, wiping at her eyes, “I swear, this is like reading a romance novel written by a clown.”

Katie flipped her hair over her shoulder, smirking. “Oh, it’s better than that. It’s her.” Her finger pointed straight at me.

“Cassie,” she said loudly, “your diary has some… interesting material. Really creative. Bold of you, ghostie.”

“Katie, I–” I was cut off by Katie’s laughter.

Katie held up one page between her manicured fingers. “Ladies, listen to this part.” She cleared her throat dramatically and read out loud.

“I wonder what Caspian’s hands would feel like… steady, gentle, the opposite of chaos.”

“With Luka, I could breathe. The music wasn’t loud when he was there, it was just warm.”

“Asher would choose me. Even if the world fell apart.”

The girls screamed with laughter. “Oh how poetic.”

“Also… you wrote your name on the cover.” Katie laughed again. “You made this way too easy.”

I didn’t remember backing away. I didn’t remember turning. I just knew I ran. I barely made it outside before the tears broke free, spilling hot down my cheeks. I ran past the fountain, past the benches, past everyone whose stares felt like knives. I could barely breathe because with each reminder, my chest tightened even more.

I buried my face in my knees and sobbed until I couldn’t breathe.

When the tears finally slowed, I wiped my cheeks and took a shaking breath. That was when my phone buzzed. Not even once or twice but continuously. My heart dropped. I forced myself to look. Then a notification from the most popular gossip page in school popped up.

“The Quiet Girl’s Unquiet Heart.”

My stomach plunged, but I tapped it anyway.

And there it was, my handwriting photographed under classroom lights.

I did not breathe, hell I did not even blink. I just stared as the comments exploded under the post. My pulse thrashed. My phone slipped from my hand and hit the floor of the bus with a dull thud.

There was only one person petty enough, smug enough, cruel enough to do this. And that person was none other than Katie.

If there was one thing I learned, it was that some people never grew out of cruelty. They only got louder.

Katie had always wanted to be the Luna of the Redhound pack, she had practically trained to be picked by Caspian, being the only son, everyone thought he would assume the throne earlier but he stalled, for unknown reasons. And even worse, he hadn't picked anyone as his mate. This infuriated Katie.

I saw her face flashed in my mind instantly, glossy lips, perfect ponytail, that satisfied smirk she wore when she thought she had done something clever.

She did not just take my diary. She read it and posted it.

By the time I picked up my phone again, they had uploaded another page, then followed by another and another.

Pieces of my private world scattered across a screen for the entire school to consume.

My chest tightened like someone was sitting on it. I felt completely breathless.

I got off the bus before it even reached campus and walked home so fast my legs went numb.

I skipped school the next day, then the day after, and the day after.

Home wasn't any better escape.

My father was a high ranking werewolf that fell in love with a low rank werewolf, my mother. She was an Omega, serving in his household before they fell in love and had me. But that love turned sour, it turned to hatred. My father was stripped off all of his titles and was disowned.

I've been left to bear the burden of not only being weaker than my peers but also stuck in a chaotic household.

My life became even more depressing. I did not eat or sleep properly. I just lay in bed and stared at the ceiling.

My phone kept buzzing with notifications, but I turned it face down on my desk.

I could not look. I could not see what else they posted, or what people were saying about my fantasies.

The only person who kept checking on me was Lily.

My best friend. My only friend.

I kept ignoring her texts. I wanted to disappear so badly.

On the third day, Lily barged into my room with no knocking. Just a full dramatic entrance.

“Cass,” she said, breathless, “you need to see this.”

I was still in pajamas. My hair was a mess. My eyes felt like sandpaper.

“No,” I muttered. “I do not want to know what they are saying.”

She shook her head and held up her phone.

“It is not what you think.” Lily grinned, climbing onto my bed. “Cassie, you are practically a campus phenomenon.”

“I did not want to be,” I whispered.

“I know. But your writing is honest. People see themselves in it.”

I didn't know how to feel, perhaps I should have felt relieved.

She squeezed my hand. “They do not know it is you. Not unless you want them to.”

I nodded, overwhelmed. “Katie still has my diary.”

“We will deal with her,” she said quietly.

But before I could respond, my phone buzzed again.

I thought it was just a notification from the gossip page and I picked it up slowly.

It was Luka; ‘I read the posts. I think they are yours.’

My eyes widened, I picked up my pillow and slammed it on my face and screamed loudly into the pillow.

I stared at the screen as the room tilted around me. He was reaching out to me.

My pulse stuttered and of course my mouth went dry. I was even more embarrassed now. This could not be happening.

“Shit, I am screwed.”