Helanie:
I was horrified by the sight of Kaye watching being carried in the arms of Penn. I knew it looked bad, but why would it bother ? It shouldn’t, right?
But it did.
The hurt in his eyes made feel like dying in that mont. Oh, wait—I would die from the pain.
Penn only gave Kaye a brief nod before rushing past him to take upstairs. I couldn’t do anything; the pain was too much. Kaye, on the other hand, seed frozen in place, as if he wasn’t one for grand gestures anyway.
I closed my eyes because, at this point, I didn’t even want to see what was going on around anymore. I didn’t want anyone to see either.
But that was inevitable—we were spotted before we could even reach the elevator.
"Wait!"
A loud, gruff voice stopped us.
I opened my eyes and wriggled my legs, signaling Penn to put down. The mont my feet touched the floor, I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms tightly around my stomach.
The warden stood tall with her hands clasped behind her back. The silence was enough of a warning—I needed to raise my head and give her my full attention, or she’d just keep staring.
So I did, though I had little energy left and was wracked with pain.
"What’s going on here? Is this so kind of romantic suite where lovers carry their mates around in their arms—?" Before the warden could draw the wrong conclusion, I quickly tried to correct her.
My first mistake.
"He’s not my lover," I said in a ek voice. Even I was shocked by how low and feeble I sounded.
Her expression changed instantly, and now I wanted to know what I’d done wrong. Was she upset because she’d assud incorrectly?
"How dare you!" she roared. "Take your words back and don’t speak until I’ve finished talking, or I’ll pluck your tongue from your throat and feed it to the animals!"
She lunged at suddenly, backing against the wall. My spine straightened instantly, and my eyes widened in fear.
I was terrified—this was the first ti I’d seen another woman this up close. That’s when I noticed sothing unsettling: she had two different-colored eyes. But it didn’t look genetic. One of her eyes was blood-red, riddled with wiry veins that covered her cornea.
I bet she noticed how scared I was. My heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it might burst out of my chest.
"Why don’t you have a wolf’s scent?" she demanded, sniffing like a dog.
I kept my body rigid, pressed as tightly against the wall as I could. My breaths were uneven and erratic. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed giggling. A quick glance confird it—Sydney and Salem, along with their little entourage, were poking their heads out from the staircase, watching get scolded.
"Agrona, thank you for taking care of the students, but I’ll take it from here," said a familiar voice.
Kaye’s arrival was shocking—he looked like he’d been stabbed in the chest. I thought he would’ve left by now.
But I was wrong.
Agrona didn’t step away from . Instead, she turned her head to bring Kaye into my line of sight. He looked so determined, his eyes fixed on her as he raised an eyebrow. He didn’t move a muscle or make any gestures.
She then looked back at , and I caught a smirk of acknowledgent on her face.
"Go, little wolfless creature. You’ve been spared—" she whispered. But just as she moved away, she added, "for now."
Agrona stepped aside before turning her attention to Penn and Jenny. For soone like Jenny, I always thought she’d be confident and arrogant. She ca from a powerful pack but was surprisingly ek, often sharing strange and contradictory stories about her experiences.
Penn, however, was steady and confident as he faced the warden.
"Let’s make sure you kids don’t repeat this kind of behavior," Agrona warned before walking away.
"You guys can go," Kaye said, and we all thought that was the end of it.
"Let’s get you to your room," Penn said loudly, turning to Kaye with a polite nod. "Thank you, Professor Kaye."
"Actually," Kaye interjected, his gaze unwavering as he locked eyes with Penn. "Leave Helanie behind. I need to speak with her."
Penn glanced at for confirmation, clearly searching my face for any sign of protest.
"I’ll be fine," I said, giving them a small nod.
Penn and Jenny walked away toward the staircase, with Penn wrapping an arm around his sister’s shoulders to comfort her. Now it was just and Kaye.
"A minute outside?" Kaye asked, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
I followed him steadily, relieved that I wasn’t feeling too weak anymore. The cool air outside hit my skin as Kaye turned to face .
"What was going on?" he asked in a simple yet aggressive tone. "Why were you in his arms?"
His question was sharp, laced with a possessiveness that reminded of how mates sotis spoke to each other. I could have easily responded with sass, telling him to mind his own business. But I sympathized with him. I knew it hurt to see your mate with soone else.
I didn’t have a wolf, so I couldn’t fully understand the depth of such feelings. But I’d seen my friends suffer, and the thought of being the cause of soone’s pain unsettled .
I was ready to explain that there was absolutely nothing between and Penn when Kaye suddenly softened, adding, "Did you get hurt?"
However, his simple addition shifted sothing inside —softened , just a little bit.
"I actually did. I fell and hurt my knee," I said, using a scratch from earlier as evidence.
"What were you doing? You need to be a lot more careful, especially for my class," he said, his tone laced with concern.
He began to kneel down, reaching to inspect my torn baggy jeans. The fall had been bad in many ways—I’d lost yet another pair of pants. But I wasn’t going to discard them; I couldn’t afford to replace them.
As for Kaye, I quickly stepped back, not wanting to make it too obvious that sothing unusual was going on between us. Soone might notice, and the last thing I needed was more attention.
"Your class?" I asked, confused. What had happened to the combat one?
"Yeah, I’ve switched classes, Helanie," he said, his voice so comforting as he gave the news.
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