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Chapter 156
~Valerie’s POV~
My fists clenched. Riven hadn’t been there. He didn’t see the way she looked at before I kissed her. The way she lted, even if only for a second.
Riven’s eyes glead red, just faintly, like a flicker beneath the surface. "Funny, isn’t it? You walk around like she’s already yours, but the second she finds comfort elsewhere, the wolf in you panics. That bond’s ssy, Dristan. Unpredictable. Not the kind you can control."
"I don’t need to control her," I bit out. "Valerie’s not a puppet."
"No, but you hate that she chooses sothing other than you. You hate that it’s not you she ran to when her world cracked."
I stepped forward, closing the space between us. "Say her na again, Alucard, and I’ll give the Council sothing to discuss besides policies and titles."
Riven’s smile only widened, and that was the worst part. He wanted to snap. He wanted to slip.
But I wouldn’t, not here.
Still, before I walked past him, I leaned in low enough for him to hear every syllable.
"Valerie will choose ," I said. "Not because of fate or bonds but because I’ll stand beside her through whatever happens."
I did not wait for his reply and walked away before the fire in my chest made do sothing I’d regret.
Because gods help , if Kai touched her again, I wasn’t sure I’d stop myself next ti.
He was possessive, but so was I.
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~Valerie’s POV~
The morning sun was anything but kind.
By the ti I dragged myself out of bed and into fresh clothes, sowhat composed but still drained, I’d already decided to face the day.
Avoiding the world wasn’t helping, and the last thing I needed was to fall further behind while everyone whispered behind my back for missing class.
What I didn’t expect was to walk into hell the mont I stepped into the hallway.
Eyes were everywhere.
So tried to look away when I t their stares. So didn’t bother hiding the amusent on their faces. Others whispered like I wasn’t standing right there.
The stares didn’t stop when I entered the classroom either. They grew louder like an avalanche rolling over everything I thought I’d braced for.
I didn’t speak until I found my usual seat, shoulders stiff and eyes forward, ignoring the burning gaze on the back of my head.
Just when I thought I’d lock my head or have it buried in my book...
"Valerie."
I lifted my head and turned sharply in the direction of the voice.
Isla, Erald, and Astraea stood over , all three wearing matching expressions of concern—and sothing else. Sothing tighter. A little shocked and or a little unsure.
"What’s going on?" I asked, while keeping my voice low.
Erald sighed, then slid her phone into my line of sight.
It was open on the school gossip site.
PSA Scandal Alert
Valerie Nightshade, the oh-so-enigmatic new transfer, seems to be faking illness just to get her tongue down soone’s throat. Or multiple soones. Classy, right?
Beneath the text was a grainy video.
I clicked it.
The sound was off, but I didn’t need audio to see what played out. It was ...
And Kai, in my room.
Kissing.
I sucked in a breath.
The angle... the lighting... The way it zood. Soone had fild us from the window.
"That’s not all," Isla said quietly, swiping left.
A second post.
Double Dipped? Valerie Nightshade strikes again—this ti with Dristan Alexander, PSA’s golden boy.
My blood went cold.
Another video started to play. It showed in Dristan’s car. The kiss, the tension, the way his hand cradled my jaw, and the obvious intimacy between us.
It was all there. Posted. Shared. Already flooded with comnts.
I saw the caption.
One wolf, too many collars. Soone tell her this isn’t a breeding academy.
The comnts section was worse.
"Fake sick just to get dick."
"Is she trying to collect the whole Alpha set?"
"Kissing one mate today, another tomorrow... classic ho energy."
I snapped the phone shut, my stomach rolling.
My ears buzzed and my chest burned.
This... this wasn’t just gossip. This was war.
"Val—" Isla started.
But I didn’t hear her.
Because just then, the classroom door opened and Titania sauntered in like the queen of venom herself.
As usual, her entourage flanked her, and she wore an outfit far too regal for a school setting—crimson lips, sleek ponytail, and a wicked gleam in her eyes that told this wasn’t a coincidence.
"Oh, look who decided to show up," she purred, pausing right at my desk. "Did you get enough rest? Or were you too busy playing mate tag with the Alpha Heirs?"
I stiffened, not trusting myself to speak.
She smiled wider.
"I an, faking a sickness just to ride one mate—then swinging into the next one’s lap? Bold. Even for you."
"Back off, Titania," Astraea snapped.
Titania barely blinked. "Why? It’s all public knowledge now. I an, isn’t it fair the rest of us get to watch, too? She clearly doesn’t like privacy."
Erald stood up for . "You’re disgusting."
Titania leaned closer, letting her eyes locked with mine as she ignored Erald. "No, darling. I’m just better at the ga. You? You’re a joke. A thirsty little wolf trying to climb her way into power one mate at a ti."
I didn’t respond.
Not because I didn’t have a thousand words poised in my throat.
But because if I opened my mouth, I would scream or rip soone’s head off.
Titania smirked and turned on her heel, tossing her hair. "Careful, Valerie. You might run out of lips to kiss before the week ends."
She slid into her seat as if she hadn’t just burned the air around .
The classroom buzzed with more whispers and I clenched my fists beneath the desk.
My eyes burned red with rage but I refused to cry. Not here. Not in front of them. No one knew they were my mates, so... no one knew anything aside isla, my mates, Xander and Solstice.
Just then, my phone vibrated in my lap again.
I ignored it.
Another vibration.
And then—
Ding.
The school’s speaker system crackled to life overhead.
"Valerie Nightshade. Report to Principal Whitmore’s office imdiately."
A hush swept through the room but rathe rthan cower, I stood, slowly. The scrape of my chair against the floor was the loudest sound in the room.
I didn’t look at anyone—not Titania, not the boys, not even my girls—as I walked out.
Not until I was in the hallway, alone, and the door shut behind . Only then did I let my shoulders sag and let myself breathe.
My chest heaved, and I pulled out my phone. Dozens of notifications. Missed calls. Texts from Solstice, Kai, Dristan—even Axel.
"Are you okay?"
"Ignore them. They’re assholes."
"Valerie, please. Let see you."
"We’ll handle this."
I muted the phone. None of it mattered. Because now everyone saw , not as a threat or an enigma.
But as a scandal.
And Principal Whitmore was calling. Gods knew what awaited behind that door.
But I wasn’t going to break yet. Atr least not until I made sure whoever recorded that video... and leaked it...
Paid in blood.
The hallway stretched out ahead of like so kind of twisted runway, every step toward Principal Whitmore’s office echoing louder than it should have.
I wasn’t walking—I was bracing.
Bracing for judgnt or for sha, for that cold pit of humiliation that hadn’t left my gut since Erald showed that damn video.
Then—
"Val!"
I stopped.
Solstice.
She jogged up from one of the side halls, a textbook in hand, strands of her blonde hair with that blue streak flying loose from her braid. Her eyes scanned instantly, taking in the stiff line of my shoulders, the tension in my jaw.
"Is it true?" she asked, breathless.
"What part?" I muttered. "That soone recorded kissing one of my mates? That it went viral? Or that the principal now wants to see for it?"
Her eyes widened. "You’re trending?"
I gave her a look.
She winced. "Okay. Too soon."
I let out a breath that sounded too much like a laugh. "Sol, soone posted kissing Kai. Then posted a second video—of and Dristan. I’m being called the PSA Slut of the Month and I haven’t even been here a full term."
Solstice’s mouth fell open. "What the actual—"
Before she could finish her sentence, footsteps pounded behind us, heavy and purposeful.
And then—
"Valerie."
Dristan’s voice ca loud behind , making stiffen again.
His scent ca first, then the heat of his presence as he stepped into view. His hair looked wind-swept, like he’d been running—or pacing.
His blue eyes locked onto mine imdiately, but then flicked to Solstice, who hadn’t moved an inch from my side.
"I need to speak to you," he said to .
I didn’t answer. My lips just stayed shut. I wasn’t sure what words wouldn’t co out bitter.
Solstice arched a brow, her arms crossing slowly. "You can speak right here."
Dristan’s eyes narrowed. "This doesn’t concern you."
"It does," she replied smoothly. "Especially when it concerns my new close friend. And when you act like you’re the only one affected by what happened."
I blinked at her, surprised she wasn’t even pretending to budge.
Dristan didn’t even hide the way his jaw clenched. "Silver or whatever your na is, this isn’t the ti. I need a mont with her. Alone."
"No," she said simply.
Seeing as I wasn’t chasing Solstice, Dristan moved closer, his gaze fixed on . "Valerie, for courtesy’s sake and out of respect for you, tell her to beat it. This is between us."
I looked at him, really at the storm in his eyes, at the frustration tightening his shoulders.
I wanted to tell him to leave but I didn’t. Instead, all I said was this, "I’m on my way to the principal’s office," I said flatly. "Whatever you have to say, save it. Unless you’re going to tell you’re the one who posted those videos."
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