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Chapter 164
~Solstice’s POV~
There was a pause between us. I wanted to tell her no. I wanted to drag her back to the dorms and lock her inside until the storm passed. But looking at her—this version of Valerie, forged through scandal and silence—I knew I couldn’t stop her.
"You’ll go alone?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
"Would you stop if I said yes?"
I didn’t answer.
Valerie sighed and looked out the cracked window. Outside, wind pushed through the trees like a warning. "I don’t have ti to wait for this school to calm down. I need to know the truth. Blue Willow ca up in encrypted files tied to my family na. That can’t be a coincidence."
I swallowed. "Do you think it’s a person? A place?"
"I think it’s a front." Her voice turned colder. "A na soone is using to hide whatever’s left of the Nightshade legacy."
My throat tightened. "You really think your family’s enemies are hiding in a club?"
"I don’t know," she said softly. "But I’m going to find out. With or without backup."
I stared at her. This girl—this storm in human skin—had more conviction than anyone I knew. Even when the world pressed its heel to her throat, she didn’t flinch. She calculated.
And maybe that’s what scared the most.
"Val... promise sothing."
She looked back at , tilting her head.
"Don’t shut the alphas out just to protect them."
Her gaze darkened. "It’s not about protecting them."
"Then what is it?"
"It’s about not letting anyone else write my story before I find the last Chapter myself."
The words rang in the silence.
I stepped back. "Okay. I’ll cover for you the night of the party. Make sure no one notices."
Valerie’s gaze softened slightly. Not thanks. Just... acknowledgnt. The kind only she could give.
"Solstice?"
"Yes?"
"Tell the others nothing. Not until I say."
"Not even Kai?"
"Especially not Kai," she said.
That surprised . I thought with the bond they had grown, she would want to confide him later.
But I nodded because I knew, if Valerie was going back into the dark... She didn’t want to be followed and as much as I wante dto follow her, one of us needed to cover for the other.
"Alright. Also, what do we do about Big bro, Storm and Dad?"
Valerie exhaled before turning fully to face , with he rhands locked behind her. "Like I said, we tell him the truth. That’s the only way out of this even though Uncle Zade and Aunt Aira would be worried sick."
I sighed, knowing it wa shard for her to lie to my parents but it was needed. "Okay, in that case, we need to move fast with Nightshade Thorn."
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~Dristan’s POV~
The student council office was unnaturally quiet today. Everyone had been busy with the affairs of school.
And the other heirs, Axel, Kai and Xade were busy doing Gods-know-what.
My fingers flipped the edge of a report as my eyes skimd line after line of disciplinary complaints, most of which I’d morized by now. But a different docunt lay tucked beneath the stack.
An envelope.
Cream-colored. Stamped with the Gold Pack crest.
I frowned and reached for it. This wasn’t addressed to —but to Principal Whitmore.
Confidential – Regarding Missing Kin.
The seal had already cracked slightly, probably from being shuffled too much. Justification enough for to look inside.
I unfolded the page.
Principal Whitmore,
It has co to my attention that my daughter has gone missing under my roof, and we have traced her steps as far as the PSA Academy. We believe she may be enrolled under a false na. Due to internal threats and ongoing political tension, her safety is imperative. I will be arriving in person soon to conduct a quiet search.
She escaped barely a week or two ago, early spring. She is seventeen. A beautiful blonde haired with sparkling blue eyes. Please assist with discretion.
Sincerely, Alpha Zade Gold.
My eyes narrowed.
A week or two ago. Blonde hair. Seventeen.
I leaned back in the chair, the leather creaking beneath as I reread the ti of escape again. That detail—it settled sowhere sharp in my chest. Because only a handful of students had joined the academy during that window or before.
There was Kieran Killian, there was Marianne, there was a few other students but the only one fit the profile even remotely was...
Silver.
Silver Aura.
At the ti, her transfer was brushed off as a late-exchange student from the Central Houses, brought in on scholarship.
It was quiet, efficient but slippery.
Now that I thought about it—she had no clear origin. No pack ID, no full lineage on file, and always stayed just a step away from the spotlight.
My jaw clenched. I stood up from my seat.
This wasn’t just about Alpha Gold’s daughter anymore. If Silver was truly the missing girl—then Valerie had soone incredibly dangerous close to her. Soone pretending to be a friend.
For all we know, she could be on a mission in disguise. And from my recollection, Valerie and Isla’s friend group were the ones she ford close contact with upon arrival.
If that is not suspicious coincidence then...
I strode toward the tall council windows, glancing out on instinct and that’s when I saw them.
Two figures standing alone on top of the old east building, the one rarely used. I squinted. The breeze tugged at the taller girl’s hair—deep shade of black under the late afternoon sun.
Valerie.
And beside her... was soone else. A muscle ticked in my jaw.
"Oh, Valerie and..."
My voice trailed off as my mind began working backward. The day Silver arrived to her records, her timing, the too-perfect integration. There was no mistakes and no traces either.
The math wasn’t hard.
She was the only student who matched the tiline—and now she was getting too close to soone I already knew too many people wanted dead.
Valerie was already walking on fire with the gossip, the alphas, the danger of my father. She didn’t need soone wrapped in secrets beside her.
I took one last look at the rooftop before stepping back and straightening my shirt collar.
Ti to dig. Quietly.
If Silver Aura was who I now suspected... she wasn’t just a mystery.
She was a threat.
And if she had anything to do soone trying to hurt Valerie, I’d expose her myself no matter how close Valerie let her get.
For all I know, my father could use anyone to get to her.
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