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Chapter 275
~Valerie’s POV~
I smiled faintly, brushing a lock of hair from my eyes as I looked at Isla. "Dristan tucked in last night."
Isla wriggled her brows imdiately, a knowing smirk creeping across her lips. "Tucked you in, huh?"
I rolled my eyes, biting the inside of my cheek to stop the grin. "Don’t start."
"Too late," she sang playfully. "Did anything... go down between you two? You know—" She made a gesture with her hands that had tossing a pillow at her face.
"You’re ridiculous," I muttered, heat rising in my cheeks.
"Which ans sothing definitely happened," Erald groaned sleepily as she turned on the bed to face us. "Don’t lie, Val. I can sll the afterglow."
I checked my eyes at both of them. "We didn’t do much. We just kissed. And..."
"Oooh, you kissed," Isla echoed, her voice teasingly high-pitched as she leaned closer with exaggerated interest.
"Yes, and not in this room."
Both Isla and Erald chuckled.
I buried my face in my hands for a mont, groaning. "It wasn’t just any kiss, okay? It was... a mont. A really heated, confusing, nerve-wracking mont. But that’s all."
Erald stretched, her voice still drowsy. "Yesterday was a rollercoaster. Honestly, you deserved one good thing by the end of it."
I nodded slowly, then sighed. "Yeah, yesterday was... a lot."
Isla’s expression softened. "I’m really sorry for what happened, Valerie. You didn’t deserve any of that. It should’ve never gone down like that."
"It’s okay," I said quietly, but part of still ached.
Erald sat up now, crossing her legs on the bed. "Even if the truth had to co out, she didn’t have the right to do it that way. We were friends. She should’ve spoken to you—we should’ve spoken to you."
"I never imagined Astraea would be like that," Isla added, her brows pinched in thought. "She was always so... bubbly. Supportive. A little intense, yeah, but I didn’t think she’d be calculating."
"She wanted Dristan," I said, my voice blunt and heavy. "That’s what fueled her."
Isla nodded slowly. "Yeah. A lot of girls want him. But I really didn’t think our clique—our friendship—would ever fall apart like this."
"I know, right?" Erald huffed. "And I always thought I was the more straightforward one in our group. Bet you even suspected at so point, didn’t you?"
I bit my lip, nodding slightly. "Yeah. At one point... after what happened with Silver, I didn’t trust anyone. I just wanted to be alone. There were all these threats, too. It just... I was overwheld."
"I kind of expected that," Erald said gently. "Honestly, Astraea was too much sotis. Too cheery, too eager. That’s not always a bad thing, but there’s sothing about that kind of energy—it’s hard to trust when it feels like a mask."
Erald’s voice turned serious. "I don’t think Astraea was ever happy about the heirs being your mates. She never said it to you directly, but she did voice it to us once. That she didn’t get what was so special about you."
"That’s ssed up," I muttered, my chest tightening.
Both girls nodded.
But just then, the soft chi of all our phones cut through the air. We each reached for our devices almost at the sa ti.
Announcent: Departure in thirty minutes. Students should begin packing. Transportation will be ready shortly.
The announcent blinked across the screen in red.
"We better get moving," Isla said, swinging her legs off the bed.
"Ugh," Erald groaned. "I was just starting to enjoy being away from PSA."
I stood and stretched, my joints popping slightly. "Let’s get it over with. I want this whole thing behind already."
Erald chuckled. "You just want to get back to Dristan."
I threw her a look, but the grin was already tugging at my lips.
Okay. Maybe she wasn’t entirely wrong.
***************
After we got the departure notification, things moved fast. Within ten minutes, the room was a flurry of motion.
Clothes were tossed into bags, zippers zipped up with force, and makeup kits stuffed into compartnts.
Erald complained the whole ti about packing, Isla kept fussing over her hair, and I... just wanted to get it over with.
I had already dressed in a casual lilac sweater over a pair of dark denim jeans and my black combat boots.
Isla wore a fitted white long-sleeved top with high-waisted pants, while Erald opted for sothing bold—a dark green crop jacket with matching pants that hugged her hips.
Once our bags were packed and we’d double-checked we left nothing behind, we wheeled our suitcases out of the room and into the hallway, heading toward the elevator.
As soon as we stepped outside into the cool morning breeze, the sharp scent of pine hitting my nose, we spotted Xade, Axel, and Kai standing by the drive, near one of the gleaming black SUVs.
And the mont they saw , all three headed straight over.
"Valerie," Kai called, his expression serious as he reached first. "How are you feeling?"
"I’m okay," I said, managing a soft smile as I looked at him. His eyes road my face like he was making sure of it.
Axel, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate. He leaned in and pressed a slow, deliberate kiss to my cheek. "You sll like Dristan," he said with a low chuckle.
Kai imdiately tensed beside .
"Don’t start," I muttered under my breath, but Axel just smirked wider as he glanced at Kai with a raised brow.
"I’m just saying hello," he shrugged innocently.
Kai folded his arms across his chest, jaw tightening. "Your idea of hello needs to change."
Before I could step between them, the doors behind us opened again.
Out walked Dristan, looking dark and refined in a navy shirt and black jeans, followed by Ash—ever so calm with a subtle, dangerous glint in his eyes—and Ace, who gave a lazy grin the second his eyes landed on .
Behind them ca Riven and Xander. Riven looked more tired than usual, but his eyes lit up when he saw .
And Xander... he didn’t say a word, but he did offer a smile that almost made my knees weak.
"Well," Isla said, breaking the silence with a mischievous little grin, "since everyone’s out now, let’s move out, shall we?"
Then she glanced at her cousin—Dristan—and winked at before looping her arm through Erald’s and tugging her away.
"Co on, Emmy, we’ll give the lovebird and... all her orbiting satellites... so ti."
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