Jade’s POV
The hallway didn’t explode into chaos like I told it would.
It was worse than that.
It was subtle.
Quiet.
Whispers slid through the air like knives, barely lowered. Heads tilted just enough. Eyes lingered a second too long. Laughter burst out in the wrong places, sharp and poorly tid, like it had been waiting for .
“She really has no sha.”
“I swear, she was practically throwing herself at him.”
“I heard she cornered Renzo in the court.”
“Of course she did. Attention is oxygen for girls like her.”
I kept walking.
I didn’t look up. I didn’t snap back. I didn’t flinch outwardly, but inside, sothing curled tight.
Goddess, gossip moved fast in this school.
Fast like wildfire. Fast like it had been starving for sothing new to burn.
And it was always .
I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d been the subject of rumors for as long as I could rember. Traitor’s daughter. Servant girl. Slut. Parasite. The words rotated, but the role stayed the sa.
You’d think I’d be used to it by now.
And maybe I was.
But that didn’t stop my face from flushing. Didn’t stop the heat crawling up my neck. Didn’t stop the way my chest tightened, not just from the healing wound beneath my hoodie, but from the weight of being seen and misseen all at once.
I heard my na drift behind , paired with laughter.
I walked faster and I got to the female bathroom.
I pushed inside, ignored the mirrors, ignored the sinks, and locked myself into the first stall I saw. The door clicked shut behind , and the sound felt like rcy.
I sat down hard on the toilet seat, back pressed to the cold tal wall.
My breathing ca too fast.
My heart slamd against my ribs like it was trying to escape.
I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the tender ache beneath the fabric, the reminder that my body was still nding, still vulnerable.
Breathe, my wolf murmured, softer than before.
“I am,” I whispered back, even though it wasn’t true.
My emotions tangled in ugly knots, humiliation undressing my skirt and panties in front of them, the anger, exhaustion, but threaded through all of it was sothing that made want to scream.
Heat.
Not physical heat, but a lingering awareness in my being that refused to fade.
Renzo’s body blocking mine.
The weight of him. The solidity. The way the world had narrowed until nothing existed except the sound of my own pulse and the impossible safety of his presence.
I hated myself for rembering it.
For the way my wolf leaned into that mory instead of recoiling.
For the way my skin still felt warm where he’d been.
And Ronan ...
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Ronan, who had snarled threats at .
Ronan, who had sworn he’d kill if I crossed a line.
It was also the sa Ronan, who had stepped in today without hesitation to shield from the others’ eyes.
My wolf stirred again, restless now.
Before I could force her back down, the bathroom door opened.
Voices spilled in.
I froze.
A group of girls gathered by the sinks, laughter echoing sharply off tile and mirror.
“Did you hear about Linda’s party tonight?”
I went still.
“No way, she’s actually doing it?”
“She is. Full on. Naked boys, alcohol, everything.”
“I heard it’s an all night thing. No teachers. No limits. We can party and also fuck as long as we want”
“That’s insane.”
“And guess who’s coming?” one of them asked dreamily.
I already knew.
“The triplets.”
Ronan. Ryder. Renzo.
My heart skipped, not in excitent, not entirely, but in sothing sharper, more possessive than I wanted to admit.
“They adore Linda,” another girl sighed. “I an, who wouldn’t?”
“They’ve always belonged to Linda.”
They talked about them like they were prizes. Like they were objects ant to be claid, paraded, consud.
Then one voice shifted, curious, amused.
“Though it kind of looks like that traitor girl’s been sniffing around them lately. Jade.”
They pause for a mont.
Then they laughed
“Please.”
“As if they’d ever accept her.”
“Mate bond or not, Linda would never allow that.”
“And if she doesn’t learn her place,” the girl added coolly, “Linda will remind her.”
I pressed my palm to my mouth to keep from making a sound.
“Well,” another girl chirped, clearly done with cruelty now that lust had reclaid her attention, “I can’t wait for tonight. I bought the prettiest lingerie.”
They giggled, already dreaming.
“Who knows? Maybe one of us will catch their eyes.”
“Dream on.”
They laughed and left.
The door finally shut with a thud.
I sat there, unmoving, staring at the stall door as my wolf rose fully to the surface.
She wasn’t confused.
She wasn’t ashad.
She was furious.
They are ours, she snarled. And they are walking into a den where they’all probably fuck dozens of eager girls.
“No,” I whispered. “They’re not ours. They’ve made that clear.”
The bond has not, she shot back.
Images flickered behind my eyes, the party, the bodies, the noise, the scent of alcohol and desire. The three of them surrounded by hands that were not mine. Mouths that were not mine.
The thought twisted sothing deep in my chest.
I hated it.
I hated wanting them.
I hated that my wolf didn’t care.
Stop them, she urged. Just once. Choose us once.
I dragged in a breath.
I didn’t want to feel this. I didn’t want to act on it. I didn’t want to beco the desperate girl everyone already believed I was.
But for once, just once, I was tired of denying the part of that existed no matter how hard I pushed her down.
I straightened slowly.
Wiped my face.
Stood.
“Fine,” I whispered, more to myself than to her. “Just this once.”
My wolf purred, satisfied.
I didn’t know how I was going to do it.
I didn’t know what it would cost .
But if Ronan, Ryder, and Renzo truly intended to walk into Linda’s party like it was nothing
Then I would find a way to stop them.
This should be easy, right?
User Comments
0 comments from readers