Chapter 171

Oh my God...

I felt like my feet had been rooted into the floor. I couldn’t move. My entire body was hit with an ongoing wave of nausea that settled into a startling numbness. Soon my muscles were locked and my body was shaking.

I wanted so badly to believe that I had overheard wrong. But there’s no way that my body would have physically reacted in such a way otherwise.

The Winslows...Arthur’s goddamn family are the ones responsible for the horrific deaths of the Moon Wolf Pack! It’s not true. Please tell me it’s not true!

There was a revoltingly strong knot in my stomach that kept churning the longer I stood there.

The gasp I had accidentally let out must have been louder than I thought because a few seconds later, the room went quiet. Slowly, the door started to swing open and I was instantly met with a panicked Liam and Arthur.

Both of their faces paled several shades.

“Oh my God,” Liam hissed.

“Ella, I can explain—”

My body must have, suddenly, remembered how to move. Just the mere sight of them was enough to send a jolt of anxious fury through me. When Arthur tried to reach out for me, my feet took off in a mad sprint toward the stairwell.

I could hear the two of them stumbling after me which only led me to move faster. Hardly any oxygen was making its way to my lungs, but I kept moving. All I needed to do was get to my dorm and close the door.

I wanted to shut them out—to shut everyone out. With that sort of information now spiraling through me, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to place Arthur in my mind at the moment.

Did I think he was dangerous? I wasn’t sure.

Was I thinking that he would carry out the same awful acts as his family once had? I hoped not.

My mind briefly switched to Liam and I was met with almost the same sense of anger and frustration I felt toward Arthur. It was like I was feeling things on a whole new, deeper level than humanly possible...

My eyes became blurred with tears and my breathing grew stunted.

“Leave me alone,” I cried out.

“Please let us explain—”

“What could you possibly have to say?!” I shouted over my shoulder.

I finally reached my door and quickly slipped inside before slamming it shut on Arthur. He tried to push it open but the wolf within me had backed my strength and made it impossible for either Liam or Arthur to get in.

“Ella, please. You need to hear us out,” Liam called.

“There’s more to this than what you overheard!” Arthur said desperately. “Please, let us in.”

I probably did. I knew I was being immature and stubborn. I should have opened the door and tried to at least hear what they needed to say but my underlying emotions were preventing me from doing so.

Beneath my devastation was rage.

“How could you keep something so vital from me?” I whispered.

It’s one thing to hear that your own people were wiped out because they supposedly possessed some sort of unknown power—but to find out that it was Arthur’s literal family that were the ones who orchestrated it...I felt my mind breaking under the weight of this realization.

Even more so, it was causing a painful ache in my chest to spread. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to proceed with this knowledge when it came to the two of them?

Amongst the excessive begging and pleading for me to open the door, I heard Bonnie approach the room.

“Uh? What exactly is going on here?” she asked.

“Bonnie, do not let them in!” I called out.

If I were to face either one of them at that moment, there was no telling what I would do. Thankfully, neither of them tried to push their way into the room when Bonnie slipped inside the dorm.

She found me huddled on the bed with a large blanket draped around my shoulders. Her expression morphed from confusion to worry. “What the hell happened?”

I couldn’t tell her the truth. It was one thing to disclose the truth about my double bond, but I knew better than to admit my legit connection to the Moon Wolf Pack. All I could do was shake my head.

“I think I’m going to head home for the weekend,” I told her. “I need some space from those two for a little while.”

With tomorrow being Friday, all I had to do was get through my classes and then I’d be able to leave.

...

The following day, I purposely left for my classes earlier than usual just to avoid running into either Arthur or Liam. I was really hoping that after giving myself time to rest and think things through, I would have come to a lighter conclusion...

Good God, was I wrong.

Because of the ongoing thoughts and stress, I hardly slept for more than three hours. So, not only was I tense but I was also exhausted.

I made it to English with plenty of time to spare. Much to my pleasant surprise, Mrs. Shields went on to ignore me while I took my usual seat. I set my bag down and immediately folded my arms to let my head rest.

Had the circumstances been different, I would have loved to have heard about the so-called ‘little chat’ that was had. But now, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Ben suddenly appeared next to me with a small smile on his face. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked. “You look a little better.”

I humored him with a weak grin. “Thanks. I feel a little better for what it’s worth.”

I tilted my head, gesturing to the empty seat next to me. We didn’t normally sit next to one another but I didn’t see why it would be a problem now. “Sit next to me.”

Ben hesitated for a moment before giving a curt nod and placing his books down on the shared table.

“Thank you for helping me get back to my dorm yesterday.”

Ben waved off the thought with his hand. “It’s no problem, I’m glad I happened to be there.”

Right as the final bell was about to go off, I noticed Arthur slip into the classroom. He looked just as tired as me and just as testy. His eyes were drawn to Ben and the fact that he was sitting next to me. I should have known this was going to lead to an altercation.

His gaze was fuming with irritation. “You’re in my seat. Move.”

Ben made a move to grab his things, but I swiftly shot my hand out to grab his arm. Locking him in place, I glared back at Arthur with a viciousness I never knew I possessed.

“Leave him alone and find somewhere else to sit,” I bit out.

Clarrisa shot up from her chair and eagerly called Arthur over to sit next to her. Arthur’s angry glare softened with sadness which struck me right through the heart.

He looked physically pained before turning to sit with Clarrisa.