Chapter 55

The walk to Valentin’s office was longer and quieter than it’d been before. All of campus seemed to be eerily quiet, as if the entire school was ashamed of last night’s actions. There were a few stragglers out in the early morning, walking home from whatever or wherever they’d ended up. They looked like zombies. I couldn’t help but wonder if they thought I looked like one of them, wrapped in someone else’s clothes.

I shuddered at the thought.

I ascended the large stone stairs up to the doors of the admissions building. Given that it was a Sunday morning, the building was empty. The echo of my slippers against the marble floor sent a chill down my spine. I hurried to Valentin’s office. I knocked gently before hearing a mumble behind the door. I let myself in and tried to act less skittish than I felt.

Inside was a mess.

There were papers everywhere, some with the official Alpha Academy crest, some with the crest of the Queen. They were scattered all over Valentin’s desk with random pamphlets and inserts that had bold words like “Wedding!” and “Perfect!” on them. I tried not to cringe as I saw them.

Valentin sat in the chair behind his desk. His head was in his hands. His usually put together appearance was completely disheveled. His long brown hair was stringy and frizzy. His shirt was unbuttoned down to his sternum, sleeves pushed up and wrinkled as they folded around his elbows. He looked up at me and I saw the deep bags under his eyes.

It was a complete one-eighty from the way he’d appeared that morning in Maximus’s room. The usually put together professor seemed to be falling apart. I had to keep my arms pinned at me sides to stop myself from reaching out and touching him.

He needs you, my wolf thought softly.

I needed him, I threw back, though it had not bite. And he made it clear that he didn’t want me.

She whined in the back of my mind but then went quiet. It was like she knew we’d been rejected.

Valentin motioned to the chair in front of his desk. I slunk down into it, wrapping my arms around myself in a subconscious effort to try and keep myself safe. Valentin sighed and leaned back in his chair. He pressed his thumb and forefinger into his brow bone.

“What do you remember?” he asked softly.

“Nothing,” I replied. “I remember getting a drink then everything else is black.”

Valentin nodded then dropped his hand. “Your mother is going to be horrified,”

“I think everyone is,” I retorted quietly.

“Agreed,” Valentin licked the front of his teeth then sat up. “You had wolfsbane in your body.”

“I know,” I said. “Maximus told me.”

That seemed to light a fire in Valentin. He sat up straight, flames licking his gold eyes. His entire body went rigid but when he spoke, there was no malice, only words.

“Yes, I assumed something happened between you two,” He shuffled around some of the papers on his desk. “At least one positive from this awful event is you’ve accepted a suitor. Your mother will be pleased to hear that.”

I blinked at him then it hit me. My lips curled back as rage set itself in my bones.

“I didn’t sleep with Maximus,” I snapped. “He took me home from that horrible party and took care of me while the Moonbeams found you. He helped me. Not that any of that is your fucking business anyways.”

Valentin’s jaw twitched. He narrowed his eyes and glared at me. “Watch your tone, Princess,” he snapped. “While I am friends with your mother, I am still the headmaster of this school and deserve to be treated as such.”

“Then treat me like a student,” I bit back. “And not the girl you let walk away from you despite your feelings for her.”

Valentin and I stared at one another for a moment. He looked pissed and I knew I wasn’t exactly happy. He had no right to be jealous. He let me walk away from him. He said no. Not me. Furthermore, the fact that he knew I was drugged and still thought I’d crawl into someone else’s bed after … that happened to me was insinuating something I had no desire to pursue further.

Finally, he sat back in his seat with a huff. His hand went to press into his temple like he had a horrible headache. Mine was starting back up.

“Wolfsbane,” he started, then cleared his throat when his word came out raspy. “Is deadly against humans. It’s not as deadly against a wolf, but it will impair all your senses and leave you in a sluggish state where you don’t have much control over your limbs. I’m told it feels a bit like being drunk.”

I nodded, curtly and Valentin continued.

“I don’t know how Jackell procured some as it’s been banned in our country,” he rubbed harder at his head. “But I’ve alerted the authorities about such. And about his—” Valentin’s jaw ticked. “—attempted assault on you. They’ll be by to arrest him in the morning.”

“Arrest him?” I repeated.

Valentin blinked at me. “Is that not an arrestable offense in the human world?”

I shifted. “Yes,” I said slowly. “But shouldn’t there be a trial.”

“What is there to try?” Valentin snapped. “He had wolfsbane in his room, a banned substance in wolf territory. Furthermore, Wolfham broke up his attempt to attack you. The evidence is damning.”

“I guess I don’t know how the judiciary system for wolves works,” I bit out. I was beginning to grow frustrated.

Valentin tipped his chin and glared down at me. He set his lips in a hard, thin line and I watched his jaw clenching and unclenching. It was like he was fighting himself to not say something. He stood up and walked around his desk. He put one hand on it then leaned over me.

I shivered with how close he was. Something about me still ached for him.

“There’s a lot you don’t know, Princess,” he whispered. He lips were far from the shell of my ear but I still felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My throat arched away from him as the whimper escaped from my throat.

Both of us jolted back in shock. I abruptly stood from my chair. Valentin’s eyes had gone dark. My heart was thudding in my chest as I felt the voice of my wolf in the back of my head.

Go to him, she demanded. He needs you.

“Get out,” Valentin choked out.

I did as I was told, spinning on my heel and pushing out of his office in a flurry. As I left, the door slammed shut. Then, the sound of wood breaking echoed through the empty half of the admissions building.