Chapter 15

Lyra

“What? I’m not—”

“Fucking freak.” Cassidy shoved me harder, making me wince as the cold marble sink bit into my lower back. “I should have known right away that you were up to something when you were acting weird the other day, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I should have known better.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, shoving at her in an attempt to break free. “And I’ve got to get ready for my next class, so—”

“Bullshit. You’re not going anywhere.” Cassidy snapped her fingers, and it was then that her gaggle of friends stepped out from behind the wall. One of them, a petite girl with a black pixie cut, was holding her phone up as if recording me.

“I saw you on the training grounds earlier,” Cassidy hissed. “It’s hilarious enough that a wolfless thinks she can train like the rest of us, but to use it to manipulate my boyfriend into giving you attention? That’s just pathetic.”

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell her to get lost and leave me alone because she was barking up the wrong tree, but it was too late.

“Hold her down, girls.”

Cassidy released me, but I didn’t have a chance to escape before two of her friends surged forward and advanced on me. Shouting, I kicked out at one of them, connecting with her shin while I swung a punch at the other.

But I was outnumbered. They recovered quickly, and one grabbed my left arm while the other grabbed the right, both twisting them so they were behind my back.

I bit back the urge to cry out in pain as I felt the unmistakable strain of my forearms about to break.

As the girls dragged me back toward the wall, my eyes darted around, searching for a way out. But there was only one exit, and with two she-wolves holding my arms in a precarious angle while Cassidy and the girl holding the phone blocked the doorway, I realized that there was no escaping this.

“Now,” Cassidy said, slowly walking toward me as her friends wrestled me to the ground, “we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Which will it be, Lyra?”

“Fuck you, Cassidy,” I spat.

Cassidy’s lips curled in a sneer. “Well, girls, you heard her.” She lifted her hand and extended one finger. Just one. The singular claw extended, sharp and intimidating, and something clear beaded up at the end.

Wolf venom.

“All I need is one cut,” Cassidy said as she dropped to a crouch in front of me. “The venom will do the rest—keep you from healing properly. Your pretty face won’t be so pretty anymore.”

I swallowed hard, throat bobbing against the cold marble floor. “If you scratch me anywhere, I’ll tell Kael.”

Cassidy giggled. “He won’t come to your aid after he sees the video of you cursing him.”

“What?” I jerked my head up.

Cassidy gestured to the girl who was holding the camera, and she shuffled forward. Now that she was a little closer, I could see that her hand was trembling faintly, and her large brown eyes were darting around nervously.

“Mia here is going to record you calling Kael a bastard,” Cassidy cooed, that claw hovering dangerously close to my face. “And maybe, if you cooperate, I won’t have to scratch up that pretty face of yours.”

My eyes shot over to the girl, Mia, one last time. Her eyes briefly met mine, and I saw something flash in them that gave me hope.

She was the weak link.

“Fine,” I said, taking a deep breath to calm myself. “I’ll make your stupid video. But I want you to release me first.”

Cassidy sneered. “Like hell we’re letting you go.”

“You think Kael would believe it if I’m physically pinned to the floor?” I laughed. “Come on, Cass. I know you’re not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but you’re not that stupid.”

Her face puckered like she’d just sucked on a lemon, and she glanced at her friends. “Sh-She’s right,” Mia said, lowering the phone slightly. “It won’t be believable if she’s clearly being forced to say it.”

Cassidy hesitated for a moment longer, but finally nodded and stood, retracting her claw for now. “Whatever. Release her.”

With twin warning growls, the other two cronies released me. I scrambled to my feet, only briefly looking around in search of an opening. Mia was the only one standing by the door now—if she was on my side, or at least not as okay with this as the others seemed, then I could probably escape.

“Alright,” I said, rolling my shoulders and my sore neck. “I’m ready for my closeup.”

Cassidy’s lips curved in a malicious grin. Mia slowly lifted the camera.

“Just say what you really think about Kael,” Cassidy cooed, folding her arms. “We’re listening.”

I cleared my throat and opened my mouth. My eyes flicked to the camera, then over to Mia.

“Fuck you.”

Before Cassidy or the others could react, I darted past them. Cassidy shrieked and lunged after me, shouting, “Mia! Catch her!”

But to my relief, Mia didn’t obey. Rather, she grabbed my hand and pulled me after her, calling over her shoulder, “Screw you, Cassidy! This bullshit has gone too far!”

I couldn’t help but let out a wild laugh as Mia and I ran across the locker room. Cassidy was fast, though, and I saw a blonde ponytail briefly fill my vision just before something sharp slashed across my cheek.

White-hot pain tore through my face, quickly followed by the cold and acrid sensation of the wolf venom seeping into my wound, but I didn’t stop. I feared if I did, this could be far worse.

Mia and I burst out of the locker room, our footsteps echoing off the walls as we sprinted down the corridor. Soon, Cassidy’s shouts faded into the distance—although perhaps not for lack of trying to catch up with us, but rather a fear of getting caught stopping her from continuing her chase.

By the time we rounded the corner, the venom was working its magic. The world began to spin then fade at the edges, my limbs growing heavy until they went completely limp. My knees buckled, and then I was falling to the floor.

The last thing I saw before darkness consumed me was a black pixie cut and a pair of big brown eyes staring down at me in shock.

…

I woke in a familiar bed—not my own, but one that I had spent many nights in before in my past life, when the bullying became too much and I found myself injured over and over again.

The infirmary.

The vaulted ceilings overhead were dark, the sky outside a deep midnight blue. Somewhere in the room, I heard a moan and a cough followed by a retching sound. Someone was having a very bad night, it seemed, and it wasn’t me. All things considered, I felt surprisingly okay.

As my blurry vision came into focus, I could make out Kael sitting in the chair beside my bed, arms folded across his chest. I quickly pushed down the brief feeling of relief that bubbled up when I saw him sitting there and told myself that he had only arrived because he feared Celene might throttle him if she found out.

“What happened?” he asked without preamble.

I curled my lip and gestured to my face. “Can’t you tell?”

“Huh?”

“The cut on my face. The one your girlfriend gave me.” I frowned. “You’re telling me you can’t—”

“Lyra, there’s nothing there.”

Confused, I fumbled in my pocket for my phone and pulled it out, using the dark screen to look at the reflection. My mouth dropped open as I ran my fingers across my cheek, feeling nothing but flawless, unmarked skin.

There wasn’t so much as a scar.