Chapter 23

Third Person POV

When Cassidy received the text from Kael asking her to come to the western wing corridor to speak with him, her heart leapt with joy. She believed that he must have forgiven her, that he wanted to see her and apologize for being so cold earlier.

Cassidy immediately left class without an explanation and hurried down the hall with a smile tugging at her lips. Everything was going to be okay now that Kael was speaking to her again. He would fix everything, just like he always did, and they would stay together and be happy again.

But her smile died when she rounded the corner and saw him standing there with Lyra beside him.

“Cassidy,” Kael said by way of greeting, curtly gesturing to Lyra, “apologize.”

Cassidy stopped short and pulled her head back in surprise. “Apologize? For what?”

Kael folded his arms. “You know what you did.”

She blinked, too astonished to speak. Kael was asking her to apologize… for the pictures? As if it were her fault that Lyra got so drunk she let herself be put in that situation? Cassidy had nothing to do with it—she only took the pictures as evidence!

“Well?” Kael’s face darkened. “Are you going to apologize for releasing those pictures willingly, or do I have to force it out of you?”

Cassidy pursed her lips and crossed her arms, matching Kael’s stance. “No. I won’t apologize.” Kael was still her boyfriend, and she highly doubted he cared so much about his nuisance of an adoptive sister that he would jeopardize their relationship for her.

But Cassidy was wrong. Kael stormed forward, exuding an Alpha presence that was so strong that even her wolf cowered simply at his posture.

“You will apologize,” he growled, towering over her now. Black eyes flashed a menacing red, and his upper lip curled slightly to reveal partially extended fangs.

Cassidy swallowed hard, her arms falling limp to her sides, as Kael’s Alpha authority washed over her. As a Beta, she was not immune to his power—the same one that allowed him to command just about anyone he wished in the Northern Territories, unless they dared face the consequences.

He was being serious. Dead serious.

Cassidy had no choice but to tilt her head to the side, exposing her throat to him. Kael growled low in his chest as she then slowly turned to look at Lyra, who was still standing nearby with a somewhat shocked expression on her face; it was as if she, too, hadn’t expected Kael to stand up for her.

But Kael wasn’t backing down, so Cassidy finally managed a small, “I’m sorry.”

Kael tilted his head. “That’s it?”

Cassidy blanched once more at the cold authority in his tone and added in a small voice, “I don’t know why I did those things. I really do apologize, Lyra. I didn’t mean to go so far and I shouldn’t have taken those pictures.”

The air turned thick and silent as they waited for Lyra’s response. But unbeknownst to Cassidy and Kael, Lyra’s mind was racing, and it had nothing to do with the apology.

“There’s something off about her scent,” Lyra’s wolf was saying. “She almost smells like… the voidlike wolves that killed our pack.”

Lyra stiffened. “You’re sure?”

“As sure as I can be. Whatever it is seems to be the most concentrated in her left pocket.”

Indeed, Lyra had noticed the strange scent, too. She’d known Cassidy long enough to know her natural scent, and this wasn’t it. Something about it was awfully similar to the scent that Lyra had never truly forgotten. The wolves that night—they had a distinct scent that couldn’t be described as anything other than… black.

It was not as if their natural scents had been stripped away, but rather dampened by a blanket of pure darkness.

Lyra had tried to forget that scent many times over the years, but she never could. But now, in her second life, knowing what she knew now about Bianca’s treachery, she was glad she couldn’t.

Instead of responding to Cassidy’s apology, Lyra stepped forward and asked, “What’s in your left pocket?”

Cassidy jerked her head up, offended. “What?”

“Your left pocket,” Lyra said, gesturing. “Show me.”

Cassidy looked to Kael, who, to Lyra’s surprise, simply shrugged. “Now I’m curious,” he admitted.

Finally, she huffed and pulled a small, black stone out of her pocket. It was smooth and perfectly round, like the kind of stone one could find walking along the beach. Lyra only got a glimpse of it before Cassidy slipped it back inside.

“What was that?” Lyra asked.

“I don’t know. It’s just a rock someone gave me.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“Oh, Goddess. If you must know, your friend Bianca gave it to me.” Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Now do you want to check my purse now too, or am I free to go?”

Bianca. The name made Lyra’s chest turn hollow. Lyra was almost certain that this stone had something to do with the wolves who had ransacked Silvercrest and slaughtered everyone she once held dear, but she didn’t have enough proof as to what exactly it was and why Bianca had given it to Cassidy, so she kept her lips sealed for now.

“Well, you really should be apologizing to Mia, not me,” Lyra finally said, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She then turned to Kael. “I’m late for class.”

With that, Lyra turned and left. Cassidy’s heart thudded with hope when Kael looked at her, but it was quickly snuffed out when she saw the vacant, unfeeling look in his onyx eyes.

“I’m going to speak to the principal now to see to it that you’re expelled,” Kael said coldly, picking an invisible piece of lint off his jacket. “Furthermore, I plan to speak to your parents. You’ll never inherit the title of Beta.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened. “Over what? Some pictures? Kael, you can’t be serious—”

“Oh, but I am perfectly serious. You stood idly by while my parents’—your Alphas’—ward was assaulted. What’s worse is the fact that you fucking photographed it and released it to the public. You didn’t just humiliate yourself or Lyra. You humiliated all of the Northern Territories.”

“But—”

“There are no buts, Cassidy. You’re done. We’re done.”

Cassidy could only watch, tears blurring her vision, as Kael strode past her and disappeared down the hall. The sorrow was so intense that she had to press her hand against the nearby wall, feeling the cold stones bite against her palm, to keep herself from collapsing.

But with that sorrow also came a wave of rage. Anger. Hatred.

Cassidy’s fingers curled into a fist, nails scraping so harshly across the stones that they partially lifted from their beds, but she didn’t even notice the pain. All she felt was that burning ire eating her alive piece by piece.

Mia had betrayed Cassidy, but it wasn’t just her who she was angry with. She would not let Lyra get away with this. If Cassidy couldn’t have what she wanted, then neither could Lyra.

With a growl of fury, Cassidy shoved away from the wall and began storming down the hall, her heels clicking against the marble tiles. Soon. Soon, Lyra would pay.

Come summertime, when Lyra returned home for break, Cassidy would take her revenge.