Chapter 106

I walked onto campus with a smile on my face.

A real one.

The sun was warm, the breeze was light, and I didn’t feel like the universe was conspiring to shove me back over a railing to my death.

Vivian and Tyler had been exposed.

Publicly. Legally.

It wasn't the exposure that I thought was going to happen, but it was exposure nonetheless. The likelihood of them getting me into position to kill me in this lifetime together or separately was so low. That I could have skipped to class.

Hell, I just might.

As far as I knew, Tyler wasn’t allowed on campus anymore. His access had been revoked pending the outcome of the case. Or maybe he was just too poor to. Afford to come back to campus? It wasn't as if his family was likely to support him, since he'd thrown Vivian under the bus the way he did.

Vivian… well, she was still floating around, but even she couldn’t swagger through the halls the way she used to. Not when half the school had heard about my case and all the pending follow-up cases. I was sure, that the campus was having her watched due to all the allegations about her compulsion. She was still only here probably because Brightclaw had paid for her tuition for the full year, and it was too late to get a refund. I wouldn't be surprised if she never finished her degree. I don't remember her actually doing much of anything with her education in my previous life.

I didn't bother to check social media, but I was pretty sure she was being hounded there, too. Good. It served her right for the smear campaign she'd put together against me.

I took the long way through the quad, just to breathe it all in. The normalcy. The gentle buzz of student life. The taste of freedom.

It was bliss.

Until they started showing up.

First, it was Carla. She practically jogged up to me after class with a hopeful smile and an iced coffee.

“Renee, hey. You look amazing. I was hoping we could talk.”

I didn’t slow down.

“ I think you said all you needed to say to me,” I said coolly. " And I have nothing to say to you."

Carla kept pace. “I just… I wanted to say I’m sorry. I didn’t believe you. About Tyler. About everything. But now—”

“You’re only sorry because you've found out I'm a Mountainhowl and you can't cling to Vivian,” I cut in. “You were more than happy to spread gossip when it benefited you."

"You can't blame me, she---"

"I can blame you for your actions. Your own choices."

Her mouth opened like a fish gasping for air.

“I didn’t mean—”

“You did,” I said, stopping just long enough to look her in the eye. “And that’s why you can take your coffee and your bullshit and shove it anywhere out of my face.”

I left her standing there, stunned and silent.

By the time I’d made it to my third class of the day, I’d brushed off four more “apologies.” I guess once the tide turned in my favor, everyone suddenly remembered we were once “such good friends.” They all sounded the same. Hollow and performative. Like they were rehearsing a script they hoped would get Me to forget what they 'd done and said on her behalf, how they 'd helped her. I was almost certain that it most of them knew about Vivian and Tyler and had said nothing to me, just taking it as Vivian's due because she was the Bright Claw princess and I was just a daughter of a small-time alpha. People who were supposed to be my friends had less loyalty to me than a woman who literally worked for Vivian's family.

To hell with them all.

I wasn’t letting a single person close to me that hadn't been on my side before.

No one needed fake friends, and I wasn't Vivian who had loved lauding over everyone.

I pulled out my phone and grinned.

Dominic: Meeting ran long. Thinking about you. How are classes going?

Neil: Hope you're evading blood suckers. Are you sure you're alright frolicking around by yourself?

I snorted.

Me to Dominic: Don’t work too hard.

Me to Neil: You’re ridiculous. I am not frolicking.

Neil replied to me with an image of a little girl with a picnic basket, frolicking through a field of flowers.

This is you. In miniature. I think it's an accurate representation.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, but their messages were welcome. As complicated as everything still was, I felt grounded. The air around me felt clearer.

Until I saw him.

I couldn’t remember his name. Or even if I’d ever really known it. But the sight of him sent a rush of cold down my spine. He was tall, sharp-featured with silver-streaked hair and a wolf’s cold stare.

He was talking with someone. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his tailored coat, and he was leaning toward the other person like they shared a secret.

That other person was Tyler.

I froze.

The old fear clenched around my ribs. My skin prickled with the phantom sensation of being chased, like my memories were trying to claw their way to the surface, but something wouldn’t let them.

Who was that man?

And why did just looking at him make me want to run?

I turned quickly, ducking behind a tree. I heard Vivian laugh from the back of my mind. Mocking me as I plunged to my death. Water splashed. Panicked shrieks cut off by splashing water. Then there was another voice. A grunting, a growling, hissing. Screaming and pleading.

Get away from her!

Run!

Run, Renee, run!

Bile rose in my throat. That was definitely my mother's voice, but why would she be saying that? Who was she talking to?

The details of my mother's death were always fuzzy to me, though I'd been told that she had simply drowned. That's what Philip used to tell me when I'd asked. But now that I knew that Mountainhowl was basically. A seaside resort territory, I couldn't imagine how my mother could have drowned in a pool.

Worse that that, Tyler wasn’t supposed to be here. He couldn’t be here. But there he was. Talking to the stranger dredging up fragmented memories like they were planning something.

I took a step back.

And that’s when he saw me.

Tyler’s eyes met mine across the lawn, and something in his expression shifted. His expression shifted to something unreadable. His shoulders stiffened.

And then he started walking toward me.

I panicked.

Where could I go? I didn’t want to run. I didn’t want to look afraid. But I couldn’t let him get close, not now, not with that man nearby.

My mind spun.

Then, I stumbled back into someone.

“Hey, there you are.”

Neil. I looked up, heart hammering and he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Easy, I have you… Is he bothering you? Interrupting your frolicking?"

I shook my head, yet he didn't seem to buy it. He slid into place beside me so smoothly that it felt like choreography.

“Ready for lunch?” he asked, loud enough for Tyler to hear.

I could barely speak, but I nodded.

Neil gently placed his hand on the small of my back. A quiet message. I’ve got you.

Tyler stopped mid-step. His expression tightened, but he said nothing. Just stood there eyeing us.

Neil gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. It felt vicious, and his eyes glinted with gold that looked like it was starting to shift into red around the edges.

Tyler’s jaw clenched and he said nothing. The man he'd been speaking to was looking over at us, but he didn’t' move any closer.

Tyler turned, muttering something under his breath, and walked back toward the man staring at me.

I chanced looking up. Our eyes locked.

Cold drenched me. I shivered like ice had coated my skin. Then Neil turned me away, guiding me toward the café like nothing had happened.

“You okay?” he asked once we were out of earshot.

“No,” I whispered.

He didn’t push. He just walked beside me until I found my footing again. He held me close and shrugged off his jacket to put around me.

I sighed. "You are a furnace."

"You have no idea." By the time we got to the café, my breath had steadied. Sort of.

Neil bought me soup and tea without asking, and we sat by the window, surrounded by quiet.

“Thank you,” I said finally.

He just nodded. “I always have your back.”

I sipped my tea and settled in to eat, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that man’s face. That chill. That gnawing feeling that I knew that man and he knew me.

Danger.

I felt in danger even though I couldn't really say why.

I didn’t have all the pieces yet.

But something told me that when I figured it out, it wouldn’t be good.

Not for me at least.