Chapter 107

Renee

The tea had helped, but Neil’s quiet company had helped more.

My hands were still a little shaky as we headed back to the sidewalk leading to our next classes, walking in companionable silence. I glanced over my shoulder, but Tyler and that man were nowhere in sight. Still, the eerie sensation of being watched hadn’t fully left me.

“You sure you don’t want to head home?” Neil asked, his voice gentle but clearly concerned. “You look like you're about to faint.”

“I’m fine,” I said reflexively, tucking my phone into my coat pocket. “Just… off balance… or something. Seeing Tyler was a bit of a shock.”

He gave me a sideways glance that said I don’t believe you, but I’ll let it go.

I appreciated that more than I could say. Just as we reached the main quad, my phone buzzed.

It was Arielle.

“Hey,” I said, answering the call.

“You get out of three still today, don't you?"

“Yeah… Why?”

“Because I just got the notice. The court officially processed Dominic’s guardianship termination.”

My stomach swooped.

“Oh.”

“Oh? Oh? As in oh yeah, alpha daddy can spank me now, or oh , as in oh no, I was kind of enjoying the tension?"

"Ariellle---"

"I'm sure you two can arrange a little role play now that you're free to be railed into the nearest available surface."

Neil snorted. And I wanted to burst into flames. He could totally hear what she was saying.

"Please stop."

Neil leaned in with a smirk. “ She was free to do that before."

I gasped and whirled on him. "Neil!"

Arielle didn’t miss a beat. “She didn't feel that she was, and neither did he. Honestly, it was kind of cute with him trying to be all respectable. I know you don't have such compulsions, Lord Blackfang."

My eyes widened as I stared at Neil. He threw his head back with a sharp bark of laughter.

"I am of the darkness."

"I look forward to you corrupting my princess as quickly as possible."

He smirked. "Is she looking forward to it?"

I cupped my hand over the receiver.

"You two are no longer allowed to talk."

They both laughed. "How are you going to stop us?"

I nearly dropped the phone.

Neil was laughing. Laughing so hard he had to brace his arm against a light post.

“I hate both of you,” I muttered, face burning.

Arielle only cackled. “You love us.”

“No, I tolerate you. Barely.”

“Anyway,” she went on, “you’re off the hook for work today. I had it cleared. Grandpa's on the way to pick you up. He wants a proper grandpa-granddaughter outing out of you, and before you even think about arguing, no, you’re not allowed to say no. He'll scoop you up after classes.”

I opened my mouth.

“Nope,” she said, cutting me off. “Don’t make me find you and throw you into the car myself. He’s already got a whole agenda planned. So deal. He's been waiting for this for ages. It's poor form to deny an old man simply pleasures.”

The line went dead.

Neil was grinning at me like a devil with dimples. How had I never noticed that he had dimples?

“Do you even get a say in your own schedule anymore?”

“I think my entire life is just a group chat with no exit button.”

“I’m going to start texting Arielle to coordinate our dates,” he teased.

“Don’t you dare.”

“You’re right. I’ll ask your grandpa directly next time. Maybe he’ll reserve me a time slot.”

I swatted at him and laughed, leaning out of my reach.

Tyler

Contrary to popular belief about how the education system worked, including my own father's understanding of how the education system worked, the fact that I had already paid for my years tuition meant that I would be in school. And because they didn't press for a restraining order, I could be on campus, and I would be until I was done with my degree.

Given that I no longer had a job as a gamma, I really did need to finish my degree. And now that I didn't have so much taking up my time, I could focus on my studies more. I wasn't a slacker, and I wasn't failing anything, but maybe, just maybe, living only one life, I might even nudge my GPA up a little. I wasn't sure how my job prospects would go, considering everything with Vivian and my job, but maybe if I went in to work for the Higher Lunar Council they wouldn't hold it against me. It would be hard, but I was already heading onto that path and so few people were able to get into the training programs.

After everything had come out, I expected my name to be smeared. My name was almost mud on campus, my parents were barely talking to me, and the one person who mattered in all of this had slapped me across the face and walked away.

I needed something to focus on, so I had been more or less living on campus, using the gym to shower, sleeping in the library. The ankle monitor I wore was hidden beneath my pant but it felt like a dead weight reminding me of everything. I was still on probation pending the court’s final ruling, but I could move around within Brightclaw. No travel restrictions, no curfew, just people watching me.

I didn't care.

It didn't matter if I couldn't earn Maya's trust again.

Then, this man approached me, and every instinct I had went on high alert.

I hadn’t even heard him approach.

“Tyler, right? Former gamma of Brightclaw?”

I worked my jaw and turned to find a man watching me from the end of the hallway.

Dark suit. Dark hair with streaks of gray. Sharp blue eyes like glaciers in a storm. He looked to be about Dominic's age, but he didn't wear it nearly as well. And there was something… off about him, though I couldn’t put my finger on it. Not yet.

“Yes?” I said, guarded.

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve been meaning to speak with you. You’re a hard man to find when you’re not in custody.”

I bristled. “And you are?”

He stepped forward, extending a hand.

“Andrew. I’m Dominic’s younger brother.”

My eyebrows lifted. So this was the infamous sibling I'd heard enough about. He'd disappeared after Hazel died. No one really brought him up if they didn't have to, but I'd gleaned enough over the years. Andrew was trouble. And now he was here. Smiling at me like we were old friends.

Nope. I glanced at his hand but didn't take it.

“What do you want?” I asked warily.

“I want to know what you’d do to fix your life,” Andrew said plainly. “From what I’ve heard, you were set to marry a girl with wealth, status, and ties to a major packs… And that girl is the reason you’re in trouble now.”

My jaw clenched. “That’s not entirely true—”

“But it’s not entirely untrue, either, now is it?” He smirked. “Dominic's daughter ruined your engagement, your ex-fiance exposed your affair, and dragged you into court. Whether you deserved it or not, your life took a hit.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you getting at?”

He gave me a calculating smile.

“I’m offering you an opportunity. A reset. I’ll pay your tuition in full until the end of your program—no strings. And in exchange, I might call on you for a few favors in the near future.”

“Favors?” I echoed.

My skin prickled.

“What kind of favors?”

He shrugged, too casual.

“Just… assistance. A little information here. A little help there. I’ll never ask you to do anything you can’t stomach. And if you ever want out, you just say the word.”

It sounded clean. Too clean.

He didn’t blink.

And that’s when I realized what felt off about him.

It was the same thing I’d sensed in Vivian when my bond with Maya had begun to grow and her compulsion's hold on me started to weaken. It was the same hollowness. The same tightly wound thread of chaos under a charming smile. Like he was wearing his skin like a mask, and if you peeled it back, you’d see something dark and rotting underneath.

There was no doubt about it. After sleeping next to it for months, under its thumb for years, I knew that look.

“Thanks for the offer," I said. "But I'm not interested in make any more deals with devils."

Andrew nodded once. “Don't be so quick to say no. Think on it."

"I don't need to," I said and turned.

"The world does cheer a decisive man." His gaze grew cold. "But not a foolish one."

I thought of Maya and shook my head.

"I am in the position I am in partly because of my ambition. It's time I let something else fuel my decisions."

I walked off like he hadn’t just offered me the keys to hell, dread pooling in my stomach.

Because I knew, somehow, that it wasn't as simple as saying no.