The atmosphere in the lecture hall was suffocating. Jason sat like a statue, his jaw tight. I am a coward, he thought, the words a repeating bruise in his mind. I claim to want her, yet I stay silent while she drowns in the wake of my choices.
Where is she?" the thought echoed like a heartbeat in his mind. "Now the silence is her answer. I am a monster who craves the light of a star I have no right to touch."
Rouna slumped in her seat, her eyes clouded. "Elisa..." she whispered, the name a fragile prayer.
Queen leaned back, a jagged smirk crossing her face. "Look at that," she drawled, her voice cutting through the quiet. "The local tragedy just got a little more pathetic. Does the smell of failure come standard, or did you have to work for it?"
Rouna didn't look up. "Enough, Queen. Leave her name out of your mouth."
Queen laughed, a sharp, cold sound. "A pity party? How touching."
Elisabeth stared at Queen and didn't alter a word , her presence a ghost of the girl she used to be. She moved to her seat without a glance toward Jason. Sensing the tremors in her hands, Ray shifted closer, his hand covering hers in a quiet, steadying gesture of support.
From the shadows of the back row, Jude watched them, his heart a heavy weight in his chest. I've loved her in silence for years, he realized, the pining sharper than ever. I've stood by while others broke her, waiting for a chance I'm too afraid to take.
"Class," Miss M announced, "we have a transfer student. Penny, introduce yourself."
Penny stepped forward with a gait that was far too predatory for a student. She scanned the room, her eyes lingering on Elisabeth with a dark, hungry curiosity. "I'm Penny," she drawled. "A Night-walker. And I have a feeling I'm going to love it here."
"Nobody cares, Penny," Jason growled, his wolf senses screaming that something was deeply wrong.
As Penny passed his desk, she leaned down, her voice a cold silk. "Watch your tone, wolf. And watch your little Elisabeth... she looks so deliciously breakable, Accidents happen so easily here."
Jason slammed his palms onto the desk, the wood groaning. "If you touch her, you're dead!"
The room went cold. Miss M pointed a trembling finger at the door. "Detention. Now.", but as he left, his hand lingered on Elisabeth's shoulder—a desperate, silent apology she wasn't ready to hear.
In the girls' locker room, the atmosphere was fractured. Queen was preoccupied with her own reflection, while June rolled her eyes at the vanity.
Penny staged a stumble, falling toward Elisabeth. "Oh! How clumsy of me."
"Are you alright?" Elisabeth reached out, her natural kindness overriding her intuition.
Penny smiled, a look that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Oh, I'll be just fine. Thank you, Elisabeth."
Once Penny drifted away.
In the locker room, Elisabeth stood alone, trying to blink back tears. She heard footsteps and turned to see Rouna approaching.
"Rouna... thank God," Elisabeth whispered. "I feel like I'm losing my mind."
But it wasn't Rouna. It was Penny, who had meticulously shifted her features to mirror Elisabeth's best friend.
"You're losing more than that," Penny pretending to Rouna said, her voice dripping with a cruelty the real Rouna could never possess. , grabbed Elisabeth's arm. "Stay away from penny . She's poison, Elisa.""I'm sick of your constant drama, Elisabeth. You're a drain on everyone. No wonder your mother hits you ,Who could actually stand someone as pathetic as you?"
The words felt like a physical blade to Elisabeth's throat. Her world tilted. The one person she trusted most had just turned her deepest trauma into a weapon.
"Stop it, Rouna!" Elisabeth snapped, pulling away. "You're acting like a jailer. I'm not a child, and I'm tired of you hovering over me like you own my life."
Fake Rouna spoke "I'm trying to protect you stop being a brat!
"From what? From having friends? Or are you just obsessed with keeping me miserable?" Fake rouna merely smirked a cold expression, The world seemed to stop. Elisabeth's face went bloodless. The hurt in her eyes was deeper than any physical blow.
"Elisabeth whispered, her voice dead. "Never speak to me again."
At the pool, the heat was stifling. Penny watched from the shadows, her internal monologue a dark hunger. "The shapeshifter's toll is high. I need blood. I'll break the girl, and then I'll watch the wolf turn into the monster the world fears."
By the time they reached the pool, Elisabeth was a hollow shell. The real Rouna rushed toward her, sensing something was wrong. "Elisa, wait!"
"Get away from me!" Elisabeth screamed, backing away in horror. "Don't you ever touch me again!"
Ray tried to step in, his voice urgent. "Elisabeth, talk to us! What's happening?"
Jude stood paralyzed, his chest aching as he watched her fall apart. I should hold her, he thought. I should tell her she's safe with me. But the words remained locked in his throat.
"Elisabeth, please. You know the water isn't safe for you."
"If I were drowning," Elisabeth said, staring straight ahead, "I wouldn't want your hand to be the one that saves me."
In a blur of motion, Penny brushed past. A subtle shove, a lost footing, and Elisabeth was plummeting toward the deep end.
In detention, Jason didn't wait for permission. He felt the snap of her terror through the bond he shouldn't have and ran. He burst through the pool doors and dived, the world turning a silent, biting blue as he reached for her.
I would die to keep you breathing, he thought, pulling her to his chest.
He hauled her onto the tile, his hands shaking as he pressed his ear to her chest. "Elisabeth! Breathe! Dammit, Elisa, wake up!"
She coughed, water lunging from her lungs as she gasped for air. Jude rushed forward, pulling her into a fierce, protective embrace.
Maya could only feel this sharp pain, why is he suddenly caring toward Elisabeth she spoke in her mind.
Elisabeth looked up at Jason, searching for a sign—any sign—that he cared.
But Jason saw Penny standing in the corner, her eyes promising a bloodbath if he showed a single spark of affection. To save her life, he had to destroy her heart.
Rouna approached him, her eyes red from crying. "Jason, what is wrong with"
"Save it," Jason spat, his voice turning into jagged ice. He looked down at Elisabeth, who was shivering in Jude's arms. He had to save her, even if it meant making her hate him.
Jason Looked at Elisabeth with eyes of ice
"And you... I only saved you because I didn't want the paperwork of a corpse. I hate you, Elisabeth. You're a burden to this school and a burden to me. Do us all a favor and stay away."
He turned and walked away into the shadows, his heart screaming a confession of love that would now remain a forbidden secret forever.