Chapter 4

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

In the video, Asher was smiling. The way he looked at Serena was open, undisguised affection.

He had never looked at me that way.

Not once in all three years at Mooncrest Academy.

The video froze on Serena leaning closer to him, her lips slightly parted.

Then Serena updated the school social feed. She posted a photo of her full-scholarship award letter from Lunar Academy in Eastshore, followed by a photo of her and Asher at the party.

The caption read: The perfect ending to my years at wolf academy. A full scholarship to Lunar Academy, and someone who loves me.

The comments from mutual friends stung my eyes.

"So jealous. Future Alpha boyfriend and genius she-wolf?"

"This must be what it looks like to be the Moon Goddess's favorite girl!"

Serena replied with a heart. Under that, someone else wrote, "Certain people must be dying of rage right now."

"That little shadow? Yeah. We're talking about you, Elena."

I locked my phone and fell back onto the cheap mattress. There were water stains on the ceiling, and the fluorescent light hurt my eyes.

I thought of all the years I had worked myself to the bone for that Lunar Academy scholarship in Eastshore. Giving up the Moon Crown dance team tryouts. Studying Alpha succession courses until three in the morning. No weekends. More than a dozen folders packed with rune notes.

I had been only one step away from that dream.

Only one step away from going to the same city as him.

His city.

He did not know that when I filled out my college applications, every school I chose was in Eastshore. Because he was going there. Because he said he loved the East Coast and Eastshore's snow.

So I sent every application there.

And now?

I sat up, picked up my phone, and logged into the college admissions portal.

Then I rejected Lunar Academy's Eastshore offer and accepted another school.

Westcliff Academy.

A werewolf college on the California coast.

He hated summer. He had always said he could not stand the West Coast sun. But in that moment, Westcliff's palm trees, ocean breeze, and sunlight sounded perfect.

The West Coast.

The farther from him, the better.

I tapped confirm, and a green enrollment confirmation page popped up.

I turned off my phone and picked up the box of mac and cheese. It had already gone cold. I dumped it into the trash.

Cheddar.

He knew perfectly well that I hated cheddar, that even the smell made me nauseous.

But he did not remember.

Just like he knew perfectly well I had always been waiting for him, yet he had never truly walked toward me.

The next day, I went back to Mooncrest Academy to clear out my locker and pick up my final paperwork.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, every eye landed on me. Contempt, mockery, malice. It nearly drowned me.

"Going to a motel on graduation night? That's disgusting."

"Who?"

"Who else? That little shadow. Someone got video."

I stopped.

Serena stood by a row of lockers, surrounded by girls from the Moon Crown dance team.

She held up her phone and was playing a video. In it, I was in last night's motel hallway, soaked from head to toe, holding my motel key card.

Serena covered her mouth and laughed, every word poisoned. "Does this count as leaving in disgrace?"

Whispers spread around us. Their stares cut like knives.

I walked over and stood in front of her. "Delete it."

"Why should I?" She tilted her head, all innocence. "You went to that sketchy motel alone. That's not my fault."

"You're spreading lies."

"Am I?" She turned to Asher. "Asher, tell us. Wasn't she fooling around with someone last night?"

Asher stood nearby with a graduation yearbook in his hand. He looked at the video on her phone, then at me.

"Asher." My voice shook. "Tell her. Tell her why I was there last night."

He knew.

He knew everything.

Even if he no longer cared about me, even if eighteen years of growing up in the same pack meant nothing to him, he could at least tell the truth.

Right?

He looked into my eyes. His tone was casual, almost cruel.

"People who hate you will always hate you."

I froze. "What?"

He said, "If you didn't do anything wrong, what are you afraid of?"