Chapter 49
Ellie POV
The dummy’s eyes flickered. It was dying.
Gasps echoed. And a few people snickered.
“Told you. She wouldn’t last.”
“Some ‘prodigy,’ huh? She really is just some wanna be luna with a mask.”
But instead of panicking, something in me was turning gears.
I hadn’t messed up.
My stitching was clean. My pressure control was perfect. Vitals had stabilized before they spiked off the charts.
There was no logical reason for this thing to “die.”
Which meant there was only one explanation. One I was used to with the about of enemies I seemed to have.
Sabotage.
My gaze flicked across the room just in time to catch a cluster of girls near the back, all glossy lips and smug smirks, giggling behind their hands.
Vivian’s followers. I’d seen them hanging out. She’d really begun rubbing elbows recently for her Luna role, and too many people liked her more for it.
One of them – Tessa, I think – was missing a nail. The acrylic tip was gone, leaving a raw, uneven edge she kept tucking out of sight.
I narrowed my eyes. Unlike those girls to go around for long without a nail. Unless she lost it recently.
“Well,” the instructor said. “You tried but-”
I stepped backward just enough to spot the janitorial cart parked near the wall, everyone watching curioulsly.
“Ellie?” He said.
A screwdriver poked out of the tool bag.
Perfect.
Without hesitation, I grabbed it.
“Miss Ellie?” the instructor barked, again. “What are you-
I ignored him.
I marched straight to the dummy, planted my hands on its mechanical shoulder, and shoved it back down onto the table. Its joints whirred in protest, but I locked my weight over it and flipped the chest panel open.
Several students gasped.
“Ellie, what are you doing?” someone hissed.
I didn’t look up. Because there, lodged exactly where it shouldn’t be, short-circuiting the sensor array…
115
Was a bright pink acrylic nail.
+25 Bonus
“Well, would you look at that,” I said coolly.
I reached in, twisted a loose screw back into place, secured the panel with two quick turns of the screwdriver, and stepped aside as the dummy instantly powered down and rebooted.
The vitals stabilized. The alarm went silent.
The entire class was frozen. Completely silent.
I turned to the instructor and handed him the screwdriver.
“Faulty dummy,” I said simply. “Someone’s fake nail got accidentally jammed in the bottom.”
Then I slowly placed the neon pink acrylic nail into his palm.
Tessa missing a nail and looking like she’d swallowed a lemon – immediately grabbed her bag, cheeks flaming.
A few students snorted.
Lucas would’ve clapped if he were here.
The instructor stared at the nail, then at me, expression shifting from confusion… to shock… to a flicker of respect he tried desperately to hide.
“Well,” he said, clearing his throat, “that… explains the malfunction.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Should I continue the stitch?”
He blinked, thrown off-balance. “Yes. Yes, Miss Starling. Carry on.”
And I did with half the room watching in stunned, silent disbelief.
“Yes sir.” I smiled. “Gladly.”
I was humming.
Actually humming.
Which should’ve been my first warning that the universe was absolutely planning to ruin my day.
Freshly showered, hair still damp at the ends, clothes soft and warm from the dorm dryer-I felt… good. Light. Almost floaty. The kind of good that should have been illegal for someone with my life.
The lavatories here were the definition of luxury. Heated tiles, pre-stocked shampoos, rows of herbal soaps lined up like tiny soldiers. After scrubbing fake blood off my arms and neck for the third time today, I’d practically melted under that water.
All my classes had gone well, shockingly well.
My sutures had been precise.
My emergency aid instructor had actually nodded at me with something that resembled impressed approval.
And I’d gotten through combat drills without elbowing a classmate.
2/5
+25 Bonus
For the first time in weeks, I let myself think:
Maybe things are finally changing.
Maybe I was carving out something new, something real, outside of Dominic and Vivian and the mess I’d left behind in the Management wing.
I walked with a small smile, humming again because it felt safe to. My steps were lighter, smoother. I didn’t feel like I was bracing for impact anymore.
Then I rounded a corner.
And slammed straight into karma.
The collision jolted me backward. My hand flew to my bag, steadying it before it slipped. When I looked up, my stomach dropped through the floor.
A woman in a sleek, black gown stared down at me like I’d crawled out of the vents. Her lips were painted a sharp, poisonous red. A matching sun hat cast a long shadow over half her face, but it didn’t hide the disdain in her eyes.
Beside her stood a tall man with the same icy stare I’d once admired in someone else.
Dominic’s parents.
Why they were here, here of all places, I hadn’t a clue. But my good mood withered on contact.
“Oh,” his mother said, her smile tightening. “I remember you. Ellie, wasn’t it? Our son’s little errand girl.”
Like the word tasted bitter in her mouth, but she wasn’t done.
“How sweet,” she cooed, tilting her head. “We heard all about your little crush on our boy.”
Her husband snorted, amused. “You’re still lingering around here? I suppose every campus needs its… charity
cases.”
My fingers curled around the strap of my bag so hard the leather creaked. These…were never kind people. Even when I was a suck up.
Old memories slammed into me-
Her wine spilled “accidentally” down the front of my wedding dress.
Silent dinners where no one acknowledged my existence.
Being stranded after a gala because they’d simply… left.
Years of trying-so stupidly trying to earn even a sliver of approval.
My throat tightened, but I swallowed it back.
I straightened, brushed off my sweater, and forced my expression into something calm. Cold.
I didn’t owe them even a twitch of emotion, besides. None of that had happened yet. And it never would.
Footsteps echoed behind them, sharp and familiar, and Dominic appeared from the far end of the hall. Shoulders squared. Brows furrowed. He looked… tense. Tired. He was looking more like that these days.
But the moment he saw us-saw me-his whole body stiffened.
3/5
And then he heard what his father said.
+25 Bonus
Dominic’s jaw tightened instantly. His eyes flicked from his parents… to me… then back at them again. I could practically see his wolf bristle under his skin.
His father didn’t notice-or didn’t care.
“Well, look who finally caught up,” His father said with a chuckle that didn’t match his glare. “You didn’t tell us she was attending the Healer Academy. Is this some phase or another charity project?”
Dominic’s expression soured. “Dad. Stop.”
His mother placed a manicured hand on her husband’s arm, sighing dramatically. “Honestly, Dominic, when were you going to let her down gently. She was always beneath you, even if you’re fated. You never should’ve encouraged her… fantasies.” Her gaze slid over me like I was something tracked in on a shoe. “You’ve grown up. She just hasn’t.”
My stomach twisted, but I kept my spine straight.
Dominic rubbed his forehead annoyed, embarrassed, and conflicted. “Mom, can you not do this here? We were supposed to meet at the-”
“Oh, so now we’re the problem?” she huffed. “We’re only trying to protect your image. You’re the future Alpha, darling. You shouldn’t be associated with-”
“Enough,” Dominic snapped.
His tone cracked through the hallway like a whip. Even I flinched.
His mother’s lips parted in offended shock.
His father narrowed his eyes, stepping closer. “You watch your tone, boy. We’re speaking the truth, and you know it. That girl,” he jabbed a finger toward me without even looking at me, “is going to drag you down with her little rebellion. She embarrassed you at the seminar-”
A muscle jumped in Dominic’s jaw. “Dad. I am handling it. She is not involved. Just drop it and lets get this conference over with.”
It was the closest thing to defending me I’d ever heard from him. Pity.
His mother scoffed, folding her arms. “We’re merely pointing out reality. She was always needy, always chasing after you -”
I nearly rolled my eyes. How did I put up with this for so long?
Dominic pinched the bridge of his nose, voice low and strained. “Can you both please stop talking about her like she’s not standing right there?”
His father barked a humorless laugh. “And why should we? It’s not like her presence was ever worth acknowledging.”
Dominic said nothing.
He never did.
Something inside me snapped cleanly into place.
I exhaled a slow breath, completely done.
4/5
+25 Ronus
“Don’t worry,” I said quietly. “You won’t have to ‘not’ acknowledge my presence again.”
Then I stepped past all three of them, his parents stiff with superiority, Dominic stiff with guilt. And I walked away without looking back.
I gave no explanations. No apologies. No backward glance. And for Alpha’s, the dismissal was more of an insult then words.
Behind me, I heard his mother sputter, like she couldn’t believe I’d dared walk away from her.
“Well,” his father growled. “Who does she think she is-”
“Dad,” Dominic growled. “Conference. Now.”
And I couldn’t have cared less whatever drama they had, because it felt like closure to pain I was once destined to feel.
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