Chapter 67
Dominic POV
I saw her run.
One second I could barely see Ellie through the crowd as my lips left Vivian’s neck. She was just standing there- furious, shaking-and the next she was gone, shoving through the crowd like the lawn was on fire beneath her feet.
My chest tightened.
Dammit.
I didn’t think. I just moved, pushing past a group of first-years, needing to catch up, to explain-hell, I didn’t even know what I was going to say. Just that the bite-mark meant nothing. That she shouldn’t look at me the way she just had. That-
A hand clamped around my arm.
I whipped around, already snarling, and found Lucas staring at me like I was the most predictable disappointment he’d ever seen.
“You’ve done enough damage,” he said flatly.
I tore my arm free. “This is none of your business.”
I stepped into his space. “Why do you even care? You never stick your nose anywhere except the next pretty girl’s pants.’
Lucas let out a humorless laugh, eyes narrowing. “Funny coming from you.”
I felt my jaw tense, heat rising under my skin.
He didn’t back away.
“Ellie’s different now,” he said, voice suddenly low. “She’s changing. And you-”
He jabbed a finger at me.
“-you don’t get to want someone to go back to the version of themselves that was convenient for you. Especially when you’re the one who benefitted from it.”
A growl scraped up my throat before I could stop it.
“You have no idea how I feel,” I snapped. “Or what I think.”
Lucas’s posture shifted, shoulders squaring, like he was one second from shifting right there on the damn lawn.
“Then enlighten me,” he said quietly. “Because from where I’m standing? You’re pissed she’s finally choosing something other than you.”
My hands curled into fists.
“Back. Off.”
Each word was a warning.
For a moment, neither of us moved, two wolves on the edge of tearing out each other’s throats, the crowd and the
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sunlight and the entire Academy fading around us.
Then I turned away with a sharp breath, the sound almost a snarl.
Nothing about this felt like a win, not one that was worth a fight.
Yet.
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Ellie POV
Then Vivian walked in without waiting.
“Mom and Dad told me to check on you,” she said, leaning on my doorframe like she owned the place. “You need to stop acting so weird.”
I blinked. “Nice to see you too.”
She eyed my notes. “You’ve locked yourself in here for days. It’s dramatic. And honestly? If you wanted attention, there were easier ways than flunking out.”
Heat flared in my chest. “I don’t care what anyone thinks, I could loose everything. I’m doing this for me.”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “You can ‘focus on yourself’ without parading around in those low-cut shirts.”
I gaped. “Are you serious? Really?”
“I mean, yeah,” she said lazily. “You dress like you’re begging someone to look at you.”
My face burned. “You’re so fake. Sweet to everyone else, but a demon the minute we’re alone. And you wear lower shirts than I do!”
She shrugged. “Yeah, because I can pull it off. You just look desperate.” Then, with a cruel little tilt of her head: “ Like at the Alpha Ball-throwing yourself at Dominic. And he still said no. Pathetic.”
Something in me snapped. “How did you know about that?”
Vivian didn’t hesitate. “Saw it through a window. I was looking for Dominic. You were practically glued to him.”
I stared, stomach churning. I didn’t believe her, not completely.
She waved a hand like brushing away lint. “Dominic belongs with me. Everyone knows it. I’m not letting you humiliate yourself again.”
“Oh trust me,” I shot back, “the last thing I want is Dominic.”
Her smile sharpened. “Good. Because he’s mine.”
She turned to leave, pausing in the doorway just long enough to twist the knife.
“And Ellie? Maybe look in the mirror. You’re starting to look… unstable.”
The door clicked shut.
Silence dropped like a weight.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
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I sank back into my chair slowly, every muscle buzzing with leftover adrenaline and suspicion. Something about her story was off.
But I couldn’t think about that right now.
looked down at my scattered notes, trying to steady my breathing.
The midterm was coming, Karina wanted me gone, And Vivian was… Vivian.
A bit of time had passed, and I didn’t hear her at first.
I was too deep into the rhythm of my pen, the frantic scratch-scratch-scratch across the page, the only thing keeping my mind from collapsing in on itself.
But then-soft, careful-“Ellie? Sweetheart… can I come in?”
My mother’s voice.
My chest tightened, and the door creaked open anyway.
She stepped inside like my room was a church she wasn’t sure she was allowed to enter. The worry in her face was so naked, it almost made me look away.
Almost.
“You’ve barely eaten,” she said quietly. “Barely slept. You haven’t talked to dad, or Vivian, or…” Her voice thinned. “Or me.”
I kept my eyes glued to my notes.
“I’m studying,” I muttered.
“You’re…I’m worried love,” she corrected, and her voice shook just a little. “And I don’t know how to reach you. Ellie… you seem like a different person lately. Like someone flipped a switch inside you overnight. Studying so hard I haven’t seen you eat.”
She meant it kindly.
It felt like a knife.
Because she was right. I am a different person. One who has lived an entire lifetime she doesn’t remember past her own age. One who has died.
She moved to sit on the edge of my bed, her hands wringing together like she was the child now. “Please talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. Tell me how to help.”
Something inside me cracked.
“You can’t help.” The words burst out sharper than I meant. “You could never understand.”
She blinked, stunned. “Ellie-”
“I’m not the same girl anymore, not the Ellie you knew,” I whispered fiercely. “I’m not.”
How could she understand seeing your own blood spill onto stone floors? How could she understand waking up with decades of memories and grief and love crushed inside a girl’s small, mortal body?
How could she understand the terror of reliving it all?
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My mother reached for me-slow, careful, trembling. “Honey, whatever this is, let me carry some of it. Please.”
Gods, something in me wanted to collapse into her arms. But the other part, the tired and frightened part lashed out instead.
“Just go,” I snapped. “If you can’t accept who I am now, then get used to not recognizing your own daughter.”
The world seemed to freeze.
Her eyes widened with a kind of grief that wasn’t loud. Then, barely, a lift of her hand.
Nearly a slap but, not even fully raised. Just a reflex of hurt.
But the sight of it-
It made my breath catch.
She realized what she’d done a heartbeat later and dropped her hand as though it had burned her skin.
“Oh, Ellie…” Her voice splintered into pieces. “I just… I miss you.”
She blinked hard, fighting tears.
“I miss the little girl who’d crawl into my lap and talk about her day. Now I’m the one crawling to you, begging for scraps of the child I used to know-and you don’t want me.” Her lip trembled. “I don’t even think you like me anymore.”
Something inside my ribs twisted until it hurt to breathe.
She stepped back toward the door, swallowing all those tears like they were poison.
“Good luck on your studies,” she whispered.
She left.
The door closed.
Silence dropped like a stone in my throat.
I sat perfectly still until my vision blurred. One tear escaped before I could stop it, sliding down my cheek.
In my past life, she had fought for me-against Vivian, against the pack. She had been arrested for defending me.
And here I was…
Hurting her without even meaning to.
“I’ll apologize,” I whispered to the empty room. “Soon. Just… not now. I can’t fall apart right now.”
I wiped my face roughly, shoved the crack in my chest deeper where it couldn’t reach my hands, and bent back over my papers.
If I kept moving, maybe the guilt wouldn’t catch me.
Maybe the memories would stop bleeding into this life.
Maybe I could keep my heart from crumbling a second time.
Pen trembling, I forced myself to write.
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