TOMORROW, I would ask my mother the truth.
But tonight? I stare at the full moon one more time as we drive away, and I swear it stares back.
And for the first time in a very, very long time…
I don’t feel alone.
Chapter 10
Bolton
By Monday morning, everyone knows.
I feel it the second I walk into the hallway. It’s not just the usual high school static—that low buzz of gossip and hormones and barely concealed judgment. No. This is different. Sharper. Like the scent of ozone before lightning hits. People move aside when I pass—but it’s not respect, not today. It’s wariness. Like I’ve been marked with something dangerous.
And maybe I have.
Not because Maya shifted—she didn’t. But because Cassie saw just enough to feel threatened. And Cassie doesn’t do idle.
She does calculated.
Dax joins me by the vending machine like it’s any other morning and we’re not standing in the middle of a powder keg.
“You really just gonna stand here like this is a normal day?” he says, eyeing my granola bar like it might detonate. “Because Friday night didn’t exactly scream ‘low-key social gathering.’”
“She handled herself,” I mutter, jabbing the button harder than necessary. The machine groans and coughs out something resembling breakfast.
“She did,” Dax agrees. “But that doesn’t mean Cassie’s letting it go. You know that, right? She’s already circling like she smells blood in the water.”
“She won’t do anything yet,” I say. But the words sound too thin, even to me.
Dax gives me a look. “She’s been gearing up for Luna since we were ten. You bring someone new into the circle—someone the Alpha watches like a prophecy—and you think she’s just gonna sit tight and journal about it?”
I rip open the granola bar and take a bite I don’t want, mostly so I don’t say something I’ll regret in front of the freshmen swarming around like they can sense the tension even without understanding it.
“She won’t touch her.”
Dax arches an eyebrow and snorts. “You keep saying that like you can control Cassie just by glaring at her hard enough.”
“I don’t need to glare,” I mutter. “Cassie knows not to cross the line.”
“Does she?” He takes a slow sip from his energy drink, shaking his head. “Because from where I’m standing, she’s already halfway over it. She’s been talking to some of the kids, Bolton. Stirring up ideas. Saying Maya’s dangerous. That she's untested, unstable.”
I narrow my eyes. “So now Maya’s the threat?”
“She didn’t say it outright,” Dax adds quickly. “But she doesn’t have to. Cassie’s queen of plausible deniability. All she has to do is hint that Maya’s a liability and wait for the pressure to build.”
I press a hand to the back of my neck, trying to tamp down the heat rising there.
“She’s not a liability,” I grit out. “She’s just figuring things out.”
Dax holds up a hand. “I know that. But some of these other wolves? The ones who still think pure blood equals pure leadership? They’re looking for a reason not to trust her. A challenge is the easiest excuse.”
My jaw tightens. “Cassie wouldn’t dare. Not in public. Not without a reason.”
Dax leans in, dropping his voice. “You gave her a reason, man. You picked a side. Cassie’s been training her whole life for Luna. You marked Maya with your presence Friday night. You think she’s gonna stand by while someone else steps into a role she’s been grooming herself for since she could walk?”
I don’t answer right away. Because I hear the truth in every word.
