Chapter 5 SECRET OUT

CHAPTER FIVE | SECRET OUT

ASPEN

The world faded around me when Alpha Darius' eyes landed on me. I shuffled backward, breath hitched and uneven. I wanted to hide, to disappear from his sight for the rest of my life, but my legs wouldn’t move. I felt trapped in the limelight.

“You.” He pointed directly at me, shattering any courage I had left. “Come here.”

I was rooted in place, eyes wide as I looked around the cafeteria. Faces blurred into bloody, sneering ghosts, pointing at me, spitting obscenities, swearing that I killed them.

I shut my eyes tightly, shaking my head, telling myself it wasn’t real, that it was all in my head. But when I opened my eyes again, nothing went back to normal. The students’ faces had morphed into something far worse.

Adrian’s face stared back at me, accusing and broken. His bloodied mouth opened, calling me a murderer. His wails haunted me, his cries for help shredded my soul. His face, battered, lifeless, and full of sorrow, was the death of me.

“No! No! No!” I screamed, gripping my head, trying to silence the voices. But the harder I tried, the louder they grew.

“I didn’t kill him… I didn’t kill them.” The words fell out in a whisper meant for myself alone, but each passing second made my voice rise louder, clearer.

If anyone heard me, my secret would be out, if it wasn’t already. I needed to get out, but my legs refused to move, failing me when I needed them most.

My screams grew louder, my broken words more coherent, and I knew there was no escaping this. Then, just as I thought it was over, a hand touched my shoulder.

Waves of electric warmth jolted through me. My eyes snapped open with a gasp, dragging me back to reality.

Everyone was staring, but not in condemnation. They stared in confusion and disgust.

“I’m so sorry about my roommate,” Ronan’s voice cut through the tense silence. “Whenever his rogue wolf tries to control him, he fights it and ends up like this. I’ll take him back to the dorm.”

He gripped my hand, guiding me toward the door as dozens of eyes followed us.

Before the door closed behind us, Alpha Darius’ voice echoed again. “Aspen Morgan is around the boy’s height. Keep watch for her. My gut tells me she’ll show up soon. She’s searching for something.”

Ronan dragged me silently through the hall. He didn’t ask questions—he didn’t need to. When his gaze had met mine after the announcement, I’d seen it in his eyes. He knew.

In the dorm, he helped me sit on the bed. I exhaled shakily, pretending to be calm even as my heart shattered under the weight of everything.

Then I broke. For Adrian. For myself. For Devenity—the last flicker of hope I had left.

“I should have let them kill me,” I whispered between sobs, clutching my chest as pain ripped through it. “If I did, she would still be alive.”

The guilt clawed at me until I could barely breathe.

Ronan caught my hands before I could hurt myself. He didn’t speak, he just held me while I shattered in his arms.

I knew he had questions, but he stayed silent. And I… I was done hiding.

“Can you kill me?” My voice cracked. “Can you kill me too, like you killed him?”

His brows furrowed in confusion. But I wasn’t fooled. I’d heard his voice that night. I was sure of it.

“Stop pretending,” I snapped, jabbing a finger against his chest, rage flooding my veins. “I heard you. I know you were there the night Adrian died. It was your voice. You killed him.”

“I didn’t kill him,” he said, calm but tense. “I had nothing to do with his death. I only found him after it happened. He was my roommate.”

His words didn’t ease the ache—they only deepened it. But as much as I hated it, I felt his emotions. He wasn’t lying. I didn't know what to believe anymore.

“And I don’t believe you killed Alpha Darius’ children either,” he continued. “Even with that footage. There must be an explanation.”

My mind froze. The image of me standing over Devenity’s corpse replayed in my head. The cruel smirk on my face, the blood.

“How did they even get that picture?” I asked, my pulse quickening. “I was already on my way to Ever West when that happened.”

“It might be photoshopped,” he offered.

“Maybe,” I murmured, though doubt gnawed at me. The image looked too real.

“I can find out if it’s edited,” he added. “If I get the original photo.”

I nodded, silently grateful.

“I don’t know what you were to Adrian,” he said, his tone softening. “But I can tell you cared deeply. I’ll help you find out who killed him. I can’t accept you as my mate, I’m betrothed to Rachel, but take this as me trying to make up for it. Just… keep this between us. No one can know, not even your closest relative.”

I parted my lips to reply but froze.

There was movement by the door.

Someone had heard us.