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Chapter 161
~Solstice’s POV~
Students were already rising from their seats, bags slung over their shoulders, half-hearted chatter filling the lecture hall like smoke after a fire.
I didn’t move right away.
I stayed seated at the back, fingers clenched around my notebook as I had my eyes fixed on the floor with one single thought and naem racing through my mind.
Gods.
Valerie.
The scene from earlier—Dristan kissing her like she belonged to him, Kai pulling her in right after—kept replaying in my head. The way she froze. The way people stared. The things they whispered.
I wanted to go in and talk back to them but she would complain it was out of character for the persona I was keeping in school.
But still, I hated that they called her names and I had already thought of a good revenge plan to carry out on those losers.
BrielleTitaniaEstelleWannabe Mavis and lots more.
Still they were secondary or tertiary in the list of my problems because if even for a second, a second of that had been recorded...
It would be disastrous if word went out.
I pulled out my phone and thumbed through encrypted apps, opening a chat window under a hidden contact.
Me:We might have a leak. Anything filmed at Training Combat—take it down. Now. Scrub the source. I don’t care how you do it.
I watched the screen, tension coiling in my gut before I hit send to a friend of mine.
My father—gods help me—would have a field day if this footage slipped out of PSA’s closed network.
Forget Valerie’s mission. She’d be dragged home by force or worse—labelled compromised.
"Don’t let him find out. Not yet," I mentally chanted.
A message pinged back.
Contact:Already on it. But it’s spreading fast. We can’t contain the rumors.
I muttered a low curse, then pocketed my phone just as the rest of the class began to clear out. I stood, adjusting my jacket and pulling my expression into one of calmness, detached like dad taught me.
It didn’t last long after I had stepped out of class when my name rang out from someone’s lips.
"Silver!"
I turned to see Astraea, Emerald, and Isla weaving through the hallway crowd toward me. Their faces were flushed with curiosity and something a little too eager.
Astraea’s eyes sparkled like gossip was her pre-workout as she called out my name once more.
"Silver here."
"Well?" she said before she even reached me, looping her arm through mine like we were best friends. "Was that real? Please tell me it was staged. Like a prank or... I don’t know, an early performance for the Spring Festival?"
Emerald gave her a look. "You really think six Alpha Heirs would risk their reputations for a performance?"
I tilted my head. "You were there, weren’t you?"
"We were," Astraea said quickly. "Well, Isla wasn’t—she was busy charming the Physics professor into making her his little assistant." She said it with a grin.
Isla smiled faintly. "Guilty but not charming, charming. Professor Stein, is one of the best with awards. A recommendation from him would get me into top universities. So..." Isla shrugged.
"Let’s hope that’s just it and you aren’t falling for your lecturer," Emerald cooed and rolled her eyes.
"Duh, no. Who the heck would do that? I’ve got eyes for someone else. I just haven’t seen him since his return." I watched as Isla beamed and then Emerald bit down on her lips while looking away guitily.
Uhun? Why would she do that?
Even though I had been here briefly, I always took note of people’s behaviours and actions to read them. Unlike Valerie, I took a class in psychology.
"They really did it, huh?" Emerald asked, more serious now. "Declared her their mate. In front of everyone."
I shrugged, keeping my voice light. "She’s in detention now."
"That’s it?" Astraea asked. "That’s all you’re going to give us?"
"What more do you want? She got dragged through hell this week, and now she’s dealing with detention and the entire school breathing down her neck. It’s her mates, duh."
Isla did not say, and Astraea immediately picked up on that. "Why have you been silent, Isla? Dristan is your cousin. How come you never knew?"
Isla swallowed and bit her lower lip. "Well..."
"Wait..." Emerald, Astraea and I all stopped. "You knew?" Her eyes shied away from us in guilt.
While the others were perplexed, I was stunned that Valerie had opened up to someone other than me.
Isla neither refuted nor accepted our allegations, making Emerald cross her arms and give her a suspicious stare. "And you just happened to know about all of this? The kisses? The Alpha heirs? All six?"
A beat passed and then Isla blinked. "Wait. Six?" Her voice cracked on the number looking genuinely confused.
Astraea and Emerald froze.
"You knew," Emerald said, pointing at Isla. "You so knew. Don’t lie."
"I didn’t!" Isla stepped back, her hands up. "I swear—I didn’t know it was six! I just... overheard Valerie talking to the Alphas her second day here. She didn’t even see me. That’s how I knew she was mated to some of them. Not all six!"
Astraea’s jaw ticked. "And you didn’t think to tell us?"
Her question might have been uncalled for but I had no idea how their clique were before my arrival, so I did not butt in.
But Isla frowned. "It wasn’t my secret to tell, okay? I didn’t even know if it was real. Besides, I felt bad for her."
That made them pause and rethink their attack. It was obviously going to get worse, allowing them to judge her like they were saints.
I nodded slowly. "She’s got the entire school watching her. Judging her. I think she’s earned a little mercy."
Astraea exhaled but didn’t speak.
We were halfway down the hall when Emerald’s phone buzzed. She stopped walking. Her mouth parted slowly, and her fingers trembled slightly as she turned the screen toward us.
A video played in front of us. And it was crystal clear who was in it.
"Alphas Intercept Detention for Their Love—Valerie Nightshade"