Chapter 6 A weak wolf

SORAYA

I screamed.

My entire body went cold, shaking violently as if I had been dropped into a bucket of cold water. It felt like I was about to vomit.

I could not breathe.

Her body was on the ground… lifeless, split in two.

There was blood everywhere—on the floor, splashed on the wall—and Sarah was in the middle of it. This was like a crazy nightmare. No… no, I shook my head.

“I… I… I can’t,” I gasped, clutching my chest. “I… can’t breathe.”

Another scream came from behind me.

Followed by footsteps and voices.

People started gathering, slow at first, but within minutes, the hallway outside my door was packed with students, pressing shoulder to shoulder, eyes wide.

“Oh my goddess…”

“Is that blood?”

“Is that a body?”

I tried to move, but my legs refused.

I stood there, staring at Sarah, who was in a pool of her own blood. I hadn’t gotten to know her, but it felt like a part of my heart had been ripped out.

“She’s dead,” someone in the crowd whispered.

“No…” another voice spoke. “She was killed.”

Murmurs spread like wildfire.

I heard myself screaming.

My head snapped up.

“Look! There’s blood on her shoes and legs!”

“I didn’t—” my voice broke. “I found her like this when I came in!”

But no one was listening to anything I was saying. Everyone had their assumptions of what happened.

And then the crowd shifted. People gave way.

And just what I needed right now, Bianca walked in.

She wasn’t alone. Kaelon and two of his friends flanked her like guards. Bianca stopped just inside the doorway, one hand flying dramatically to her mouth.

“Oh my Selene…” she gasped.

Her gaze slowly moved from the body on the floor to me.

“Soraya,” she gasped softly—too softly—“why are you covered in blood? Look at your legs and your dress.”

She took a step forward, acting like she gave a damn about me.

“I… I just got here,” I said desperately. “I swear I just walked in.”

She took another step forward, followed by another, then another.

Her eyes widened, shimmering with something that looked like tears.

Before I knew what was happening, she was crying, like she’d known Sarah for over a decade when she had never even met the girl.

Then she stared at me with this horrifying look in her eyes. It was Bianca. She moved back, pointing at me.

Then the room was quiet for a moment, then exploded with gasps and whispers coming from every direction.

“What?”

“She did this.”

I knew there was something wrong with her.

“She’s crazy.”

“No…” I whispered. “No… no, that’s not…” I was trying so hard to hold back my tears.

“She’s always been unstable,” Bianca continued, her voice shaking. “Ever since we were little children, she has always scared me.”

“That’s a lie!” I yelled, my voice broken. Bianca stopped.

“I saw her enter the room earlier. She was the last person Sarah was seen with,” a voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

I shook my head violently. I would never hurt her. I barely even knew the girl. Why would I want to kill her?

“She’s ripped in two. Only an alpha is strong enough to do that,” I heard another voice in the crowd.

Suddenly, Bianca raised her hand.

“No, Soraya couldn’t have done it. Yes, she is an alpha, but she’s too weak to do such a thing.”

The room tilted.

I’d never been more grateful to be called weak than I was now.

“She’s not capable of something like this,” Bianca went on. “She’s too fragile. She can’t even shout. So how could she have done such a thing?”

Whispers resumed again.

“Then how do you explain the traces of blood on her dress?”

“She was the one someone screamed at.”

“Only guilty people cry when accused.”

Bianca sighed, like all of this deeply pained her.

“I think,” she said slowly and thoughtfully, “Soraya might have lost control.”

I knew Bianca and I had our differences, but I never thought she was ever going to say this about me.

“She’s been under a lot of stress lately. Our mate chose me and rejected her,” she looked at me with mocking sympathy. “Maybe she turned and killed her and doesn’t remember.”

“That’s not true!” I screamed. “You are twisting all of this!”

Bianca looked at me, calm and collected.

“I’m only trying to help you, sister. You should be grateful.”

The crowd didn’t look convinced. By what I’d just said, everyone believed my perfect sister.

I watched as everyone stared at me with fear and hatred for what I didn’t do.

I felt like I was about to pass out.

Then…

“MOVE BACK!”

The voice cut through the crowd like a blade.

It was loud but carried authority.

Everyone’s gaze swayed, and he walked in. Evander. I already felt his presence before I saw him.

Everyone who stood close moved back.

“What,” he said calmly, eyes sweeping the room, “is going on here?”

No one answered.

Bianca swallowed.

“Alpha Evander,” she said carefully. “There’s been an… incident.”

His gaze quickly moved to the blood on the ground, then to me.

He crossed the room in three strides, his tall figure in front of me now.

“Soraya,” he said softly.

My knees finally gave out.

I would have fallen and hit the ground if he hadn’t caught me.

He pulled me against his chest, one hand on my back, the other on my waist.

“I’ve got you,” he said quietly.

“I… I can’t breathe.”

He didn’t hesitate.

He narrowed his eyes, lowering his forehead to mine to look at me.

I tried.

His hands came up, cupping my face, his thumbs brushing just under my eyes.

“Soraya,” he said firmly. “Breathe with me. In. Now.”

I dragged in air.

Out again.

The room was dead silent.

He didn’t take his eyes off me, not even for a moment. He didn’t care if anyone was looking.

Slowly, he lifted his head.

“Who touched her?”

No one replied.

“I asked a question,” he said, his voice cold and dangerous.

Then I heard Bianca speak quickly. “We came in here and found her with the body, blood smeared all over her dress and feet.”

“Enough!” he yelled. Bianca flinched.

“She’s in shock, and you all accuse her of murder. I dare anyone to say that again.”

He brushed the blood off my neck, and the murmurs and gasps began.

“She’s marked. By the goddess.”

“Wait… is he her mate?”

“She is.”

Bianca’s face drained of color.

And before I could even think, he lifted me into his arms, my head resting on his chest as we left the room.