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Lanson’s eyes widened. “Have I? Because I know something about her that I think plenty of fighters here would love to know.”

No.My heartrate sped up, my palms grew sweaty.Don’t you fucking dare.

Lanson stepped toward me. “You trusted me to keep your little secret, didn’t you?” he hissed. “Well, I trusted you too, Huntyr. I guess we’ll both be disappointed.”

I didn’t have time to react. With a flash of black feathers, Wolf attacked, flattening Lanson on his back and standing over his body with his fists clenched.

Lanson coughed on the ground.

“Don’t say another fucking word,” Wolf growled.

I staggered backward. Wolf was… he was defending meandmy secret.

“Why?” Lanson coughed. “Why are you protecting her? She’s a fucking serpent!”

Wolf kicked his ribs. We all heard them crack. He knelt next to Lanson’s crumpled body and whispered something so quietly, I couldn’t make it out.

But whatever it was, it seemed to scare the shit out of Lanson.

Wolf stood up and stalked away, brushing my shoulder as he whispered, “Let’s go.”

I hesitated for a moment, watching Lanson scramble onto his feet without meeting my gaze.

And then I turned and followed Wolf out of the courtyard.

I wasn’t sure why I followed him. Maybe it was because we were a team now. Maybe it was because he was the only one in the entire damned academy that would protect me, or maybe it was the way I was beginning to actually feel safe with him.

But I followed him without thinking, without hesitating. My feet floated on the stone floor, as if Wolf led me instinctively.

“Will you slow down?” I asked, but my voice came out as a weak cry. “Wolf!”

He spun around too quickly, his jaw clenched and his fists tightened. He was angry, angrier than I had ever seen him.

“What’s going on with you?” I asked. “Are you letting Lanson get in your head?”

“No,” he barked. “That coward doesn’t deserve to live. He shouldn’t fucking talk to you like that.”

I leaned my back against the stone wall and closed my eyes, running my hands through my messy hair. “I should never have trusted him,” I admitted. “I’m a fucking idiot for thinking I could trust him. It was so obvious.”

“Don’t. Don’t you dare put this on yourself.”

I opened my eyes and stared at him. “This is on me,” I admitted. My heart beat in my ears, my mind spun, spiraling into the dark place that felt like home. “This is all on me, Wolf. Lord told me not to trust a single fucking soul, and I didn’t listen. He was right, he was fucking right, and he’s going to kill me if the secret ever gets out—”

I froze. Wolf froze.Lord.

My eyes widened. Wolf saw it, too. Sensed how absolutely fucking screwed I was.

But he didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t question who Lord was. He didn’t press on.

His heated gaze flickered to my lips.

I stopped breathing.

And then he was gone, storming back down the hallway, taking that small piece of my darkest, deepest secret with him.

Chapter

Twenty-Five