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My dad was a bulldog of an attorney, sharp, relentless, and terrifying when he needed to be.

His field was estate law and high-stakes business deals, not secret-society student politics.

I’d never shared his love for that kind of work.

That was more Cloe’s arena anyway. She wanted to practice law too, but with teeth, the kind that tore into systems and loopholes and didn’t let go.

Crowsfell had plenty of those, which made me wonder how both of them—Cloe and my father—had overlooked this supposed clause.

Ari too. She read everything thoroughly.

If there really had been something in the fine print.

.. someone would’ve noticed. Unless it was buried so thoroughly that we weren’t meant to.

We started walking again, crossing onto the garden path that curved beneath the shadows of climbing ivy and arched windows.

“So, that means you’ve got a Huntsman too,” I mused out loud.

“Or Huntsmen,” he corrected with a grimace.

My phone buzzed again in my hand, three texts back-to-back. At the top of my inbox was a newly created group chat. Roxxi , Ari , Cloe , Me .

No Layla.

I frowned. The omission wasn’t subtle. I scanned the group names again just to confirm.

None of the guys had texted at all in our main chat.

It had been silent almost all morning. The boys always knew more than they let on.

I wondered if we were being left out of something, or if they were waiting for one of us to drop the news first. Kellan shifted his backpack and slowed a bit to check his own phone.

I opened the new thread and read the messages as we passed through the older campus wing, our steps echoing against the stone.

Roxxi

Everyone saw the Hunt update, right?

Ari

Memorized it already. Mostly. I’m going to do a deeper dive after school.

Cici

I already double-checked the legalities.

I popped in so they knew I was active.

Did you guys see my text from earlier in our original chat?

Roxxi

? There’s nothing. It showed up blank.

Ari

I checked too and didn’t see anything, but your location updated to being on campus, so we knew Ryder had you.

I switched to our old thread.

The first thing I realized was that I hadn’t finished my text about seeing the guy beneath the tree.

Thinking about it now, I should have known that because they never would’ve been silent after a message of such caliber.

The second thing I saw was that the screenshot from my Huntsman hadn’t loaded.

There was only a broken image icon. No text or preview, like the message had been erased from existence.

I frowned and tapped into my photos, locating the screenshot again. It was still there, crisp and clear.

Okay…

I copied it, opened the new group chat Roxxi had created, and pasted it in. Then I waited. Nothing. The same thing happened—a corrupted file symbol.

How was this possible?

Kellan glanced over, catching the shift in my expression. “Everything good?”

“I don’t know yet,” I murmured. I tried again with a new screengrab and got the same result. Was my screenshot corrupting? Glitched? Was the file protected somehow?

Cici

What are you trying to send?

I’ll fill you guys in after my next class. Weird shit is happening.

I pocketed my cell and ran a hand through my hair. “The Hunt hasn’t even started yet, and I’m already over it.”

“Yeah… Sophie is going to flip,” Kellan laughed. “Wonder if she’s marked too.”

“Sophie, as in Sophie Wolfe?” I questioned, careful to keep my tone light.

“Yeah. We’re not official, but it’s been going well.”

I forced a smile. Sophie Wolfe. The same girl who’d thrown a flirty smile at Rook across the dining hall like he was the only person in the room. I was almost certain he’d slept with her recently enough that the sheets could still be warm.

“Oh.” I injected as much casual into that single syllable as I could. “How new is this?”

“About two months in,” he answered, completely unaware of the emotional detour my thoughts had taken.

“I was holding off saying anything because it’s still early, but we vibe.” He held up his hand with two crossed fingers like a promise.

So, definitely overlapping timelines and wires being tangled. My lips pressed together, my mind spinning.

What was I supposed to do with this news?

I couldn’t tell him my best friend was seeing her too.

That wasn’t the right word to begin with.

Rook didn’t see people; he wrecked them, and they came back wanting more.

Maybe Sophie Wolfe thought she was the exception.

I’d need to talk to Rook before I said something that made a mess out of things.

I just hoped Kellan would never find out I had even the smallest inkling and kept my mouth shut.

I wasn’t as close to him as I was with Rook.

Aiden was my cinnamon roll, mine in a fierce, brotherly way.

I’d defend him to the grave, no matter what.

So even if he did something that wasn’t exactly praiseworthy, I’d still find a way to explain it, spin, and justify it in my head to everyone else.

Then I would tell him what I truly thought behind closed doors.

My loyalty to my family didn’t come with conditions.

But still…

I trusted Kellan. He’d proven I could count on him. He was the guy who spotted my fall before it started and always showed up when I needed to land. Literally. I trusted this man to catch me midair and toss me halfway to God.

He bumped my shoulder with his, giving me a grin. “Aren’t you going to say you’re happy for me?”

I forced a small smile. “Of course I’m happy for you.” Then added quickly, “I’m thinking about how we might both be Marked by multiple people.”

His grin dipped. “Yeah. This isn’t exactly a dream scenario.”

We stepped into the main building, leaving the chill behind. The heavy door thunked shut behind us, and the air warmed with that faint scent of polished wood, old stone, and something institutional.

“You know what, Sanj?” he said after a minute, voice low and serious. “We don’t need to worry about this.”

“And why is that?”

“Because whoever comes for us is out of their rabbit-ass minds if they think we’re gonna lose this game.”

I laughed. “I said more or less the same thing to the girls last night.”

“They Marked too?”

I winced. “Oh, yeah. I should’ve led with that earlier.”

“That only makes our chances better.”

I shot him a skeptical look. “How do you figure?”

He slung his arm casually over my shoulder. “If the Huntsmen can team up, why wouldn’t we? Winning in numbers, Sanj.”

I wasn’t sure numbers would matter much when we were dealing with personalized stalkers, but a little optimism wouldn’t kill me, right?