Moon Kissed (Corvin Academy #1)

Chapter Ten

After my short chat with Badr, I skipped class, trudged up to my new room, and passed out on the bed. My head ached something fierce after blowing up the bond with Paxton. The only thing I wanted to do was hide from the pain in dreamland.

Hours later, I woke up... feeling a thousand times worse.

I groaned, clutching my head. My forehead pounded, my sinuses were stuffed with cotton, my eyes ached like someone drove a spike through them. It took Herculean effort to drag myself out of bed and into the shower. I couldn’t lie around all night. I had a party to get to, and I was the guest of honor.

Edric looked up when I came out. “About time,” he drawled. “I was going to leave without you.”

“Not very chivalrous.” I eyed his drop-dead, sinfully gorgeous Prince Charming costume, and the suitcase it came out of. “Why do you look like you’re unpacking?”

“That’s because I am.” He dumped his boxers on my bed to prove it. “Surprise, lover, I’m moving in.”

“Like hell you are.” I padded across the room to the closet. Dagem had loaded it up with designer gowns and dresses that she didn’t have time to remove before I had her killed. “You snore and you hog the blankets. I wouldn’t put up with that even if I liked you.”

“Did it sound like I was asking permission? Because if it did, you heard me fucking wrong.”

I rolled my eyes, and winced—my head pounding. “What do you want from me?”

“I want to keep an eye on you. Framing Orion wasn’t part of the deal,” he burst out. “You said you wouldn’t make a move unless—”

“On Destiny,” I broke in. “I said I would temporarily pause my plans for Destiny to give you time to sack up and accept my way is the only way. Framing Orion had nothing to do with Destiny.” I pinned him with a look. “That was just good old-fashioned revenge. He shouldn’t have fucked with my letters. My mom is off-limits. She will always be off-limits.”

“Hmm, well, thanks for confirming that.” Edric plucked his phone out of his pocket. The recorder app shown large for me to see. “I hope you got all the revenge you needed out of that, because I’m freeing him in the morning.”

The Valentino gown hit the carpet. “Gods, you’re such a fucking asshole!”

Edric’s smirk would’ve shamed the devil. “Save it, sweetheart. You got outmaneuvered fair and square. And yes, I’m still moving in. Both to watch you and to keep your pussy on tap. I’m glad we’ve moved to the total honesty part of our relationship that I can say that without worrying about your feelings.”

“A month.” I closed the distance, planting my hands on my hips. “Orion stays locked up for a month. Then you free him.”

“Nope.”

“Three weeks.”

“No,” he blared. “What is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what he’s gone through because of his dad? I’m not letting people believe—”

“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. Two weeks,” I countered, “and I’ll give you blowjobs on command. I’ll even do that thing with my tongue that you like.”

“Two weeks. Deal,” he blurted, then tossed his head. “Wait, no! That was my wolf, not me. No deal. I’m not the kind of man who sells out his friends for some puss—”

I ripped off my towel.

“Then again, he did go too far and deserves to be taught a lesson,” Edric finished, feasting on my body. “Two weeks it is.”

Smiling, I patted his cheek. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Fuck’s sake!” The man pounded his head, yelling at his other half. “Get ahold of yourself!”

I left him to his regrets and finished getting ready. It took twice as long as it should have. My vision spun when I moved too fast, and my limbs were getting shaky. Even so, I pushed on and ignored it.

I wasn’t about to miss this party. Nearly the entire school saw me claim my first victory over the council. Now they needed to see me as I would be from now on—as their queen.

Edric shot up when I came back out. “Deal’s off. Tomorrow I’m... Wow.”

I wasn’t too proud to admit it, I blushed. It’d been a long time since a guy looked at me the way Edric was. Like I was—

“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Gods, you look amazing, Volana. I would have you right here if I could bear to mess with a thing.”

All right, I was big-time blushing. “Goodness,” I fluttered, clearing my throat. “You do have your moments, don’t you.”

Edric held out his arm for me. I hesitated.

“You’re shaky on your feet,” he said. “Hold on to me. I’ve got you.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “Why are you being so nice?”

“Because we’re going to argue the whole way there.”

Edric made good on his threat. The battle took place inside our minds—fussing, fighting, and arguing back and forth about that jackass Orion, and then about modifying my plan for fewer casualties.

“ This is a war. Sacrifices must be made. ”

“ Your sacrifices must be made. You don’t get to decide for others what they’ll sacrifice. That’s not war—it’s murder and oppression. That same thing you claim you’re trying to free Wolf Nation from .”

I ground my teeth, frustration leaking growls through my lips. Why couldn’t Edric understand this? Why couldn’t he see what I was trying to do? Normally it wouldn’t matter, but Edric saw into my mind. He saw everything .

He saw Destiny and what Wolf Nation would become if I didn’t stop it. He saw the horrors coming... and he still didn’t agree with me.

If he didn’t, no one would. No one would claim me the hero. The savior. Until the end of time, my people and beyond would see me as what I’ve come to see myself—that I’m the villain.

A stray thought crossed the bond. Too quick for Edric to stop.

My brows shot up. “ So that’s why you suddenly decided to be roomies. You want to watch me at night, so you can follow me to my project out in the woods. ”

“ We have to get rid of it. ”

“ You’re real cute with that we. ” Together we rounded the corner, heading straight for the pumping bass. “ It’s the most important ingredient in the only weapon we have against the alphas and betas. It’s not going anywhere. ”

“ You can’t forcibly mute thousands of people! ”

I dismissed that entirely. “ They can learn to sign like Wind communities have. It’s not a big deal .”

“ Of course it’s a big deal. Look, if it’s people like Mason who are using their power to hurt others, then yes, they should lose it. But you can’t take away the voice of every alpha and every beta. Most are good people. ”

“ Then why would a good person want the power to gaslight people, or bend them to their will? ” I shot back. “ Why should anyone have that power? For decades, they have, and this is the society they created. One with alphas and betas on top, and everyone else on the ground with their boots on their throats. ”

“ I agree ,” he thought, surprising me. “ The power to command and persuade are incredibly easy powers to abuse, and many have. But only those ‘many’ deserve to lose that power. Not their whole voice, and not every alpha and beta. Figure out a way to get rid of the power and the power only, and then only use that weapon on the guilty. ”

My head was shaking before he finished. “ If there was a way to take away just the power, don’t you think the thousands of oppressed omegas would’ve made that happen at some time over the centuries? We’re dealing with gods here. Luame and her mate gave the power, they’d have to take it away. ”

“ Then I suggest you get to praying, girl, because once I find out where you’re hiding that patch, I’m burning it to ash. ”

“ You’re the worst, most annoying fucking person ever born! You do know that, right? ”

Smirking at me, Edric tossed me a wink.

We rounded the final corner and came up on large, ornate double doors. It was that day that I found out Corvin Academy had a ballroom. I assumed it was fancily over-the-top like everything in the castle. Stepping inside, I discovered I was wrong. Fancily over-the-top didn’t begin to cover it.

Nia took my theme and ran so far off the field with it, she crossed oceans.

Golden chandeliers twinkled under purple accent lights, raining plum radiance down on the guests. Tables surrounded the dance floor, topped with golden cloth and sweet-smelling purple flowers. Nestled among the flowers were crown centerpieces.

As good as the room looked, it didn’t top the great-looking people. I had no idea how everyone was able to pull together tuxes, robes, and gowns so fast, but they made it happen in a big way.

All the ladies were gorgeous in their swaying tulle and stiff updos, and the guys were handsome in their tight, shadow-eating dark tuxes. But none of them looked as good as us.

In the end I ditched the Valentino and draped myself in a bloodred off-the-shoulder ballgown with a plunging neckline, diamond-crusted bodice, and a matching ruby tiara. My irritating asshole of a Prince Charming stood by my side—poured into his skintight tux and making me dizzy on his spicy-scent black pepper cologne with notes of cedar and cinnamon.

The crowd parted for us as we swept in, appreciative looks and wolf whistles coming in from all sides. I bore it with a smirk as I crossed to the other end of the dance floor and what awaited me on the raised platform beside the deejay—my throne. They all looked at us, and applauded.

“Whoo, yeah, Queen Daciana!”

“If this is what your reign is going to be like,” Andre crowed, already drunk off his ass and snuggled up to Melisent, “then sign me up!”

“She’s kept her word so far,” Raquelle called. She held tight to Nia’s hand. “I’ll give her a chance for now.”

All over the party it went. Some begrudging comments, some complimentary, some drunken ramblings—but all of them pledged support for me, their queen.

“Thank you, everyone.” I waved to my subjects. “No one’s got time for a long speech, so here’s all I’ve got to say: have fun, party, dance, and enjoy your fucking life on your terms, because that’s what you’re going to do every day that I’m queen.”

“Yeah!” they roared back, taking to the command with enthusiasm.

“ There you go again, ” Edric thought, “ getting cocky. Everyone loves you now while you’re throwing parties and giving them everything they want. But pawns wake up quick when the general starts sacrificing them. ”

“ Well then, you might want to think less about betraying me and more about how we’ll hang on to our army. Because I’m not the only one who loses everything when Destiny takes over. ”

We argued back and forth as we headed for my throne, because of course we did. Edric had to make everything difficult—even saving his life. The guy would make a priest break the seal of confessional just to tell everyone what an arrogant asshole he is! Not that that’s a secret!

We were halfway there when a figure stepped in front of our path.

I cringed, sucking in a hiss. Ratty clothes, unshaven face, messy hair, beer stains on his shirt, and red-rimmed eyes—

Nyx looked terrible.

“Hey,” he muttered, head hanging to let his hair cover his face. “Hey, Edric. What’s up, man?”

Edric raked him up and down, lips curling. Turning his back on him, he walked away.

There answered the question of if Edric knew about his former hookup’s gay-bashing past, and if he’d forgiven him for it.

No and no.

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Nyx muttered, the picture of resigned.

“Did you want something?” I asked.

“Yeah. This.” Nyx shuffled in his pockets and pulled out a folded-up slip of paper. “Since you’re the headmistress now. You’ve got to sign this.”

I unfolded it, and read the line across the top. Letter of Expulsion.

Nyx held out a pen, making his intention clear.

I eyed him. “Why bother with this? You can just leave. No one’s stopping you.”

“Because once my father reads this and sees your signature at the bottom, he’ll think you threw me out over your own vendetta, and not the truth. That I washed out,” he replied, voice dead. “The difference between the former and the latter is me thrown out of the pack with my ears cut.”

I hummed. “So basically, you’re asking me for a favor. One that lets you drop being an outcast and return to your life of privilege.”

He shook his head, throat raspy. “There was nothing privileged about life in my father’s house.”

I fell quiet. For some reason, I believed him.

“That’s why I’m not staying,” Nyx went on. “I’m just going home to pack up my stuff, clean out my trust fund, and move on. There are wolf packs in Europe that take newcomers. I’ll try those.”

Without a word, I took the pen, signed it, and handed it back.

Nyx accepted the letter, but didn’t move. He stared at it for a long pause. “I am sorry, you know.” His voice was small. “For what I did to him.”

“Sure you are... now.”

He flinched. “I was sorry then too,” he cried. “I was scared and confused. I lived my whole life up till then trying to please my father and be the perfect son. I didn’t know how to handle being bi.”

I looked around, genuinely not understanding why he was choosing me of all people to unburden himself.

But then again, the guy had no friends now, and I was the only one listening.

“I get all of that, Nyx. I really do. But none of that explains why you didn’t try to make things right with Patrick after you made peace with yourself. Not even a fucking sorry.”

“It does explain it,” he rasped, bright eyes staring at the floor. “Shame. I was so fucking ashamed and disgusted with myself because I knew if I ever faced Patrick, I’d see the truth in his eyes. That I was just like my father.”

I nodded slow. “Well, if your father is an abusive bully, he’d be right. You’re exactly like him,” I returned, snapping his head up. “But don’t mind me, that’s just the opinion of Pinata de Bitch. Another victim of your bullying that you have yet to apologize to.” I sidestepped him. “Goodbye. Nyx. Have fun in Europe.”

“Daciana,” he cried, grabbing my hand. That was the first time he said my name. “Wait, please, let me—”

“—enough!”

“Whoa, man, chill out!”

“Turn it off!”

I snapped up, landing on the commotion happening on the stage.

Badr grabbed the deejay and threw him. He crashed onto a dining table and flipped it, raining glasses, plates, and macaroni and brie on himself.

The party ground to a sudden, crashing halt.

If I thought Nyx looked bad, it was nothing compared to Badr. His clothes were shredded as if he shifted in his closet and went wild, tearing and ripping everything to confetti. Wild, bloodshot eyes glared at the slack-jawed faces looking back at him.

Badr snatched up the microphone. “What the fuck is wrong with all of you!? You’re dancing and partying like nothing happened. Like our school wasn’t just taken over by a twisted, psychopathic murderer that’s blackmailing you!

“How am I the only one who remembers what she’s done to you, to our people, to my brother!” he roared, eyes bugging. “Wake up, people! Volana is no queen. She’s nothing at all! What she is is one person”—he fixed on me—“and she can’t take us all.”

I tensed, lips peeling back from my teeth.

“Fight with me,” he called, raising his fist high. “Let’s take back our academy. Let’s take back our lives! Alphas! Betas! Wolves! Fight with me!”

No one moved. No one breathed.

“Come on,” Badr cried, desperation leaking into his voice. “Come on!”

Nothing.

“This isn’t who you are. You’re wolves, not sheep! Wolf up and fight!” Badr flicked to my left. “Nyx, you’ve got her. Hold her down!”

Nyx dropped my arm instantly, backing away. Looking from me to Badr, he met his friend’s eyes, and shook his head.

“Sorry, Daze,” Nyx murmured, and walked away.

“Nyx? Nyx!”

The door swung shut on him, echoing through the silent ballroom. Badr’s chest heaved, eyes wild. He clutched his head like it was going to explode. “She killed my brother in cold blood, don’t you get that? Why does no one care!”

Turning on my throne, Badr ripped it off and flung it at the wall, showering a bellowing group of beta guys in wood splinters.

“Whoa, calm down, Badr.” Edric appeared at the side of the stage, slowly approaching his friend. “Listen, I understand what you’re going through—”

“The fuck you do, traitor! You’re with her now. You’ve made your choice.”

“I know it looks that way,” Edric said, reaching into his pocket. “But this is all more complicated than you think. It might not look like it but I am on your side. You, Paxton, Nyx, and Orion.”

Badr’s eyes flashed. “Don’t talk to me about Orion. You just stood there while she framed him! Everyone thinks he’s a psychopathic murderer now, and you don’t even care.”

“That’s not true! I can prove it to you.” Edric took out his phone. “I have—”

Badr pounced.

There wasn’t time to shout, blink, or move. One moment he was snarling in Edric’s face, and the next Badr was punching it in—blasting Edric off his feet.

“Nice try,” Badr growled, “but if your girlfriend wants more material for Loop-Garou, she’ll have to get it herself.” Lifting his feet, Badr stomped Edric’s cell to bits.

“All right, that’s enough.” I snapped my fingers. “Ava, love, would you please?”

She, Melisent, and the girls were already moving. They charged the stage, coming at him from all sides.

“Back off!” Badr spun left to right, looking more like a cornered animal than a man. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

Ava was first to grab him, tearing at his sleeve hauling him away.

Badr howled—claws sprouting and blue eyes burning gold. I knew in that second what he was going to do.

“Cover your eyes!”

Blinding sunlight ripped through the ballroom and the cracks of my fingers, stabbing my eyes with white-hot brilliance.

Shouts and screams went up across the room. I opened my mouth to tell everyone to remain calm and stay still, when a rough hand clamped down on it.

“Hphmf!”

“You and I are finishing this—tonight.”

Pain exploded in my head. I fell forward, tipping over a hard shoulder, and sinking into darkness as I was lifted off my feet.

SOMETHING STRUCK MY face, fluttering my eyes open.

Squinting, my watery eyes landed on something pink and wiggling. It came closer to me, as if sensing the blinding pain behind my eyes and wanting to comfort me.

My vision cleared and I came face to face with the writhing pile of worms.

“Ahh!” Shooting up, I flew back and screamed—clutching my aching head.

I felt awful. Between blowing up the bond and taking another blow to the head, everything from my chin up was soaked in agony. Dizziness made my world spin. The pounding in my skull echoed in my ears. Pitching forward, I vomited.

“Wha... What’s going on?”

“—had no choice.” A voice reached my sensitive ears. “Everyone’s gone mad. They’re under her spell. I had to stop her. I had to save Wolf Nation. This is the only way. The only way.”

Something struck me again. Blinking, I saw it was dirt.

Everything dirt. Everywhere dirt! Tipping my head back, back, back, I swept up the hard, earthen walls and locked eyes with Badr... and his shovel.

“My gods, Badr,” I breathed, horror leadening my voice. “What are you doing?”

“I’m stopping you!” His eyes were crazy. “You gave me no choice.”

“No choice?” I whipped around, taking in the eight-foot hole I was dropped in. High above me and Badr was nothing but a roof of trees and sky, and I meant nothing. I couldn’t hear the academy anymore. I couldn’t hear the bustle, whisper, and romp of hundreds of students partying in a ballroom.

Which meant they’d never hear me.

“Of course you have a choice! You can choose not to bury me alive!”

“I have to stop you,” he hissed, mostly to himself. “For Castor, for Wolf Nation, for everyone. You’re too dangerous. You won’t stop until you’ve taken us all down.”

There was no talking to him. Rising to my feet, I tried to shift and a sharp spike went through my brain, dropping me screaming on my ass.

“What’s going on? Why can’t... I shift?”

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Badr shouted at me, but I was barely listening.

I probed my wolf, begging her to come out. But nothing. There were consequences for making promises in Luame’s name. There were even more for denying the fated mate she chose for you.

And now I knew what they were.

Blowing up the bond had done something horrible to me and my wolf. She was weak, broken... dying.

I needed to get us both help. I needed to get out of this hole!

“B-Badr,” I moaned, clutching my head. “You have to stop. You’re not thinking clearly. If you kill me, the shifter race—”

“—will be just fucking fine! You mated with Edric. That’s more than enough to ensure the shifter race doesn’t die.”

“No, this isn’t about that!” My voice rose as he dumped another shovelful of dirt on me. “This is bigger than that. It’s more important than you can possibly understand. Please, you have to stop, get me out of here, and get me some help.”

“Get you help?” Badr threw his head back laughing. I can honestly say I didn’t know what a maniacal laugh was before that frightening, unhinged sound ripped from his throat. “You must be joking! You’re done, Volana.” He tossed dirt at my feet. “You’re dead.”

Real and pure panic burst in my chest. There was a reason that everyone kept threatening me by saying they’d put me in a hole. There was nothing more dangerous to a moon wolf than a hole. Why?

For the same damn reason a big, deep hole was dangerous for a mundane. We couldn’t get out. I couldn’t use my phasing power because I’d end up lost in the cold and dark for a millennium, or until I died of thirst and starvation. I couldn’t shift unless I had room to shift, and Badr hadn’t done me the favor of giving me room. If he covered me and walked away, I was exactly what he said—dead.

“Okay, listen,” I rasped, desperation bleeding into my voice. “I know you’re scared and feeling trapped, but this isn’t the way. You don’t want to do this. I know you don’t, or you wouldn’t be trying so hard to justify yourself to your wolf right now.”

His brow twitched, hand tightening on the shovel. I struck dead-on. “My wolf will get over it,” he gritted. “You have to be stopped.”

“Badr, please, Castor wouldn’t want this—”

“Don’t you dare!” He swung the shovel at me, making me hit the ground screaming. The shovel caught on my dress and ripped it. “Don’t speak his name! You have no idea what my brother would want. You didn’t know him—”

“No one knew Castor better than me!”

Badr scoffed. “You never quit, do you? Even now you’re trying to spin more of your fairy tales about how my brother beat you and controlled you—”

“I never said that.”

“—and he made your life a living hell, but I knew him,” he roared, pounding his chest. “My father cheated on his mother with the cook and had me. That fucking hypocrite bastard hated me from the moment I was born. I was the constant proof of what a lying, honorless shit Cygnus Tahan is, and he couldn’t stand it.

“He threw me and my mother out, left us with nothing, but then one day Castor heard his parents arguing about me. Can you believe that Castor’s mother was cursing Cygnus out for ignoring and abandoning his own child? Even she thought he was a monster.” Badr kicked more dirt on me. “But Castor... When he heard he had a brother out there, he searched high and low for me.

“He brought me back into the family. He rang up the lawyers and demanded his trust fund be split half-and-half between us, and he told our father to fuck off! He said we both had a claim to the Sun clan, and we would both run it as co-alphas. Castor was a good man—”