“Don’t you think she has a right to know if the guy she’s seeing is a rumored Lycan?” he continued. “And now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes—”
“You saw nothing!” I snapped. I was losing it. The rational part of me was slipping fast, swallowed by heat and panic. “You’ve got no proof, no facts—just shadows and assumptions. You told her a story based on a glimpse in the dark and thought you were some kind of hero for it?”
I dragged a hand through my hair and paced, jaw clenched so tight it ached.
“Listen to me, Vaughn,” I turned back to him, eyes burning. “Don’t make me kick you out of this academy. And tell Vanya—whatever you think you saw—it was false.”
Vaughn stood now, chin tilted up despite our height difference.
“And why would I lie for you, Kross?” he challenged, folding his ar
