Page 38 of A University of Betrayal

I read the letter over and over again. And over and over again I came to the sender’s name.Alarik.Without a doubt, it had to be Alarik Copeland, my literature professor.

I could hardly believe that I had just absorbed such intimate lines as if they were poetry. Indeed, Alarik could write. He must have felt something for Alice, whoever that person was.

All I could gather from the letter was the fact that he shouldn’t have written it to her. The worry that someone might find this piece of paper seemed to have been a big one.

Had I just read something that I should never have known? A forbidden love between two people, or even an unrequited one?

I had to grin because I couldn’t get over finding out such information about my professor. It made me curious, but at the same time, it felt like I had invaded his privacy, just as Larissa had invaded her ex-boyfriend’s second villa to steal his watch collection.

Come on, Bayla. It’s just a letter.

I went to the window, to my reading corner, and sat down to read it through again.

They had both been in a building somewhere, on campus, and he seemed like he had been seeing her for a while.

“Bay…” I looked up quickly and found myself staring directly into the eyes of an astonished Julian, who placed a box in front of him on the piano stool... and smiled at me the next moment. “You’re alive.”

“I’m alive, obviously.”

Then I had to laugh too, and he began to grin, just as I knew he would. His eyes shone with surprise, and I couldn’t help but remember the afternoon at the lighthouse.

“There aren’t many who survive something like that.” His grin widened. “Especially with such a frail body.”

Confused, I shook my head and suppressed the pleasant memory.

“Hey. What’s that supposed to mean, eh?”

He just grinned and looked down at his box.

“What are you doing?” I asked with interest but was tempted not to sound interested.

“Packing.”

“Packing...”I said, confused. “For what?”

Had I missed something?

“Your Circle wants my family to vacate the house.”

“First of all, this isn’tmyCircle,” I clarified.God,Julian. He should have understood by now how little I wanted anything to do with any of this. “And secondly,what?They can’t just do that? You can live wherever you want.”

Right?

“It would be nice. But this is Blairville, not your relaxed California.” He spoke as if I had no idea about life. “Believe me, I wish I had your life, instead of this one...” Julian hesitated and looked back at the box in front of him. “Actually, it’s ridiculous, as if the Copelands planned this. As if they knew I had no chance and would be forced to join the pack sooner or later.”

I couldn’t quite follow his thoughts. He’d jumped from Blairville to the Copelands so quickly, a family that everyone here seemed to have something against.

“They even took Mia from us.”

“Mia?What do you mean?” I asked cautiously.

He laughed, pushed the chair and box aside, and sat down in the window frame. Whenever he did that, his muscles tensed so...

Bayla... stop. It was still Julian I was thinking about.

Memories flooded through my head again, like a river in search of the sea. The lighthouse. Julian had given me a glimpse of his hideaway, a generous gesture, a beautiful vantage point. Perhaps more than just a physical retreat.

“She’s young and about to undergo her first full moon transformation,” Julian began, his concern unmistakable. “My father sent her there to give her the best chance of transforming and,of course,because the pack put pressure on him. And since certain people don’t want to see us here anymore, my father felt cornered, didn’t talk to me and just took her there.”

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