Page 40 of Moon Cursed

I settled on an emotion by the end—wicked glee. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more attracted to you than I am right now.”

He winked, his full lips curling up and tickling free his dimple. “As long as nothing goes wrong for the next couple days, we can pull it off easy.”

“—and now, students, one final announcement,” Ash called. “There’s been a lot of upheaval among the student body over the last week. I assure you, I will be reviewing every expulsion and suspension to confirm they were fair and justified.”

My head snapped up.What? What is she talking about? We never discussed that.

“I’ve already begun that process by welcoming back a student that was unfairly—nay, criminally—ejected from the grounds. Please welcome him back.” Ash stepped back from the podium, clapping heartily at someone at the other end of the stage.

My nose got a whiff of his scent before the shadows released him. “What?! No!”

Orion stepped out before his audience, his thick-framed, stylish glasses capturing and reflecting the stage lights—making them glitter so bright, they hid the malice in his eyes.

“Thank you, Vice Headmistress Ash, and thank you, everyone, for welcoming me back to the academy.” Orion spoke to the students, but looked right at me—his nose telling him where I was even though darkness concealed me. “First, I want to assure you that I’m not a threat or danger to anyone. I didn’t kill anyone. Our sainted and illustrious headmistress killed Mason. The guy was a serial rapist, so good fucking riddance. She killed him to protect someone, and I helped cover it up for the same reason.”

I stilled, eyes wide.That was a fair and accurate retelling of events. I thought for sure Orion would have nastier—

“As for Dagem, that psycho killer priestess obviously murdered her so that she could steal her job, and she framed me to get away with it. If you all haven’t figured that out by now, you’re dumb as shit and you definitely need to take these basic proficiency tests.”

And there it is.

Ash gasped. “That is a serious and disturbing allegation, young man. As you know, right of conquest only applies to alphas, so if this is true, our dear high priestess would be arrested and tried to the fullest extent of the law.”

I stiffened, jaw clenching. “So that’s your play,” I hissed, knowing Ash could hear me loud and clear.

Flicking over to me, she found my eyes through the shadows... and smirked. “I’m certain these allegations cannot be true, but in the interest of justice, I’m sure you all will welcome the secret police tomorrow. They’ll be returning to the grounds to conduct a thorough search, investigation, and interrogation of all suspects.” Her stare pinned me through. “They will not rest until they discover the truth.”

***

ITRAILED ASH THROUGHthe halls, trying not to shout and barely succeeding. “Why didn’t you tell me you were letting Orion back into the school?Howdid you let him back in?!”

“Oh, it was a curious thing,” she mused, her kitten heels click-clacking on the tile as she casually led me through the halls of the old alpha wing. “The gates responded to his touch immediately, so you weren’t needed to open them.”

My heart shotgunned into my throat.

“Do they recognize all of your fates?” she asked. “Or just him?”

“That—that doesn’t matter,” I rasped. “You should have told me about Orion. You said you and I were working together, but that was a lie. What else did I expect from a council stooge who cares more about licking their boots than obeying Luame.”

She whirled on me, pulling me up short. “How dare you. I haven’t betrayed our partnership, or Luame, in the slightest. I will not have your slanderous tongue say otherwise!”

“Orion—”

“—is under my sole purview,” she barked. “Which is what you agreed. He is your classmate and your classmate alone. As for the secret police, you were the one who announced to a crowd of people that they were welcome back any time to investigate in the fullest. Was that a lie?”

“No, but—”

“There is no but,” she sliced in, “and no more to discuss. Good evening, High Priestess.” With that, she strode off to her chambers, leaving me wrestling with the urge to bite off her head.

Fuming, I stormed back through the halls. Bursting through the entryway doors, I spilled out in the grand hall, and came face to face withhim.

Orion leaned against a statue of Sir Issac Woolfe, wrapped head to toe in scuffed boots, ripped jeans, a beat-up baggy leather jacket, and no shirt. Every hard, sculpted, tattooed inch of his rippling chest showed on full display, and it revved my wolf up like a Formula One race car. Even with the extreme and mutual hatred festering between us, she wanted to slip-n-slide down his pecs till she was forced off the ride.

My nose wrinkled, lips curling at his cigarette. “Put that out.”

“Make me, Headmistress.” Orion sucked in a long drag. “Punish me. Put me in detention.” He smirked. “Go on.”

I stiffened, growls bleeding from my teeth. I didn’t need to ask. The shameless glee on his face said it all. Ash helpfully informed him that I had no power over him at all.

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