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CHAPTER 2 — The Revelation
~Jade's POV~
My feet paced the length of my room. The image of those three dots burned behind my eyes.
The Alpha Triplets.
The name alone made my stomach twist. They were the sons of the Lycan King's Beta—men known for their brutality and their disdain for women who threw themselves at them. I was eighteen and old enough to know this mistake could ruin my life.
"It was all Troy's fault," my wolf, Javelin, spat.
She was right. I should have listened to her silence earlier. I picked up my phone and called Troy. No answer. I tried three times.
I left a frantic voice message: "Troy, it's Jade. I'm dead meat. I need your help. Please."
I looked back at the trainer's chat. The dots were gone. Now, every picture and video was marked as Read.
Panic surged. I thought about calling Ms. Rowan, but she had specifically warned me to stay professional. I had to find Troy. He would know what to do.
I changed my clothes and raced out of the house.
— — —
The party was pure chaos. Music thundered through the courtyard, lights flashing too bright against the sky, laughter burst in waves, bodies packed tight, drinks sloshing as the smell of alcohol filled the air.
I pushed through the crowd until I spotted Troy near the drinks table, surrounded by his friends.
Relief washed over me as I headed in his direction, but it died instantly when I saw a drunk brunette draped over him, kissing him deeply.
My insides burned at the sight, and had I not had bigger fish to fry, I may have reacted and shoved her off his body.
"Troy," I said, grabbing his arm as soon as I stood before him. The girl turned before he did, and my eyes locked on her face.
It was Vera Vega, the Queen Bee of Prestige Lunar Academy.
I looked away and focused on Troy. "Troy, please…" He looked down at my hand as if it were a piece of trash.
I gulped, trying not to offend him. "I need to talk to you, but not here," I whispered desperately. "Please. I need your help."
Troy sighed dramatically and let me drag him away from the crowd, toward the darker edge of the courtyard.
As soon as we were out of earshot, the words spilt out.
"What do you want? I thought you weren't coming."
"I…"
Before I could speak, he cut in, "I guess that was a lie, amongst other lies you've told, like the pictures."
I held back the urge to lash out and voiced my problem. "Troy, please listen. I sent something to the wrong person," I said, breathless. "I need you to help me delete it. Please. It isn't good, Troy. Really bad. I need to delete my pics."
He stared at me for a moment, as if wanting to know what I sent.
"I used the app to send my nudes."
"I used the messaging app to send the nudes," I confessed, my voice shaking. "I need to get them back."
Troy smiled—a slow, crooked look that made my skin crawl. Perhaps he didn't get me when I said I sent it to the wrong person.
"Delete them?" he repeated, amused. "Why would I do that?"
I blinked, as though that would make me understand his gibberish better. "What do you mean?"
He leaned back against the wall, arms folding over his chest. "Why would I help you delete what I wanted saved?"
The ground seemed to tilt. "You... You said it was just between us."
"And it is. I made you use that app specifically so they wouldn't disappear. I wanted them saved."
I stared at him, and with every second that passed, my chest felt tighter, my ears ringing.
Troy scoffed. "So why are you acting like you killed someone?"
Something inside me cracked at his nonchalance. "I'm dead," I said hoarsely.
"What?" he snapped, already irritated. Then he took out his phone and scrolled. After some seconds, he turned his head to me.
"Where are the videos?"
I couldn't answer. My throat closed as sobs tore out of me. I bent forward, clutching my stomach like I could hold myself together if I tried hard enough.
"Are you sure…." he leaned closer, his eyes darkening, "that you sent them, or are you just making up excuses because you didn't send them?"
"I didn't. Can't you hear me?" Tears clouded my vision as I scrambled to speak. "I took them, but… but it got sent to the wrong person. I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't."
He went still and that wiped the smile off his face.
"What wrong person?" After a moment, his patience snapped. "What did you do?" he demanded. "Say it."
"The Alpha Triplets," I said internally.
I couldn't bring myself to say who it was. So I pleaded again. "You must believe me. I didn't mean to," I rushed, now that he knew I wasn't kidding. "It was an accident. Please, Troy. You have to help me fix this."
For a second, I thought he might, but his reaction wasn't fear, but pure rage.
"You stupid…" Then his hand came out of nowhere, "bitch!"
The sound echoed as pain exploded across my cheek, snapping my head sideways as stars burst in my vision.
Gasps rippled around us as I tasted copper in my mouth.
"Are you stupid?" he shouted. "Do you know what you've done?" People were turning now, watching as phones lifted. "You think you're clever? You saw a chance to spread your legs for power and took it!"
"No!" I cried. "I didn't know it was him!"
To my frustration, voices started rising around us.
"Look at her," someone laughed in the crowd. "The scholarship girl finally showed her true colours."
Troy didn't stop them. He turned to the crowd. "You know what's funny? I never loved her."
Laughter erupted around me.
"She's a disgrace," one of the girls who had been with him earlier sneered.
"Star of the New Year show."
My face burned. I couldn't breathe. I looked away from the crowd, my gaze falling on Troy. "I trusted you," I whispered.
He laughed. "Trusted me?" then scoffed. "You really thought this was real?"
My chest constricted. "What… what are you saying?"
"You, my dear Jade, were nothing more than a sour bet," he said loudly, not caring who heard. "A stupid little challenge. See how far you'd go. And look at you." His eyes raked over me with disgust. "Didn't even need to push that hard."
The words hurt worse than the slap. Someone behind him snorted.
"You should have seen yourself," Troy continued, enjoying it. "Always saying yes. Always trying to please. Pathetic."
I shook my head. "That's not true. You said you liked me."
"And you were an idiot for it." Tears rolled down my cheeks. "It was supposed to end today anyway. Glad it did, cause I'm not staying with a whore."
My chest tightened, my heart ached as all the memories from the previous months came flooding back.
The more I wept, the more Javelin hurt. As I stood there weeping, a cold, foul-smelling liquid splashed over my head. Vera Vega stood there, an empty punch bowl in her hands, smirking. "Oops. Guess the slut wanted attention. Now she's got it."
I wanted to disappear. I wanted to die. Until a deep, bone-chilling voice cut through the noise.
"Enough."
The laughter died instantly. A second voice, darker and more predatory, followed: "Step away from her."
Three tall, imposing figures emerged from the shadows. Their eyes glowed a faint, dangerous red. The Alpha pressure they radiated was so heavy that it forced the students to back away in terror.
Immediately, Javelin surged violently inside me, reacting without permission. She wasn't afraid of them; she was yearning.
Their scents assaulted my nostrils in one wild flow, and everything feral woke up in me as recognition crashed through me at once.
I peeled my gaze from the middle guy to the others. Javelin roared in my mind as the bond snapped into place.
"Mates. Mates. Mates."
The Alphas moved closer, their movements perfectly synchronised. They didn't look at the crowd; they looked only at me.
"We've been looking for you," one of them said.
Suddenly, the emerald necklace I always wore—the one hidden beneath my shirt—began to pulse with a brilliant green light. It was reacting to a ruby set into the lead Alpha's coat.
"They're... the Lycan Triplets," someone whispered in a terrified breath.
My heart leapt into my throat as fear slammed into me again and again.
The second Alpha turned, eyes blazing. He growled once, and everyone scattered.
I wanted to run, but fear and excitement rooted me to the ground. When the courtyard was empty, the third Alpha moved closer, his blond hair spilling into his blue eyes as he voiced deeply. "You are the Lycan King's lost daughter."
The words didn't make sense at first. They slid past my ears. I stood frozen, my soaked clothes clinging to my skin, as my heart pounded so hard it hurt.
Lost daughter? No. That wasn't possible.
I was a werewolf, born to werewolf parents. So how the hell did I…
Before I could even form a response, the clock tower chimed. Once. Twice. Twelve sharp notes rang out across the academy.
"Happy New Year!" voices erupted all around us.
Fireworks burst overhead, lighting the night sky in blinding colours. Cheers rose, music swelled, and for a brief second, the world descended into chaos.
Then, one of the fireworks went wrong. It veered off course, screaming straight toward us.
I gasped, my body locking up in pure panic.
Strong arms wrapped around me instantly, pulling me back against a solid chest. I barely had time to register the contact before heat surged through me. My wolf howled inside me, reacting violently to the Alpha holding me.
"Mate."
The ruby embedded in his coat flared, glowing so bright it was painful to look at. I clutched his shirt without meaning to, my breath coming in shallow, broken gasps as the firework exploded harmlessly past us.
When the danger passed, he loosened his hold. The loss of contact felt wrong. Empty. He stepped back, but my body still leaned toward him.
"No," I said quickly, panic clawing its way up my throat as I put distance between us. "This—this is a mistake. You're wrong."
I couldn't look at them. If they were the Alpha Triplets, then that simply meant one of them had my nudes.
I didn't want to see their faces nor did I want to see recognition bloom in their eyes.
"You have the wrong person," I insisted, staring at the ground.
A finger slid beneath my chin. "Look at me," the second Alpha ordered.
I tried to resist, but my body betrayed me. My gaze lifted, colliding with those perfectly sea blue eyes that burned with power and certainty.
"That necklace," he said calmly, "was carved from the same gemstone as the one we carry. It only responds when placed on a true Lycan heir." His thumb brushed lightly against my jaw, sending a shiver through me that I hated. "So no. We are not mistaken."
My mouth opened, a denial already forming, but the third Alpha suddenly frowned.
"Wait."
The single word made my heart stumble. He studied my face more closely now, his gaze sharpening, lingering too long. Something shifted in his expression.
"You look oddly familiar," he said slowly.
My pulse roared in my ears as I darted my gaze. Thankfully he ignored me, only to turn to his brothers and said, "Take a look at her. She's the girl from the masturbating video."