Chapter 24

Dylan

T he rage in everyone's voice as they continued to call out her name in an accusation made Dylan's stomach drop. She knew having to put Camilla down after her going feral would cause some tension in the school, but not like this. Surely, people didn't believe she was this evil. When had she done anything to deserve this? She treated everyone the same and even did her best to stick with Jackson and Serafine for good measure. People hated Shadowborns, and she knew she wouldn't befriend everyone here, but having every student hate her? Yeah. Not what she thought would happen in the least.

But these people were all sporting wolf eyes as the whole room filled with eerily glowing eyes staring at her. Dylan wanted to run out the door but knew better than to engage a wolf to make her look like prey. Serafine got out of her seat and put herself between everyone and Dylan. Even though Dylan didn't need protection, she knew she couldn't handle all of these students if they chose to pounce. Even for the three of them, it would be difficult to make it out of the room without getting into some fight with another student.

Jackson's rage boiled through the bond, and Dylan couldn't calm him before he jumped to his feet. She tried to stop him, but it was no use. He was pissed and wasn't going to allow these people to make her feel unsafe.

"Back the fuck up before you learn why you don't piss off an Alpha wolf," He snarled. "Dylan is not behind this. She isn't capable of killing for no damn reason!"

"She killed Camilla!"

"She killed someone already! Why is it hard to believe that she killed again?"

More shouts spouted the same nonsense. Dylan called on her wolf, and she quickly responded. They would be fighting out of here if this didn't settle down soon.

A large male student stepped up to Jackson, who was now in front of Serafine. Her friend was urging Dylan to get out of her seat and closer to the door. Lunapei was grabbing on her arm, too. Once Dylan saw the guy inches from Jackson's face, Dylan was more inclined to go to her mate than out the door. Luckily, Jackson wasn't alone. Hunter was now beside him. That didn't stop the student from glaring over them at her.

"You aren't an Alpha. You are a Beta. I can take on a Beta." He growled at Jackson.

Jackson returned with a growl. "I am mated. You aren't. With my mate's power, I am an Alpha. Two Alphas are in this room, and you don't think we will come out on top?"

Dylan wasn't sure where Hunter fell in the hierarchy. If she remembered correctly, they didn't have a rank on the Lore of Enforcers. But Hunter was connected to her. Dylan knew she was an Alpha. That could mean Hunter was an Alpha, too, now.

Hunter growled at the student as well. Other students were behind the one challenging them, and Dylan was being pulled back from her friend and teacher. She ripped her arms out of their grip and pulled on her wolf's power to let out through the room. Quickly, every student dropped outside of her mates. Serafine was even kneeling beside her, for which Dylan felt a pang of guilt, and she noticed Lunapei was struggling not to fall to the floor as well. Dylan pulled on Jackson's power and some of Hunter's. She didn't think it would work since they were not bonded, but it did. She kept it up until everyone was on all fours.

"Enough! I will not have anyone feeling comfortable threatening me or my mates. I did not do anything wrong! Camilla Adler was attempting to challenge me for my mate! Jackson and I were already bonded, and she still couldn't accept that she couldn't have him. SHE WAS FERAL!"

The room was silent.

Her power was rolling off her, and as much as she wanted to draw it back, she also didn't want to give anyone the chance to be able to attack. None of them were going to be happy; she just used their power over them. She had no choice, yet again. People were pushing her into a corner and expecting her not to fight. She wasn't a weakling wolf that would just accept she was beaten. More dominant and powerful wolves would always choose to fight if they felt threatened. How none of these wolves thought of that before challenging them was beyond her.

Lunapei walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. Dylan thought the professor was going to tell her to knock it off, but instead, Lunapei pushed her power into her, and then everyone was on their stomachs.

"Let this be a lesson on not choosing to sync yourselves into mob mentality when you don't like someone. I was not present when Dylan had to make her choice in the fight against Camilla Adler. There has been an investigation; however, it does not seem as though Dylan is lying. Until the investigation is completed, I am going to warn you all to stay away from Dylan Pierce and her mates. I will not stop her at all next time, as I am about to do so right now. Pack Law indicates that if a female is challenged to mate with a male after that male is bonded to a female, and the challenging female dies during the fight, it is not murder. It is also in Pack Law that if a wolf has gone feral, male or female, that wolf needs to be eliminated. Feral wolves can cause a lot of problems within a pack, as well as magic. It can aggravate anyone who is not mated, pushing the males closer to becoming feral due to being touched by a feral wolf's aura within the bonds. Dylan followed Pack Law to the letter. Unless the investigation comes out that Dylan killed Camilla for other nefarious reasons, the school will then decide her fate."

Dylan let go of the power holding the students in place. Serafine was the first one on her feet and back at Dylan's side. Jackson and Hunter stay in place to be between them and the others. Lunapei squeezed her hand, and Dylan turned to face her as the students got to their feet.

"I am going to ask you to go to Lupe's office, Dylan. She sent for you before we found the other student's body. She just wants you to explain what happened at the full moon run. This is not an interrogation. She wants your side."

Hunter turned to face them and snarled. "I gave her my witness statement."

Lunapei smiled weakly. "We still need Dylan's explanation of the events. We thank you for your statement; the school also requires Dylan to give hers." She then turned to Dylan to walk out of the door. "If I find anyone even trying to go after Dylan at this moment, I will allow her two mates to do what they believe is right to protect her. And no. You two will remain here. Lupe only wants to speak with Dylan. Stop growling at me. I don't care if you wish to go with your mate. She is capable of walking to a room by herself. The teachers all have to keep the students contained in the classroom so there is no one roaming the halls to hurt your mate."

Dylan looked back to see Jackson and Hunter smiling toothy grins at the crowd. She reached out to both of them through their bond and found she could send them both a message at once. This was a game-changer.

So. You two hated each other, and now you are both willing to take these people down together. What in the fuck is going on?

We have a common denominator that will override every instinct we have about other males, Hunter answered.

Yeah, baby girl. Get used to it. Now, I can rely on his badass skills to keep you safe, Jackson chimed in.

Oh, this was not good.

You both can hear me at the same time? she asked them as she walked down the hall toward the staircase leading to the professor's offices.

Yes, they said at the same time.

Well, that wasn't creepy at all.

Dylan pondered the implications of this bond between the three of them. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about being mated to an Enforcer. Would that mean everyone who is one will come after them? Enforcers were scary as fuck wolves that put those who stepped out of line six feet into the ground. That could mean they wouldn't want one of their own breaking an oath or something about not taking a mate. If that was a thing, wouldn't they come and kill Hunter?

Dylan closed down the bonds just enough so she could have thoughts to herself without her mates being able to look in. The other problem was having Hunter in her head already. It took until Jackson, and she completed the bonding ceremony for their link to push open. Why has Hunter's escalated so fast?

Ugh, that is hurting my head to even think about it. I don't know what this all could mean, but I don't want to be caught up in it.

When Dylan stood in front of Lupe's office, she hesitated before knocking. With her fist still in the air, the thought of her being accused of killing another student came to mind. She was standing here because another body had shown up after she had killed someone. How could that not be correlated? The real reason why she was being asked to come here had to be because of that. Not to get her side of the story but to ask her where she was after things went down with Camilla.

I need to give my damn alibi. That's why this is happening.

She lowered her hand down to her sides. Dylan thought about the repercussions she would receive if she would just run back to her pack. She already had two mates who had replaced Silas. They would both come with her without a second thought. She could live out the rest of her life within her pack and become the Alpha once her father stepped down. That didn't seem like a bad plan. How would anything happen to her if she was back with her pack?

Well, if the killings stopped after I left, it would imply that it was me. But it's not me. I killed Camilla because she had gone feral. This other body is not because of me. I don't know who, but someone.

"Miss Pierce?"

Lupe's voice made her jump as it came up from behind her. She turned quickly with her claws extended, and Lupe raised her eyebrows. Dylan followed Lupe's gaze to her claws, and she retracted them.

"I'm sorry. I expected you to be on that side of the door," she said, pointing with her thumb behind her.

"I had some business to take care of before I met you here. I assume Lunapei told you I wished to speak with you."

Dylan wanted to know exactly what the business was, but she knew the professor wouldn't tell her. Lupe looked back at the door and then at Dylan. She stepped to the side to allow her teacher to give her the door. Dylan watched the knob glow in a purple light before hearing the sound of a lock turning.

"Are you part witch or something?"

Lupe chuckled as she opened the door. "No. The doors can be spelled only to allow that person into the room. It is a safety measure I chose. It is registered only to me. Come in. We have much to discuss."

Dylan obeyed and walked into the room. She noticed the room had been decorated with all sorts of moons and wolves. It was something found in most werewolf rooms. The werewolves were proud creatures and loved to have the moon surround them to remind them a Goddess was looking over them. She sat in the chair across from Lupe. Dylan felt the softness in the chair consume her. If she ever had a house of her own, this was the type of chair she'd want for her guests: soft but firm enough to give some type of support. She became too lost in comfort before Lupe cleared her throat.

"Sorry. I like soft furniture. If I get too comfortable, though, I might fall asleep."

She smiled. "I would alert your mates then to take you back to your dorm. It seems you've had an interesting twenty-four hours."

Here we go.

Dylan frowned. "That's one way of putting it. Probably even a lighter way of saying I had a fucked up day, and if anything else happens, you may find me in the infirmary in a corner, sucking my thumb and rocking to keep me from just running around this place screaming my head off."

It shocked Dylan just as much as it did Lupe at her description of how she felt. She thought she had been handling everything quite well given the circumstances. She had to kill someone who had gone feral, found a fated mate, had a whole classroom want to attack her, and now was basically in front of the principal of her species.

Lupe blinked several times and paused as if she was waiting to see if Dylan had anything else to see. Dylan noticed her claws were dug into the cloth of the chair. She really didn't notice how much this all affected her.

"Miss Pierce, you don't have to hold all of that in. Would you like to talk about everything that happened last night? My mate already told me what had happened in combat class. You didn't cross any kind of line from what he is telling me. I will not be doing anything more than just accepting that there needed to be a challenge between the two of you to put to rest what Miss Adler had felt about Mr. Fastolf."

Dylan growled. She didn't want anyone even to mention how Camilla felt about Jackson anymore. She was quite over it.

"I understand, Dylan. You're not the first person who had to kill someone who was feral because they fell in love with someone who wasn't theirs. Fated mates are something complex that many people don't know how to grasp fully. It is out of our control who is fated to whom. That is up to the Great Moon. Clearly, she felt as though you and Jackson were the perfect fit. No one is arguing that he belonged to Camilla. Just that she thought he belonged with her."

"I didn't do anything wrong. I know that. It is Pack Law to put a feral wolf out of their misery. Yet I feel guilty for having to do it. I have to keep reminding myself that she was feral and tell myself to accept that I had to be the one to do it."

Lupe nodded. "It is never an easy thing having to take a life. If it were so easy, everyone would do it. However, it usually falls onto an Alpha. Dylan, you are an Alpha. It has only become a stronger force inside of you because you are mated. The Great Moon has set it up for you to have powerful mates as well. She has a plan for you."

Dylan narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to tell me part of my plan was to kill a classmate?"

"No." Her lips tightened into a frown. "More like your plan is to become an Alpha. It is an Alpha's job to care for those weaker around them. Someone who has gone feral? Unfortunately, that falls into that category. The magic that separates the man and wolf is gone when the wolf has lost its mind. My mate had seen it but thought your wolf had reigned Camilla's wolf back into control once more. We don't know what happened after that. We suspect Camilla still couldn't handle losing the person she loved to someone she felt was her rival. That is not uncommon. If she had more control, then you wouldn't have needed to do anything else after combat class. This was out of your control."

Dylan found those words to be more comforting than she thought they would. She needed to be reaffirmed that she wasn't in the wrong. At least about the combat class.

"I don't know what happened. I thought I saw her running ahead of me during the full moon run. The next thing I knew, I was over a cliff. Thankfully, I had that ledge to fall on, but that led me exactly where she wanted me to be. I ran to a clearing where she was waiting with her friends. She engaged in a fight with me. I thought if we fought again, and I used my power to pull her back, things could go back to normal. I was wrong. She didn't stop." A tear ran down Dylan's cheek. She didn't realize she was upset enough to cry about this. It made sense, though. This was the first time she had actually harmed someone in a fight. Killing them was one step she didn't think she'd have to do for quite some time. "If it weren't for Hunter, I probably would have had to fight all three of them at once. I don't know if I could have reigned my wolf in to only put the other two in their place."

"Mr. Hawthorne did tell me that. He also told me you two are fated."

Dylan nodded. "I ran from him."

Lupe chuckled. "I ran from my mate, too. I wasn't ready to have a mate when we met. I didn't want a mate either."

Dylan looked at her professor. She didn't think the teachers knew about her reluctance to ever find one of her mates, let alone three.

"Dominant females tend to be a bit more reluctant to find their mates. We don't want to have to deal with the possessiveness we all know comes with dominant males. When you are dominant and a female, you tend to be fated to those who are as equal or more dominant than you. It can get quite annoying."

"THANK YOU! I don't know why so many people don't understand that!"

Lupe laughed and leaned back in her chair. "Because most females aren't as dominant as us. I know your mother is, but she didn't meet your father until much later in life. She had time to grow into her own before a mate tried to protect her at all costs."

"Maybe that's why."

"Mr. Hawthorne brought Camilla back to us and told us everything from his perspective. He saw Camilla ram into you, so you'd roll over the cliff. He also saw the entire fight. I brought you here so we could talk about anything you need. You are doing quite well in your classes. All the teachers feel as though you don't really need to be here. However, rules are rules. I need you to finish the classes before you return home. I can allow you, Jackson, and Hunter to take the rest of the week off. It can allow us to calm the students down about the death of Miss Adler and Miss James."

"Hazel is dead?"

Lupe nodded.

Hazel was one of Camilla's henchwomen. She had been there last night to fight Dylan alongside her. She was pretty sure she was the one Hunter had kept in place while she fought off Camilla. A thought of Hunter killing her came to mind, but Dylan brushed that thought away. He was an Enforcer, but not a mindless killer. Hazel didn't break Pack Law enough to warrant such a punishment.

"I don't know why that didn't connect while I was in class."

"You have been under a fair bit of stress, Dylan. I'm sure that can make someone forget who is which person when you all don't know each other well."

I guess she has a point there.

"We will be investigating Miss James's death. I want you three to take the week off. The lessons will be written out for you to review. I want to clear the air with everyone so that nothing more of what happened today in class happens again."

Dylan lifted her eyebrows. What happened in class went down before coming to this room. How did Lupe know already?

"I know everything, Miss Pierce. Now off you go."

Dylan left the room quickly and wondered if she knew how creepy she was when she said things like that. It was almost like she even knew all the discussions she'd had with her friends since coming to this school.

God, I hope not.