Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 88: Just Like Lucille

"Hello Adele, "

Adele turned from her desk, her sharp gaze landing on Violet, then drifting down to her bleeding hand. She sighed heavily, muttering under her breath, "You have got to be kidding me."

Violet attempted a dry joke. "I know, surprise, surprise, right?"

But Adele wasn’t in the mood. Abandoning the thick book she’d been reading, she stood and approached Violet, her face a picture of exasperation. "You and Alaric," Adele began, shaking her head, "I don’t know which of you is worse at this point. You must really love me so much you can’t wait to visit me every day."

Violet smirked, not one to let sarcasm slide past her. "Yes, I miss you so much my balls are beginning to ache."

Adele raised a brow, her lips twitching. "Gutter kids and their foul mouths," she muttered with mock annoyance, shaking her head.

Had it been anyone else, Violet might have snapped back, but coming from Adele, it didn’t sting. If anything, it felt oddly neutral. She followed Adele’s gesture to one of the beds and sat down without protest. Adele wasn’t exactly a friend, but she wasn’t an enemy either, their relationship right now was somewhere in that liminal space of indifference and obligation.

Lila had not followed Violet to the infirmary because she had sent her to class. She would not let the girl follow her along at the expense of her education. Lunaris might be many things but their education was topnotch.

Moreover, Lila was her friend, not her servant. Not that the elites at Lunaris understood that seeing they literally had fellow "students" serving them as "servants".

She watched as Adele cleaned the wound just as the question came. "So what happened this time? Which of the alphas is responsible for this one?"

"None, actually," Violet admitted. "I was the one who got distracted and crushed a glass of water."

Adele paused, one brow lifting. "You crushed a glass? With your bare hands?"

"Yes. Stupid, right?"

look. It’s not easy to

grimaced slightly when she recalled what led to the outburst while Adele worked. "People do stupid things when they’re

let me guess,"

one and only. However, he had a little

focus on cleaning the wound. After a moment, she leaned back and said, "No glass embedded. I’ll seal

channeling her healing energy. The warmth seeped into her skin, soothing and

asked suddenly,

casual, "do you

pull her hand back, but Adele held firm. After all, she was not

is emotional manipulation, right? Aren’t

Violet. Yes or

"No," Violet snapped defensively.

"Liar."

Violet stopped mid-sentence, realizing werewolves could sniff out lies. She sighed, defeated. "Okay, fine. I might have been attracted to him," she admitted reluctantly. "At first," she emphasized, "but the guy is

Violet glanced down to see her skin flawless, as if

like a disapproving parent. "Always drawn to the bad ones. At least you still have your senses and it shows Asher hasn’t stolen those away

Violet asked cautiously, her voice a whisper. She noticed how

Adele’s voice was steady, betraying no emotion as she continued her task, not

it, Violet thought,

others," Violet continued, trying to sound nonchalant. "Though he didn’t dive

Adele finally turned around, her arms crossed over her chest, her expression unreadable. "What makes you think I would divulge a story that