Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 161: He Betrayed Her

The shift in the atmosphere was so subtle at first that Violet almost missed it. One moment, they were dancing, laughing, swaying in rhythm and letting the night carry them away. Then the next, everything stopped after the strange horn blared.

The music faltered, stuttering like a broken record before cutting off completely. Conversations amongst the students trailed off mid-sentence, laughter died in the air, and a tense silence settled over the field like a thick, suffocating fog.

Violet stilled, her senses prickling. Something was wrong.

"What happened?" Ivy asked, her voice uncertain.

But she wasn’t the only one asking.

Confusion rippled through the crowd as murmurs rose among the new students. Except that was the thing— it was just the new students.

Violet’s sharp gaze darted across the crowd, and that’s when she noticed it. A pattern.

The older students weren’t asking questions.

No. They weren’t confused at all.

Their faces twisted with barely-contained amusement. Their masks of casual friendliness had cracked, revealing cruel intentions beneath. The air around them pulsed with a sick anticipation, like predators waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

They had been waiting for this.

To make it worse, the werewolves no longer blended into the party. Their stance had shifted instead. They now stood taut, muscles coiled like springs, eyes sharp and poised for instruction. What instructions?

Her throat dried as realization clawed at her. This was it, the event Adele had warned her about. The one no one spoke of. Her gut screamed at her to make a move immediately.

"We have to get out of here. Now!" Violet’s voice cut through the growing unease, loud and desperate enough to make Lila, Ivy, and Daisy exchange uneasy glances.

Daisy, ever the sharp one, quickly fell into step beside her. "What’s going on?" she asked urgently.

Violet moved fast, weaving through the dazed crowd, her breath coming quick as she explained. "I don’t know exactly. I only caught snippets, but there’s supposed to be some sort of event today. Some kind of initiation I think..."

Daisy sucked in a sharp breath. "Hazing," she whispered, horrified.

It made sense.

it. No wonder the upperclassmen looked so hungry for what was about to happen. It was

was an elite school built on conformity, hierarchy, and deep-rooted secrets. It only made sense that the older students would

like a normal hazing ritual. Nothing about Lunaris

pushing past the clueless crowd of new students who were still murmuring, still asking questions, still too slow to

Fools.

it? The air

Violet’s skin

were already too late. The thought clawed at

Keep moving. The entrance is close.

Just a little farther—

a low, vicious bark cut through

trees, its hackles raised, lips curled

eyes locked onto them, gleaming

dropped. They weren’t going

her lungs as she instinctively grabbed Ivy’s wrist, yanking her back before the wolf could lunge. The girls thankfully were smart not to make a wrong move, their gasps of terror swallowed by the sudden, suffocating

no leaving

They were trapped.

the firelight with an

Asher Nightshade.

his face, casting shifting shadows that only made his presence more menacing. But it was his eyes

with rage, nor violence, but with satisfaction. He had been

his lips as he surveyed them, drinking in their fear like it was

smooth as silk but laced with iron, he spoke. "Gather the newbies from

casual, as if he weren’t issuing

Her stomach churned.

whose faces were pale, their eyes wide. Fear locked her lungs, until

"Run!" she screamed.

had been broken. The other