Chapter 65 Lydia's Fury
Lydia watches like a predator hawk.
She watches them from across the quad, her nails digging crescents into her palms.
Aiden has his arm around that girl—that scholarship nobody who doesn't belong here—and they're laughing about something. Looking at each other like they're the only two people in the world. Looking sickeningly happy.
Then he stops walking, turns to face her fully, and kisses her. Right there in the middle of campus where everyone can see. A claiming kiss, possessive and public and everything Lydia has dreamed about for years.
Except it's not her in his arms. It's never going to be her.
The hatred that floods through Lydia is so intense it makes her dizzy. Her vision blurs at the edges, her chest constricting with a fury so pure it feels like it might consume her from the inside out.
This was supposed to be her life. Aiden was supposed to be hers. The Ashford and Moonfall alliance, the perfect power couple, the future she'd been preparing for since childhood—all of it, gone. Stolen by some hybrid girl who doesn't even understand what she has.
"Lydia?" Dina's voice sounds far away. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she hears herself say, her voice flat and cold.
But she's not fine. She's breaking. And when Lydia breaks, everyone around her bleeds.
—-----
Malia's pov
The whispers start before I even make it to my first exam.
I'm walking through the library, heading toward the lecture hall for my Pack History exams when I hear two girls at a nearby table.
"I heard she cheated on the chemistry test. That's the only way someone like her could score that high."
"Makes sense. She's probably been using the Moonfall brothers to get access to old exams and answer keys."
My steps falter. I got a 94 on that chemistry test—studied for hours, worked through every practice problem until my hand cramped. I earned that grade.
But apparently, in their eyes, I couldn't possibly be smart enough to succeed on my own merit.
I force myself to keep walking, to ignore them, but the damage is already done. The seed of doubt has been planted, and I know it's only going to grow.
The exam itself is a blur. I answer the questions mechanically, my mind half on pack treaties and half on the whispers I know are spreading through campus like wildfire. When I turn in my test, Professor Martinez gives me an odd look—sympathetic? Suspicious? I can't tell anymore.
Between exams, I head to the chemistry lab for my practical. I've spent the last week preparing for this, memorizing procedures and calculations. I know I can do this.
Except when I return from getting supplies, my carefully prepared solution is ruined.
The clear blue mixture I'd spent thirty minutes creating is now a murky brown, completely contaminated and useless. My stomach drops as I stare at it, knowing I'll have to start over and lose valuable time.
Lydia is at the station next to mine, and when I glance at her, she's wearing the faintest smirk.
"Oh no," she says, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "What happened to your experiment? That's so unfortunate."
I want to accuse her. Want to call her out right here, right now. But I have no proof, and making a scene will only make me look paranoid and unstable.
So I swallow my fury, dump out the contaminated solution, and start over.
I finish ten minutes late with shaking hands and a grade I know is lower than I deserved.
Lydia's triumphant smile as she leaves the lab makes me want to scream.
—----
By lunch, I'm exhausted and fighting tears of frustration.
I meet July and Freddy at our usual table, grateful when the Moonfall brothers arrive moments later like Greek gods—with trays. At least here, surrounded by people who actually care about me, I can breathe.
"You okay?" Aiden asks immediately, his hand finding mine on the table. "You look stressed."
"Just exam stress," I lie, not wanting to worry him.
But Cian is watching me with those too-knowing grey eyes. "What happened?"
"Nothing."
Period. No crying to anyone.
The brothers give me a look, but they agree silently to let it go.
The rest of the day is a gauntlet of small cruelties. But the day isn't over yet—
—----
I'm between my last two exams, exhausted and running on fumes, when I make the mistake of going to the bathroom alone.
The same bathroom where Lydia and I fought weeks ago. I should have known better.
I'm washing my hands, trying to center myself before my final exam, when the door opens.
Lydia walks in. Alone this time, without Dina and Beretta as backup.
Somehow that makes it worse.
She locks the door behind her with a decisive click.
My heart starts racing, but I force myself to stay calm. "Lydia."
"Malia." Her voice is eerily controlled, but I can see the fury burning behind her eyes. "We need to talk."
"I don't think we have anything to say to each other."
"Oh, I think we do." She takes a step closer, and I instinctively back up against the sink. "Who do you even think you are? “
I blink. "I didn't do anything—"
"You exist!" Her composure finally cracks, her voice rising to something close to a scream. "You showed up at this school and bonded with them and took what was supposed to be mine!"
"Aiden was never yours—"
"He WAS!" She's shaking now, tears of rage streaming down her face. "We were supposed to be together. It was planned, arranged, understood. The Blackwood and Moonfall packs uniting through a mate bond. It was perfect. And then you—you nothing—you ruined it all!"
Trying to keep my voice steady, I say. "I didn't ask for this"
"It should have been me." Her expression remains twisted with hatred. "I've loved him since we were pups. I've prepared my whole life to be his mate, to be Luna of the Moonfall pack. And you just waltz in and take it all like it means nothing!"
For the first time, I feel something other than anger toward her. Not sympathy exactly, but understanding. She's not just a mean girl—she's someone who had her entire future mapped out, only to have it torn away by forces beyond her control.
But that doesn't excuse what she's done.
"I'm sorry you're hurting," I say, meaning it. "But that doesn't give you the right to torture me. To spread lies and sabotage my work—"
"You've ruined everything," she hisses, cutting me off. "Aiden was supposed to be mine. This school was supposed to be mine. My place, my future, my life. And you—you're nothing. A scholarship hybrid who doesn't even know which world she belongs to. You're not worthy of him. You're not worthy of any of this."
The words strike deep, hitting insecurities I've been fighting since I arrived at Mooncrest college.
But before I can respond, the bathroom door rattles violently.
"Occupied!" Lydia snaps, not taking her eyes off me.
"Malia?" July's voice comes through the door, sharp with concern. "Malia, are you in there?"
Relief floods through me. "Yeah, I'm—"
The door slams open—July storms in, taking in the scene with one quick glance: me backed against the sink, Lydia standing too close, the tension thick enough to choke on.
July's expression goes from worried to absolutely furious.
"Get out, Lydia," she says, her voice deadly calm in a way that's somehow more threatening than shouting. "Before I make you."
Lydia actually laughs, the sound harsh and broken. "You? Make me? You're even more pathetic than she is."
"Try me." July steps forward, and despite being several inches shorter than Lydia, she somehow takes up more space, becomes more threatening. "I might not be an alpha heir. Might not have pack politics on my side. But I will absolutely kick your ass if you don't walk out of here right now."
"This isn't your business—"
"My best friend is my business. And you've been making her life hell." July's hands clench into fists at her sides. I can feel her wolf heating up. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to walk out of this bathroom. You're going to stop spreading rumors, stop sabotaging her work, stop harassing her. And if you don't—if I even hear that you've looked at her wrong—I'm going to make sure everyone on this campus knows exactly what kind of person you really are."
"You wouldn't dare—"
"Watch me." July pulls out her phone. "One word to the Dean about your little affairs with the junior lecturers and your family wouldn't have a say this time. You'll be expelled. Your perfect future? Gone."
Lydia's face goes pale. "You're bluffing."
"Am I?" July's smile is sharp enough to cut. "Want to find out?"
The silence stretches, crackling with unspoken threats.
Finally, Lydia's shoulders slump. The fury doesn't leave her eyes, but something else enters her expression—defeat, maybe. Or the beginning of it.
"This isn't over," she says, but the words sound hollow now.
"Yeah, it is," July says firmly. "Now leave."
Lydia looks at me one last time, and I see something complicated in her gaze—hatred, yes, but also grief. The death of a dream she'd held too long.
Then she turns and walks out.
The door swings shut behind her with a decisive click.
I slide down until I'm sitting on the floor, my legs suddenly unable to hold me. July immediately drops down beside me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
"You okay?" she asks softly.
"I don't know." I lean into her, feeling the adrenaline drain away, leaving only exhaustion. "What if she's right, July? What if —"
"Stop." July pulls back to look at me directly. "You belong here. You've earned your place through your own merit. Don't let her poison make you doubt that."
I nod, not quite believing it yet, but wanting to.
"Come on," July says, helping me up. "We've still got one more exam."
We leave the bathroom together, and I try not to think about Lydia's words echoing in my head but with July's arm linked through mine, I feel a little less like nothing.
And maybe that's enough to get through today.