Chapter 44 Chapter 0044

Chapter 44 Chapter 0044
•AVELINE•

When I got back to my dorm building, people kept glancing at me and whispering things to their friends as if I couldn't hear them.

I rolled my eyes and told myself that whatever they saw in those pictures would be out of their minds in a few days.

"I will go and buy you something to eat," Matteo said when we reached the elevator. "I will be quick."

I nodded at him and went inside the elevator. After it closed, I leaned back on its wall and sighed.

When I reached my room, before twisting the doorknob, Angel opened the door.

"Oh, I thought—"

I heard voices inside the room and realized she had hosted an entire party. She didn't even text to ask me if I would come back or not.

"Can I come in, please? I am tired."

"No, honey," she scoffed. "You can't come in here. Didn't you hear anything from the housing director? You no longer stay here. Your things were moved to the storage room."

"What?"

My stomach sank. It couldn't be possible. I had worked so hard to be here for Dominic's father to take everything from me.

I dedicated all my free time to studying hard, and I didn't want to see all my efforts going into waste because of Dominic's engagement to Kaila.

"You heard me." Angel tilted her head. "Actually, I'm not surprised. I always knew you wouldn't last long here. The academy isn't really built for people like you." She shrugged. "But hey, being your roommate for two whole minutes was fun."

She slammed the door in my face before I could answer her.

The muffled sound of laughter leaked through from the other side, and I pressed my back flat against the door and closed my eyes.

My throat was tight. My eyes burned but I didn't want to cry in the corridor.

'Not here.' Storm's voice muttered in my head. 'Not in this hallway. Not where they can see you. Hold on.'

I breathed in and out.

She was right. I couldn't fall apart in a hallway where anyone could pull out their phone and make it into something. I had already given this place enough.

I pushed off the door and walked toward the elevator, my arms wrapped around myself, thinking about what I was going to do.

The elevator doors slid open, and Matteo was standing there.

He had a paper bag in one hand and two cups balanced carefully in the other, and when he saw my face, he didn't ask a single question.

He just looked at me and stepped back to make room. "Come on," he muttered. "My room."

I stepped into the elevator beside him, and the doors closed behind us.

•••

Matteo's room was tidier than I expected and quieter than mine had ever been. He set the food on the desk, pulled the chair out for me, and then sat on the edge of his bed.

We ate in silence, and I appreciated that he didn't try to make me talk while I was still thinking, trying to come up with a solution before I could share the news with him.

It felt like I was losing my mind.

I couldn't even call my father because there was nothing he could do about this. Instead, he'd want me to listen to Alpha Frostbane and attend Westholm Academy.

He wasn't a ranked werewolf and even our Alpha wouldn't have a say in what Dominic's father did to me.

It was only when I reached for my phone out of habit that I saw the notification. There was only one email from the admin.

My fingers trembled as I opened the file. My chest tightened and I wished there was a hole I could crawl into and come out once everything had gone back to normal.

I opened it and said a silent prayer to the moon goddess. It hadn't even been a month since I was admitted to Hargreaves, but it was all going down the drain.

"Dear Ms. Aveline,

Following a review of recent conduct unbecoming of a Hargreaves student, and in accordance with the academy's code of discipline, this letter serves as formal notification of your expulsion, effective immediately. Your enrollment has been terminated. Please arrange the collection of any remaining personal belongings within 48 hours."

I read it twice. Then a third time, because my brain kept refusing to process it as real.

Expelled. Not transferred, suspended, but expelled. It didn't even state exactly what my crime was.

Whatever misconduct they were speaking of was bullying done against me. The person who deserved the letter was the person who took the pictures and hung them on the wall to humiliate me.

My hand was shaking when I put the phone face down on the desk.

I stared at the wall in front of me and didn't say anything, because if I opened my mouth right now I genuinely didn't know what would come out of it.

After a while, I picked up my cell phone.

I found Dominic's name in my contacts and pressed the call button before I could think myself out of it. I didn't know exactly what I was going to say

But I needed to hear his voice confirm that he knew what his father had done, that he hadn't just let it happen without a word.

It rang twice. Then someone picked up, but the voice that came through wasn't his.

"He's busy," Kaila answered. "He's always going to be busy for you, Aveline. I'd save yourself the trouble of calling again."

My body froze and I looked at Matteo. I felt like disappearing altogether.

Dominic was with Kaila, enjoying her company, and probably having sex with her while I was being expelled from the academy because of him.

It made sense that he had never loved me.

I was nothing but a distraction, and he used the mate bond to string me along.

I hung up the call and hung my head on the chair.

"What's wrong, Aveline?" Matteo finally asked.

"I am expelled," I answered. "My life is over. Dominic has ruined it. And I ruined it. I will leave tomorrow morning and see what I can do. But whatever dreams I had when I came here, they are all down the drain."