Chapter 237: Her Bloodred Eyes
The college cafeteria was alive with its usual midday clamor: the chatter of students at crowded tables, the metallic clink of cutlery on plates, the occasional whoosh of a blender behind the café counter.
In the far corner, tucked away from the largest crowds, Lily sat with Lucas, Liam, Graham, and Maya, a half-eaten plate of fries between them.
Lily slumped forward, her cheek nearly touching her coffee cup.
“I swear, I’m going to fail that exam,” she groaned, rubbing her temples.
Maya leaned forward, her eyes wide with sympathy.
“It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“It was worse,” Lily moaned. “I thought I had prepared enough, but every question looked like it was written in a different language. I’m done for. Alpha Dean is going to kill me if I don’t pass. You know how he is.”
Lucas let out a low whistle.
“My dad doesn’t care about your exam scores that much,” he said, trying to soothe her.
Lily’s eyes snapped up.
“Yes, he does! I’m the mate of his sons. That means I can’t be the girl who fails pack economics!”
Liam chuckled, patting her hand gently.
“You won’t fail, Lily. You’re smarter than half the people in that class.”
Graham raised his brow.
“Only half?”
Liam shot him a playful glare.
“Alright, smarter than ninety-nine percent.”
Graham leaned back in his chair, a lazy grin on his face.
“One of my friends took that exam last year,” he offered. “He said it was brutal. He barely scraped by.”
Maya rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Your beta friends wouldn’t know a textbook if it fell on their heads.”
Graham gasped, clutching his chest as though mortally wounded.
“You wound me, Maya! Betas can be scholarly too!”
“Sure,” Maya drawled, a wicked grin spreading across her face, “as scholarly as a raccoon in a library.”
The table erupted in laughter. Even Lily, despite her nerves, found herself giggling until tears pricked the corners of her eyes.
It felt good to laugh. It felt normal. Safe.
But the moment was shattered when a sudden hush swept through the cafeteria, as though the entire space had sucked in a collective breath.
Lily turned, her heart falling at the sight of three uniformed campus security guards weaving through the maze of tables, their eyes fixed on their group.
A tall guard stepped forward, his voice echoing in the stunned silence.
“Alpha Lucas, Alpha Liam and Graham. You’re to come with us immediately. You’re under investigation for assault.”
Maya’s mouth dropped open.
“What? This has to be a mistake!”
Lily shot to her feet, nearly knocking over her coffee.
“What are you talking about? They didn’t do anything!”
Lucas’s eyes flashed with barely controlled rage.
“Who the hell says we assaulted someone?”
The guard stepped aside, and the cafeteria doors opened with a hiss.
Ethan limped in, his face swollen, a nasty bruise blossoming across his cheekbone, a split lip crusted with dried blood.
Gasps rippled across the room. Phones came out instantly, students filming the unfolding drama.
“There they are!” Ethan snarled, pointing a shaking finger at Lucas, Liam, and Graham. “They’re the ones who did this to me!”
A chorus of shocked whispers rose among the onlookers.
Lily’s head spun as she stared at Ethan’s battered face. Her stomach turned cold and sour.
Campus security surrounded the twins and Graham, hands resting on their holstered tasers.
The tension was thick enough to choke on.
Lily grabbed Lucas’s arm, her eyes wide and frantic.
“Tell me it isn’t true! You told me you only talked to him!”
Lucas’s gaze softened just for her, but his jaw was tight.
Maya stepped forward, planting herself between Lily and the guards.
“This is insane. You can’t just arrest them on one person’s word!”
One of the guards glared at her.
“Step aside, miss.”
Graham’s eyes darkened.
“Don't you dare touch her" Graham's eyes moved to Maya, "Don’t do anything.”
Lucas raised his hands slowly, his eyes never leaving Lily’s.
“We’ll go,” he said in a low voice.
Ethan’s grin widened as the guards moved in, gripping Lucas, Liam, and Graham by the arms.
Cameras flashed, voices murmured around them, a few cruel laughs rising from the crowd.
“Smile for the cameras, boys,” Ethan sneered as security began marching the three away. “This is just the beginning.”
Maya was trembling with fury, her fists balled so tightly her knuckles were white.
“You won’t get away with this, Ethan.”
“Oh, but I already have,” he purred.
Lily’s heart was in her throat. She watched as Lucas, Liam, and Graham were led through the cafeteria, students parting to let them pass like they were contagious.
Phones hovered in the air, filming every second of their humiliation.
“Lily, come on,” Maya whispered urgently, grabbing her hand. Together, they stumbled after the guards. “We need to go with them.”
People continued to film, some whispering gleefully, others staring with wide, horrified eyes.
The noise of the cafeteria felt muffled and distorted, like Lily was underwater.
Her brain screamed at her to do something, anything, but she was frozen.
As they reached the cafeteria doors, Lily dared a last look over her shoulder.
Ethan stood there, leaning against a table, wiping a fleck of blood from his lip with the back of his hand.
His eyes locked with hers, cold and triumphant.
Maya hissed in her ear.
“Don’t look at him. That’s what he wants.”
Lily forced herself to turn away, swallowing her fear and heartbreak as she followed the guards and the twins into the hallway.
They had barely made it into the hall when Maya grabbed Lily’s shoulders, eyes wild.
“What are we going to do? We can’t let them just take them away!”
Lily’s voice was hollow.
“We… we have to trust them to prove they’re innocent.”
“Trust them?” Maya barked a humorless laugh. “Did you see Ethan’s face? How can we even know what’s true anymore?”
Lily’s chest ached, the seed of doubt burrowing deep.
“Because they’re Lucas and Liam,” she said softly, almost like she was trying to convince herself. “Because they’re… ours.”
They hurried after the guards as best they could. Every step felt like wading through thick mud.
The security team led the Alpha twins and Graham down the stairs toward the campus security office.
Students gathered on the balconies overhead, leaning over railings, pointing their phones at the unfolding scene.
As they reached the building’s front doors, Lily caught one last glimpse of Ethan. He had followed them just far enough to watch, leaning against a stone pillar outside.
He smirked, his eyes glittering with dark victory.
Lily swallowed hard.
“I am going to make him pay,” she whispered fiercely, her eyes filled with hate.
Maya nodded, her jaw set with stubborn defiance.
Ethan’s smile only widened.