Chapter 109 It All seems To Scatter
Malia's POV
When I walk into the hall, it feels off.
Students are scattered in small groups, some leaning against the lockers, others congregating in doorways, but they’re not moving. None of them move. They’re all staring. At their phones, at each other. At me.
Like a current, whispers run through the hallway like wind among wheat. Not even attempting to be subtle anymore. Just outright, unrepentant staring, pointing, and trying not to laugh.
My stomach sinks.
Something's happened. Bad things.
I keep my head down and quicken my pace toward my first period trying to ignore the way people stop talking when I walk by, the way phones tilt… like they’re pointing them at me like weapons.
"Malia!"
July’s voice tore through the chaos. She’s running toward me—Freddy right behind her, worry and something else—maybe fear—in both their faces. Fear, maybe. Or pity.
"Have you seen it?" July grasps my arm, tugging me to a vacant classroom. "Please tell me you’ve seen it."
"Seen what?" My heart hammers. "What's going on?"
Freddy shuts the door of the classroom behind us, turning the sea of gawkers into a wall they can’t see beyond. "There are photos. A video. They—" He stops, jaw clenched. "They’re everywhere. "
"What sort of pictures?"
July and Freddy exchange a glance that makes my blood run cold.
"Show me," I order.
July hesitates, and then she slowly pulls out her phone. Her hands tremble slightly as she opens it, goes to something, then holds the screen out to me.
My brain requires a couple moments to register what I‘m looking at.
The basketball courts. Yesterday. Cian and I are sitting on the bleachers. Kissing.
The photo is clear. Damning. I have my hands in his hair, he has his arms around me, our bodies are so close together it looks—
“Oh god,” I whisper.
“There's more,” Freddy says softly.
July swipes. Another photo. Same scene, different angle. Here, Cian's hand is on my face, and the closeness of the gesture is obvious.
Another swipe. A third photo. I’m practically on Cian’s lap, the kiss is deep and desperate and wholly unsuitable for a man who’s supposed to be in a relationship with his brother.
“There's a video too,” July says, voice tight. “Someone edited clips together. You and Cian kissing. You shoving Aiden yesterday. Victoria in the medical bay. All set to some dramatic music with text overlays about…” She stops.
“About what?”
“About unstable hybrids. About you using the brothers. About—“ Her voice drops. “About you being exactly what people like Madame Vesper say you are.”
The phone slips from my hand. She catch it instinctively, my eyes locked on the photo of me and Cian.
Proof my biggest mistake. All that’s wrong with me, in one proof.
“How many people have seen it?” My voice was detached, as if coming from far away.
“Everyone,” Freddy says bluntly. “It’s been shared in every group chat.” Posted on every platform. It went viral overnight.”
Of course it did. The scholarship hybrid, discovered lip-locking with her boyfriend's brother mere hours after making a scene in public. The perfect scandal. The definitive test of unworthiness.
“Malia—”
Heavy footsteps in the hallway. Multiple sets. Angry. The classroom door flies open.
Aiden is in the doorway, phone in his hand, and the look on his face is one of the most furious expressions I’ve ever seen. Rowan is standing next to him, expression neutrally guarded, his hands deeply buried in his pockets and jaw clenched.
Behind them, students are stretching their necks, phones out, poised to record whatever is going to happen next.
"What the fuck is this?" Aiden snatches his phone in my face, the dirty photo takes up the screen.
I flinch back. "Aiden, I—"
"You’re screwing my brother too?!" His voice is too loud, his alpha power bleeding through. "We only had one fight, one disagreement, you run to Cian?"
"It wasn't like that—"
"What was it like?" He comes toward me and I automatically take a step back. "Tell me what this is if it’s not you cheating on me with my brother."
"We didn't—it was just—" My words are caught in my throat. How do I talk about how desperate I was, how comforted I felt, how broken I was?
"Just what? Just a kiss?" His laugh is bitter. "That’s not just a kiss, Malia. That’s—" He points to the phone. "That’s you wrapped around him like he’s the only thing keeping you alive."
Behind him, more students gather. I catch glimpses of faces, some with shock, some meticulously recording every second.
Lydia is there in the crowd, Beretta, Dina and another girl on her sides. She’s not grinning, but her eyes glint with victory.
“Aiden, please—” I reach for him and he pulls away.
“Don’t touch me.” His eyes blaze that electric blue — alpha eyes, triggered by a sense of betrayal. “After all that—after I stood up for you, after I backed you when everyone said you were crazy, when you hurt Victoria, when you made a scene—this is how you repay me?”
“You didn’t stand up for me yesterday!” The words are out before I can stop them. “You hugged Lydia! You took her side! You left with her like I was nothing!”
“Because you were losing your mind! Because you shoved her in front of half the school!” His voice goes up. “I was de-escalating you before you went and did something worse!”
“So now you’re the one who comforts her? You hold her hand and you walk away with her?”
“That's not like this!” He pushes the phone away closer. “This is treachery, Malia. This is you discarding everything we had for — what? Revenge? Comfort? What?”
I try to say something but nothing comes out. Because he’s not quite wrong. Movement in my peripheral vision. Cian pushes through the crowd, face pale but determined.
“Aiden, stop. This isn’t—”
“Stay out of this.” Aiden's voice deepens to something threatening.
“No.” Cian steps between us, making himself a wall. “You want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I kissed her. I—"
“After she came to you in tears over our argument?” Aiden’s laugh is fragile. “After she was vulnerable and hurt? You took advantage of that?”
“I didn’t—” Cian’s mask slips just a bit. “Come on, Aiden, we are all bonded to her for God's sake, it is how you're—”
“Then what was it like?” Aiden rushes now at his brother, so they are almost chest to chest. “Tell me how it is you ended up with your tongue down my girlfriend’s throat.”
The unrefined wording makes me wince. Around us, students breathe out, whisper, record faster and faster.
“She's not just bonded to you, Aiden so don't call her your girlfriend. But what happened was a mistake,” Cian says quietly but with a firmness in his voice. “We were both in pain. Both angry at you for what happened yesterday. And we—” He stops. "We made a bad choice. But it didn't mean the same thing as you think it means."
"To hell with the bond, you know what I think?" Aiden's eyes flash brighter. “I think you betrayed me. I think she betrayed me. I think—” His voice cracks slightly. “I just thought I’d been a moron for thinking this could work.”
Silence falls around us and I felt my knees buckle. “W-what? “