Chapter 55 Protective Fury
Malia's POV
July’s dorm is like a haven when I finally haul myself back after detention, my whole body is sore and my split lip is pounding with every beat of my heart. All I really want to do is to fall onto her soft couch, ice my bruises, and act like today never happened.
But when July opens the door, her face tells me everything. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “They wouldn’t leave. "They’ve been here for over an hour, and I didn’t know what to tell them—"
I walk in and stop dead.
Everyone turns to where July’s standing, miles away, and stares. All three Moonfall brothers are in July's living room.
Aiden stands at the window, his body tense, his teeth clenched. Rowan paces restlessly by the couch, agitated and unnatural. Cian sits in an armchair, perfectly motionless, but his grey eyes move with predatory focus wherever I go.
They all turn to look at me simultaneously, and the temperature falls. Aiden’s eyes lock on my face, my split lip and then something terrifying happens. All the feeling drains from his face, replaced with an icy, lethal stillness that is far worse than his anger.
"Who did this?" His voice is quiet. Too quiet.
"It's nothing to—"
“WHO. DID. THIS." Each word is clearly enunciated, like sharp shards of glass.
I self-consciously touch my swollen lip, tasting the dried blood. "It was just a stupid fight. It's handled."
"Handled?" Rowan stops pacing, his hands are balled up into fists at his sides. "You're bleeding, Malia. That isn't handled."
"I'm fine—"
"You're not fine," Cian cuts me off, rising from his seat with fluid grace. With three easy strides he crosses to me, his fingers are soft when they lift my chin, assessing my wounds with clinical accuracy. "There's a split lip, bruising on your left cheek, and defensive wounds on your arms. This wasn't just a fight. Someone attacked you."
"Its was mutual" I reply, pulling away from his touch. "I gave as good as I got."
"It's not the point," Aiden says, and the icy tone of his voice makes me shudder. "Someone put their hands on you. Someone hurt you. "I need a name, Malia.”
All I can see is it in their eyes — all three of them. The the barely leashed violence, the protectiveness fury that so tightly wound that it's about to break. The bond exacerbates it, their rage feeding off of each other until the very air feels laden with hostility.
This is what I was scared of. This exact scenario.
"Malia." Rowan's voice is tense, as though he's battling for control. "Please. Just tell us who did this."
I close my eyes, knowing that the moment I say her name, everything is going to explode. But I can't lie to them. Not when they're looking at me like this, not when the bond is pulling the truth out of me whether I want it to or not.
"It was Lydia."
The response is rapid and devastating.
"She's done," said Aiden, his voice flat and final. "I'm dealing with this. Tonight."
"Aiden, no—"
"She attacked you." He’s already pulling out his phone, his fingers moving with deadly purpose across the screen. "In a bathroom. Where you were alone and vulnerable. That’s not a fight, that’s an ambush."
"It wasn't like that—"
"I don't care what it was like," growls Rowan, and I've never heard him so ruthless. "She put her hands on you. She made you bleed. That’s all I need to know."
He’s texting too, his phone in his hand and his expression murderous. I don’t know, I can only imagine who he’s messaging—probably their father, or campus security, or whoever can turn Lydia’s life into a nightmare with one phone call.
Even Cian, who is usually the voice of reason, looks like he’s about to start beating people up.
"There are cameras in that building. We can get footage, prove she started it. Expel her for assault."
"No!" I position myself between them and the door, arms spread wide as if I can physically stop them. "You can't do this.
“Watch us,” Aiden says coolly, stepping around me. I hold his arm, gripping hard when he pulls back. “Please. Listen to me. If you do this—if you come after her with the full resources of the Moonfall name—it will just make things worse.”
“Worse than what?” Rowan asks sharply. “She attacked you!”
“And I fought back!” I yell, my own anger at last starting to bubble out. “I held my own. I didn’t run, I didn’t let her have her way. I got mad too.”
“You never should have had to. You never should have had to fight.”
“But I was. And I handled it.” I dart my eyes among them all three, willing them
to understand. “If you come in now and kill her, what does that make me look like? Weak. As if I can’t stand up for myself. “As if I need three alpha heirs to protect me from one mean girl.”
“You’re ours,” Aiden growls, and his eyes flash gold. “It’s not like I can simply stop protecting you.”
“I’m not asking you to stop protecting me. I’m begging you, just let me do this the way I want to.” I Face him fully, holding his gaze even though the fury in his eyes makes me want to retreat. “Please, Aiden. You’re just going to end up proving what Lydia’s been saying this whole time—that I’m nothing without you. That I'm just a charity case hanging on to the Moonfalls."
A quick glance shimmers in his face. Not agreeing to it, but thinking about it.
"She will do it again," Rowan says, his voice hoarse. “If we don’t deal with her now, she’ll think she can just keep coming after you.””
"Perhaps. But it’s my risk to take." I soften my voice, like I'm trying to address the part of them that doesn't want to melt into their armour of rage. "I need you to trust me. Trust me that I can deal with this. That I’m capable of fending for myself.”
"We know that you’re strong," Cian says, and there’s something painful in his eyes. "But that doesn’t mean you should have to. Not when you have us."
"I know. And I love that you want to protect me. I do." I inch closer to him, then to Rowan, then back to Aiden, tryng to get all of them to understand. "But this isn’t about if I need to be protected. It’s about if I'm allowed to decide how I deal with my own problems."
There is a long silence, oppressive and taut with unease.
Aiden works his jaw, muscles clenched and unclenched. Rowan looks like he is holding himself back from running out the door to go after Lydia. Cian’s control is tighter, but I can glimpse the war behind his eyes.
"One more incident." Aiden’s voice is harsh, unforgiving. "If she comes after you one more time, one more threat, one more touch—and I’m not holding back. I don’t care how it looks, I don’t care what anybody thinks. I'll make her pay."
"Aiden—"
"No." He cuts me off, stepping very close now and I have to tilt my head back to look up at him. "That’s the deal, Malia. You want us to back off? Fine. We'll back off. But if she crosses the line once more, then all bets are off."
I look at Rowan and Cian. They both nod, their faces are mirror reflection of Aiden's lethal determination.
"One more incident," Rowan confirms. "That's all the mercy she gets."
"And that's more than she deserves," Cian adds quietly.
I realize that’s the best I’m going to get. They’re alpha heirs, bred and raised to defend their pack, their family, their mates. Telling them to wait while someone hurts me is contrary to their core, to everything they are.
"Okay," I agree softly. "One more incident. But in the meantime, you let me handle this my way."
Aiden studies me for a long moment, and I can see him struggling with the decision. All his instincts tell him to fix this, get rid of the threat, make sure I’m safe.
But he finally, grudgingly nods.
"Your way," he says. "For now. "
The tension in the room never entirely subsides, but it changes, softens to something a little less unbearable.
Rowan moves first, crossing to the couch and sitting down heavily. He runs his hands through his hair, and when he looks at me, the rage is gone, replaced by something that looks like exhaustion.
“You had us worried,” he says simply. “When we found out you were injured, that you were bleeding—”
“I know.” I sit beside him, mindful of my sore body. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Cian says, pulling the chair over from beside us, “It’s not your fault. You shouldn’t have to say sorry for being attacked.”
“Yes, she did not attack me. We fought. There’s a difference.”
“Not much of one,” Aiden mumbles, but he’s also sitting now, perched on the arm of Cian’s chair. His eyes keep flicking to my split lip, and I know that he’s wondering to himself just how many injuries, how many marks, I have.
“What happened?” Cian asks. “Tell us everything.”
So I do. I tell them about going to the bathroom between classes, about Lydia cornering me with Dina and Beretta, about how it got from words to violence. I’m not going to sugar-coat it or make light of my role in the fight.
They listen in silence, but as I feel their rage beginning to rise again with every detail, by the time I finish, Aiden looks like he’s about to punch something.
“She had backup,” he says flatly. “Three against one. That is not a fair fight. ”
“They didn’t rush in,” I state. “It was just me and Lydia.”
"Still." Rowan's hands ball up again. “She orchestrated this. Waited until you were alone, cornered you, ensured you couldn’t get away.”
“And I still held my own,” I tell them. “Her designer blouse is ruined, she’s got scratches all down her neck and I’m pretty sure I pulled out some of her hair extensions.”
Despite everything, Cian’s lips twitch. “Good.”
“Not good enough,” Aiden growls. “She should be expelled. At minimum.”
“But she won't be. We both got detention, equal punishment. As far as the school is concerned, it’s dealt with.”
“The school won't keep silent,” Rowan says bluntly.
“Maybe. But it’s still my choice how to respond.” I look at each of them in turn. “Thank you for respecting that. I know it’s not easy.”
“It’s not,” Aiden admits, and the honesty in his voice catches me off guard. “All my instincts are yelling at me to find her right now and make sure she never once imagines touching you again.”
“Same,” Rowan says quietly.
Cian just nods, but I can see the same struggle in his eyes.
“But we’re trying anyway,” Aiden continues. “Because you asked us to. Because you’re right — you do get to go and handle your own problems. Even when it kills us to stand back and let you.”
Something warm unfurls in my chest, slicing through the fatigue and pain. They’re trying. They’re genuinely hearing me, really respecting what I need, even if it’s the opposite of what they are.
"Thank you," I say softly.
Aiden says darkly, "Don't thank us yet. It's not over. One more incident, Malia. Remember that."
"I know."
He meets my eyes, and the promise in them is plain: Lydia had better pray she never push their button.
Because if she does, nothing and no one will be able to save her from the wrath of the Moonfall brothers.