Chapter 27 Rumors
Selene walked across the university grounds with her usual steady confidence, her posture relaxed, and her gaze forward. The air felt different today—thicker somehow—but she brushed the sensation aside. She didn’t immediately notice the eyes following her or the hushed voices trailing in her wake.
It wasn’t until she slowed near the stone path and turned slightly to the right that fragments of conversation reached her ears.
“Did you hear?” a girl with a high ponytail whispered.
“Hear what?” her friend replied.
“About Selene. There’s a rumor spreading, and it’s getting ugly.”
“Oh?” The second girl let out a short laugh. “Is that why she’s been walking around like that lately? All confident. All… pretty?”
“Right? Maybe it’s because she hit two jackpots,” the first girl said. “An Alpha and a hottie. I mean, whose confidence wouldn’t skyrocket if they had both wrapped around their fingers?”
Selene’s steps faltered for half a second.
“What do they mean…?” she thought, slowing just enough to listen without turning.
“Isn’t she scared?” another voice chimed in. “What if she gets caught?”
The first girl scoffed. “Caught? Then why would she walk around so openly with that guy? If she was scared, she’d be hiding.”
“Oh my goodness,” the second girl gasped, hand flying to her mouth. “What do you think our Alpha will do when he finds out?”
“He’ll be furious.”
“No,” the first girl corrected quietly, almost gleefully. “He’ll be beyond furious.”
A sharp breath followed.
“No wonder she crushed her sister’s confidence the other day,” the second girl added. “Maybe when she changed her style… that was when she started seeing him?”
“And she took advantage of the Bloodbound Rite,” another whispered. “Everyone knows Christopher’s busy this week. She used that time to be with her other man.”
Selene stopped walking.
Her brows knit together slowly as the words settled—heavy, absurd, and sharp all at once.
Other man?
Her heartbeat quickened, not from guilt, but from pure disbelief.
“What are they even talking about?” she asked herself silently.
She hadn’t been sneaking around. She hadn’t been flirting. She hadn’t been anything except tired, focused, and alone. These past few days, she’d barely spoken to anyone outside of necessity. Most of her time had been spent buried in old pages, chasing answers no one else seemed to care about.
She exhaled softly.
“A book is my new ‘him’ now?” she muttered under her breath. “I’ve only been flirting with parchment and dust, thank you very much.”
Her grip tightened around the strap of her bag as she continued walking.
Students passed by her in ones and twos, their gazes lingering just a second too long before they leaned toward each other, whispering behind their hands. Some looked curious. Others are judgmental. A few outright smug, as if they believed they’d uncovered something deliciously scandalous.
Selene kept her head high.
If they wanted to talk, they would talk. She refused to let rumors—twisted and exaggerated—drag her down. Still, something cold curled in her stomach. It is not fear but awareness.
Someone had started this and whoever it was knew exactly how to make whispers spread like wildfire.
Selene’s eyes hardened slightly as she continued walking, her steps unhurried, her expression carefully unreadable. She was almost past them—almost done listening—when one last sentence reached her ears.
“Where did you hear it?”
“From Kate,” the girl answered. “She said the tres marias saw them walking together near the Lunaria Tree.”
Selene’s lips curved, slow and deliberate.
“So this is how you want to play”, she thought. “Fine.”
She didn’t turn around. She didn’t defend herself. She didn’t need to. And she walked on.
Inside the classroom, Kai sat laughing softly, shoulders relaxed, eyes bright as she chatted with the tres marias—Marionette, Julian, and Maria. Kate was nowhere in sight, likely busy elsewhere, spreading the same story with innocence carefully painted across her face. Wherever it landed, the rumor ignited instantly.
“Hey, Kai!” a classmate called out, approaching her desk.
Kai looked up, offering a sweet, practiced smile. “Yes, Ana?”
“Is it true?” Ana asked, lowering her voice.
“True about what?” Kai replied, blinking innocently.
“That Selene cheated…”
Kai’s eyes widened. She stood abruptly, chair scraping against the floor.
“What do you mean by that?” she shouted. “Don’t say such horrible things about my sister!”
“We’re not,” Ana said quickly. “It was said the tres marias saw her with another man. Didn’t they tell you?”
All eyes turned to Marionette, Julian, and Maria—who looked shocked or rather, pretended to be.
“What?!” Kai gasped, spinning toward them. “Marionette! Julian! Maria! What is she talking about?”
“Uh…” Marionette hesitated, fingers twisting together.
“You didn’t tell Kai?” Ana exclaimed. “You’ve been with her the whole time!”
Selene reached the doorway just in time to hear everything.
She paused, then quietly stepped back, hiding behind the doorframe instead of entering.
“I-I was going to,” Marionette stammered. “B-but she’s your sister…”
“And as you can see,” Julian added, voice low but clear, “your sister has been cheating with our Alpha.”
Selene’s lips curved into a faint smirk.
“What a nice performance,” she whispered. “All four of you deserve applause.”
Inside the classroom, Kai staggered back a step, eyes wide, hand flying to her chest.
“What? Cheating? My sister?”
“Y-yeah,” Maria said softly. “We saw them…”
Their voices overlapped, accusations layered carefully, each word chosen to wound without ever sounding cruel.
Selene leaned against the wall outside the classroom, listening and finally understanding exactly how deep Kai was willing to go.
Marionette swallowed hard, eyes darting around the room as if weighing how much truth she was allowed to give.
“I–I didn’t want to say anything,” she began softly, her voice trembling just enough to sound sincere. “Because… well, because Selene is your sister, Kai. And I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Julian nodded quickly, stepping in to support her. “Yeah. We thought maybe it was nothing at first. You know how people like to exaggerate things.”
Maria clasped her hands together, gaze dropping to the floor. “But we really did see them,” she said quietly. “Near Lunaria. Walking together. Close.”
A hush fell over the room.
Kai’s breath caught. She took another step back, bumping into a desk. Her eyes glistened, shock and disbelief carefully arranged across her face.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s… that can’t be right.”
Ana frowned. “You’re saying you saw them?”
Marionette nodded slowly. “We didn’t want to jump to conclusions. But they didn’t look… innocent.”
Kai shook her head, hands trembling as she brought them to her mouth. “Selene wouldn’t do that,” she said, voice breaking just enough to sound real. “She wouldn’t betray me like that. Or Christopher.”
The class murmured, sympathy spreading fast.
“But why would you lie?” someone whispered.
Julian lifted his hands defensively. “We’re not lying. We gain nothing from this.”
Maria glanced at Kai apologetically. “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
Kai’s knees buckled slightly. She grabbed the edge of a desk to steady herself, eyes wide and watery.
“I didn’t know,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I swear I didn’t know.”
A few girls rushed forward instinctively.
“Are you okay, Kai?”
“That must hurt so much…”
“I can’t believe Selene would—”
Outside the classroom, Selene listened, expression calm, almost detached.
Inside, Kai lowered herself slowly into her chair, shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world had settled there. Her head bowed, long hair shielding her face.