Chapter 79
Jackson's POV
I pushed open the door to my dorm room, already mentally planning my evening study schedule. The medical anatomy exam next month wasn't going to ace itself, and I'd promised myself I'd get through at least three chapters tonight.
"—I'm telling you, it's complete bullshit!" Jake's voice cut through my thoughts, sharp with anger.
I paused, backpack halfway off my shoulder. My roommate was hunched over his laptop at his desk, face flushed, fingers jabbing at the screen like he could physically fight whatever he was seeing. Ryan sat on the edge of Jake's bed, thumbs flying across his phone screen, expression equally furious.
"What's going on?" I dropped my bag by the door.
Ryan's head snapped up. "You haven't seen it? Someone's literally destroying Megan on Campus Whispers." He thrust his phone toward me. "The whole platform's gone crazy. Look at these comments—they're disgusting."
I took the phone, and my stomach tightened as I scrolled through the thread. Photos of Megan getting into a Mercedes. Accusations about being "kept" by some business mogul.
The comments below made my jaw clench.
"Always knew something was off about her."
"How else does she afford those bags?"
"Witch vibes honestly."
Megan. Ellie's roommate. One of the girls who'd welcomed me into their group without hesitation, who'd laughed at my terrible jokes at The Crow's Nest.
Jake slammed his palm on his desk. "We tried defending her. Posted comments about how Megan's literally the nicest person on campus. But they just got buried under all the hate." His voice cracked slightly. "It's like watching someone get torn apart and being completely powerless to stop it."
My mind immediately went to Ellie. I could picture her reaction—the way those amber eyes would flash, that protective instinct she worked so hard to control. Megan wasn't just her roommate. She was family.
She's going to do something, I thought, and warmth spread through my chest at the certainty. And she's going to be brilliant about it.
"Here, let me see—" Ryan reached for his phone, swiping to show more evidence.
The screen froze mid-scroll.
"What the—" Ryan tapped frantically. "It's stuck."
Jake looked up from his laptop, brow furrowed. "Mine too. The page won't refresh."
I watched as Ryan force-quit the app and reopened it. The Campus Whispers homepage loaded, but where the main attack thread should have been—nothing. Just a generic "System Maintenance" message.
"That's weird." Ryan scrolled through the entire feed. "The post is just... gone. All of it. Like it never existed."
Jake leaned back in his chair, confused. "But it was there two seconds ago. I had it bookmarked."
A smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it. This wasn't a technical glitch. This was deliberate. Precise. Brilliant.
She did it, I thought, pride swelling warm in my chest. They did it. Ellie and Lily.
Ryan was still frantically refreshing. "This doesn't make sense. You can't just delete an entire thread like that. Not that fast."
"Unless someone with serious skills did it," Jake muttered, then paused. "Wait. Do you think Lily—"
I kept my expression neutral, but inside I was grinning. "Don't bother refreshing," I said calmly. "Lily probably handled it."
Ryan's eyes widened. "Your friend... wait, THE Lily Parker? From 304?"
"The very same."
"Holy shit." Ryan jumped up, already pulling out his phone again. "I need to message her. I need to know how she did that. That was—that was beautiful. That was art."
He fired off a text, then paced while waiting for a response, energy practically vibrating through him. When his phone buzzed a minute later, he literally whooped.
"It WAS her!" Ryan's voice jumped an octave. "She says she and Ellie tracked down the IP addresses and force-deleted all the malicious content!" He clutched his phone like it was precious. "She's a genius. She's a goddess. She's literally everything I—"
"Ryan." Jake's dry voice cut through the enthusiasm. "You've been in love with her since orientation week. This isn't new information."
"I know, but—" Ryan gestured wildly with his phone. "This just proves she's also got a huge heart. Beauty, brains, AND a sense of justice? I'm done. I'm literally done."
Jake rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "You've been 'literally done' for months, dude."
I barely heard their banter. Pride was radiating through me like sunlight. Ellie and Lily had tracked IP addresses, analyzed data, forced a platform that had operated with impunity for years to delete malicious content. They'd done it fast, efficiently, and thoroughly.
That was my girl.
The thought hit me with startling clarity, and something deep in my chest—something more than human—hummed with satisfaction. Mine. My mate. Strong and clever and fierce in protecting her own.
I pulled out my phone, typed quickly: Handled?
The response came almost immediately: Handled :)
I stared at that simple confirmation, and the smile I'd been fighting finally broke through. One word and an emoji, but it told me everything. Ellie standing up for her friend. Ellie using her skills—their skills—to fight back against cruelty. Ellie taking action instead of just accepting injustice.
God, she was magnificent.
"Jackson?" Ryan waved a hand in front of my face. "Earth to Jackson? You've been staring at your phone for like a full minute."
I locked my screen, not bothering to hide my smile anymore. "Just checking something."
"Was it Ellie?" Ryan's grin was knowing. "Because your whole face just—dude, you're smiling. Like, actually smiling. Who are you and what did you do with our emotionally constipated roommate?"
"It didn't do anything."
"It totally did." Jake smirked from his desk. "Very un-Jackson-like display of emotion there, man. I'm almost proud."
My phone buzzed again: Don't worry. We were careful. And Megan needed help.
My fingers moved without hesitation: You did good. She's lucky to have you. I'm proud of you.
I hit send before I could second-guess the last sentence. But it was true. I was proud. Deeply, genuinely proud of the woman she was becoming—the woman she'd always been underneath, finally letting herself shine.
"Okay, seriously." Ryan threw a pillow at me. "You're doing it again. The weird sappy face thing."
I caught the pillow without looking, my werewolf reflexes still sharp even when my mind was elsewhere. "I'm not doing anything."
"You're thinking very loudly," Jake observed. "Also, you look disgustingly happy. It's unsettling."
"Get used to it," I heard myself say, surprising even me.
Both of them stared.
"Did Jackson Wilson just basically admit he has feelings?" Jake's voice was mock-awed. "Ryan, mark this day. Get the calendar. This is history."
I threw the pillow back. My chest felt too warm, too full of something that was part pride, part admiration, part something deeper I wasn't quite ready to name yet.
But you know what it is, whispered that instinctive part of me. You've known since the moment you met her.
My mate. Strong and clever and absolutely, undeniably mine—even if she didn't fully know it yet.
"You know what the best part is?" Ryan said suddenly, still staring at his phone. "Lily said they collected enough evidence to report the original attackers to the school. They're not just stopping the damage—they're making sure it can't happen again."
Pride surged through me again, warmer this time. Of course they were. Of course Ellie wouldn't just fix the immediate problem. She'd think ahead, make sure there were consequences, build something better.
"That's..." Jake shook his head, impressed. "That's actually really smart. Most people would've stopped at getting the posts deleted."
"Lily and Ellie aren't most people," I said quietly.
Ryan beamed. "Damn right they're not."