AstridMy heart was thundering and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Solomon never liked me, so why was he so invested in my personal life now? What kind of plan could he have concocted that would require Eddie to seduce me? Was that the reason he’d come on to me so strongly the night of the formal dinner? Because Solomon told him to? It didn’t make sense. I must have misunderstood somehow. What could Solomon possibly hope to gain by this? If I fell for Eddie, then wouldn’t that just mean he was stuck with me? He didn’t want me to stay in Bridgewater, so why? I grabbed the banister and pulled myself onto the stairs. I was in such a rush that I didn’t notice Victoria walking down the steps. I managed to stop before I collided with her, but I stumbled backwards and nearly fell off of the steps. Victoria grabbed my arm and pulled me upright. ‘I have got to stop running off in a fit of emotion,’ I thought bitterly. ‘I keep crashing into people.’ “Goddess, are you alright?” V
AstridI spent most of the evening in my room. No one came to check on me, which was for the best. Eventually, I fell asleep and dreamed of mom. I was so young the last time that I saw her, it wasn't until I came back to Bridgewater that I realized how little I actually knew about her. I had memories of her, good and bad, and heard stories about her as a kid. But I was only just starting to realize that I didn't really know her. Based on what Victoria said last night, it seems like she knew me pretty well. She wanted me to stay away from this place, but why? Was there more to it that I just didn't understand? I had to try to find the answers. Part of me didn't want to know, but I had to try. I showered and got dressed, then went downstairs to look for Victoria. If anyone could tell me more about mom, it would be her. I found her in the dining room. It was still early and breakfast hadn't started yet. She seemed to be restocking the drink cart. It was odd because, as the Gamm
TristanThe past week had been nothing short of miserable. The only bright spot had been working with Astrid on the education initiative. We really worked well together. She had practical and interpersonal skills that I lacked that allowed her to step in and make up for my own shortcomings. I tended to feel that logic and data should stand on its own merits, but that was rarely the case. When a well thought out argument couldn’t sway someone, I was quick to anger. Astrid remained calm and found a way to approach the issue that took into account the goals and personalities of those we were dealing with. I appreciated that skill, even if it annoyed me that it was necessary. The rest of the week had been a mess. Dean Parker kept insisting to me that the investigation was progressing quickly, thanks to resources provided directly by the Alpha. I knew that must be Astrid’s doing, but I didn’t ask her about it. I didn’t want to know how much she’d told her father about what happ
AstridThe relief I felt when Tristan offered his help was almost overwhelming. I’d been in such a bad state for the past few days. I felt like I was losing my mind. I had nearly convinced myself that there was some grand conspiracy going on in Bridgewater and that I was stuck in the middle of it. I realized that was crazy, and that’s why I came here. I needed Tristan to listen to me and help me sort through everything. I needed his logical input to help me understand what was happening to me. I was too close to it all. There were too many traumas and emotions wrapped up in all of it. I didn’t trust my own mind. I knew that I could trust him, though. I knew that Tristan wouldn’t manipulate me or lie to me and I knew that he had no ulterior motives. He wasn’t part of the packhouse, he wasn’t wrapped up in all of that. I needed to get out of there. There was too much going on with everyone that put me on edge. Plus, it was difficult being there without mom. After the convers
TristanAfter my initial meeting with Dean Parker, I was a total mess. Everything I feared would happen, was now happening. I was being looked into for abuse of power and sexual relations with a student.I knew there wasn’t anything legitimate that could be brought against me, but I wouldn’t put it past Lilian to manufacture something. She had plenty of friends that seemed to hang on her every word. If she told them to lie about me, they might do it. I had certainly received plenty of threatening and insulting emails from them over the past week. I knew that the threats weren’t credible, but in the interests of the investigation, I had forwarded all of them to the Dean’s office. If that wasn’t enough, I had heard more than one student call me a creep as I walked down the hallways or across campus. I ignored them, but that didn’t mean that the taunts weren’t bothering me. My reputation was destroyed either way.If this went on much longer, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to
AstridThe Dean’s office was a large room with tall windows on the wall across from the door. The natural lighting in the room gave it a warm, welcoming feeling. Despite that, I felt uncertain of myself as I looked inside. A tall, youthful man smiled at us and stepped back to allow us into the room. He looked at me curiously but didn’t seem to mind that I was there. I was relieved by that. I wasn’t here to make anything harder for Tristan and I didn’t want him to have to explain why he’d brought me. “Gregor must have caught up with you,” the tall man, who could only be the Dean, said with relief. “I’m glad. I didn’t want to wait until Monday to discuss this with you.” “What is it?” Tristan asked. He was clearly anxious to know what this was all about. The Dean smiled kindly and motioned toward the chairs opposite his desk. “Have a seat and we’ll discuss it,” he instructed. I looked around at the office as we walked a few feet to his desk. The room was ringed with towering
TristanI had never intended to bring Lilian into this directly. If I could have avoided it, I would have. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she had gotten under my skin, nor did I want to give her any more attention. But now that Astrid had brought her up by name, I didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to lay out all of the facts for Dean Parker. I had no idea how he was going to take it. He could assume that I was trying to deflect the blame from myself—that wasn’t my intention. I would take whatever disciplinary action the Dean saw fit. I knew that ultimately anything the investigation turned up would be my responsibility, and I was prepared for that. I tried to avoid giving too much detail in front of Astrid, but I could feel that she was staring at me as I told the Dean about Lilian’s behavior over the past few years. I felt her tense when I mentioned the text messages and emails. I really didn’t want to share those with anyone, but I understood that
AstridThe drive to Tristan’s apartment wasn’t overly long, but it took some time. It would be too much to walk most days, especially if he stayed late as I knew he often did. It made sense that he was one of the few shifters in town with a vehicle. The apartment building that he pulled in front of was a short one made of dark stone. I hadn’t really paid attention to it when we dropped him off after returning to Bridgewater. Tristan parked in a small lot at the back of the building. I looked around us as we both got out of the car. The concrete was clean and unbroken. This must be a relatively new building. The town was expanding. I realized that I still didn’t know too much about the changes made in the territory and the pack’s growth in recent years. Now that I was in Bridgewater again, I really took note of how much it had expanded. I made a mental note to ask more about it at another time—it would be helpful information when it came to prioritizing the projects that would