One Night

Chapter 48

Edwin

The lights in the auditorium flickered, indicating that the assembly was about to begin, and the bustling audience began to quiet down. By now, practically every seat was -no student at Grayspring Academy wanted to miss this.

d

Because today, the teams who would make it to the next round of the fashion. competition would be announced. Those who were selected would cross the stage and collect their badges from the vice dean, and those who didn’t show up to collect would be disqualified. Therefore, no one dared to play h**k*y.

A y**n escaped my lips despite my attempts to keep it at bay. I passed my hand over my face and leaned against the railing, my tired eyes scanning the auditorium. I had hardly slept all night, and I was starting to feel the effects of it now-gone were the days of being able to pull all-nighters and feel perfectly fine in the morning, I supposed.

Charles, leaning on the railing beside me, nudged me with his elbow.

“Hey. You alright, Alpha?”

I turned to shoot him a sidelong glance. “Yeah. Why?”

Charles merely shrugged in response, causing me to purse my lips. He was always too astute for his own goo**s noticing the slightest shift in my attitude, the smallest twitch in my stony mask. He didn’t pry, but he knew that something had happened last night.

Audrey. Audrey had happened.

I could still feel her delicate little finger on my arm, the way her waist looked so unbelievably slender when she had bent over the bar. A dare, she had said. I wanted to be mad at her for that, but I couldn’t.

And as much as I didn’t want to admit it, that little display was the thing that had kept me up for most of the night. I wouldn’t deny it to myself any longer: I wanted her.

But I couldn’t have her.

Even though I had momentarily lost my sense of restraint last night and gave in to the urge to touch her and pull her closer, that was as far as it could go.

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We couldn’t be together-not with so many obstacles in the way. Not with our age difference, or our status difference, or the risk of losing our positions here at Grayspring.

Still, I couldn’t help but scan the crowd for her, if only to catch a glimpse. Up ahead, I spotted her four friends sitting toward the front.

But a frown tugged at the corners of my lips then as I saw the empty seat.

“Where is she?” I muttered, leaning forward to get a better look. Audrey was nowhere to be found, and the announcements were about to begin.

My Beta leaned over when he noticed my perturbed expression. “Something the matter?” Charles asked.

His voice shook me out of my reverie, and I straightened, my fingers tightening around the railing. Something was… off about this. Audrey was always infuriatingly punctual to everything she did, and for her to not be here this close to the assembly starting…

I had to find her.

“Wait here,” I said to Charles, clapping him on the shoulder with one hand. “Text me if Audrey shows up.”

Charles quirked an eyebrow. “Audrey-”

But it was too late. Before he could finish, I was already turning on my heel and storming off.

I pushed out of the dimly lit auditorium and into the hallway, where a few stragglers were still making their way to the assembly. Audrey was not among them, and when I asked the students if they had seen her, they all shrugged and seemed confused.

Huffing, I continued down the hall. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number, pressing my phone to my

car.

“Hello, you have reached the inbox of Audrey Thatcher…”

“What the..?” I frowned and hung up when it went straight to voicemail without so much as ringing. Odd… She always had her phone charged,

In the back of my mind, I could feel my wolf beginning to raise his hackles. “Something feels wrong,” he growled, growing restless. “I can sense it. Is she in danger?”

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I frowned and opened my mouth to tell him that it was likely nothing, but then quickly shut it again—because truthfully, I didn’t know. This was so uncharacteristic of her that, despite my hesitation to jump to conclusions, I couldn’t help but do exactly that.

At that moment, I knew I had to find her. Picking up my pace, I hurried down the hallway, swiveling my gaze,and poking my head into classrooms. Each time, I was met with empty rooms-everyone had made it to the assembly, and by now, I could hear the vice dean’s voice echoing down the hallway.

“Welcome, students, to the annual Grayspring Academy fashion show selection…”

My frown deepened. “Audrey?” I called out, picking up my pace to a slight jog. “Audrey, where are-

Suddenly, a strange sound caused my heart to leap into my throat: screams. M**ed screams coming from down the hallway-and there, at the end of the hall, a utility closet door rattling in its frame.

Audrey.

I didn’t waste any time. At that moment, the hallway seemed to stretch on endlessly like something from a nightmare; I picked up into a sprint, charging full-force at the door. I reached for the handle and tried it, only to find that it had been locked with a key.

Dammit; there was no lock on the outside, no way to open it other than….

My wolf growled inside of me, his strength momentarily surging through me. “You know what you need to do,” he hissed. I nodded and backed up a few paces, knowing that he was right.

“Stand back!” I shouted-and, without any hesitation, I slammed my shoulder into the wood. The door creaked, and I slammed into it again with a grunt.

A moment later, the door swung open with a splinter and a groan, revealing a terrified, trembling Audrey inside the dark room. Shrieking, she scampered into the corner, and it was then that I saw the blood trickling down her temple and the smashed phone on the floor.

“What happened?” I growled, stepping into the room. For a moment, Audrey was silent, her eyes as wide as saucers and her hands trembling as they came up to cover her face. “Audrey,” I reassured her, reaching one hand out, “it’s me.”

“E-Edwin?” she whimpered, slowly lowering her hands. Her knees were shaking so hard

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they were practically knocking together, her lower lip quivering.

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I didn’t say a word-I couldn’t say a word. When I saw the terror in her eyes ar

he red blood trickling down her lovely face, all I felt were two sensations: vengeful fury and… heartache.

I had never experienced heartache in my life. Never. But now, seeing her like this, it felt like an invisible hand had reached into my chest and wrenched my still-beating heart

out.

Wordlessly, I surged forward and reached for her. I gathered her into my arms, feeling her collapse into me with a sob. I didn’t care if her blood or her tears stained my shirt; I only cared about her.

“Audrey…”