Werewolf Academy Year Three - Jayme Morse Page 0,26

me?

What if he took Iris’s side?

These were all questions that had kept me up more nights than I cared to admit this past year.

Once we had gone inside the house, I closed the door behind us. “So, before I tell you everything, I just have to ask one thing. What, exactly, has Iris told you?”

“She told me that she kissed Theo the day before classes began, and you’ve hated her ever since. And I get it, Raven. He’s your mate. Iris should have kept her dirty paws off your mate. It’s like she doesn’t understand Girl Code. It was really fucked up of her, and I’ve told her that a million times. I’ve told her that she should apologize to you, but she insists that you’d never forgive her. Is that true? Would you really never forgive her?” Vince asked.

“Well, it is true that I would never forgive her,” I replied, “but that’s not what she did.”

“It’s not?” His eyes widened.

“No. What Iris did was far worse than kissing my mate.” I paused. “Don’t get me wrong. I probably would have snapped her neck off if she had kissed Theo or any of my other mates, but that would have been way more forgivable than what she actually did.”

“What could even be worse than kissing your best friend’s mate?” Vince just looked dumbfounded by this news, and it made me feel sort of bad. He had believed for months that this was all Iris had done to hurt me.

Now I was about to tell him the truth. And the truth was that his best friend, my ex-best friend… was a monster.

“So, Iris helped Milos Santorini kidnap me. She helped him keep me as a prisoner in his dungeon for three months, and then she tried to murder me.” I swallowed hard, glancing over at him nervously. I was afraid that there would be doubt in his eyes or written all over his face, but there wasn’t.

“Iris did… what?” He just stared back at me wide-eyed, but he didn’t seem in disbelief.

And so, I told him everything, beginning with the way Milos had managed to get inside my mind and convinced me that he was actually Theo to make me go with him, and ending with the day I was rescued and how I got back home. I told him everything. Every. Single. Thing.

Once I was done, Vince was crying. And I don’t mean just teary eyed. No, there were actual tears streaming down his face.

“I’m so sorry, Raven. I’m so sorry that you went through all of this, and I had no idea. I’m sorry I let that psychopath let me believe that she didn’t do anything hurtful to you. I should have known that you wouldn’t have cut me off unless something huge had happened. But most of all, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there for you during your darkest hour,” Vince said, shaking his head. “I feel so guilty. I could have prevented all of this from happening in the first place, too.”

“How?” I asked.

“I was going to come to your dorm suite the day Milos lured you. I was going to give you this painting I made for you last year, but then I figured I would just give it to you when you came to visit Chicago over the summer.” He paused. “I’m also sorry that I didn’t realize that you didn’t call me this summer because something was wrong.”

“Vince, it’s okay,” I told him. “I lost touch last summer, too. And nothing anyone could have done would have prevented Milos from getting to me. He was determined, and he was going to find way to convince me to go with him, no matter what.”

“Makes sense.” Vince sighed. “What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” Vince said. “I’m cutting off Iris.”

“Is that really a good idea? I don’t want to piss her off or make her think I’m turning people against her,” I admitted.

“Well, maybe she shouldn’t kidnap people, hold them prisoner, and try to murder them.” He shrugged. “I’ll make up some excuse as to why I no longer want to be friends, or I’ll just slow fade her. I won’t let her think it has to do with you. But I just want you to know that I’ll always have your back, no matter what.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” I paused for a moment. “Going to school with Iris has been really hard. I’m always