Chapter 65: What Triggered Her [II]

"You need to see this," Eden said quietly.

His serious tone immediately caught Mikhail’s attention. Unlocking the tablet he was holding, Eden tapped a few buttons and opened a video file before holding it out for Mikhail to view.

"I already cut out everything unnecessary," he explained as the screen lit up. "I trimmed it down to the exact moment she walked into the T-hall."

This was one of the many things Mikhail liked most about Eden. He was efficient, thorough, and never wasted time on useless details, whether as their Beta or their manager.

Eden hit play.

The camera angle showed the entrance of the training hall. The footage immediately focused on Starlight the second she stepped through the doorway. She barely made it two paces into the room before she seemed to pause and take in her surroundings. Then she nodded to someone and was about to move when her entire body suddenly went rigid, locking her in place.

Her expression changed instantly.

Whatever she had seen had clearly shocked her.

Then she started trembling. Seconds later, her knees buckled, and Mikhail appeared in the footage, catching her just before she hit the floor.

"What did she see? Who was she looking at?" Mikhail asked with a scowl, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"That’s the interesting part," Eden replied as he swiped his thumb across the screen to switch to a second video clip. "You’re not going to believe the direction she was looking." He hit play.

"Or should I say, the person she was looking at."

Mikhail’s gaze sharpened immediately as the second footage began to play. The camera angle shifted to another section of the hall, and the image zoomed in on a familiar face he loathed with every fiber of his being.

Otto Guzman was standing near one of the far walls, laughing and chatting with a human girl, completely oblivious to what was happening around him. One of his arms was draped casually over her shoulders, his body angled far too close as he spoke. Every now and then, he would brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear or lightly tap her chin to keep her attention on him.

The girl looked utterly captivated, as she laughed at whatever nonsense he was feeding her, tilting her head up whenever he spoke.

Mikhail’s eyes narrowed as he watched the werewolf flirt shamelessly with a first-year student. This idiot never changes.

The moment Starlight collapsed and Mikhail rushed in to catch her, drawing the attention of the surrounding students and causing them to swarm the area, Otto had simply leaned down and whispered something into the girl’s ear, making her nod. Then the two of them quietly slipped away while everyone else’s attention was focused on Starlight. The video cut to black.

Mikhail’s jaw tightened. "Why would she react like that at the sight of Otto Guzman?" Just saying the werewolf’s name made a muscle tick in his cheek with barely suppressed fury.

"That I don’t know," Eden replied, turning off his tablet screen. "But what I do know is that Otto served his punishment in District Fifteen, the exact same district Miss Dawson came from. I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence."

Mikhail fell silent, his mind racing.

What had that bastard done to Starlight? When he had ordered a background check on her, there had been nothing about Otto-fucking -Guzman in any of the reports. There was zero mention of any connection between them, which was unusual. It was unlike their intelligence network to miss anything when digging up information, no matter how insignificant or irrelevant it might seem.

And then there was Otto’s behavior. It didn’t make sense that he had acted as though he didn’t know Starlight Dawson at all. There was no way he hadn’t seen her while sneaking out with that girl when the entire hall had been focused on her collapse. Starlight was not the kind of girl anyone would forget easily after a single encounter. If anything, her rare crimson hair alone made her impossible to overlook.

Something wasn’t adding up here.

Mikhail couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

*****

Inside the dim equipment storage room near the training hall, the space was filled with the sound of desperate kisses. Otto had the girl he had sneaked out with pressed hard against the wall, his hands frantically yanking at her top.

"Wait—hold on," she breathed, gasping for air between his heavy, pressing kisses. She planted both hands firmly against his shoulders, pushing back just enough to create space. "Are you sure nobody is going to come in here? If we get caught..."

​"I’m very sure, this place is hardly ever used," Otto assured, already leaning in again.

​She placed her palm against his chest, stopping him once more.

​Otto scowled, his eyes darkening with immediate irritation. "What now?"

​"I just... I don’t think skipping class is such a good idea," she stammered, looking toward the locked door nervously. "What if someone notices we’re gone? What if we get into massive trouble?"

Otto didn’t bother hiding his annoyance. He had been stressed to his breaking point for the past few days, and all he wanted was a quick release to burn off the edge. If he had known she was going to hesitate and waste his time like this, he would have picked someone else.

​"Relax, nobody is going to notice we’re gone," he said impatiently, stepping back in close. "Everyone is completely distracted thanks to that girl fainting in the middle of the hall. Now stop wasting my precious time."

Before she could offer another word of protest, he reached out and forcefully gripped her breast through her training uniform top.

She let out a sharp gasp, but Otto immediately smothered the sound, clamping his mouth over hers in a rough, dominant kiss. His fingers dug into her chest while he dragged his hips forward, rubbing his hard length against her thigh. The girl whimpered into the kiss, her initial hesitation dissolving into a shudder of helpless, conflicted pleasure as she clung to his arms, letting him take total control in the dark room.

-------------------

What would you love to see in the story?