"Exactly! If she didn't want to apologize, why did she hit Miss Seymour? Look at her—she's the one acting pitiful now."
The voices around me pressed in like a tightening pack circle, each accusation layering over the last until the air felt heavy with judgment. My wolf bristled under it, not from fear but from the frustration of being judged without truth. Only Hayley and I knew what had happened beneath the water—the grip, the intent, the moment she tried to hold me under until I stopped moving.
But truth meant nothing in a crowd already choosing its narrative.
Elliot didn't look at them. He didn't acknowledge the noise at all. His focus locked onto me instantly, Alpha instinct overriding everything else as he moved forward and lifted me from the edge of collapse.
