The Betrayed Princess Rising (Lylah and Ezra) novel Chapter 255

Chapter 255

Cora’s POV

“I want an apology.”

The demand cut clean through the air.

I stood frozen.

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Finished

No one spoke to Professor Vale like that. No one dared. And yet Lylah did. Her voice steady, her gaze steel as she placed herself between him and those two Whitepine wolves she so boldly claimed as family.

‘Me?” Professor Vale drawled, the sound low, dangerous. “Apologize to them?”

‘You were in the wrong this time,” Lylah replied without hesitation. “What you just did doesn’t reflect the nonor expected of a Lunar Grace mentor. I asked only for an apology before this matter is forced into the hands of the academy officials.”

‘You’ve grown so insolent,” Vale said, his eyes narrowing. “And now Grimwood shields you, makes you believe you’re untouchable.”

‘I’m not joking, Professor Vale,” she returned, her voice dropping, quieter but sharper-like a blade drawn cross bone. “If you push this further, the consequences will reach the MDT project and every one of us. One apology is all that’s needed.”

Something flickered in Professor Vale’s eyes as he stared at Lylah-but it wasn’t anger. A man like him. lways kept his admiration leashed. And yet… the glint I saw now felt dangerously close to it.

Quickly, Vale,” Professor Grimwood cut in.

Silence stretched. The tension coiled thick, primal, pressing against skin and instinct alike.

Then,

That was my mistake.” My mentor’s voice was heavy, as though the words themselves resisted him. “It was careless of me to make such an accusation. I apologize to both of you.”

The two Whitepine wolves seemed satisfied, their tension easing.

Professor Vale’s expression darkened like a gathering storm. Without another word, he turned to leave.

‘Vale.”

But Grimwood’s voice stopped him cold.

“And don’t you dare turn today into quiet revenge,” he added, each word deliberate. “You will judge Lylah’s MDT project score with objectivity. Nothing less.”

There was something almost protective in his tone. Not the distant concern of a mentor, but something closer. Like family.

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Chapter 255

Finished

“We’ll see.”

And then my mentor was gone.

Only then did I move.

I seized Thane’s arm and pulled him with me, eager to put distance between us and the suffocating weight of what had just unfolded.

The moment we crossed into the Modern Healing building, the tension shifted-but not enough.

Thane slowed.

“Cora,” he murmured, glancing back toward the lawn, his senses clearly still tethered to the scene we’d left behind. “Do you know those two Whitepine wolves Lylah claimed as her family?”

My pulse spiked.

“No.” I answered, too quickly.

His frown deepened, suspicion threading his scent. “Are you sure? One of them feels familiar. I swear I’ve seen him before.”

Cold sweat slid down my temple, but I forced my expression into calm indifference, every instinct drilled into control.

“Maybe they’re just companions she’s grown very close to,” I said lightly. “Back in Ironcrest and Blackfang, she didn’t know anyone from Whitepine. I’m sure she only met them here.”

I tugged him forward before he could linger on the thought. “Come on. We’re already late to meet Professor Vale.”

After a moment, he relented.

But my steps faltered once we were out of sight. My pulse thundered in my ears-loud, frantic, betraying the fear clawing up my spine.

Whitepine.

The same pack as Jax and Vala Stillward. A place I would never want to set foot in again. Too many risks. Too many ghosts with teeth. If someone from my past started digging-if they unearthed the truth I had buried so deep…

A chill sank deep into my bones.

‘Have they already found out?’

‘Do they know who Lylah really is?’

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The Betrayed Princess Rising