Chapter 27 And then, in the middle of my last class of the week, a note arrived-folded neatly, passed from hand to hand from the front until it landed on my desk with a kind of delicate finality. The principal would like to see you immediately after class. My heart didn't race, not at first. I wasn't that naive anymore. These kinds of summons weren't unusual, not for students with complicated enrollment histories. Maybe they needed paperwork updated. Maybe someone had realized I wasn't attending the networking events they assumed someone like me should be throwing herself into. Maybe it was just routine. But when the student beside me leaned in with wide eyes and whispered, "Did you get in trouble?" and another snorted something about expulsion under their breath, that thin thread of calm started to unravel. By the time I reached the administration wing, every step felt heavier. The receptionist didn't meet my eyes when she waved me in. I stepped into the office and stopped. I knew instantly, the man's dark hair matched Callum's perfectly, and he definitely had her, nose. Callum's parents were already here, sitting posed like they owed every corner of the room. His mother's perfectly tailored coat, his father's rigid posture and narrowed stare told me all I needed to know. Whis wasn't about paperwork. This was a coordinated strike. Had they... figured me out? The principal looked up from behind his desk and smiled, though there was nothing warm in it. "Miss... Liora," he said, drawing out the pause just long enough to irritate. "Please, have a seat." Callum's mother gave me a look like I'd tracked mud into her drawing room. His father 1/3 didn't bother looking at me at all. I didn't sit. "What's this about?" His mother was the first to speak. "We're here to address the disruption your presence has caused." I blinked once. "I'm sorry?" The principal cleared his throat like he didn't want to be in the room either. "There have been... concerns regarding your role in the recently... dissolved union. Concerns that reflect poorly on the school's reputation and the values we uphold." "My role?" I asked, careful to keep my voice steady. "Last I checked, I didn't exactly stage a rebellion. I was on the receiving end. I didn't ask the Moon Goddess to pick me for him." Callum's father finally looked at me, cold and unimpressed. "Regardless, the optics are unacceptable. A wolfless girl, at a prestigious academy, involved in a failed royal union, it creates questions, problems. Unwelcome ones." There it was. That word again. Wolfless. As if it were a sickness. As if the fact that I didn't flaunt my bloodline made me inherently less. I inhaled slowly, choosing my words carefully. "So you want me expelled because it looks bad on you? That's the official stance?" The principal tapped a folder on his desk with two fingers. "It's not just appearance, Miss Liora. You were admitted under... flexible conditions. Given your status, we're well within our rights to reconsider your placement." My mouth twisted into something between a laugh and a gasp. "So now you're pretending I 2/3 Chapter 27 +15 BONUS wasn't qualified to begin with? That my record, my recommendations, my performance, none of that matters?" "If the admission of wolfless students leads to instability," the principal said, folding his hands with practiced calm, "then perhaps we need to reevaluate the policy as a whole." "Then why admit wolfless students at all?" I asked, louder now, sharper. "If you're going to treat us like liabilities the second things get uncomfortable, why pretend we have a seat at the table?" The silence that followed wasn't surprised. It was smug. Like they thought I was finally catching up to a truth they had always known and had simply been waiting for me to discover on my own. His mother crossed one leg over the other. "You can leave quietly, or this can become a far larger scandal." The principal slid a withdrawal form across the desk toward me. "This isn't just unethical," I said, voice tight, hands clenched. "It's cowardly." "We're protecting the integrity of the academy," the principal replied flatly, holding a pen out to me. "I suggest you consider your next steps carefully." My eyes locked on the document. And that's when a thunk at the window nearly shook the room. "Ah-" Zane's voice groaned as a few leaves followed his entrance, slipping through the window. "Man, what a pain." 3/3 CIAQUATED