I took my seat across from him.
For a moment, I just looked at him.
Really looked.
He looked… normal.
No claws. No fangs. No trace of the wolf that had just torn through half the clearing.
Just a boy who looked like he was waiting to be told what he had done wrong.
“What happened out there?” I asked.
He exhaled once, then spoke.
“They cornered me,” he said. “Mason and the others. Started talking. Pushing. I tried to ignore it, I swear.”
He shrugged lightly, like it didn’t matter.
“It escalated.”
That was it.
No attempt to make himself look better.
Just the truth—plain and stripped down.
I nodded once.
Then I leaned back slightly.
“And when they said you attacked first?” I asked. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
A faint smirk touched his lips.
Not amused.
“What would’ve bee
