Free Web NovelChapter 16: Chapter 16 Phantom Touch
Jade POV
The first class of the day dragged on endlessly.
I sat there, staring blankly at the board while the teacher’s voice blurred into meaningless noise. Every time I tried to focus, Linda’s whisper replayed in my head.
“....guess who will go for that class and die as a result of a mistake from me during combat? You.”
I swallowed hard. My palms kept getting clammy. My wolf was pacing inside me, tail lashing in irritation.
She dares threaten us? Maybe we should tear her throat....
“No,” I hissed under my breath, earning a dirty look from a girl beside me. I didn’t care. I was too busy wrestling with the enraged creature in my head.
I forced myself to look away, and my eyes drifted, without my permission, to the triplets’ usual seats.
Empty.
All three of them.
My heart dropped. They didn’t come today? After everything that happened, after our mate bond revealed itself... they couldn’t even bother showing up to see me? frёewebηovel.cѳm
Gosh. I shouldn’t care, but I do.
I miss our mates, my wolf whimpered
“They are not our mates,” I whispered, jaw tight. “They chose Linda. Remember?”
But even as I said it, my chest squeezed painfully. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The bell rang, jolting me out of my spiraling thoughts. That was the end of the first class. And now... the class I’d been dreading.
Wolf Combat and Shapeshifting.
Great.
Students immediately started packing their things, chatting excitedly. This was the class everyone raved about, the first step toward becoming real warriors.
But I wasn’t thinking about that. All I could think about was Linda’s smug smile.
I briefly considered skipping the class.
I really did.
But the moment the thought crossed my mind, I remembered the stories, how Professor Garrick was stricter than death itself. Miss one of his class and you’d be scrubbing toilets under detention for a month. I couldn’t afford that. Not when Mum was suffering every day just to keep me in this school.
So I grabbed my bag and followed the rest of the class.
Linda walked ahead, her little entourage trailing behind her, laughing like the world revolved around them. Every once in a while, she’d glance back at me with that same sinister curve in her lips, as if she was already picturing how I’d die today.
I kept my head down and walked behind the crowd until we reached the training grounds at the back of the school. It was a large open arena surrounded by steel poles and padded walls, with weapon racks lining the far end.
Students whispered nervously. Others bounced on their feet excitedly.
I felt like throwing up.
Professor Garrick stood in the center. He was tall, muscled, and had that terrifying presence that made you stand straighter without thinking.
“Welcome,” he said, voice booming through the arena. “I’m Professor Garrick. This class is unlike any other. Here, your wolves take the lead.”
He walked slowly in front of us, eyes sharp like he was scanning for weakness.
“This is not a class for the faint hearted. A single mistake can break bones.... sometimes worse. Combat is not choreography. It is instinct. Survival. Blood.”
The group quieted instantly.
“You will learn three things here, how to listen to your wolf, how to control your wolf, and how to fight with your wolf. Anyone who underestimates this class...” He paused. “Will not last long.”
My wolf hummed inside me, suddenly alert.
“We also welcome our newly awakened wolves,” Garrick said. His gaze swept over us.
I braced myself.
He scanned the group.... then frowned.
“Where are the Ashridge triplets?”
Before anyone else could answer, Linda stepped forward, voice dripping with concern.
“They weren’t feeling well, Professor,” she said sweetly. “So they couldn’t make it to school today. They needed to rest.”
A chorus of awws rippled through the class. Even the professor gave a curt nod of understanding.
I hated that my heart jumped.
They’re sick? Why? What happened to them?
We need to go to them, my wolf whimpered. They’re not okay. They need us.
“No,” I snapped in my head. “No, we don’t. They made their choice that night. They chose Linda.”
But as much as I tried to be cold, tried to be rational, a sharp ache cut through my chest. A pull. A need.
I missed them.
I hated that I missed them.
And still.... the ache didn’t stop.
Professor Garrick clapped his hands once, snapping my attention back.
“Enough standing. Pair up,” he ordered. “Let the real training begin.”
And I exhaled shakily.
Here goes nothing.
Before Professor Garrick could even tell us which partner to pick, Linda practically launched herself in my direction.
“I’ll take Jade,” she said sweetly, too sweetly, looping her arm through mine like we were best friends.
I tried to pull away, but her grip tightened, nails digging into my skin.
Great. Just great.
Professor Garrick’s voice boomed across the training ground.
“Today’s combat session is a simple duel. The goal is to pin your opponent to the ground. No wolf strength. No shifting. Pure physical ability. If you can’t fight with your body, your wolf will never save you.”
“Begin.” He announced
Except... instead of squaring up like everyone else, Linda folded her arms and stared at me with this irritatingly smug smirk.
“You know,” she began, swaying her hips slightly, “I don’t understand how someone like you got three mates. The Moon Goddess must have been drunk.”
I clenched my jaw.
Ignore her.
“My god, even they don’t look at you,” she continued, circling me like a damn vulture. “Do you really think you’re their type? Renzo likes classy girls. Ryder loves bold girls. Ronan? He wouldn’t touch someone like you with a ten foot pole.”
My wolf growled inside me, a low rumble vibrating down my spine.
“Don’t listen,” I whispered to her internally. “She’s baiting us.”
But my wolf was already pacing, hackles raised.
Linda’s grin widened, she sensed it. She smelled my rising anger
“Do you want to know why they’re not in school today?” Linda asked, leaning close to my ear.
My heart stilled.
“They’re not sick,” she whispered. “They’re exhausted.”
I swallowed hard. “From what?”
She giggled. “From me. They fucked me until I passed out. All three of them. And when I woke up, I sucked their dicks so hard they cummed severely all over me till they knocked out. That’s why they aren’t in school today, cause I sucked them dry till they knocked out"
My world stopped.
My chest tightened.
My vision blurred at the edges.
Linda’s voice dripped satisfaction. “Let me tell you a little about the several rounds of sex we had, Renzo held me down. Ryder went down on me so well I couldn’t walk. And Ronan? You don’t want to know what he did."
My wolf snapped.
A violent surge exploded inside me as my vision tinted blue.
“You are lying!!!!” My voice wasn’t mine. It was deeper, layered with my wolf’s fury.
I lunged at her, pure instinct taking over...
But Linda moved faster.
Her nails elongated into razor sharp claws, glowing faintly, she’d activated her wolf strength even though it was forbidden.
Before I could stop myself, she swiped downward, and slashed across my torso.
Agony tore through my entire body.
I gasped as warm blood splattered the training mat. I collapsed, the world swaying violently. Pain radiated through every nerve as blood pooled beneath me.
Linda’s voice turned shrill and fake, echoing like she was miles away.
“Oh my Goddess! Professor, she attacked me! Someone help her!”
Her tone was full panic, but her eyes, those cold eyes, were pleased.
Is this.... it?
My heartbeat slowed, thudding like a drum underwater. It was getting harder to breathe. The edges of my vision folded inward, tunneling to darkness.
My mum....
She was going to break.
She already lost so much.
I didn’t want to be another thing she mourned.
My body felt so heavy.
So cold.
Then....
“Jade!!!”
Their voices crashed into my fading mind.
Renzo.
Ryder.
Ronan.
They sounded like raw panic. Pure possessiveness. Like thunder cracking across the sky.
Even as I’m dying....
I’m hallucinating them?
I felt warmth, phantom hands, reaching through the darkness that was swallowing me.
“Stay with us.”
“Don’t you dare leave.”
“Jade!”
But I couldn’t hold on anymore.
Everything went black.
