Chapter 25: Pick a Side

Breakfast the next morning came with an entirely different academy. Colorful posters had appeared overnight, announcing the annual Moonstone Academy Club Fair, and students were already arguing over which club was worth their time.

Isla was practically buzzing. Roxanne was not.

"I have Moonball practice, Wolf Control, Combat, and about six assignments," she said. "I don’t need one more thing."

"You spend most of your free time either studying or getting dragged around by four royal Lycans."

Roxanne nearly choked on her drink. "They don’t drag me anywhere."

"Liam literally carried your books yesterday."

"That was a bet."

"Kai walks you to class."

"He’s going the same direction."

"Roshan keeps giving you snacks."

Roxanne paused. "And Lucien?"

Isla smiled. "He just stares at you like he’s trying to solve a math problem."

"You’re impossible."

Isla grabbed her arm. "Come on. You’re joining something."

The courtyard had transformed into a maze of booths, banners, music, and students shouting over each other trying to recruit members. Roxanne and Isla wove through Dance Club, Music Club, Art Club, Debate Club, Combat Club, Student Council, Drama Club, Moonball Supporters, and Photography Club, Isla insisting she try nearly all of it.

"You’d be terrifying at Debate," Isla said.

"I don’t need a club to argue."

"You’re already terrifying at Combat Club."

Roxanne kept walking, right up until Liam appeared out of nowhere at the Moonball booth, pointing directly at her.

"There she is!"

She braced herself.

Liam launched immediately into convincing her to join the Moonball supporters club, arguing that as an actual player she was basically obligated. She refused. Roshan appeared next, gesturing quietly toward the academic club near the library.

"You’d like that one."

"You think I’m boring?"

"No. You like reading."

She paused. He’d remembered that too, somehow, without her ever making a point of it.

Kai showed up next, nodding toward Combat Club. "You should join."

"Of course you’d say that."

"You’re good at it."

Lucien arrived last, studying the rows of booths before landing on one answer. "Student Council."

"Absolutely not."

"You’re opinionated."

"That’s your argument?"

"It usually works."

Liam laughed. Roxanne looked between all four of them. "Do you ever agree on anything?"

"No," Liam said. "That’s why we’re fun."

Joanna appeared shortly after, trailing a small group of girls, already wearing a badge from one of the academy’s more prestigious clubs. She greeted the brothers warmly before turning to Roxanne with a smile just a touch too polished.

"Have you decided which club you’ll use to spend even more time with the Moonstones?"

Roxanne understood exactly what she meant. Isla stiffened beside her, but Roxanne only glanced at the booths and shrugged.

"I’ll probably pick one that has nothing to do with them."

"Good," Joanna said.

"I’m glad we agree."

Joanna smiled thinly and walked off. Isla stared after her. "You didn’t even fight with her."

"She’s not worth it."

They kept moving until the sound of music pulled Roxanne’s attention toward the Dance Club booth, where a small group was running through a routine. She slowed, then stopped completely.

"You like dancing?" Isla asked.

"I used to."

Something in her expression shifted as the memory surfaced. Before Dorian. Before the rejection, before Arabella, before her whole life had gotten complicated. She used to dance simply because it felt good, not for anyone else’s attention.

"You should join," Isla said.

"Maybe."

"That’s not a no."

Roxanne watched the dancers a moment longer, then smiled. "Fine."

For once, she was choosing something purely because she wanted it.

Isla bumped her shoulder, grinning like she’d just witnessed something rare. "Look at you. Doing something for fun instead of out of spite." Roxanne rolled her eyes, but she didn’t argue, because for once there was nothing to argue with. It felt good, choosing something simply because it made her feel like herself again, rather than proving anything to anyone.

The club leader handed her a registration form, and Isla signed up right beside her. The leader explained there was a small performance coming up, and every new member would be assigned a partner for a short routine.

"A partner?" Roxanne asked.

"Everyone gets one."

She hesitated, weighing whether to back out entirely.

"You are not running away," Isla said before she could decide.

"I’m not running."

"You’re thinking about it."

"Maybe."

The club leader dropped a stack of folded names into a bowl and mixed them. "Partners are assigned randomly."

Roxanne reached in and pulled one out.

The four brothers were still lingering nearby. Liam leaned in immediately. "What’d you get?"

She held the paper against her chest. "None of your business."

He reached for it. She stepped back out of range. Kai watched with mild interest, Roshan looked entertained, and Lucien told Liam to leave her alone.

"But what if she got someone terrible?" Liam asked.

"Like you?" Roxanne said.

He clutched his chest. "Cruel."

The club leader clapped for attention. "Go ahead and read it out."

Roxanne unfolded the paper and read the name written inside. Her eyes widened, and she looked up slowly.

Kai was already looking back at her, his own slip of paper in hand.

The brothers went silent for half a second before Liam’s face lit up completely. Roshan glanced toward Kai with open interest. Lucien raised one eyebrow, unreadable as ever.

Kai just looked at her, calm as always, and for once Roxanne had absolutely nothing to say.

"Perfect," the club leader said, delighted. "You two can start rehearsals tomorrow."

Roxanne looked at Kai. He looked back, entirely unbothered.

She glanced at the paper again, as if the name might rearrange itself into someone else. It didn’t.

Kai Moonstone.

She had spent weeks insisting that the four brothers were annoying, overbearing, far too tangled up in her life already. Now she’d somehow been assigned to dance with one of them.

And from the look on Kai’s face, he wasn’t nearly as troubled by the arrangement as she was.

She had a feeling tomorrow’s rehearsal was going to be a far harder thing to survive than anything Combat class had thrown at her so far.