His worst secret, and now everyone in school knew.
Tiago was numb. Will they throw me out of school? Out of town? Will everyone hate me now?
But Aiden was panicking beside him, and he couldn’t just let his boyfriend suffer. “Aiden, just breathe.” Tiago squeezed his hand again.
“Oh shit. You okay?” Dylan asked.
“I… I’ll be fine.” But Aiden didn’t look fine at all. He’d gone ashy-pale, breath coming in little gasps and heart beating way too fast. His hand in Tiago’s was trembling and sweaty.
“Come on, let’s go to the nurse’s office.” Tiago got up, gently tugging at Aiden. Not only did he want to help Aiden, it would be an excuse to get out of the lunchroom. Tiago couldn’t even look at the other students, afraid he’d see disgust and hatred on their faces.
“No, I don’t need to.”
Tiago thought Aiden was a second away from fainting. “Please?” He leaned close. “I need to get out of here.”
Aiden’s eyes cleared a little and he nodded. Tiago helped him get to his feet, sliding an arm around his waist.
A few kids came over and asked Dylan questions. He fended them off. “You need help?”
“We’ll be fine.” If he needed to, Tiago could pick Aiden up and carry him, though that might upset his boyfriend more. If he faints, I won’t have a choice and he won’t be able to protest.
Aiden leaned on him as they made their way toward the door. More kids came over, but Tiago ignored them. A voice in his head whispered, Murderer, murderer, murderer.
Tiago shut it out and focused on getting Aiden to the nurse’s office. Luckily it wasn’t far. The office assistant looked like she was going to question them, but she took one glance at Aiden and led them to the nurse’s office.
With Tiago’s help, the nurse got Aiden up on the cot and had him put his head between his legs.
Between deep breaths, Aiden said, “Oh God. He told everyone. I can’t believe he did that.”
“Don’t worry about that now.” Tiago’s stomach clenched tight with dread.
But Aiden was a worrier. “Will you get in trouble? Will they try to kick you out of school? Dylan’s in so much trouble, but he didn’t actually break the treaty.”
“Just focus on breathing.” If they threw him out of Shadow Valley, would he be able to see Aiden again?
“I’m so sorry, Tiago. This must be so terrible, but here you are taking care of me. I feel selfish.”
“Aiden, you’re having a panic attack. You can’t help it.” Even though the nurse was watching, Tiago started rubbing Aiden’s back. Aiden felt hot and he stank of fear. Tiago wished they were somewhere he could hold him and kiss him. Somewhere far away from school.
God, he couldn’t possibly go back to class.
When Aiden had calmed a little, the nurse got him a glass of water. Aiden sat at the edge of the cot, sipping carefully. “I’m going to see Mr. Emery. I think you should come with me.” Aiden looked like he expected an argument.
“Okay.” Anything to avoid facing the rest of school. Tiago realized some of the fear scent was coming from him.
“I don’t know if he can really do anything, but talking helps.” Then Aiden’s eyes went wide. “We should check on Dylan. Crap, I hope he hasn’t done something.”
For a moment Tiago actually considered going to look for their friend even though that meant going back into the crowded lunchroom.
Aiden pulled out his phone and sent a text with hands that shook a little. He stared at the screen for a while, waiting for a response.
“Keep drinking,” Tiago said. Staring at the phone wasn’t going to make something appear.
Aiden took a longer sip and set the cup back down on the tray. “Oh, Maggie! She can check on him for me.” His fingers slipped over the buttons, and because he didn’t have a smart phone, it took a while to type the message.
Fortunately, a reply came back in less than a minute. Aiden read it, expression shifting from concern to surprise. “Maggie’s with him. So is Hanna. They’re calming him down.”
* * *
When Hanna saw Tiago help Aiden up and head for the door, she stopped debating. “I’m going to talk to them. Stay here,” she told her pack.
She almost went after Aiden. He was probably having a panic attack, and it made her heart hurt to think of him suffering. But then Dylan turned to the growing cluster of students around him and she saw the anger in his eyes.
“Dylan, it’ll be okay.” She put a hand on his arm, so used to touching her packmates that she didn’t think about it.
He focused on her. “That asshole… I can’t believe him. Picking on me is bad enough, but he made Aiden freak out and Tiago…”
The warden had said Tiago was a murderer. Was that true? And did he really eat humans? Aiden wouldn’t be friends with someone like that… would he? Or did he not know?
The kids nearby asked Dylan questions or congratulated him, but Dylan ignored them, so Hanna did too.
“I know,” she said. “It was awful.” The whole lunchroom smelled of fear. No one in her pack had gone to the protest, but she knew other people who had. How had things gotten so bad so fast?
“Is Aiden okay?” Maggie pushed through the other students.
“Panic attack.” Dylan’s anger seemed to rise again, his eyes narrowing and body tightening. “Tiago took him to the nurse. If that guy wasn’t a warden, I’d kick his ass.”
“Do it anyway. He deserves it!” one of the kids shouted.
A faint scent of smoke started to roll off Dylan.
“Maybe we should sit down,” Hanna suggested, still holding his arm and sending calming energy. She’d tried this on Conner before with mixed results, but this time she wasn’t submitting. It was more like the way she calmed her packmates when they were afraid.
Dylan ran his free hand through his hair. “God, I wish I could do something. I can’t just let him get away with this.”
“I think sitting is a good idea.” Maggie pulled out a chair.
“Why don’t we talk about it?” Hanna tugged his arm, guiding him to turn around and move toward his seat.
He glanced between her and Maggie, shaking his head although he didn’t resist. “Trying to keep me from doing something else stupid?”
Maggie gave him a bright smile. “That’s what friends are for.”
Dylan sat, and Hanna took the chair next to him. “Running off after a warden isn’t going to solve anything,” she said.
“Kicking his ass would make me feel better.” Dylan glared at his half-eaten meal.
“And it would get you in more trouble.” Hanna looked at his handsome face, drawn into a familiar scowl. She still liked him, and right now she wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him until the anger died down.
“You’re already on thin ice. Don’t make things worse,” Maggie said. “You have to convince enough people at the PTA meeting tonight that you aren’t a danger to the school.”
Dylan shoved his tray aside, putting his arms on the table and resting his head on them. “They’re gonna kick me out, aren’t they?”
Oh no. Now she wanted to kiss him even more. But if she started she might not stop, might go back to dating him, and she was worried she’d backslide into being a girlfriend. Hanna lost herself when she was in a relationship.
“You don’t know that for sure,” she said. “Most of the pack will vote for you to stay, if not all of them. I can get my packmates to convince their parents to vote for you too.”
“You have allies, Dylan.” Maggie patted his shoulder. “My parents, Aiden’s parents.”
“It won’t be enough.”
A cat meowed. “Oh, someone’s texting me.” Maggie pulled out her phone. “Aiden’s worried about you. I’ll tell him you’re okay.”
“Is he okay?”
Sigh. He was so cute when he worried about Aiden. Get ahold of yourself, Hanna scolded.
“I’m sure he’s doing better, but I’ll ask.” Maggie tapped out a quick message. Her phone meowed again. “He says he’s fine. He’s going to talk to Mr. Emery.”
Dylan let out a breath. “He’s always getting hurt for something I did.”
“Don’t blame yourself.” Hanna rubbed his arm. She couldn’t help it.
He glanced at her and she glimpsed a deep sadness she’d seen a few times before. Dylan was hiding something. “You have no idea.”
He hadn’t opened up to her when they were dating, and she doubted he would tell her now. “We’re still friends, Dylan. I’m here if you need me.” Friendship should be safe enough.