"Alpha Damien?" the Dean asked, his voice carrying a note of surprise.
Damien, however, only gave a casual nod, muttering a low, dismissive, "Hmm."
Even Cass blinked in shock. If he hadn't just heard Damien declare that he would back him up, then by Damien's sudden appearance alone, Cass would've assumed he had come to cheer on his expulsion. But backing him up? Why the hell was Damien backing him up?
Cass shot him a sharp look, one that screamed for answers. Damien, in return, only shrugged. Then he turned to the Dean, a smirk tugging at his lips as he repeated, almost lazily, "I said I'll back him up. He needs someone to support him, right? I'll do it."
The Dean could only stare. Absolute shock rippled through him. Alpha Damien never interfered in school affairs. He was the Dean—this was his territory—yet Damien's presence here shifted the balance instantly. Everyone knew the Alpha didn't bother with academy politics, didn't bother with anyone. The mystery of why Damien even attended this school at all was enough to fuel endless rumors. And now, out of nowhere, he was stepping in… for Cass?
The Dean's lips parted, ready to carefully probe for Damien's reason only for Cass to beat him to it.
"You're backing me up? What's your motive, hmm?"
Don't get him wrong—Cass appreciated the help. He wasn't stupid enough to decline. But he needed to know why. Every good thing had consequences. And nothing in this life came free. To blindly accept help from Damien of all people? That would be reckless suicide.
Damien's attention flickered to him. "Motive? Right now, I don't have one. But you do still have a task I assigned to you, don't you? And it hasn't been done yet. If you're expelled, it won't be completed—and I won't allow that. So if you want to call that my motive, then yeah. That's my motive for backing you up."
Cass opened his mouth to retort… then shut it. Opened again. Shut it once more. Damn this bastard. Just when he thought he had caught onto Damien's angle, the man flipped it again. Still, refusing this would be the dumbest mistake of his life. Who in their right mind rejected a lifeline laid out on a silver platter? Definitely not Cass. Even if it came from this cocky Alpha, he'd take it. He had nothing to lose.
Clearing his throat, he forced his lips into something resembling a smile. Calm. Controlled. "Thank you."
Damien gave a single nod. No words. But something flickered in his gaze. A spark of amusement? He had half-expected Cass to reject him—yet Cass, time and again, proved to be a contradiction. Not selfless, not blindly grateful—just a man who valued himself so much he'd do anything to preserve his own skin. And strangely enough… that entertained him.
The Dean, still frozen at being sidelined, finally regained his composure and cleared his throat. "Alright. Since you're backing him up, then… rest assured, everything is okay."
"Good, then. I'll leave it to you," Damien said, as if dismissing the matter entirely. He turned, walking out with the kind of presence that made even silence feel heavy.
Cass watched his retreating back, torn between resentment and reluctant gratitude. A win was still a win. Damien had spared him from immediate expulsion. Whether he liked it or not, he owed the man. And even though he'd sworn to avoid Damien as much as possible… this contact had been inevitable.
Turning back to the Dean, a smug grin stretched across his lips. "So basically, with all that just happened here, the expulsion stuff has been cancelled, right?" He wanted to savor the Dean's defeat. Wanted to bask in it.
But the Dean's words crushed him instantly.
"No. It doesn't mean that!!!"
"What!?" Cass blurted, his smugness evaporating in an instant. "How doesn't it mean I'm not getting expelled?"
"Because it doesn't!" the Dean snapped. "Damien only backed you up. That means instead of instant expulsion, you'll be given a chance of redemption. You have three days to gather evidence and prove yourself worthy." His tone was merciless, final.
"You… how is that even possible?!" Cass's voice cracked in disbelief. A bitter thought crept in—was this man holding a grudge against him? Or worse—was someone paying the Dean to ensure his downfall? Because none of this made sense.
But the Dean merely shrugged, voice calm but sharp. "I said what I said. Three days. Prove you're the actual victim. Or better get the complainants to testify against themselves in your favor. Then you won't be expelled. But don't think of running to Damien again. There's nothing he can do. This is the rule."
A lie. A full, deliberate lie. The Dean knew perfectly well if Damien commanded something, it became law. No exceptions. But Cass didn't know that. And the Dean had no intention of letting him lean on Damien again.
Cass's face twisted through a dozen emotions before finally collapsing into a sigh. Damn. One second, he had felt triumphant. The next, crushed. The rollercoaster was exhausting. And the worst part he couldn't even fight it. Not if this was supposedly "the rules."
And running to Damien again? No. Absolutely not. That wasn't an option. It would never be an option. He'd had more encounters with that Alpha already than he ever wanted, and he refused to invite more.
Fine. If the Dean wanted evidence, he'd get it. Those bastards would trip up eventually. He'd find a way.
With heavy resignation, he muttered, "Then wait for me. I'll be back in three days. With my evidence."
"Let's see then," the Dean replied flatly.
Cass left the office, the weight of the encounter pressing down on him, and trudged back to his dorm. The moment he entered, he threw himself on the bed with no hesitation, exhaustion crashing into him. Arms and legs sprawled, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
Why did trouble always find him? Sigh after sigh after sigh…
He needed comfort. But the only friend he had here was Rin. And knowing Rin, comfort wasn't in the cards he'd just sulk with him instead.
Still, Rin was useful for something else.
Cass grabbed his phone and quickly typed a message: asking for Kai's hospital ward number. From what the Dean had said, Kai was still hospitalized. And Cass… needed to know where.
Minutes later, Rin—ever reliable—sent the ward number, not forgetting to ask what had happened after he left, and if Cass was in trouble. Cass didn't reply. He didn't need to. He had what he wanted.
Dropping the phone to the side, he sank into the bed, eyes slipping shut. Tomorrow, the fight began. He would gather evidence. He had no other choice.
Because expulsion? Expulsion wasn't an option.