The air was frozen, the hall trapped in an unnatural stillness. Kayden's arms felt suddenly wrong around me, and with trembling resolve, I shifted, forcing myself to get down. My knees almost buckled, but before I could even stumble, he was there.
Alaric.
He moved through the stillness like it bent for him, lowering to one knee before me as if the world had been waiting for this moment. My lips parted; I wanted to say something, anything."I—"
But before the words could escape, his hand gripped me, pulling me up into him with a certainty that left no room for protest. His arms closed around me like we had done this a thousand times before like I had always belonged there.
His eyes locked onto mine, fury simmering beneath the surface, and his voice came low, rough, almost accusing."Look at what you've done to yourself."
The words pierced me deeper than the wound itself. His gaze flickered to the blood trickling down my temple, jaw tightening as though each drop ignited something wild and unrestrained in him. My chest constricted, I couldn't breathe.
And then, as if his very anger willed it, the world itself obeyed. The chaos of the hall—students screaming, teachers rushing forward, hands reaching out, froze in a heartbeat. Bodies stilled mid-motion, mouths open, expressions carved into statues of terror.
But he and I moved. Only us.
I didn't know what was happening to me—didn't know if I should scream or collapse into him. I wanted this, gods, I wanted this—his arms around me, his eyes burning only for me. Yet it terrified me. How could I crave him this much when I barely knew him? How could his touch silence the nausea, the fear, the pain, as if he had been stitched into my very skin?
My thoughts collided, vicious, unrelenting.No, this is wrong. I shouldn't want him. He is danger itself. But why does every breath I take feel empty without him? Why does his anger look like protection? Why do I ache for him more with every second he refuses to let me go?
I didn't even recognize myself anymore. My mind was a battlefield—fear clawing, desire bleeding, confusion drowning me until I could hardly breathe. Maybe this wasn't even real, maybe I was already delirious from blood loss. But it felt real. Too real.
Every inch of him intoxicated me, dragged me deeper, no matter how much I screamed at myself to fight it.
And he was right. I was the reason for this, the reason I was broken, bleeding, spiraling. The reason why my chest felt so hollow and full all at once.
A tear slipped down, tracing a hot path over my cheek. My body gave in, eyes closing, the heaviness dragging me somewhere I couldn't fight.
When they opened again, everything was different. The chaos, the hall, the blood—gone. I was in my room, the silence pressing heavy against the walls. My forehead throbbed faintly, but the pain was nothing compared to the storm inside.
I sank down onto the bed, pulling my knees to my chest, hugging them like a child. My arms tightened until I could almost convince myself I was holding myself together, not unraveling.
But the mess in my head only grew louder. His face. His hands. His voice. The way I wanted it all when I shouldn't. It clawed at me from the inside, demanding an answer I didn't have.
I reached for my diary with my trembling fingers, the pen hovered above the page, desperate for release, but when I finally pressed it down, only fragments came out, broken pieces of what I couldn't say aloud.
I've involved myself in a curse.I don't even know what it is.I think I am trusting the wrong people.
I shut the diary, unable to bear it anymore. The reality was too harsh. Too raw. Everything was real, and yet nothing made sense.
A sudden clap of thunder rattled the walls, followed by rain hammering against the windows. Drawn to it, I stepped onto the balcony and Froze.
He was there.
Alaric stood in the storm, rain streaming down his sharp features, his eyes fixed on the horizon as if lost in some unspoken war. It was just like the first time I saw him; untouchable, untamed, dripping with mystery.
Then he turned. Slowly, deliberately, his gaze lifted until it met mine. The storm in his eyes was far greater than the one raging above us.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" His voice carried through the rain, low and steady, laced with something I couldn't name.
A flat, shaky "No" escaped me
e only nodded, the faintest curve of resignation touching his mouth. "Sure," he said softly, "but if you want to… you can."
I swallowed hard, nerves twisting inside me. My hand lifted unconsciously, brushing against the fresh wound on my palm as if to steady myself. "Yea sure" I whispered, and the word burned like fire.
His eyes sharpened, waiting.
"You need to stay careful," he then said at last, his voice uneven. "The attacker… he's entered the school. He's weak, but not powerless. And…" He paused for a moment before and forced it out. "He was the one who killed the president of the Art Society. The school… they'll keep the news within itself."
Shock cracked through me. "Wait… is that the same werewolf who's been killing people?"
"Yes." His tone was flat, but his eyes were too sharp, watching me closely. Then, as if testing me, he asked, "But how do you know he's a werewolf?"
I stumbled. "It's… it's what I heard from the others."
He nodded slowly, though the look in his eyes told me he didn't believe me.
The silence that followed was unbearable, thick with unspoken truths. I looked away, clutching the balcony rail as though it could anchor me.
Finally, his voice broke through, softer this time but laced with warning. "You shouldn't keep secrets from me. Not when the things you've seen could kill you if you hold them alone."
My chest tightened. I wanted to tell him—everything I had witnessed, everything that was eating me alive—but fear coiled around me like chains.
"And what about you?" I blurted, my voice sharper than I intended. "You keep everything from me. You show up when you want, disappear when it pleases you, and… and I don't even know who you are."
His jaw tightened, but he didn't flinch. The storm painted shadows across his face as he stepped closer, one hand braced against the railing near mine. He was too close now, too present.
"You don't need to know who I am right now," he said, his tone low, dangerous. "What you need to know is that staying near me will put you in more danger than you can imagine. And yet…" His gaze swept over me, sharp, unreadable. "…you don't pull away."
Silence stretched, the rain filling it, until I spoke again, words spilling out like a dam breaking. "I don't, because I can't. Or maybe I don't want to."
His brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"That's what annoys me," I snapped, my voice breaking under the pressure of everything I carried. "Because you don't understand the consequences of your own actions. You can't even feel what it's like to be treated this way. You're too dark… too far gone. And yet—" My voice cracked. "Yet it doesn't make me go away from you. How can you not. Understand. This." I shook my head, whispering, "Never mind."
He didn't answer, but the way his shoulders stiffened, the way his jaw locked, told me he had heard every word.
I swallowed hard. "Why are you always this discreet? Why can't you clear it all?"
"The only thing to be cleared," he said, his tone low, guarded, "is your mind. I can clearly see you're dealing with too much."
"Yes!" The word tore out of me, raw and unsteady. "Yes, I am. But I can't do it alone, please. I don't know who to trust anymore. All this loneliness is killing me—suffocating me. And it's just—" My voice broke. "What is it that you're hiding? Why can't you tell the truth? About what you know of me? Who was hiding me from you?"
I moved closer without realizing it, desperation pulling me forward.
But before another word could escape, he lifted his hand. His finger pressed gently to my lips, silencing me in an instant. My breath caught.
"All I do," he murmured, eyes dark and burning, "is lie, deceive, and break."
The storm raged on around us, but his voice was the only sound I could hear.
"Then why?" My voice cracked, desperate. "Why does it feel so real?"
For a fleeting second, his guard faltered. His eyes shut, his jaw tightening like he was at war with himself. When he opened them, they burned with something raw, something dangerous.
"Because some things," his voice dropped to a whisper, rough with restraint, "aren't meant to be denied."
The storm around us vanished into silence. He closed the distance, his hand at my jaw, the rain still dripping from his hair. My heart stopped—then raced.
And before either of us could stop it, his lips crashed against mine.
The kiss wasn't gentle. It was fire and ruin, pulling every buried desire to the surface. I clung to him, breathless, my mind a wreck but my body betraying me. For the first time, everything felt terrifyingly real.
But then he tore himself away, breathing hard, his hands trembling as if he had broken every rule he'd set for himself.
"Don't," he whispered, voice ragged. "Don't let me destroy you."
My breath shivered, but I couldn't look away. The rain clung to his lashes, sliding down the sharp line of his cheek, and for once his guarded mask looked fractured."You think you haven't already?" My voice cracked, breaking the air between us. "Every word, every silence—you tear me apart without even trying."
His jaw clenched, pain flickering in his eyes. He shook his head as if denying me, as if denying himself. "You don't understand. If you give yourself to me like this, there won't be a way back. I don't just ruin things, I consume them. You'll lose yourself."
I stepped closer, so close the storm's chill couldn't slip between us anymore. My hand trembled, brushing over the wound at my palm, but I held his gaze."Then let it be me. If I was to get destroyed by you, I would choose it. Because what I am now—this loneliness, this suffocating emptiness—it's worse than breaking."
He flinched as if the words physically struck him, his breath faltering. His fingers hovered at my jaw, aching to touch, aching to pull away."You're asking for something you can't survive."
My lips trembled, but the truth bled out of me anyway. "Then at least I'll fall knowing it was you."