The walk back to campus was quieter than Ryan expected.
Aria moved with the easy silence of someone used to slipping between worlds. She didn't shuffle her feet or make casual noise to fill the air—she moved like she belonged in the space between sounds. The only thing breaking the stillness was the crunch of their footsteps on the cracked sidewalk and the distant hum of the city.
Ryan caught her glancing at him from the corner of her eye now and then, measuring him, as if she were still deciding whether he was worth the risk she'd taken at the bridge.
The memory of the fight lingered, burned into him: the way the Shadowspawn had lunged, its yellow eyes rabid with hunger, the stench of its blood hitting the cold air, and the way its carved bone charm had felt wrong in his hand. Even now, his claws prickled under his skin like they wanted to be out again.
"You get attacked like that often?" he asked finally, his voice low.
Aria shook her head, eyes forward. "No. Which is why it's worse. Shadowspawn don't roam without orders. Vaelrion's testing you—and now he's testing me."
Ryan frowned. "Why you?"
"Because I'm in the way," she said simply. "Predators notice when someone stands between them and what they want."
He didn't reply, but the truth of it sat heavy in his chest. The hunt wasn't just about him anymore.
By the time they reached campus, the festival decorations had been stripped away. Empty poles lined the courtyard like stripped trees, and strings of lanterns lay coiled neatly on the grass. A few students lingered in small groups, talking and laughing in the soft light spilling from the buildings, completely unaware that a monster had died on the old bridge less than an hour ago.
It felt wrong. The world shouldn't be able to look so normal when he still had Shadowspawn blood under his nails.
Aria slowed at the edge of the courtyard. "We shouldn't be seen together too often. Not yet."
Ryan tilted his head. "Why?"
"Because you're already drawing attention. People noticed you last night. They'll talk. And if Vaelrion has eyes here—and trust me, he does—he'll notice if you suddenly have backup."
Ryan didn't like it, but he nodded. "Tomorrow, then?"
She hesitated for just a second before giving him a small, almost reluctant smile. "Tomorrow." Then she turned and slipped into the shadows between the buildings, gone as easily as she had appeared the first time.
Ryan stood there for a moment, listening to the faint hum of the courtyard, before heading to his dorm. The wolf plush sat on his desk where he'd left it, its button eyes catching the light. Something about the way it looked up at him made his chest tighten.
The system chimed.
[Side Quest Active: Aria's Alliance.][Objective: Protect Aria until the Blood Moon.][Timeframe: 17 days.]
He lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Seventeen days.
Somewhere far from campus…
The air inside Vaelrion's den was so cold it burned in the lungs. The white-haired Alpha stood before the great window carved into the cliff face, looking out over an endless forest bathed in silver moonlight. His breath didn't mist in the air—he was too still for that.
Behind him, the ash-furred scout knelt with head bowed, body tense like prey waiting for the predator's teeth.
"You lost the Shadowspawn," Vaelrion said, his voice smooth, almost casual, but every syllable cut like glass.
"It fought well, my lord. But he—"
"Don't." Vaelrion's gaze didn't leave the trees. "Don't tell me about his strength. I already know it."
The scout's claws flexed against the stone floor. "There was… another with him."
That made Vaelrion turn. Interest glimmered in the crimson depths of his eyes. "Describe her."
"Human. Female. Dark hair. Skilled with a blade."
A slow smile curved Vaelrion's lips. "Ah. So the little moon's chosen has found himself a shadow to cling to." He stepped closer to the scout, tilting his head in a way that felt too much like a wolf before the kill. "Good. Let him think she's his ally. It will make the breaking all the sweeter."
"Shall I follow her?" the scout asked carefully.
Vaelrion's smile sharpened, revealing a hint of fang. "No. Not yet. We will watch. We will let them move their pieces. And then—" he leaned in slightly—"we will take the board."
Back on campus
Ryan woke to sunlight spilling through the blinds and the faint buzz of his phone. Ethan stood in the doorway, holding two cups of coffee.
"You alive?" Ethan asked, handing one over. "You missed breakfast."
Ryan took it with a muttered thanks.
Ethan smirked. "You disappeared last night. Something you want to tell me?"
Ryan forced a shrug. "Just needed some air."
Ethan studied him for a moment before letting it go. "Well, you missed Mel going full dictator mode again—already planning next year's festival. Oh, and some first-years were talking about you catching that lantern pole. You're like a campus legend now."
Ryan grimaced. "Great. Exactly what I need."
He spent the rest of the day trying to be invisible—half-listening in lectures, keeping his head down in the cafeteria—but the whispers followed him anyway. People looked just a fraction too long. Conversations dropped when he passed. His skin prickled with the sense of being watched, though he knew it wasn't always wolves doing the watching.
By late afternoon, the restlessness had crawled too deep under his skin to ignore. His legs carried him without thinking to the edge of the athletics field, where a few students were setting up for archery practice.
One of the bows lay unattended on the table, the string humming faintly in the breeze. He picked it up almost without thinking.
[Draw Strength Required: 27%.][Trajectory Calculation Ready.]
He nocked an arrow, the shaft whispering against the bowstring. The target at the far end of the field was at least twice the usual range.
He drew, feeling the bowstring flex against his fingers, and loosed.
The arrow cut through the air in a clean arc and struck the dead center of the target with a sharp, satisfying thud.
A couple of students clapped. Someone whistled. Ryan quickly set the bow down, heat rising in his face. Too much attention. Again.
He turned to leave—
—and froze.
Across the field, just beyond the chain-link fence, stood Aria. She didn't smile or wave. She only nodded once, like she had seen exactly what she needed to see, then stepped away and vanished from sight.
The system chimed.
[Status Update: Aria is tracking your progress.]
Ryan exhaled slowly. The hunt was moving forward. And whether he liked it or not, the shadows were closing in.