Thornhill Academy. Chapter 50

**Allison**

Evander finally lowered me to my feet, his hands lingering a heartbeat too long at my waist before he stepped back. His eyes were softer than I’d ever seen them, gold still flickering faintly at the edges like his dragon wasn’t ready to retreat fully.

“I’ll leave you to get dressed,” he said quietly, voice rough but gentle, and then he turned his back. No teasing, no smirk, just the sound of his boots moving away. The door clicked shut behind him, and I was alone. I exhaled hard, my knees a little shaky, and reached for the uniform I’d left folded on the bench earlier. My fingers trembled as I pulled the fabric over my skin, the cool cotton a sharp contrast to the warmth of his hands still ghosting over my waist. A mate. The thought slammed through me again, louder now that the room was empty. I have a mate. Me, Allison Rivers, the girl who’d spent her life fighting for scraps, the girl who swore she’d never need anyone. I’d never wanted this before. I’d told myself that mates were for other people, people who weren’t built like me, who hadn’t been left behind like me. But now? Now that I had one, it felt strange. Alien. Like a missing piece of me had been slotted into place without permission. Warmth where there had always been cold. A voice where there had always been silence. It was mine. He was mine. That part was undeniable. But underneath that warmth, a slow dread coiled low in my stomach. This tied him to me. To whatever happens to me. And knowing me, knowing the way my life had twisted so far, fate had a lot more in store for me—big, dangerous, terrible things. And that thought terrified me more than anything. I tugged my shirt straight and stared at my reflection in the mirror, at the faint golden shimmer still ghosting through my eyes. A dragon. A mate. A secret that could destroy both of us if it came out too soon. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh, cry, or run.

Evander was leaning against the wall when I stepped out of the changing rooms, one hand shoved into his pocket. His golden eyes flicked up the second he saw me.

“Do you want to try and get some food in the hall?” he asked, voice soft but hopeful.

I shifted my bag on my shoulder. “I’d rather not… not with all the people in there.”

I watched his expression dim a little, shoulders dropping like he’d been bracing for that answer. My stomach pinched. I wasn’t trying to push him away, not after everything that had just happened, so I added quickly, “You can come back to my room to eat, though, if you like.”

The effect was instant. His eyes warmed, the faintest edge of a smile tugging at his mouth. “I’d like that,” he said quietly.

We walked together without touching, careful to leave space between us. The last thing I wanted was a dozen sets of eyes following us up to my attic and turning my sanctuary into gossip fodder. The corridor stretched out ahead of us, muted and echoing with the sounds of lunch being served down the hall. It almost felt normal until I saw him. Cage. He was planted at the base of my attic stairs, arms crossed, looking like a viper waiting to strike. Boredom and irritation warred on his face until he caught sight of us, and then it twisted into something nastier.

“Well, well, look who finally decided to show up,” he sneered, voice dripping venom. “Where the fuck have you been, stray?”

The word cut, but I’d been expecting it. What I hadn’t been expecting was the low, rumbling growl that vibrated out of Evander beside me. His dragon’s heat rolled off him in a wave, subtle but deadly. Cage’s eyes flicked between us, and his lip curled. “What have you two been doing?” His tone dropped to something ugly. “Are you really such a slut, Rivers? Missing half a class to go and bone a dragon?”

The air seemed to snap. Evander’s body went rigid, his pupils thinning to slits as he bristled, a growl deepening in his chest like a building storm. He was half a heartbeat away from shifting right here in the hall. I didn’t even think, I just moved. My hand slid onto his arm, fingers pressing against the hard muscle. “Don’t,” I said softly but firmly, looking up at him.

His eyes cut down to mine, molten and wild, and for a second, I wasn’t sure he’d listen. But something in my touch, or my voice, reached him. His jaw flexed, a slow grind, and the growl thinned to a tremor. I kept my palm there, steady. I knew exactly what Evander wanted to do, what I wanted him to do, but if he touched Cage now, if he lost control here, we’d all be in Scorched’s office before the hour was up. Cage smirked like he’d won something, but the way Evander’s heat radiated off him said otherwise.

Cage’s eyes slid off Evander and locked onto me. “We have to study,” he snapped, tone cutting, “thanks to you being incompetent and all.”

I folded my arms tight across my chest, lifting my chin. “You’re not coming into my room.”

His laugh was a short, sharp thing. “Like I’d want to be in your filth-infested space anyway. We’ll use the common room.” He turned with all the smug arrogance in the world, already striding down the hall like I’d follow just because he said so.

He got about three steps before he realised Evander was right at my side. Cage’s head jerked back toward us, brows drawing down. “What, you need a tutor too, golden boy?”

Evander didn’t even flinch. He just let out a low, deliberate huff, a curl of smoke trailing from his nostrils. His voice was rough steel. “I’m not leaving you alone with her.”

For once, Cage didn’t have a comeback ready. His sneer faltered, just slightly, like even he wasn’t stupid enough to press further against a dragon barely holding his temper in check. I stood between them, pulse rattling in my throat. One boy sneering, the other burning, and me in the middle, torn between wanting to slap one and drag the other away before he sets the whole damn corridor on fire.

The common room was too bright, too full of echo. Usually, it hummed with voices, footsteps, and laughter. But right now, with the hour between classes empty, it was just the three of us. Cage slouched into one of the couches like he owned the place, tossing his bag down so hard the books inside thudded.

“Sit,” he ordered. Not asked. Ordered.

My jaw clenched. Every instinct screamed to tell him where he could shove his command. But Evander’s presence at my side was a furnace, too protective, too ready to ignite. I didn’t need another fight breaking out and dragging me to Scorched’s office. So I sat at the opposite end of the couch, my arms crossed tightly.