Thornhill Academy. Chapter 62

The week that follows is… strange. Not bad strange, just the kind that makes me hyper-aware of everything around me, like my life has quietly shifted on its axis and no one told me. Cage is still Cage, the academy’s walking migraine. Every class, every study session, every sarcastic comment that drips from his mouth is somehow aimed directly at me. “Focus, Rivers,” he’ll snap, leaning over my shoulder like he owns the air I breathe. “It’s not that hard.” To which I usually mutter something anatomically impossible and go back to pretending he doesn’t exist. Tessa, on the other hand, is pure sunshine and glitter, bouncing off walls with her endless excitement about the Moonlight Festival. I swear, if she mentions her dress one more time, I might enchant her mouth shut. But… part of me envies how hopeful she is. How easy she makes it look to be happy here. And then there’s Evander.

Evander, who’s apparently decided that personal space is a myth. He hovers like he’s part shadow, part guardian, stalking me between classes, showing up in doorways, leaning against walls with that infuriatingly smug little smirk that says mine. He sneaks into my room every night now, under the guise of “making sure I’m safe.” Sure. Because all guardians sleep shirtless beside their charges, wrapped around them like living furnaces. Not that I’m complaining. At all. I know more about him than I probably should at this point; his favourite foods, the faint scar on his shoulder from a sparring match gone wrong, the way his dragon hums softly through the bond when he’s half-asleep. I shouldn’t crave that warmth, but I do. It’s becoming my new normal. What isn’t normal is him and Kael. They’re usually inseparable, loud, chaotic, always making some poor professor’s life hell, well, on Kael's part anyway, but now? They barely look at each other. Whatever their little tiff was about, it’s bigger than I thought. Kael’s entire energy has shifted; he's colder, darker. He doesn’t sit beside me anymore, doesn’t crack jokes under his breath during lectures, and doesn’t tease me into laughing when Cage gets too irritating.

And yet, I feel him. Always. His gaze burns into the back of my neck when I walk past. His scent lingers in places he’s not even standing. It’s like his hound won’t let him keep distance, even when he tries to pretend I don’t exist. I’ve tried talking to him. Twice. Both times, he disappeared before I could get a word out. It’s maddening. Part of me wants to drag him into a corner and demand to know what’s wrong, why he’s acting like I broke something between us I didn’t even know existed. I spot him halfway down the dorm hallway, coming out of the training wing, his hair damp with sweat, shirt slung over his shoulder like he couldn’t care less who’s watching. Typical Kael.

“Kael!”

He freezes for a second but doesn’t turn around, just keeps walking. Oh, absolutely not. My sore legs protest as I speed up after him. “Kael Pierce, stop walking away from me!”

That gets his attention. He stops dead in his tracks and turns, his golden eyes narrowing. “What, Rivers?”

I plant myself in front of him, arms crossed. “Don’t ‘what, Rivers’ me. You’ve been avoiding me for a week. You don’t sit next to me anymore, you don’t talk to me, you don’t even roll your eyes when I insult Cage, which, by the way, is basically your civic duty. So spill it. What happened between you and Evander?”

His jaw ticks, that muscle twitching like it always does when he’s about to lose his temper. “Nothing.”

I raise an unimpressed brow. “Really? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like something.”

He exhales sharply through his nose, rubbing the back of his neck. “Drop it, Ally.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on!” I snap, stepping closer. “You’re both acting weird, and it’s making everything even weirder. Why did you fight? Did I—”

“It’s not about you,” he cuts in, a little too fast.

I blink. “That’s a lie.”

His eyes flash dangerously. “You think everything’s about you now, huh? Just because Drayke’s decided to play the protective mate routine?”

The venom in his voice makes me take a half step back. “Excuse me?”

He laughs, low and bitter, nothing like the usual cocky grin he wears. “You really don’t get it, do you? He tells me you're *his* mate. Fine. Great. I back off. But then you look at me like that—” His voice drops, rougher now. “—like you see something in me too. And I can’t fucking handle it.”

The hallway feels smaller suddenly, too full of heat and words I don’t know how to answer.

“Kael…”

He shakes his head hard, looking anywhere but at me. “Don’t. Just don’t, Ally. I’m trying to do the right thing here. For him. For you. But every time I look at you…” His voice fades, a strained laugh leaving his throat. “It doesn’t feel like a choice anymore.”

I open my mouth, but he’s already moving again, brushing past me, his scent of smoke and storm trailing after him like a ghost.

“Kael!” I call, but he just throws one last look over his shoulder, a look full of everything he won’t say, and disappears down the hall.

And I’m left standing there, heart pounding, wondering what the hell just happened.

“Stray,” Cage says again, leaning against the wall behind me with that smug, holier-than-thou look that makes me want to shove him down the nearest flight of stairs. “You’re late. Studying started ten minutes ago, if you actually want to learn something.”

I spin on my heel, crossing my arms and glaring at him. “Oh, forgive me, Professor Cage. I didn’t realise punctuality was suddenly your best trait.”

He smirks, dark eyes glinting as he pushes off the wall. “Sarcasm. Cute. Does that help when you fail your exams, or do you save it for when you trip over your own feet again?”

I roll my eyes so hard it hurts. “You’re a real joy, you know that?”

He shrugs, sauntering past me toward the study room like he owns the place. “And yet, you still show up. Maybe you’re finally learning something after all.”

I bite back a curse and follow, muttering under my breath, “Yeah, learning how not to commit murder.”

He must hear it, because his smirk deepens without him even turning around. “Careful, Stray. Threatening your tutor isn’t a great start.”

Gods, I swear one of these days, I’m going to feed this man to my dragon.