Chapter Three – Whispers in the Dark

The order in my head didn’t let me sleep.

I lay stiff in bed, staring at the ceiling. My chest rose and fell too fast, lungs refusing to slow. Outside, the howls came in waves, circling closer, pulling something deep inside me tighter and tighter.

And then, the bell rang.

Not the morning kind. Not the deep underwater chime.

This was sharp. Urgent. Final.

The dorm doors rattled as footsteps thundered down the hall. A voice carried, clipped and strict.

“Red Moon protocol! Everyone inside. No exceptions.”

Red Moon.

The words were enough to make the air in the hall thicken. My roommate—some silent girl who hadn’t spoken a single word to me since I arrived—snapped her shutters closed, crawled under her blanket, and pressed her hands over her ears.

“Wait,” I whispered. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t answer. Didn’t even look at me.

More voices outside. Orders. Boots striking the stone. And then, one by one, the dorm doors slammed shut.

I stood by my own door, hand hovering over the lock. My pulse hammered. Something told me I wasn’t supposed to open it.

The window pulled at me, impossible to ignore.I padded across the cold floor, my bare feet making no sound. With trembling hands, I eased the curtain aside just enough to see.

And I saw them.

Massive wolves.

Prowling the courtyard in perfect circles, their paws silent on the stone. Their fur rippled with power, thick and gleaming beneath the blood-colored glow of the moon. Their eyes burned red, not from reflection but from something inside—something wrong.

They weren’t wild. They weren’t random. They moved together, step by step, closing the circle as though they were tying something invisible between them.

My breath caught.

The moon seemed to throb with their rhythm. Goosebumps raced across my skin, and the pull in my chest tightened until it almost hurt.

And before I could stop myself, the word slipped out of my mouth.

“Stop.”

Soft. Barely a whisper.

But it carried.

The circle broke.

All at once, every wolf froze.

Their heads turned in unison. Their glowing eyes lifted.

Straight at me.

At my window.

The glass shuddered violently, then cracked, then exploded inward. I stumbled back with a cry as shards sprayed across the floor. A surge of raw power ripped through me, burning like fire in my veins. My knees buckled.

I fell against the bed, trembling, chest heaving like I’d run for miles.

The courtyard below stayed frozen for a beat too long—every wolf staring, unblinking.

And then, as though nothing had happened, the circle resumed.

Perfect steps. Red eyes glowing.

The ritual continued.

But I couldn’t move.

I sat there, shaking, glass glittering around me, the echo of that impossible power still buzzing in my bones.

***

By morning, the entire school was buzzing.

Rumors swarmed like bees, stinging wherever I turned.

“They said the wolves stopped.”

“Something answered them.”

“No, someone.”

Every whisper sharpened, every eye flicked toward me.

I kept my head down, clutching my books so tightly my knuckles burned white.

But it didn’t matter. They knew.

Ronan found me first.

I had just stepped out of the library when his hand slammed against the wall beside me, blocking my path. His storm-gray eyes burned with fury, his jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might break.

“What are you?” His voice was low, dangerous.

I flinched. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” He leaned closer, the air between us sparking with tension. “The wolves don’t answer to anyone. Not Vale. Not Cassian. Not me. So why did they answer to you?”

“I didn’t—” My voice cracked. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Liar.” His hand flexed against the wall, claws threatening at his fingertips. “Say the truth, Hawthorne. What are you?”

My chest tightened. The words caught in my throat. “I don’t know.”

His eyes narrowed, searching my face for cracks. For something I couldn’t name. Finally, with a hissed curse, he shoved back, storming away.

My knees nearly gave out.

***

Cassian cornered me next.

He didn’t slam walls or bare claws. He just sauntered up during lunch, grin sharp as ever, sliding onto the bench across from me like this was a date instead of an interrogation.

“Well, sweetheart,” he drawled, stealing the apple off my tray without asking. “You’ve certainly made things interesting.”

I stiffened. “I didn’t mean—”

He cut me off with a lazy wave of his hand. “Doesn’t matter. Intent doesn’t count here. What counts is that you opened your pretty little mouth, and suddenly a pack of Red Moon wolves froze like statues. That doesn’t go unnoticed.” He bit into the apple, juice running down his hand. “Careful, sweetheart. Powers like that get people killed in this place.”

I swallowed hard. “Are you threatening me?”

Cassian smirked, leaning forward, voice dropping to a whisper. “Not me. But others? Oh, they’ll be lining up.”

He winked and walked away, tossing the half-eaten apple over his shoulder.

My stomach turned.

***

Malachai didn’t speak.

He didn’t have to.

He followed me like a shadow, always a few steps behind, quiet as the night. Even in the halls, I could feel him right there at my back.

In the library, I saw his reflection in the glass doors. At dinner, he stood in the corner, arms crossed, eyes fixed on me until my skin crawled.

He never asked a question. Never offered a warning.

He just watched.

And somehow, that was worse.

***

But Vale—Vale was different.

After class, he dismissed the other students with a flick of his hand. His eyes found me, sharp and unrelenting.

“Stay.”

The door closed behind the last student, leaving me alone in the echo of his presence.

He leaned against his desk, arms folded. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“I—I didn’t mean—”

“That’s not what I asked.”

I froze. My throat closed.

His gaze softened—not gentle, not kind, but something else. Something knowing. “You’re your mother’s daughter, after all.”

The floor dropped out from under me.

My heart stopped cold.

“What did you just say?” My voice was barely a breath.

He tilted his head, studying me like a puzzle. “No one told you?”

I staggered back. “Don’t. Don’t talk about her.”

“Why?” His mouth curved into the faintest shadow of a smile. “Because she’s the only reason you’re still breathing?”

I turned and fled before he could say more, my chest splintering with panic.

***

That night, I sat alone in my room, knees pulled to my chest, staring at the shattered glass still glittering faintly on the floor.

The wolves. The way they stopped. The stares. The whispers.

The name I wasn’t supposed to hear.

My mother.

No one mentioned her. Ever. Not at home, not before I came here. She was a shadow in every story, a silence in every answer.

And now Vale had spoken her name like it was a weapon.

I pressed my forehead to my knees, breathing shallow.

Blackthorne wasn’t a school.

It was a hunting ground.

And I was the prey.