Chapter Thirteen — The Silence After

Third Person Limited POV — Bella

They didn’t try to stop them.

That was the first thing Bella noticed as they walked away from the elders’ platform.

No shouts followed.

No guards rushed forward.

No command rang out to drag her back.

The Academy simply… watched.

Bella’s heartbeat thundered in her ears as she moved beside the Alpha, Jake just a step behind her. The courtyard they crossed had changed in the span of minutes. Where chaos had erupted earlier, order now folded itself back into place with unsettling ease.

Students were being redirected quietly. Instructors spoke in low voices. Broken stones from the attack were already being cleared away, as if the ground itself had learned to erase evidence.

Too fast.

This wasn’t how places reacted when something went wrong.

This was how they reacted when something went according to plan.

Bella’s skin prickled. The pressure beneath her ribs, the one she had been pretending not to feel, tightened slightly, not painful, not urgent. A presence settling in, attentive.

Aware.

She kept her expression neutral, even as her thoughts raced.

Why let us leave?

The Alpha didn’t look at her, but his stride stayed measured, unhurried. He wasn’t relaxed. Bella could sense it in the tightness of his shoulders, the way his fingers flexed once at his side, then stilled.

Jake leaned closer. “They’re letting us go too easily.”

Bella nodded once. “They want us to.”

That earned her a sharp glance from him. “You think this is part of it?”

“I think,” she said quietly, “that if they wanted me contained, I wouldn’t be walking.”

They passed beneath an archway carved with moon symbols worn smooth by time. Bella felt it then a subtle shift in the air, like crossing an invisible line. The pressure inside her responded immediately, a faint pulse that made her breath hitch.

The Academy noticed.

Her steps slowed without her meaning to them.

“Bella,” the Alpha murmured, not breaking stride.

“I know,” she said. “I feel it.”

Guards stood posted ahead, faces blank, weapons at rest. None moved to block their path. One even inclined his head respectfully as they passed.

Respect, or observation?

Bella’s jaw tightened.

They reached the outer training grounds, wide and open, the stone underfoot marked by scars of old battles. The noise of the inner Academy faded behind them, replaced by a strange, hollow quiet.

This was where the Alpha stopped.

“For now, you stay within the Academy grounds,” he said. “But away from the council chambers.”

“And after?” Bella asked.

He turned then, finally meeting her eyes. There was something guarded there. Calculating. Concern, yes but not surprise.

“After,” he said, “we see what moves next.”

Jake frowned. “You’re just going to let them”

“They already are,” the Alpha cut in. “Watching. Measuring. If we push now, we give them exactly what they want.”

Bella felt it again that subtle internal tightening, like something inside her, agreed.

That scared her more than the elders ever had.

“What about the attack?” she asked. “No one’s explaining that.”

“No,” the Alpha said. “And that’s deliberate.”

He studied her for a moment longer than necessary. “Bella, whatever happened in that arena didn’t end there. The Academy doesn’t react to symptoms. It reacts to sources.”

Her stomach dropped.

“You think I’m the source.”

“I think,” he said carefully, “that something connected to you moved before it was meant to.”

Jake’s head snapped toward her. “Connected how?”

The Alpha didn’t answer.

Instead, he stepped back. “You’ll return to your quarters. Keep your head down. Do not provoke anyone.”

Bella let out a short, humorless breath. “That ship sailed.”

A corner of his mouth twitched. “Then survive.”

He turned and walked away before either of them could say more.

For a moment, Bella and Jake stood alone on the training grounds, the space around them feeling too open, too exposed.

“I don’t like this,” Jake said.

“Neither do I.”

Together, they headed back toward the inner corridors. That was when Bella noticed the footsteps.

Not loud. Not hurried. Too measured to be accidental.

She didn’t look back immediately. Instead, she counted.

One.

Two.

Three.

The pressure inside her shifted alert now.

She turned sharply.

No one stood behind them.

The corridor curved away, empty stone stretching into shadow. Torches burned steadily along the walls, their flames too calm.

Jake frowned. “You heard that too?”

“Yes.”

They exchanged a look.

Someone was close.

They continued walking, slower now. Bella forced her breathing steady, her senses stretched thin. Every sound felt amplified by the scrape of boots on stone, the soft hum of wards she couldn’t see but could feel humming beneath the Academy’s skin.

Her body reacted before her mind caught up.

The pressure surged.

Not violently. Purposefully.

Bella staggered half a step, catching herself against the wall.

“Bella,” Jake hissed. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “It’s… it’s like something’s pulling.”

“Pulling where?”

She swallowed. “Down.”

They stopped.

The corridor forked ahead one path leading back toward the dormitories, the other sloping downward into restricted sections marked with faded warning sigils.

Bella’s heart hammered.

The pull came again, stronger now.

Jake followed her gaze. “No. Absolutely not.”

“I’m not choosing it,” she said, panic creeping into her voice. “I swear I’m not.”

But her feet shifted anyway.

The pressure wasn’t forcing her. It was inviting her.

Jake grabbed her arm. “Bella. Look at me.”

She did. His face was tense, eyes dark with worry.

“Whatever that is,” he said, “it’s not worth”

The corridor lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

The air thickened.

Bella gasped as heat and cold collided under her skin, sharp enough to steal her breath. She doubled over, clutching her ribs as the pressure finally spiked into something undeniable.

Not pain.

Recognition.

Her vision blurred. Symbols etched into the walls flared faintly, responding to her presence.

Jake swore under his breath. “They’re reacting to you.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to”

Footsteps echoed then real this time. Multiple. Approaching fast.

Bella forced herself upright. “We can’t be here.”

Jake hesitated only a second before nodding. “Dormitories. Now.”

They turned and ran.

Shouts echoed behind them as guards rounded the corner, weapons raised.

“Halt!”

They didn’t.

Bella’s lungs burned as they sprinted through the twisting corridors, turns blurring together. The Academy felt different now awake, alert, corridors subtly shifting, guiding them away from certain paths.

Or toward others.

Jake skidded around a corner and nearly collided with an instructor. He swerved just in time, dragging Bella with him as they ducked into a side passage.

The door slammed shut behind them.

Silence crashed down.

Bella leaned against the wall, chest heaving. The pressure inside her hadn’t eased. If anything, it felt… steadier. Controlled.

Jake stared at her. “That wasn’t normal.”

“No,” she agreed. “None of this is.”

He lowered his voice. “You didn’t cause the attack, did you?”

Bella met his gaze. “I don’t think so.”

“That’s not an answer.”

She looked away. “I don’t know what I am anymore.”

The words tasted wrong in her mouth.

Something moved beneath her skin in response.

Jake stepped closer. “Listen to me. Whatever they think, whatever they’re planning, you're not alone in this.”

Her throat tightened. “You say that now.”

“I mean it.”

A bell rang somewhere deep within the Academy.

Low. Slow.

Not a class bell.

A signal.

Bella’s heart dropped.

“That’s not good,” Jake said.

The door behind them creaked.

Not opening.

Unlocking.

Bella straightened, every nerve on edge.

The pressure inside her settled suddenly, coiling inward like it was bracing.

“Jake,” she said quietly, “if they separate us”

“They won’t.”

“But if they try”

“I won’t let them.”

The lock clicked.

The door began to open.

Bella didn’t know who stood on the other side.

She only knew one thing with chilling certainty.

The Academy wasn’t reacting to her anymore.

It was responding.

And somewhere beneath the stone and wards and watching eyes, something ancient had just confirmed her presence.

Bound by blood.

Called by moonlight.

And no longer content to stay silent.