Chapter 8

ELVIRA'S POV

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Wednesday morning was Philosophy and Mythology class first. Just like before, Rafael strolls in five minutes late. The whole room looks up on instinct, tracking him the way you'd track a storm on a weather report. He doesn't seem to care about the stares at all. I suspect he's used to it by now… the kind of used-to-it that comes from years of being stared at, not weeks of getting used to stares.

He drops into the seat beside me and starts copying notes. He was only bothered with certain lines while taking down his notes… he clearly wasn’t writing down everything the teacher said. But every answer he gave the teacher was correct. His handwriting isn't what I expected it to be either. I'd have guessed he had messy handwriting. Instead, it was genuinely beautiful — looping, deliberate calligraphy, as if someone taught him writing out of an old manuscript.

Business studies class was next. I took my usual seat, and for the first time all week, the chair beside me wasn't empty.

Gideon was occupying it.

He dropped his bag with a heavy sound and folded himself into the seat, filling the chair in a way that made the whole desk feel smaller. He didn't say anything at first; he just got his things out. I tried very hard to focus on the whiteboard in front of the class instead of the warmth radiating off him from a foot away from me.

Halfway through the lesson, I got up to go grab my pen, and I mistakenly knocked my book straight off the desk.

"Let me help you," Gideon says, already reaching for my pen.

Our fingers brush as he hands it back to me. A current runs through me… a static shock without the sting, sharp enough to make me pull my hand back on instinct.

"Sorry," I mutter.

"Don't apologise." His mouth curves with those words, slow and unbothered. "it happens to me sometimes too."

I glanced up. His jade eyes were steady on mine, faint amusement threaded through them, like he's not remotely sorry for startling me and enjoyed watching me flinch. I looked away before I could get pulled all the way in.

Mrs. Cooper starts the lesson properly, and I'm grateful for that and use that excuse to refocus my thoughts on her teachings.

At break, Lexa catches me even before I've even sat down to breathe.

"You're so lucky, having a free last period," she says. "You're allowed to go hunt in the forest, if you want."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. The school prefers you go in pairs, and you can hunt anything in there. Just stay inside the boundary line owned by the school."

"Duly noted."

Mathematics class was after break. I had the class with Xavier, and our eyes caught each other once, briefly. Warmth prickling under my skin each time our eyes met. I was glad when the bell rang… I was hungry, and honestly a little worn out from all the eye contact I kept in the maths class.

At lunch, the girls quiz me on my tattoo.

"I got it two days ago, guys. It's not turning color for another week at least."

We're mid-conversation when a hush falls over the table. Eliano's standing there, smirking at me.

"Sorry to interrupt, ladies. Elvi, Alchemy's next… Will walk with me to class?"

I caught the wide eyes around the table in my periphery. "Sure," I said, grabbing my water bottle. "See you after school, girls."

"See you," Anika mumbled, still processing what just happened.

Students were staring at us the entire walk to Alchemy class. "Is it always like this for you?" I asked.

"Yep, it has been like this for me." He looked thoroughly unbothered.

"That sucks."

"So does your face."

"Hey! Watch your mouth"

We're the first to get to class. Gideon arrives a few minutes later, and I kept my eyes on Eliano, refusing to get sucked into another round of eyeball staring.

"What've you got last on your table today?" Eliano asks.

"Free period, I guess. Thinking about hunting."

His eyes light up as much as they ever do. "I've got a free period too. Mind if I join you for hunting?"

The school prefers you take someone with you, anyway.

"Of Course, you can join me."

"Perfect. We'll head out after this class."

I caught Gideon glaring at us from across the room, clearly listening in… Werewolves' hearing being what it is, I believe he could hear a part of my conversation with Eliano.

The lesson passes fast. Eliano walks me back to the dorm intersection, where the corridor splits into girls left, boys right.

"Meet you back here in five," he says.

I change into my workout clothes for the hunt… I tie my hair up on my way back down. Eliano was already leaning against the wall when I arrived. We crossed the lawn together, stopping at a small building on the tree line to sign in, the way students in Wolford do before going for hunting in the forest. We also sign out when you're coming from the hunt, so the school knows exactly who's still out there by dark.

The forest itself was evergreen and calm; every shade of green leaves was stacked on top of itself this time of the year. It smells like damp earth in here… there were crushed leaves. Birds’ noises were heard from a distance. I breathe in properly for the first time since I arrived… the first genuinely quiet moment I've had all week; there were eyes on me and no timetable to check, just trees.

"Are you ready for this, Giamatti?" Eliano asks, a lopsided grin filling his face.

"Yes, I’m ready, Wolford."

"Then let the hunt begin."

We moved through the trees without a sound; our boots were silent on the leaf litter. We ignored the smaller things like mice, rabbits, nothing worth the effort of our hunt. We're after something bigger and with enough flesh and meat for a werewolf.

We found it in a clearing: a fallow deer, grazing, ears swiveling constantly. It was always half a second from bolting. Eliano signals with his hands… he plans to take it from behind; I take it from the front. I nodded and dropped into a crouch.

He circles wide and silently until he's directly opposite me across the clearing. I inch forward with low precision until I found his eyes across the deer's back.  We went for a one nod and A three-count.

I launch first, muscles uncoiling all at once, and land square in front of the deer just as Eliano drops onto its back. It bucks hard, panicked, and I get my arms around its throat and pull. The snap echoes flat through the trees. It goes still beneath us.

We feed together… no hesitation, no ceremony, just the old instinct doing what it's built to do. When we're finished, sated and warm from the kill, we head back toward the sign-out building, talking through the hunt.

Halfway to the building, Eliano stops dead. His hand shoots out, blocking my path.

I look around, pulse spiking, trying to see whatever he's already seen.

"We're not alone," he murmurs.