CHAPTER THREE: SLEEPLESSNESS

Eden didn't remember the walk home.

Her feet moved. Her heart raced. But her mind stayed locked inside that office.

Inside his voice.

Inside his eyes.

She dropped her bag the moment she stepped into her dorm. Her hands shook as she closed the door. She leaned against it, eyes shut.

What just happened?

Nothing had really happened.

Not on the outside.

He didn't touch her.

He didn't even say much.

But she felt it. Every second. Every breath. Like he was inside her skin, pressing against something she didn't know she had.

She swallowed and moved to the mirror.

Her reflection looked the same. Same blonde hair. Same full lips. Same wide eyes.

But she didn't feel the same.

Her skin burned.

Her body ached in places she never thought about.

The way he looked at her...

She covered her face with both hands and slid down to the floor.

She wasn't stupid. She had heard girls talk. The way older men looked at them. The power they held. The danger they gave off.

But Dean Kael Draven didn't just look at her.

He unraveled her.

And he didn't even try.

Eden sat there for a while. Too long. Her mind went back to that moment when he asked if anyone had ever touched her. The heat in his voice. The way he leaned forward like he already knew the answer.

He did.

And when she told him no, something in him changed.

Not in a sweet way.

Not in a safe way.

But like it meant something.

Something important.

She pulled her knees to her chest and stayed like that until night fell. Even when the room grew dark, she didn't move. Her roommates were out. She was alone.

Thank God.

Because if anyone looked at her now, they would know.

They would see the tremble in her fingers. The flush in her cheeks. The way her thighs pressed together like something had come alive inside her.

She wasn't supposed to feel this way.

Not about a man like that.

Not about her principal.

She stood up and went to the shower. Cold water hit her skin. She stayed under it until her teeth started to chatter.

But the heat didn't leave.

Not really.

When she finally got into bed, the silence was loud. Her thoughts kept circling.

His voice.

His eyes.

His scent.

She turned over.

And turned again.

And again.

But sleep never came.

Only one thought did.

What would've happened if she hadn't walked away?

KAEL POV

YEARS AGO

The first time Kael tasted blood, he was seventeen.

Not in the soft, human way. Not from a fight at school or a cut on the lip.

This blood was thicker. Warmer. Pulled from the throat of a man who tried to hurt someone Kael loved.

He did not remember running.

Only the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Only the fire in his chest. The rage in his bones.

He had always known he was different.

Stronger. Faster. Quieter. More aware.

His senses were sharper than anyone around him. But he learned to mask it. Learned to breathe slowly. Walk softly. Never stare too long.

But that night, in the woods behind the house, everything came apart.

Kael saw his mother fall first.

Then the man raised his hand again.

Kael moved.

He did not think.

His body shifted. Not into fur or claw. But into something stronger. Something darker. Not a full change. Not yet. Just enough to destroy.

When it was over, the man lay on the ground. Broken. Still.

His mother stared at him with wide eyes. Not afraid. Not shocked.

But knowing.

She crawled to her knees and pulled him close.

"You are Alpha," she whispered.

Kael shook his head. His hands were covered in blood. His pulse still ran wild. "No. I lost control. That is not power."

"It is power," she said, gripping his face. "But only if you learn to master it. Not cage it. Not deny it. Master it."

He didn't speak again that night.

He sat by her side until the sun rose.

His father came later. Quiet. Cold. He said nothing about the blood. Only looked Kael in the eyes and said one thing.

"From now on, you protect what is yours. Even if the world burns."

Kael never forgot it.

And when the time came, he built the chains inside himself. Not to be human. Not to be weak.

But to wait.

Wait for the one thing he could never fake. Never choose.

The one he would protect even if it meant setting fire to everything.

His mate.

And now, in the present, he had found her.

She smelled like soft rain and innocence.

She looked at him like she wanted to run and stay all at once.

She was not ready.

But he was.

More than ready.

EDEN POV

The bell rang.

Eden kept her eyes on the floor as students rushed around her. She clutched her books to her chest and moved fast through the hallway. Her breath was stuck somewhere between her ribs and her throat.

She hadn't slept much the night before.

Not after the way he looked at her.

Not after the way his voice sank into her skin like heat.

Kael Draven. Dean of Discipline. The man who barely spoke. The man who now lived in her head without permission.

She had to stay away.

She repeated it in her mind like a prayer.

Stay away. Stay quiet. Stay safe.

But every time she tried, something pulled her back.

She passed his office again. Stupid. Stupid. Her pace slowed.

The door was closed, but she felt him there. The same way a person feels thunder before it strikes.

Something in her chest tightened. Her body remembered the sound of his voice. The stillness in the room. The way he had looked at her like he could taste her thoughts.

Eden forced herself to keep walking.

She made it to the courtyard, sat down at a bench, and pressed her hand over her chest.

Her skin felt too hot.

"Hey."

She jumped. Her friend Nora stood in front of her, frowning.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

Nora sat beside her and opened a bag of chips. "You don't look fine. You look like you saw a ghost."

"I didn't."

"Then why do you look like you're about to pass out?"

Eden shook her head. "Just tired."

Liar.

She hadn't told anyone about the office. About the question Kael asked her. About how her legs nearly gave out when he said her name.

Miss Vale.

He said it like it meant something else.

"Hey," Nora nudged her. "You sure nothing's going on? You're acting weird lately. You space out a lot. You barely talk."

Eden forced a smile. "I'm fine."

Nora gave her a look but let it go.

Eden stood. "I have to go to the library."

"Need help?"

"No."

She didn't wait for more questions. She walked fast across the yard and through the side building. Her footsteps echoed on the tiles. Her fingers gripped her book too hard.

Then she turned the corner and froze.

He was there.

Kael.

Leaning against the wall like he had been waiting.

He didn't smile. Didn't move. Just watched her like he already knew she would come this way.

Her heart jumped.

"Miss Vale."

She swallowed. "I was just going to the library."

He stepped forward.

She didn't move.

He didn't speak again.

The silence wrapped around them, pulling tight.

Then he said it. Quiet. Final.

"You are mine."

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

He stepped closer.

Close enough for her to smell the clean, dark scent of his skin. Like night. Like danger.

"No one touches what is mine."

Her throat tightened. "You can't say things like that."

He tilted his head. "But it is true."

Eden shook her head. "You're my dean. This is wrong."

His eyes dropped to her mouth. "It will get worse."

He brushed past her. Barely touching. Still too much.

And then he was gone.

Eden stood there. Shaking.

Because she already knew.

It had already started.