004

Calen’s POV

The whispers started the moment I stepped onto campus.

I’d heard them yesterday after the meeting, seen the looks people threw my way in the locker room as everyone filed out. But I’d hoped stupidly… that it would blow over by morning. That people would find something else to talk about.

I should have known better.

The second I walked into the lecture hall for my ten o’clock class, the room went silent. Then the whispers erupted like a dam breaking. Heads turned. Eyes followed me as I made my way up the steps toward my usual seat in the back.

I caught fragments of conversations as I passed.

“…can’t believe Karl chose him…”

“…nobody even knew his name before…”

“…what’s so special about…”

Two girls near the front were the worst. They didn’t even bother lowering their voices.

“God, he’s so lucky,” one of them sighed, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger. “I would kill to have Karl Brennan as my personal trainer.”

“Right?” her friend agreed. “Like, imagine getting that kind of one-on-one attention from him. I wish I was on the swim team.”

“I wish I was in his shoes,” the blonde said dreamily. “Can you imagine? All that time alone with Karl…”

I wanted to laugh and scream at the joke.

‘You can have him,’ I thought bitterly, sliding into my seat. ‘Please, take my place. I’m begging you.’

If God answered prayers, He’d make that happen right now. He’d swap me out with one of those girls and let them discover exactly what kind of attention Karl gave when no one else was watching.

But God didn’t answer prayers. Not mine, anyway.

“Yo!”

Jeff dropped into the seat beside me with his usual grin, his backpack hitting the floor with a thud. He looked practically glowing.

“Guess who got paired with Mike fucking…  Anderson?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “This guy. Me. Can you fucking believe it?”

“Good for you,” I said flatly.

Jeff’s smile faltered. “That’s it? ‘Good for you’? Dude, I’ve been waiting for this moment since freshman year. Show some fucking enthusiasm.”

I turned to look at him, and saw the genuine excitement in his eyes. Jeff had been crushing on Mike since the day we’d both joined the swim team… everyone knew it except maybe Mike himself. This pairing was everything he’d wanted.

And I was being an asshole.

“Sorry,” I said, forcing a smile. “Congratulations. I’m really happy you got paired with your crush.”

Jeff’s face went red. “Fuck off, he’s not my… okay, yeah, he is. But don’t fucking say it so loud.”

“There’s like five people in here.”

“Still.” Jeff was grinning again, but it faded when he looked at me closer. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t look okay.”

I stared down at my notebook, blank and accusing. “What if I quit?”

“What?”

“The swim team,” I clarified. “What if I just… quit?”

“The fuck?” Jeff’s voice went up an octave. “Are you serious right now?”

“Maybe.”

“Calen.” He grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. “You got Karl fucking Brennan as your mentor. The ‘captain’. Do you know how many people would kill for that opportunity? You should be grateful, man. This is huge.”

Grateful, right.

“I don’t mind switching,” I said quietly. “You can have Karl. I’ll take Mike.”

Jeff laughed, but it sounded forced. “Yeah, nice try. I’m not giving up Mike, not even for the student body president himself. Besides…” He stopped, studying my face. “What’s really going on? This isn’t about the pairing.”

It was about so many things I couldn’t tell him. About golden eyes and sharp teeth and the mark on my neck that still throbbed whenever I thought about it. About being fucked, threatened and used by the damn captain.

“Nothing,” I lied. “Forget I said anything.”

Jeff didn’t look convinced, but the professor walked in before he could push further. He let it drop, but I felt his concerned gaze on me throughout the entire lecture.

I barely heard a word of it.

***

After class, I headed toward the athletic center for practice. The afternoon sun was bright and warm, completely at odds with the knot of dread in my stomach. I just wanted to get through today. Get through practice without Karl cornering me, without…

“Well, well. Look who it is.”

I stopped dead.

Three girls blocked the pathway ahead, arranged in a perfect triangle formation like they’d choreographed it. I recognized them immediately… everyone on campus did. The Musketeers. The self-proclaimed university queens. Sophia Kane stood in the center, flanked by her two best friends, Madison and Claire.

Sophia was smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Hey,” I said carefully, trying to step around them.

Madison moved to block me. “Not so fast.”

Before I could react, Sophia stepped forward and threw the contents of her coffee cup directly in my face.

The liquid hit me in a cold, sticky wave. I stood there, frozen in shock, coffee dripping down my face and soaking into my shirt. My mind couldn’t process what had just happened. This felt like a scene from a bad movie. So unreal and surreal.

‘Why?’

I’d spent two years being invisible on this campus. Staying quiet, keeping my head down, not bothering anyone. And now… after one encounter with Karl… my life had turned into a nightmare.

Everything came back to that fucking vampire.

“Oops,” Sophia said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Sorry about that. You should be grateful it wasn’t hot, or it would’ve burned.”

The other two laughed.

“You need to stay away from Karl,” Sophia continued, her smile vanishing. “I don’t know what game you think you’re playing, but it ends now.”

I wiped coffee from my eyes, my hands shaking. “I’m not playing any game.”

“Don’t lie to me.” She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a hiss. “I know what you are. I know your dirty little secret.”

The world tilted.

No. No, she couldn’t…

“He’s gay,” Madison announced, like she was sharing campus gossip. “I went to high school with him. There was this whole thing where a love letter he wrote to the class president got exposed. Everyone found out. He got bullied so bad his parents had to transfer him.”

The memories crashed over me. The laughter, mockery and slurs. The way people had looked at me like I was something disgusting they’d found on the bottom of their shoe.

I’d spent years running from that. Hiding and making sure no one at this university ever found out.

“Serves you right,” Sophia said coldly. “A dirty freak like you thinking you can seduce someone like Karl? It’s pathetic. He’s only using the pairing as an excuse to humiliate you. Everyone knows it.”

“That’s not…”

“Quit the swim team,” she cut me off. “Quit, and maybe I’ll keep your secret. If you don’t…” She smiled. “Well, I’m sure the whole campus would love to know what kind of person you really are.”

Rage flooded through me, hot and sudden. I was so tired. Tired of being threatened, being pushed around, and terrified all the time.

“Or else what?” I heard myself say.

All three girls looked shocked.

“What did you just say to me?” Sophia’s voice was dangerously quiet.

“I said…” I met her eyes, my heart pounding. “Or else what?”

Her face flushed red. “You little…”

She raised her hand to slap me, and I braced myself for it.

It never came.

Sophia’s hand stopped mid-air, caught in an iron grip.

Karl stood beside her, his fingers wrapped around her wrist. I hadn’t heard him approach or seen him coming. One second the space beside me was empty, and the next he was there, moving faster than should have been possible.

“How did you…” one of the girls started, but the words died in her throat.

Karl’s eyes were gold. Burning gold, bright as flame, fixed on Sophia with an intensity that made the air itself feel heavy. His expression was perfectly calm, but something radiated from him… something that made my head to scream and run.

“If you dare touch my property,” he said softly, each word careful and deadly, “I will cut off your hands.“​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​