08

ELARA

My eyes widened. My heart skipped.

I moved backward, pressing myself against the cool wall of the bathroom stall.

This was madness!

The kicks kept coming, each one harder than the last. That door didn’t look as strong as it should’ve.

My eyes shifted uncontrollably.

My chest rose and fell, panic licked my throat dry and raw.

My breath hitched, ragged and shallow. This couldn’t be happening.

Another dangerous kick landed on the door and I shifted back, a horrid gasp escaping my lips.

If he broke through… I was dead. Naked and dead.

Another kick.

I turned, my eyes looking for a way out even as my body was now dried with soap and grime.

Confusion marred my brows and I started to sweat.

Blank sad bathroom tiles met my calculative glance. Fuck!

There was no opening.

Suddenly I stopped and turned back around. My eyes centered on the door. It wasn’t going to hold much longer.

“Help!! Help!!” I screamed, cupping my hands to my mouth to amplify the sound.

Nyx suddenly stopped.

I froze.

The moment I went quiet, he started again. The horror in my chest curdled thick.

Shit.

“Help me! Somebody help!” I shouted louder, but still Nyx said nothing. Just kept kicking. The more I screamed, the louder his kick.

Why wasn’t he afraid that someone might hear!? There were thousands of students. This was a big bathroom stall.

Then it hit me.

Everyone was at dinner. No one would hear me.

And I had left my stupid towel back in the room!

My night had gone from bad to hell.

Nyx started to laugh, his kicks still growing stronger. Frustration settled in my chest and I slammed my palm against the stall wall. “Stop it! Stop!”

Nyx ‘s laugh turned unhinged. He was mental!

How was it my fault that kael swapped him out to fight with me!?

He didn’t even win. Why wasn’t he doing this? Just for the bullying or was it something else!?

“I thought you always had something to say?” he mocked through the door.

I scrambled to tape my body again, hands shaking. They were Useless. My life was flashing before my eyes, even my vision was getting wobbly.

I couldn’t die. Not like this.

There had to be another way out. Something. Anything.

My eyes landed on the cloth hanger screwed into the wall.

If he was going to find out my secret, then I wasn’t going to let him live long enough to tell.

I gripped the iron bar and began to pull with everything I had. My scream echoed in the stall as the metal scraped and resisted.

Come on. COME ON!!

It gave way and I fell backwards, narrowly escaping bashing my head against the bathroom tiles.

Nyx paused. My eyes shifted slightly.

Did he realize what I had planned? Was he done taunting me?

Suddenly, he slammed against the door harder. The wood groaned this time. Splinters burst and scattered across the wet floor.

Horror spread in my chest.

He was a beast!

I stood in my feet quickly, my legs giving the same pose from earlier but I knew I wasn’t ready. I had barely taken Kael down, and he’d been undefeated. There was no way I could beat Nyx now, not after that.

And what if I got another panic attack from his looks?

Images of how we met crossed my mind and I shivered. I wouldn’t last ten seconds.

My thoughts betrayed me, flicking to Kael… and the brothers.

This was Kael’s fault by the way. He could have minded his business. I didn’t ask for any of this but yet that wasn’t what crossed my mind.

I stood in front of danger but all I could think of was what they would do when they found out I wasn’t just a Bloodrage scum but a girl?

Tears stung my eyes. My fingers found the moon emblem necklace around my neck and I kissed it.

To hell with these feelings.

I was a fighter and If I went down tonight, I’d make damn sure I didn’t go alone. I got ready.

My knees bent and my back curved. My hands raised with the weapon in front and my claws unclenched but Nyx stilled again.

My heart seized. A hunting silence flowed through the room instantly.

My blood turned to ice. Something was wrong. It was in the air itself. That’s when I heard it.

Footsteps. Backing up.

My eyes widened in horror.

He was backing up! Trying to gather the momentum for one final blow.

Shit!

My grip on the weapon tightened.

I braced myself. One leg in front of the other. Back still bent.

Then I heard it. Heavy footsteps coming in Fast. I scrunched up my face in anticipation, a battle scream coming from my throat.

Slowly, it happened in slow motion. My ears caught everything, but my body…Something had shifted.

The battle scream died in my throat and the walls suddenly warped. My limbs weighed a ton and it was numb. The air cackled with electricity, the weapon dropped from my hands and the ground was tilting.

What the hell was going on?

I reached for support and missed.

Why was my chest suddenly tight and my mind fogged.

What’s happening?

Slowly, my bound wolf began to stir. She could feel something that I couldn’t recognize. The tightness I had once felt evaporated into one of bliss. My spirits were high, a warmth had spread and my body was at ease.

What was happening to me!?

Then my wolf stirred again and this time, an electrifying shiver ran through me.

My body responded and my nipples taunted. My core tightened, a hum of hunger spreading through my gut like wildfire. A purr crawled up my throat.

No. No, no. What the hell was this?

I could barely stand straight when the main doors to the bathroom burst open.

A scent hit me like lightning, sharp, earthy, dark. Familiar.

My wolf reacted first, greedily breathing it in. She moved in excitement. Something she has never done. Something that was impossible.

I shouldn’t be able to smell anything. My wolf was bound. This wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Then everything stopped.

Nyx went still. The air filled with the scent of his fear but strangely, I wasn’t afraid.

A low growl vibrated through the bathroom. Reminding of the first time I heard a big black wolf roar so hard that Nyx pissed himself.

“What the fuck are you doing in here, Nyx?” a voice asked, wrapped in cold velvet steel.

I knew that voice!

“I–I…” Nyx stammered.

The same voice again, deadlier: “You’re going to get the fuck out of here, and pray I don’t turn around to find you still standing. I’ll rip your spine out and shove it through your asshole.”

Nyx didn’t wait, he whimpered as he ran quickly slamming the door harshly.

Only one man was capable of doing that.

Kael.

But Kael would never do it. Not after the way we left things off.

And if Kael didn’t come to my rescue then who was this?

The Silence did nothing to soothe this new situation I was in. Whoever he was, I needed him to cook the fire growing in my core. To be near him.

“Riven…” the voice called again, softer this time.

My knees wobbled.

“Riven? Are you okay?”

My brain spun. That voice… it was dragging me under. I could barely speak. My wolf was purring. My body ached with a need I didn’t understand.

“If you don’t answer me, I’m coming in,” he said.

That snapped me out of it.

“No!” I shouted, then coughed and cleared my throat.

“Good. That bastard shredded your clothes. I’ll get you some. Hang tight.”

He left but Locked the door behind him.

Only then did my head start to clear. The scent still lingered. It was warm, heady. Like I’d been close to it before.

But who was he?

A soft click echoed and clothes dropped over the stall wall and landed in my hands. Relief washed over me instantly even though my nipples now hurt from being too beady.

“Thanks,” I whispered, inhaling him again. My wolf drank it in like wine.

“Consider it an apology for tonight,” he said.

An apology? My brows furrow in confusion and my mouth opened to ask for more details but the door clicked shut, leaving me in privacy.

My heart stuttered.

Why the hell was he apologizing?

My fingers twitched and I touched my neck, right where the moon pendant lay and tried to stay grounded.

I unfolded the clothes fast, not wanting to be caught off guard again.

After washing and dressing, I stepped out to the mirror and wiped the mist from the glass.

My reflection stared back at me…

That’s when I saw it.

Stitched on the shirt.

Cassidan.

My mouth fell open.

No fucking way.