Chapter 19: Prey and Pretenders.

The words hit harder than a slap.

Not because I didn’t expect them.

But because I did.

They’d been living in his eyes since that night—unspoken, trembling on the edge of every glance, every hesitation when he looked at me too long. I’d just been pretending not to notice.

I opened my mouth. Closed it again.

There wasn’t an answer that didn’t break something.

Aiden stood in front of me, not flinching, not backing away. But I could feel the space between us stretch tight. His body was still. His breath was uneven. He wasn’t angry.

He was trying.

Trying to understand. Trying not to be afraid.

And that made it worse.

Because he deserved the truth. And the truth… was the ugliest thing I owned.

I dropped my gaze to the ground. The run here had pulled every dormant craving to the surface, and standing this close to him made everything worse. His pulse echoed in my ears like a whisper against glass.

I clenched my fists. Focused on the burn in my throat. Anything but the blood scent lifting off his skin.

“I didn’t kill Ash,” I said quietly.

“I didn’t say you did,” he replied—steady, but softer now.

“I didn’t kill the kid in the gym either.”

He swallowed, jaw twitching. “But you’re… not like us.”

I froze.

The world seemed to tilt, just slightly.

He didn’t say not like me.

He said not like us.

The difference cut deeper than he knew.

There was no fear in his eyes. But there was weight. Like he knew something was off and couldn’t bring himself to admit how much.

I couldn’t mess up. Not now.

“Aiden, I’m not what matters right now.”

He blinked, confusion flickering behind the storm in his gaze.

“There’s a killer out there,” I said, tone sharpening. “Someone who made a mess on purpose. Maybe… a wild animal. I don’t know.”

The lie scraped my throat on the way out.

It hurt more than it should have.

“I ran here to warn you,” I added, quieter this time. “Not to explain myself.”

His expression cracked—just a flicker, but I saw it. Like something inside him was slipping loose.

Like maybe he wanted the explanation more than he wanted safety.

But I couldn’t give him that.

Not when the truth could tear through both of us.

Tear the whole town open.

Even my parents wouldn’t be able to save me if the others found out I told a human what we were.

The rules weren’t just rules. They were blood-bound.

And I was already too close to crossing the line.

I stepped back again, shaking my head. “I have to go.”

“Noah—”

“I can’t do this,” I said quickly, voice tighter than I wanted it to be.

The craving was rising again. Not just hunger—but fear. The kind that started in your ribs and moved like ice through your veins. I couldn’t control it for much longer.

I turned.

But he reached out, his hand catching my wrist before I could disappear down the steps.

“You can trust me.”

I froze.

His voice wasn’t pleading. It wasn’t desperate.

It was steady.

Real.

“I don’t know what this is,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “I don’t know what’s happening, or what you’re not saying, or how deep I already am in all of it… But I trust you.”

My throat closed. Something inside me buckled.

“You shouldn’t,” I whispered.

“I do anyway.”

The words hit harder than they had any right to. They sank in and made everything hurt worse.

And then—

A sudden wind tore through the street.

Fast. Sharp. Wrong.

My head snapped up just as the air changed—pressure shifting behind my eyes, like something had stepped out of the shadows and into my skin.

A shape landed behind Aiden before I even saw it coming.

Fast. Furious. Familiar.

Sebastian.

He moved like lightning—snatching my arm, yanking me back from Aiden so hard my feet left the ground for a second.

I hit the pavement with a sharp gasp, skin scraping. Before I could scream, before I could even move, Sebastian’s fist slammed into Aiden’s face.

A sickening crack split the air.

Aiden staggered back, blood blooming from his nose. He barely caught himself from falling. His eyes were wide, dazed.

“Sebastian!” I shouted, stumbling to my feet. “What the hell are you doing?!”

He turned on me, eyes glowing.

“Stay out of this, Noah.”

I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. He didn’t even blink.

“He didn’t do anything!”

He glanced back at Aiden, who wiped blood from his lip with the back of his hand, confused and furious and clearly still reeling.

Sebastian growled. “He’s asking too many questions. Sniffing around things that could get him killed.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to attack him!”

Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose, like I was missing something obvious.

Then he turned his full attention on Aiden again.

“You want to know what she is, Aiden?” he sneered. “You want to play with monsters? Then act like prey, and see what happens.”

Aiden didn’t flinch. He straightened, breathing hard, eyes locked on Sebastian.

“I saw you that night, Sebastian.”

He wiped at his lip, eyes locked on him. “Anyone will use that as evidence… and I still didn’t say anything to the police. I thought we were friends, man.”

For a second—just a blink—Sebastian froze. His jaw tightened. Something flickered behind his eyes. Guilt? Shame? Rage?

“Keep pretending you didn’t see me.”

His voice dropped, low and sharp. “You don’t want to get on my bad side, Aiden.”

“Maybe I was wrong about you,” Aiden admitted, stepping closer to Sebastian. “Maybe I didn’t see what you really are.”

Sebastian’s smile dropped completely, eyes darkening like storm clouds.

“You have no idea what I really am.”

He took a step forward. Aiden didn’t back down.

I moved fast, slipping between them, arms out. “Stop it. Both of you.”

Sebastian looked down at me. His voice dropped, barely above a whisper, but it echoed like thunder in my bones.

“The cops found a trail.” He tilted his head, eyes still glowing. “Guess what? They’re saying it’s a wild animal.”

He glanced back at Aiden, his lip curling.

“But if you don’t start sticking to what's on the surface…” His voice went lower, darker. “…I might just become that wild animal to you.”

My breath caught. Aiden didn’t speak—but I saw his throat move as he swallowed.

Sebastian stepped back, slow and deliberate, still watching Aiden like he was memorizing his blood type.

Then he turned to me, eyes flickering back to normal.

“Let’s go.”

I didn’t move. My jaw clenched.

His face hardened.

“Now, Noah.”

I looked at Aiden one last time. He stood there, blood on his face, hands curled into fists—but he didn’t call out. He didn’t follow.