The Mark From His Dreams

*Trevor’s POV*

“Keeping her locked in here is extreme, even for you.”

Cody leaned against the wall, watching me pace across our living room like I was one bad sentence away from putting my fist through a wall. Axel sat by the window with his laptop open. The smile on his face showed he was too entertained by the whole situation.

“She isn’t locked in,” I snapped at Cody. “She can walk around the wing. That’s freedom if you ask me.”

“Wow, how generous of you,” Axel muttered. “Maybe we should give her a medal.”

I shot him a stern look. “Do you want to be helpful or annoying?”

“I can multitask.” He met my eyes without flinching.

Cody rubbed his forehead. “Trevor, she nearly got murdered today. I understand wanting to protect her, but you can’t order her around forever. She’s already convinced we’re a bunch of controlling assholes. We might scare her away.”

“She’s not wrong,” Axel added. “And you’re not wrong either.”

I stopped my pacing. “You two seem to be forgetting what might happen if she loses control and shifts in front of the entire academy?”

Neither of them answered. They shared a look and nodded.

“Exactly,” I continued. “We’ve seen what she can do. If the wrong person discovers what kind of wolf she has, she’ll become a target not just for some shadow walker.”

My jaw twitched as I remembered the carnage we met in the classroom. The broken desks, the scratches on the walls, and the look on Kiara’s face when we finally got through the door.

She had been terrified.

I hated that I hadn’t been there sooner. She could have gotten seriously injured or worse—

“You’re acting like she’s incapable of defending herself,” Cody said quietly.

“She almost died.”

“But she didn’t,” Axel pointed out. “You saw the classroom. She fought back.”

“That doesn’t mean she should have to do it alone.”

The words came out harsher than I wanted and both of them went silent. Fuck.

I turned to the window, refusing to think about why the thought of someone hurting Kiara made me feel intense heat inside my chest.

We had known she was different since the first time we saw her shift. The way she had taken down that rogue wasn’t normal. She had moved unlike a normal werewolf.

That was why we had offered to let her stay in our wing. It had been curiosity, mostly. We wanted answers, and keeping her close was the easiest way to observe her without raising her suspicions.

That wasn’t the main reason though. It was an excuse. The truth was somewhat embarrassing.

We had been attracted to Kiara since the day she arrived at Obsidian Heights. All three of us. The quiet girl who kept her head down and yet attracted trouble. The only girl who managed to look at us like we were the most irritating creatures alive.

We had tried everything to kill that attraction. We mocked her, challenged her, made her life difficult, convincing ourselves that she’ll hate us. Instead, it had gotten worse.

Every time she looked at us with those stubborn eyes, I found another reason to think about her.

It was becoming a problem. A serious fucking problem.

“Fine,” Cody said, interrupting my thoughts. “She can stay here for the week. But we need to explain things to her instead of treating her like a prisoner.”

“She won’t listen,” I muttered. “She’s fucking stubborn.”

“Have you considered that you sound like an asshole when you speak to her?” Cody asked, grinning.

“Frequently,” Axel answered for me.

I flipped my middle finger at him. He grinned, flipping his middle finger back at me.

“I haven’t found anything new about her wolf.” Axel said, rubbing his temple.

I walked over. “Nothing at all?”

“Nothing. I’ve searched every record I can access. There’s no matching description, no historical account, no reference to a wolf with those abilities.” He closed the laptop halfway. “It’s like her wolf doesn’t exist.”

“Or someone made sure it was erased,” Cody suggested.

That possibility had crossed my mind more times than I wanted to admit. And if the assassin had come for her because of it, then we were already behind.

Cody turned to the corridors then reduced his voice. “By the way, she still hasn’t discovered the cameras.”

I looked at him slowly. “It’s necessary to observe her. You know this.”

“I know.” Cody nodded. “But it’s going to be hella awkward when she finds them.”

The hidden cameras had been installed to monitor any unusual changes in Kiara’s behavior, particularly if her wolf became active again. We needed to understand what we were dealing with.

At least, that was the justification.

I wasn’t going to pretend the attraction had nothing to do with it. Watching Kiara was becoming an unhealthy habit.

“She can’t know about them,” I said.

“Obviously,” Cody replied. “If she finds out, she’ll probably murder us in our sleep.”

Axel laughed. “Thanks to Trevor, I think she’s already planning it.”

My phone vibrated. I looked at the screen to see it was another message from one of the girls at the academy. There were also several notifications from different numbers. They were probably asking about the upcoming Moon Trials or offering invitations to parties I had no interest in attending.

I ignored them.

There was only one person I needed to speak to right now. I opened my contacts and dialed a number that wasn’t saved under a name. The call connected after ringing twice.

“It’s me,” I said. “Meet me at the academy gate in five minutes.”

I ended the call before the person could ask questions.

Cody raised an eyebrow. “Who was that?”

“Someone who might know something about today’s attack.”

Axel’s eyes lit up with interest. “You think the assassin has been here before?”

“I think someone knew exactly where Kiara would be at the time of the attack. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

I opened my photo gallery, scrolling until I found the picture I’d taken an hour ago. The black symbol on the classroom floor.

The strange marking had been burned into the tiles. I had taken the photo before Mrs. Heather’s people arrived and sealed off the room.

I zoomed in on the picture. The symbol was made up of three lines crossing a dark circle with a sharp mark cutting through the middle of the circle.

Something about it felt familiar but I just couldn’t remember where I’d seen it.

“Do either of you recognize this?” I asked, tossing the phone to Cody.

Cody stared at the phone in silence while Axel towered over him looking too.

Then Axel looked at me. “I saw this mark in my dream.”