Chapter 8

KAIA'S POV:

I have been avoiding the mirror all morning. I know what I saw last night, well, what I think I saw but I also know how dreams mess with your head. I haven’t slept right since I got here, and maybe I’m just cracking under the weight of all the weird.

Still, I brush my teeth with my head down and tug a hoodie over my tank top like it’s armor. When I finally look up, my eyes are their usual muddy brown.

No gold.

No wolf.

Just tired, heavy-lidded Kaia.

*****

Rowan isn’t at the breakfast table. Neither is Lucien or Ezra. There’s a plate of eggs on the counter, but no note. No footsteps. No noise. It’s eerie.

That's so not weird.

I sit and eat half, more out of obligation than hunger, then grab my backpack and head out the door.

The walk to school is quiet. Too quiet.

Even the birds seem to avoid chirping near this place.

I get halfway down the block before I hear it - a low growl.

I freeze.

Spinning, I glance behind me, but nothing’s there. Just trees, houses, and a flicker of movement at the edge of the woods.

My stomach tightens. That was probably just the wind. Or a dog. Or-

"Axel," I say aloud, irritated suddenly. "If you’re following me again, I swear I’ll throw this backpack at your head."

Silence.

I huff and turn back toward the road.

But I can feel it. That prickling sense of being watched.

****

At school, things somehow feel worse than yesterday.

Everyone’s more fidgety. The hallways are too quiet in some places, and too loud in others like sound doesn’t flow the same way here. When I walk into history, three students actually get up and move seats. One of them bumps her chair so hard against the floor that it makes a screeching sound, and I flinch.

"Don’t let it get to you," Axel whispers, sliding into the seat beside me like we arranged it, which we didn’t.

"They’re literally running away from me."

"No. They’re running from me," he says with a smirk.

"Same difference. You’re always glued to my side."

He places a hand over his heart. "Are you calling me a parasite? Huhhhh," he takes in a deep breath, "I’m hurt. I thought we were bonding."

I snort.

Kai shows up minutes later and takes the seat behind me. I don’t turn around, but I feel him. That buzz of quiet intensity that he always carries with him, like he’s both a storm and the calm before it.

I do my best to focus, but something’s off about the teacher today. Mr. Dillon usually drones through lessons like he’s barely awake, but this morning, he’s sharp. Alert. He keeps glancing at me, stuttering over words, and I catch him muttering something under his breath.

At one point, I swear he writes something on the board in another language, just for a second before shaking his head and erasing it quickly. It looks like glyphs, or runes. I blink and rub my eyes.

"Did you see that?" I whisper to Axel.

"See what?" he says innocently, chewing gum like this is the most normal day ever.

"You’re all insane," I mutter.

I genuinely hope I don't run mad before my 18th birthday. Just a bit more time and I will be out of here for good.

He winks. "Thanks."

****

By lunch, I need a break.

From them. From this. From the constant whispers and stares and cryptic crap nobody will explain.

So I duck into the bathroom, lock the stall, and text Ezra.

Kaia: Are you guys okay? You weren’t home this morning.

(A minute passes.)

Ezra: Just office stuff. You good?

Kaia: Define 'good.'

Ezra: That sounds like a no.

I almost smile. Almost.

Kaia: I need a break. Everyone’s watching me.

Ezra: That’s because you’re hot.

Kaia: Goodbye. Who calls their sister hot?

Ezra: Yurrr, I've got the hottest sister ever!I’m kidding. Sort of. Want me to come pick you up?

I consider it.

But no.

I need to do something for myself. Not with Kai’s eyes on the back of my head. Not with Axel breathing down my neck.

****

I ditch after lunch.

I’ve never skipped class before. Back in the foster house, if I was even late, I’d get a beating and lose dinner.

But today, I slip out the side door of the science wing and keep walking.

The school backs into a narrow trail, a hidden patch of woods no one talks about. It’s quiet, shady, and completely removed from the unnatural tension of the school halls.

For a moment, I just breathe.

Silence.

I sit on a fallen log, tilt my head up, and let the sun filter through the leaves. It’s peaceful.

Until it’s not.

A twig snaps behind me.

I jump up, heart racing, turning fast but again, no one.

I spin in a full circle, scanning the trees.

And then-

"Really?" I snap. "You’re following me again?"

Axel steps out from behind a tree, raising his hands like I’ve pulled a weapon on him.

"I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get eaten."

"By what? A squirrel?""

"There are worse things than squirrels," he says, tone suddenly too serious and for a moment, that scares the shit out of me.

I cross my arms. "Stop following me."

He doesn’t answer.

Instead, he moves a step closer. "Kaia, things are changing. Fast. You’re going to start noticing more. Feeling more. Dreaming things that aren’t dreams."

I freeze.

"How do you know about the dreams?"

He lifts a shoulder. "Lucky guess."

"No," I whisper. "You know. What’s happening to me?"

He looks torn. Like he wants to tell me. Like it’s burning in his throat.

Then his eyes shift slightly to something behind me.

Kai. Of course, who else could it be?

He emerges from the woods, his face unreadable.

"I said I wanted space," I growl.

"You said nothing," Kai replies calmly. "You just disappeared."

"That is me saying something."

He walks up to me slowly, but his eyes stay locked on Axel.

"She’s not ready," he says to him.

Are these people seriously trying to pretend that I'm not here? Mehn, the actual nerve...

Axel flinches, jaw tightening. "She’s more ready than you think."

"Guys," I interrupt. "Sorry to burst your little bubble but I’m right here. Talk to me, not around me."

Kai turns to me fully. "We’re trying to protect you."

I take a step back.

"From what? I didn’t ask for protection. I didn’t ask for anything. I don’t even know what you think I am."

There’s a beat of silence.

Then Kai says softly, "You’re not what you were told."

Something inside me buckles.

"What does that even mean?"

He doesn’t answer. Neither of them do.

****

That night, I lie in bed staring at the ceiling. My whole body feels tight, like I’m wound up too tight in skin that doesn’t quite fit.

I don’t dream this time but that's because I don’t sleep, either.

Instead, I listen to the wind outside, and I swear I hear howling again.

Only this time?

It doesn’t feel like a dream and I am damn sure it isn't.