MasukKianna's PoV:I stared at the calendar on my phone, the date glaring back at me like an accusation: It was 18th. Four days more to go. Just four days until the 22nd—until I turned nineteen and the fated-mate bond with Maddox locked into place like a cage door slamming shut. It had crept up so fast like a blink in the chaos of the past weeks. The circus lights, the amusement park rides, the chase that still haunted my dreams—it all blurred together, making time feel like it was slipping through my fingers.The dorm was quiet this afternoon, Lesley was out at her part-time job at the campus bookstore, leaving me alone with the hum of the heater and the faint patter of snow against the window. Winter had fully arrived, blanketing the world in white, but inside my chest, everything felt like a storm. I’d barely slept last night, tossing under the covers as images of the masked stalker from the park replayed: his relentless pursuit, the way he’d vanished into the crowd when we reached s
Maddox's PoV:I leaned against the cool metal of the lockers long after the hallway had emptied, arms folded tight across my chest, replaying the moment on a loop that felt almost too sweet to be real.Kianna walked into the cafeteria with Mordred.Not just walking, but her hand was lightly on his arm, guiding him like he was something fragile she was worried might break. Her voice was soft, concerned, asking if he’d eaten anything yet. Him looking like absolute hell—pale as paper, dark circles carved deep under his eyes, shoulders hunched like he’d carried the weight of the world all night and still letting her fuss over him.The Irony, he's always acting like a motherfucken baby In front of her, it's sick to watch.And me?I’d given them nothing more than a quick, casual smile. The kind you flash at someone you vaguely recognize from a class two years ago. Polite, distant and completely unbothered.I’d felt Mordred’s stare drill into my back the entire time I walked past their table
Kianna's PoV:I flopped back onto my bed in the dorm, the mattress creaking under me like it shared my exhaustion. The room was dimly lit by the string lights Lesley had strung up for "cozy vibes," casting a soft glow over the posters on the wall—band flyers, motivational quotes and a collage of photos from better days. My helmet hair was a mess, and my cheeks still stung from the cold wind of the ride home in Kristen's car. Mordred had followed with his bike to make sure I got back safe, waving from the parking lot before heading off. Tonight had been… magical, in a way I hadn’t expected. The circus stunts, the amusement park rides, the laughter that felt genuine for the first time in weeks. But now, alone in the quiet, the high was fading, and the shadows were creeping back in.I pulled off my boots and tossed them by the door, then sank against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. The chase at the park replayed in my mind like a bad movie on loop. That guy in the black hoodie
Mordred's PoV:The ride back from the amusement park felt like plunging into ice water after the neon warmth of the night. Kianna had insisted I followed them as Kristen dropped her off at the dorm first, and I had no choice but to go with them. Not after the insane incident that just happened at the park.I even expected Kianna to have suspected something or asked questions about why that guy was stalking us. But she didn't, just talked about how crazy the world could be.Kristen also agreed with her. Only if they knew it wasn't the world but my own fault.When we reached the entrance of her Dorm gate, Kristen and I exchanged numbers. A reluctant truce sealed with a nod and a “watch her back.” Kianna hugged me goodbye, her arms lingering just a second longer than necessary, and whispered, “Thanks for tonight. I needed something normal.”Normal. As if anything about us had ever been that. But I gave her a faint smile and nodded.I watched until her dorm door clicked shut behind her,
Mordred PoV:The coaster car slammed to a halt at the bottom of the final drop with its brakes hissing like angry snakes. My stomach was still somewhere up near the top loop, and Kianna’s laughter rang in my ears—high mixed with breathless echoes, the kind of sound that made the whole night worth every risk. Kristen was grinning too, hair wild from the wind, looking more relaxed than I’d ever seen him tonight. For a few minutes, the three of us had been normal teenagers screaming our lungs out on a ride called the Vortex, forgetting bonds, bosses or birthdays.We stumbled off the platform on shaky legs, Kianna clutching both our arms for balance as we laughed our way down the exit ramp. The park lights blurred around us—neon pinks and blues bleeding into one another.What caught my attention most was the smell in the air, it was thick with the aroma of kettle corn and fried dough whilst music pulsed from every direction, mixing with distant screams and the mechanical clank of ride
Mordred's PoV:The wind bit at my knuckles as I idled the bike outside Kianna’s dorm, the engine’s low rumble the only sound cutting through the late-afternoon gray. December cold had settled in hard, the kind that sneaked under your jacket and sat on your chest like a warning. I killed the ignition and pulled off my helmet, running a hand through hair that was probably a mess. My heart was doing something similar—thumping too loud and too fast. I hadn’t felt this nervous since the night I first asked her out using fake dating as an excuse, back when everything between us was new, electric and uncomplicated.I’d texted her this morning on impulse, after another sleepless night haunted by the Boss’s warnings and the ticking clock on her birthday. “Can we talk? In person. No agenda, I just miss you.”Her reply had taken three hours before it came with a simple, “Okay…but just talking.”Now here I was, boots planted on the cracked sidewalk, staring at the dorm door like it might open







