Chapter 4: Warmth And Shadows

Lila.

“Arghhh” I groaned out in pure utter frustration.

The laughter still echoed in my head long after the gym doors had shut behind me. Their sharp voices yet low voices, their mocking smiles and the way they stared at me like I was some sort of alien… it clung to me like smoke.

I didn’t follow the other girls to the locker room. I couldn’t... Not with the way Brielle’s glares burned and drilled deep holes in my back and the way the squad buzzed around her like vultures who had scented blood.

Instead, I quietly ducked into the girls’ bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind me.

“Inner peace” I slowly mumbled as I stared at the mirror in front of me scanning myself.

My reflection in the mirror looked pale, nervous and frustrated. She looked like a complete stranger.

I gently leaned against the sink, gripping its cold edge before I splashed water on my face as I really need to cool off

‘Why did they look at me like that?’

I wondered to myself. As if on cue, my chest tightened as the memory replayed… from the way Kael and Jace’s eyes had snapped toward me the instant they walked in and I made eye contact to the moment Brielle told me to stop the routine.

It was like they were shocked…. or in disbelief. The intensity of their stare made my skin prickle as if I’d been branded.

Branded? I wonder what it meant but all I knew was that kind of stare…

It wasn’t normal… it wasn’t just… looking.

It felt like they had seen deep into my soul and what in the heavens name did they mean by mate and how exactly was I able to hear them despite the fact that they were so far from me?

I shook my head quickly, whispering to myself, “No. No, no, no. Keep it together, Lila. You promised yourself.. low profile…. Quiet…. Invisible.”

The words felt hollow, like a mantra I’d already failed at.

Low profile means no staring contests with hockey captains. Low profile means not falling flat on your face in front of the cheer squad.

Low profile definitely meant not getting noticed by even the roaches and it definitely meant not trying out for a cheerleading team.

My stomach twisted. “God, I barely lasted two days and now I already have a hater,” I muttered to the mirror as I remembered how Brielle acted towards me.

I tried to calm my racing thoughts as I peeled off my gym clothes and pulled on my uniform. Each button felt heavier than the last. “Just blend in,” I whispered again. “It’s safer...

Don’t stand out. Don’t get noticed…. Trouble finds people who can’t stay small and I don’t want to go back to being homeschooled.”

For a moment, I closed my eyes, breathing slow. I remembered the girl from tryouts, her gentle hand on my shoulder, her quiet warning about the boys. Trouble….

She’d seen it too.

So why did I feel like it’s already here?

I finally slung my bag over my shoulder, squared myself, and pushed the bathroom door open.

And immediately, my whole body froze.

Kael Donovan was standing just outside the door, leaning casually against the tiled wall as if he’d been waiting. His height, his presence—it was enough to steal the air from my lungs.

My first instinct was fear, my second instinct was to get back into the bathroom and lock myself.

My hand tightened on the strap of my bag, my body stiff. But he must have noticed, because his gaze softened instantly.

“Hey,” he said, his voice calm, steady. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t.. I won’t hurt you.”

I blinked at him, uncertain, my pulse thundering in my ears. Words stuck in my throat, so I just nodded, confusion painted beautifully across my face.

His lips lifted into a small, warm smile. “I’m Kael,” he offered simply, as if his name wasn’t already whispered and screamed across this entire school.

“I know,” I said before I could stop myself.

One of his brows rose. “You do?”

Heat crept into my cheeks. “Yea… You’re… kind of a big shot around here.”

His smile widened a little, but there was something modest in it too. “Oh, that? Not really. I’m just a captain.”

“Of the hockey team,” I added quickly, clutching my bag tighter.

“Yeah,” he said softly, studying me with eyes that seemed too sharp, too intent. The kind of eyes that searched beneath the surface, like he was trying to read something in me I wasn’t ready to give.

I opened my mouth to say something to break the strange pull between us.

But then it hit me… That shift…That cold aura.

It wasn’t Kael this time, Kael’s aura seemed warm and light this one screamed danger..

I turned, almost unwillingly, as a shadow passed by the corridor.

Jace Morgan…

He walked past without looking, his steps were purposeful, his focus seemingly elsewhere. He didn’t glance at us, not even for a second.

But the moment stretched anyway.

My heart jolted. It felt… absurdly, impossible like he had spoken without words. Like his eyes had brushed against mine even though he hadn’t looked.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry.

Kael was still there, watching me carefully. But I just couldn’t shake it the way Jace’s presence had filled the space, even in silence.

My breathing seized.