LOGINI'd been sitting in my car for ten minutes.The gym doors were visible from where I'd parked—close enough to see who went in, far enough to go unnoticed. I'd watched Julian enter twenty minutes ago. Watched Lucas follow ten minutes later. Watched the lights stay on behind the frosted glass.I was waiting.I had told myself I was only checking on Emma. Her powers had been acting up, and the last thing she needed was someone making the situation worse. But when I saw Julian enter the gym, I knew I couldn't leave without finding out what she was doing.Julian never did anything without a reason.The problem was that she was good at making her reasons sound reasonable. She could turn concern into a weapon and make people feel guilty for questioning her. Lucas had learned that the hard way.I checked the time again.When Julian exited alone, I waited a beat. Then I got out of the car."Julian."She stopped. Turned. Her platinum hair caught the fading light, and her smile was already in pla
Julian found me in the gym after school.I was sitting on the bleachers, staring at the empty basketball court, trying to sort through everything Lucas had told me. The confession. The history. I didn't hear Julian come in. She just appeared beside me, like she'd been there all along."I heard you and Lucas are talking again."I looked up. "You heard?""People talk. Especially when a werewolf and his mate stop fighting in the hallway." She sat down on the bleacher below mine, looking up at me."We weren't fighting.""Good. Fighting is exhausting." She smiled. "I should know."I didn't respond. Just looked back at the empty court.I should have gone home. Rachel had probably already finished her homework and would be waiting for me to tell her how things were going with Lucas. But after everything we'd talked about, I needed time to think.Lucas had finally told me the truth about Mara. It hadn't erased the hurt, but it had helped me understand why he'd kept so much of himself locked
I didn't hear a single word in class.Mrs. Holloway was talking about something—history, maybe, or literature. The words washed over me like water, meaningless sounds that couldn't penetrate the noise in my head.The last time I loved someone, she died.Lucas's words kept repeating in my mind.I stared at the board, but the writing blurred in front of me. I tried to focus on the lesson. I really did.It didn't work.For weeks, I had been asking myself why Lucas kept pulling away whenever we got close. Why he looked at me like he wanted to say something and then swallowed the words. Why he seemed terrified whenever I mentioned getting closer to him.Now I finally understood.The distance. The walls. The way he pushed me away and pulled me back like he couldn't decide which was safer.It wasn't rejection.It was protection.He wasn't keeping me out.He was keeping himself in.I thought about Mara.I didn't know her. I had never met her. Yet somehow, her death had become a shadow between
I'd been waiting on the side staircase for twenty minutes.I knew her schedule. Knew she had a free period before lunch. Knew she'd take the side stairs because she'd been avoiding the main hallway since Julian arrived. I couldn't keep letting Julian's words sit between us.When she appeared at the top of the stairs, I stepped out."Emma. We need to talk."She stopped.Her hand tightened on the strap of her bag. She didn't look at me."I'm late for class.""You're not. I checked."Her eyes finally lifted to mine.For a moment, neither of us spoke.Then she sighed."You checked my schedule?""I needed to know when I could talk to you without half the school standing around us.""That's not creepy at all."Under different circumstances, I might have smiled.This wasn't one of them.She stood there for a long moment. Then she turned. Her eyes were tired. Guarded. The way they'd been since the parking lot. Since Julian."What do you want, Lucas?"I stepped closer. Then stopped myself. Th
I was at my locker when I felt someone watching me. I turned. Julian. Standing ten feet away, smiling. The smile was careful. The kind of smile that looked real if you didn't know better. I didn't smile back. She walked toward me, weaving through the students like they weren't there. She was wearing white—pristine and untouchable, like she'd stepped out of a magazine and expected the world to rearrange itself around her. Her eyes stayed on mine the entire time. "I heard you and Lucas had a disagreement." I closed my locker. "Did you hear that from Lucas?" "No." Her smile didn't waver. "Lucas doesn't talk about his feelings. I learned that two years ago." "Then how do you know?" "Because you're standing here, and he's not." She gestured vaguely toward the other end of the school. "He's on the other side of the building. Not looking at you. That's unusual for him, isn't it?" I didn't answer. I didn't have to. She already knew. Since the conversation with Lucas, I had noticed
I'd been at Rachel's for three hours. We'd watched one movie I didn't see and another I didn't register. Every time I tried to focus on the movie, I remembered Lucas standing in front of me at school. I didn't want an explanation anymore. At least, that was what I kept telling myself. But deep down, I knew I wanted answers. I wanted Lucas to tell me everything before someone else had the chance to do it again. Rachel finally paused the third movie and turned to face me. "Okay. We're not watching another minute until you tell me what's happening." I stared at the frozen screen. "Nothing's happening." "Emma." Her voice was flat. "You've been staring at the same spot on my wall for twenty minutes. You haven't touched your popcorn. You flinched when I touched your arm earlier." She crossed her arms. "Something's happening." "I’m just tired." "You're a terrible liar." "I’m not lying." "You are, but I’ll let you try again." I glanced at her. She raised her eyebrows. I looked awa
I stood at the edge of the park the next night, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. The full moon hung low in the sky, casting a silver glow over everything. Lucas's words from yesterday echoed in my head—I’m not joking, Emma. You’ll see the truth soon enough. Part of me wanted to run home
I hid in the shadows of the trees, watching Emma stroll through the park near her house. The sun dipped low, casting long shadows over the grass. She looked lost in thought, her brown hair catching the light. That pull hit me hard—the bond tugging at my chest like a rope yanking me forward. I shou
I rushed down the sidewalk toward school, my backpack slapping against my side with every step. Tears stung my eyes from the fight with Marcus, but I blinked them away. His words echoed in my head—selfish, burden, helpless. The house felt like a cage, and school was my only escape today. I just wa
I sat at the kitchen table, my fingers nervously picking at the edges of a half-eaten sandwich. The bread was dry, the meal thrown together in a hurry before school. My mind raced back to last night. Dad's breakdown, the eviction notice looming like a dark cloud. The house already felt stifling. I







