CHAPTER Ten
578 Words
Chapter 10 — Jealousy Wears Black
The morning sun spilled across Rosewood’s courtyard, turning the marble walkways gold. Students laughed, gossiped, and strutted in expensive clothes.
But Damian Blackwood saw none of it.
His attention was locked—razor sharp and dangerous—on one thing.
One person.
Amara.
She was standing near the literature building, hugging her books to her chest.
And she wasn’t alone.
A guy—some tall, smiling, too-friendly stranger—was talking to her.
Laughing with her.
Standing too close.
Damian’s jaw flexed.
He knew every face at Rosewood.
But this guy? He wasn’t one of the elite trust-fund pests Damian tolerated on a normal day.
Transfer student.
Probably new enough to think he had a chance.
Damian’s vision blurred for a split second.
A dark heat flooded his chest, something primal, ugly, and possessive.
Because Amara was smiling.
Not a big smile—she was shy, she never smiled fully at strangers—but still… a smile.
A smile that wasn’t for him.
His fists curled in his pockets.
No. No, no, no.
She doesn’t look at other people like that.
She shouldn’t.
She’s supposed to be afraid.
She’s supposed to avoid everyone.
She’s supposed to—
to look only at him.
He took a step forward, his long shadow cutting across the courtyard like a storm cloud.
Students noticed immediately. Whispering.
“Damian’s pissed.”
“Who’s the new guy?”
“Oh, he’s dead.”
Damian didn’t care what they said.
He cared that the stranger was leaning closer, asking Amara something that made her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
And she laughed softly.
That was it.
Damian didn’t remember moving—
he only remembered standing right behind her, the air dropping ten degrees.
Her body stiffened.
The guy’s smile faded.
Damian towered over both of them, wearing that calm, terrifying expression only someone who grew up around monsters could perfect.
His voice was low, smooth, and deadly:
“You’re in my way.”
The guy blinked. “Uh— we were just talking—”
Damian didn’t look at him.
He didn’t even acknowledge him.
His eyes were on Amara — intense, dark, and burning with jealousy she didn’t understand.
“Go to class,” he said softly to her.
Too softly.
Her breath hitched. “I—I was just—”
“I didn’t ask what you were doing.”
His voice dropped lower.
Possessive.
Claiming.
“I said go.”
Amara stared at him, confused, scared… and something else. Something she didn’t have a name for yet.
She nodded quickly and hurried away, disappearing into the building like a frightened bird.
Damian finally turned to the guy, expression emotionless.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Leo,” the guy said cautiously.
Damian leaned in, just enough for Leo to feel the danger ripple off him.
“Don’t talk to her again.”
Leo swallowed. “Or…?”
Damian smiled.
It wasn’t kind.
“Or I’ll ruin you in ways you don’t even know exist.”
He walked away before the guy could respond—because the threat wasn’t a question.
It was a promise.
Across the courtyard, hidden behind the window, Amara watched him storm off—
—and for the first time,
she felt a flutter in her chest.
Fear?
Curiosity?
Something dangerous?
She didn’t know.
But Damian did.
She was already his.
Even if she didn’t realize it yet.
- Writer
