KILL ME AGAIN!

Chapter 8

I didn’t follow him.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

The truth was, I stood at the university gates for nearly five minutes watching the direction he had disappeared in.

I didn’t know why.

There was no reason for me to follow a stranger.

Especially not after everything that had happened.

Yet some stubborn part of me wanted to know where he had gone.

Who he was.

Why he had been looking at me.

And why my body had reacted the moment our eyes met.

It hadn’t been fear.

Not exactly.

It was something else.

Something I couldn’t put a name to.

I shook my head and forced myself back toward the lecture halls.

I had classes.

An actual life.

Assignments.

Exams.

A future.

I couldn’t let a strange man and a series of cryptic messages take over my entire existence.

That was what I told myself, anyway.

By the time I reached my lecture hall, I had almost convinced myself to forget about him.

Almost.

I took my usual seat near the window.

Selene wasn’t there yet.

I checked my phone.

No messages.

For some reason, that made me more nervous.

I put the phone away.

The professor entered a few minutes later, and the room settled.

I tried to concentrate.

I really did.

But my mind kept drifting back to the man at the gates.

Tall.

Dark hair.

Cold eyes.

There had been something almost unnatural about the way everyone seemed to move around him.

Like they knew better than to get too close.

I wondered if he was another Alpha.

Maybe a member of the royal guard.

Maybe someone important.

Then I remembered the silver crescent on the guards’ uniforms.

The Blood Moon Pack.

My stomach tightened.

I opened my notebook.

Instead of taking notes, I wrote one word.

Kael.

I stared at it.

Then immediately scratched it out.

I didn’t know why I had written his name.

I barely knew anything about him.

All I knew was that he was the Alpha King.

And somehow, my mother was terrified of his pack.

That should have been enough to keep me away.

It wasn’t.

When the lecture ended, I packed my things and headed outside.

Selene was waiting near the stairs.

“You disappeared.”

“I had class.”

“I know. I waited.”

I smiled.

“Why?”

“Because you looked like you were about to walk into traffic when I last saw you.”

“That’s dramatic.”

“You’re dramatic.”

“I am not.”

“You literally stared at a man for five minutes without blinking.”

I stopped.

“How did you know that?”

She pointed toward the gates.

“I was watching you.”

I sighed.

“Of course you were.”

She linked her arm through mine.

“Come on.”

We started walking.

After a few seconds, she spoke.

“You saw him.”

I looked at her.

“Who?”

“Don’t do that.”

I sighed.

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Arielle.”

“He looked at me.”

She waited.

I frowned.

“That was it.”

“You’re leaving something out.”

“I don’t know what else to say.”

She studied my face.

“Did you feel anything?”

I hesitated.

That question caught me off guard.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something.”

I looked ahead.

“I felt strange.”

“How?”

“I can’t explain it.”

“Was it bad?”

“No.”

“Good?”

“No.”

She frowned.

“Then what?”

“Just… strange.”

She didn’t push.

For once.

We continued walking.

Then she stopped.

I looked back.

“What?”

She was staring at my face.

“Your eyes.”

“What about them?”

“Nothing.”

She looked away.

“You just looked different for a second.”

I laughed nervously.

“Maybe I’m finally becoming attractive.”

“Don’t ruin the moment.”

I rolled my eyes.

We reached the dining hall.

I ordered lunch.

Selene sat across from me.

For a while, everything felt normal again.

Then a group of students walked past our table.

One of them whispered something.

Another glanced at me.

I ignored it.

A few minutes later, someone approached.

A girl I vaguely recognized from one of my classes.

She stopped beside the table.

“Arielle?”

“Yes?”

She hesitated.

“Are you related to the Vey family from the northern territory?”

My stomach tightened.

“My family lives here.”

She nodded.

“Right.”

“Why?”

She looked uncomfortable.

“I just heard something.”

“What?”

“That the Royal Council has been asking about you.”

Selene sat straighter.

“Who told you that?”

The girl shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

“Then why are you telling us?”

She looked toward the entrance.

“I thought you should know.”

Then she walked away.

Selene turned toward me.

“Okay.”

I stared at my food.

“What?”

“You’re not going to pretend that’s normal.”

“No.”

“Good.”

She leaned closer.

“What does the Royal Council want with you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Your mother knows.”

“I think so.”

“And Lucius definitely knows.”

I looked at her.

“How do you know his name?”

“You told me yesterday.”

“Oh.”

She tapped her fingers against the table.

“Something is happening.”

“I know.”

“And I don’t think it’s random.”

Neither did I.

Before I could answer, my phone buzzed.

I didn’t want to look.

Selene noticed.

“You should probably check.”

I reached for it.

Unknown number.

You met him.

I stared at the message.

My heart began beating faster.

Another message appeared.

Do not look for him.

Then another.

He will find you.

I locked my phone.

Selene watched me.

“What did it say?”

“Nothing good.”

She held out her hand.

I gave her the phone.

She read the messages.

Her expression hardened.

“This person knows too much.”

“I know.”

“Have you told anyone?”

“My mum.”

“What did she say?”

“She told me to stay away from the Blood Moon Pack.”

Selene went quiet.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not good.”

“No.”

We sat in silence.

Then Selene reached across the table.

She squeezed my hand.

“Whatever happens, you’re not dealing with it alone.”

I smiled faintly.

“Thanks.”

She smiled back.

For the first time that day, I felt a little less afraid.

Then something changed.

Not outside.

Inside me.

A sudden pressure formed in my chest.

I stopped breathing for a second.

Selene noticed.

“Arielle?”

I pressed my hand against my chest.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“It’ll pass.”

The feeling disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

I lowered my hand.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know.”

I waited.

Nothing happened.

My wolf remained silent.

As it always had.

I didn’t know why I had expected anything different.

My wolf had never spoken to me.

Not once.

When I was younger, I had assumed she was simply late.

At eighteen, when everyone else’s wolves began awakening, mine remained silent.

At nineteen, still nothing.

Twenty.

Nothing.

Now, at twenty-one, I had stopped expecting her entirely.

Maybe there was simply something wrong with me.

That was what people had always implied.

Different.

Late.

Defective.

I hated those words.

I hated how easily they had become part of the way I thought about myself.

I looked down at my hands.

“I need to go.”

Selene frowned.

“Where?”

“Home.”

She nodded.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No.”

“Arielle.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She hesitated.

Then nodded reluctantly.

“Call me when you get there.”

“I will.”

I left the dining hall alone.

The afternoon sun was beginning to fade.

I walked toward the university gates.

Halfway there, I stopped.

Someone was standing across the road.

Him.

The same man.

Kael.

I didn’t know how I knew his name.

I simply did.

He was leaning against a dark vehicle, speaking to Damon.

Damon noticed me first.

He said something to Kael.

Kael turned.

Our eyes met again.

This time, I didn’t look away.

Neither did he.

There was something unreadable in his expression.

Not anger.

Not curiosity.

Something heavier.

Something almost like recognition.

Then Damon said something else.

Kael’s jaw tightened.

He looked away.

I should have kept walking.

Instead, I stayed there.

Watching him.

A strange thought crossed my mind.

I had never met this man before.

So why did looking at him feel like standing at the edge of something I couldn’t see?

Kael opened the car door.

Before getting inside, he looked at me one final time.

Then he left.

I stood there until the vehicle disappeared.

My phone buzzed.

I pulled it out.

Unknown number.

I already knew what it would say.

You finally saw him.

I stared at the message.

Another appeared.

And you still don’t remember.

I locked my phone.

For the first time, I wasn’t curious about who was sending the messages.

I was curious about something else.

Who exactly was Kael…

and why did everyone seem so determined to keep me away from him?