CHAPTER FOUR — The First Crack in My Reality
902 Words
Elara
By the time classes let out, my head is pounding.
Everyone kept staring at me.
Whispering.
Watching like I grew wings and fangs at the same time.
And the worst part?
I can still feel him.
Like Kael left a hand wrapped around my pulse.
I step outside into the late afternoon heat, desperate for a quiet walk home. The air is fresher, but my skin still tingles with that strange electrical hum.
Everything feels… sharper.
Too sharp.
The breeze brushes my cheek and I swear I can smell things—people—food—from across the parking lot. Details I shouldn’t know.
I blink hard.
“Get it together, Elara.”
I start down the sidewalk when I hear footsteps behind me. Calm, steady, familiar.
I turn.
Rian jogs up, hands in his pockets, smile soft and easy.
“Thought I’d catch you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Were you following me?”
He shrugs. “Kael’s… ah… dramatic exit kind of left you alone in a room full of gossip sharks. Wanted to make sure you made it out alive.”
I huff. “Thanks.”
We begin walking together.
He glances at me sideways. “How are you holding up?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Everything feels… weird.”
“Weird how?”
I hesitate, then blurt:
“I can smell things I shouldn’t.”
He stops walking.
Completely.
His expression shifts—surprise first, then something darker, more serious.
“That’s early,” he whispers.
I frown. “Early for what?”
He opens his mouth—
Then freezes.
I feel it before I see him.
Heat at my back.
Pressure.
A wave of energy rolling toward me like a storm.
Kael.
My breath catches.
I don’t have to turn around to know.
My body knows before my mind does.
Rian mutters, “Perfect timing,” under his breath.
I finally turn.
Kael stands at the edge of the sidewalk, hands clenched, chest rising and falling too fast.
His eyes lock onto mine instantly.
And it hits me—
He looks wrecked.
As if he’s been fighting something since he walked out.
He steps closer.
Rian steps in front of me.
Kael’s voice is low, dangerous, too controlled.
“Move.”
Rian shakes his head once. “Not until you calm down.”
Kael glares, jaw flexing. “I am calm.”
“Your eyes aren’t.”
My heart stutters.
Kael’s eyes…
They’re not just blue anymore.
They’re threaded with silver, glowing faintly even in daylight.
“What’s wrong with you?” I whisper.
Kael snaps his gaze to me, and something in his expression—relief, desperation, hunger—makes my knees threaten to give out.
“Elara,” he says, voice hoarse, “don’t run.”
“Why would I run?” I breathe.
He steps closer, slow like he’s approaching something fragile.
“Because you’re afraid,” he murmurs. “And I can smell it.”
My lips part. “You can… what?”
He curses under his breath.
Rian sighs loudly.
Kael advances another step until he’s only a breath away.
The air between us crackles.
“You feel it too,” he whispers.
I shake my head even though my chest is tight and hot and confused. “I don’t know what I’m feeling.”
Kael leans in just slightly—close enough that his scent rolls over me.
Dark, warm, intoxicating.
“Your world is changing,” he murmurs. “And I’m trying—really trying—not to make it worse.”
My heart pounds.
I feel dizzy.
“Then stop… whatever this is,” I manage.
His jaw tightens painfully.
“If I could,” he says, voice breaking on the edges, “I would.”
Rian clears his throat loudly. “We should get her home.”
Kael’s nostrils flare. “I’m taking her.”
“Absolutely not,” Rian shoots back.
Kael’s voice drops into a deep growl I feel in my spine.
“She’s not safe with anyone else right now.”
“From what?” I demand.
Kael turns his stormy gaze to me.
And for one raw second, he’s completely honest.
“From me.”
My breath catches.
Before I can process it, a sharp crash bursts behind us—glass shattering, a trash can knocked over, something big moving fast.
Rian’s head snaps around.
Kael’s whole body goes rigid.
“Get behind me,” he snarls.
The command hits me so hard I actually move without thinking.
Rian pulls me back, but Kael is already stepping forward, shoulders expanding, muscles coiling—every inch of him shifting into something not human.
A shadow bolts across the alley ahead.
A growl—not Kael’s—echoes.
I gasp.
“What is that—?”
Kael doesn’t look back. “Go home. Now.”
I step forward. “Kael—”
He turns, eyes glowing silver-blue, voice edged with danger and something primal.
“ELARA. GO.”
The ground vibrates.
My blood runs cold.
Something in me obeys without question.
Rian grabs my arm and pulls me down the street.
Behind us, Kael moves.
Not like a man.
Like a predator unleashed.
And it hits me—
Hard, terrifying, undeniable.
Whatever’s happening to me…
Whatever Kael is…
Whatever this pull is…
It’s real.
And it’s only getting worse.
- Writer
