Chapter 3
1155 Words
The packhouse was louder than usual.
Voices overlapped, laughter clashed with low murmurs, and beneath it all ran something tighter—alert, watchful. News traveled fast in a place like this, and the arrival of a foreign vampire clan had already spread through every room.
Mia felt it the moment she stepped inside.
Eyes.
Not all of them—but enough.
Watching.
“Okay, yeah,” Lilly muttered under her breath as she steered Mia toward the dining hall, “something’s definitely up.”
“You think?” Mia replied quietly.
Lilly shot her a look. “Don’t start with me. You literally froze on the path like you saw a ghost.”
Mia didn’t answer.
Because she hadn’t seen a ghost.
She’d seen him.
And whatever that moment was—it still hadn’t let go.
The dining hall doors were already open, the smell of food spilling out into the corridor. Long wooden tables stretched across the room, half-filled with pack members—werewolves, vampires, and those like Mia who didn’t quite fit cleanly into either side.
Today, though, there was a clear divide.
On one side of the room—familiar faces.
On the other—
Strangers.
Elegant. Composed. Dangerous.
The Transylvania clan.
“They didn’t waste time,” Lilly whispered.
Mia followed her gaze.
At the far end of the room, the visiting leaders sat at the main table beside the Alpha. Conversations were polite—but measured. Every movement controlled, every glance intentional.
Power sat heavy at that table.
“Come on,” Lilly said, tugging her toward the food line. “Act normal.”
“I am normal.”
“Debatable.”
Mia exhaled slowly, forcing her shoulders to relax as they grabbed trays.
She reached for something—didn’t even register what—her focus slipping again.
A flicker.
That same heat.
Her hand paused midair.
No.
Not again.
She clenched her jaw and kept moving.
“Eat something green,” Lilly said, dropping food onto her plate. “You look like you’re running on anxiety and vibes.”
“Rude.”
“Accurate.”
They moved toward an open spot at one of the side tables, Lilly talking the entire way—something about dresses for the Alpha Ball now—but Mia barely heard a word.
Because the feeling was back.
Stronger.
Closer.
She set her tray down slowly.
Don’t look.
Don’t—
Her eyes lifted.
Too late.
He was already looking at her.
Victor.
He sat two tables away, surrounded by others from his clan—but somehow separate from them all at the same time. Like the space around him belonged to him alone.
His posture was relaxed.
But his gaze—
Locked.
Directly on her.
Mia’s breath caught.
That same impossible stillness pressed in around her, like the world was holding itself back from something it didn’t understand.
Why does he keep looking at me?
Her pulse spiked.
She dropped into her seat a little too quickly.
“Okay,” Lilly said, mid-sentence, “you’re doing it again.”
Mia grabbed her cup. “Doing what?”
“That thing where you pretend nothing’s wrong while everything is clearly wrong.”
“I’m fine.”
“Mia.”
“I’m—”
“—not fine,” Lilly finished, leaning forward. “What is going on?”
Mia hesitated.
She shouldn’t say anything.
It didn’t make sense.
None of it did.
But Lilly was still watching her—sharp, perceptive, not letting it go.
“…That guy,” Mia said quietly.
Lilly immediately turned in her seat, subtle but quick. “Which—oh.”
Yeah.
Oh.
“Okay,” Lilly said slowly, turning back. “So we’re acknowledging the extremely intense eye contact situation.”
“I don’t know what that was,” Mia said under her breath. “Outside. When he got here. It just… hit me.”
Lilly’s expression shifted, something more serious sliding into place.
“Hit you how?”
Mia searched for the words.
“Like… everything stopped,” she said finally. “Like the world just—folded. And then snapped back.”
Lilly didn’t joke this time.
Didn’t deflect.
“That’s not normal,” she said quietly.
“I know.”
“You’re not eighteen yet.”
“I know.”
Silence stretched between them for a beat.
Then—
“Well,” Lilly said, sitting back, forcing a lighter tone, “on the bright side, he’s hot.”
Mia choked on a breath. “Lilly—”
“I’m just saying. If you’re going to have a mysterious, possibly supernatural breakdown over someone, at least he’s aesthetically pleasing.”
“This is not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
Mia shook her head, but despite everything, a small smile slipped through.
It faded quickly.
Because the feeling didn’t.
If anything, it was worse now.
Like something was pulling.
Not physically—
But deeper.
She risked another glance.
He was still watching her.
Not constantly.
Not obviously.
But every time her eyes lifted—
There he was.
Aware.
Focused.
Interested.
And then—
He moved.
Victor stood, saying something brief to one of the others at his table before stepping away.
Mia’s stomach dropped.
“Don’t panic,” Lilly said immediately, noticing. “You’re panicking.”
“I’m not panicking.”
“You’re absolutely panicking.”
“I just—he’s—why is he—”
“Mia.”
Too late.
He was already walking toward them.
Each step unhurried.
Deliberate.
The room seemed to quiet—not entirely, but enough that Mia felt it. Not because everyone was watching him…
But because something about him demanded space.
He stopped at their table.
Up close, he was worse.
Sharper.
Stronger.
Those ice-blue eyes dropped to Mia again, and that same invisible pressure tightened around her chest.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then—
“Hi,” Lilly said brightly, completely unfazed. “You’re new.”
Mia almost choked.
Victor’s gaze flicked to Lilly briefly, then back to Mia.
“I am,” he said.
His voice was low.
Controlled.
“Victor.”
Of course it is.
Mia swallowed, forcing herself to speak. “Mia.”
The moment her name left her lips—
Something shifted again.
Subtle.
But real.
Victor’s expression changed—just slightly.
Interest deepening into something sharper.
More certain.
“Mia,” he repeated.
Like he was testing it.
Like he already knew it mattered.
Lilly leaned back in her chair, watching both of them now with open curiosity. “Well, Victor, welcome to the chaos. You picked an interesting time to visit.”
A faint smirk touched his mouth.
“I’m starting to notice.”
His eyes didn’t leave Mia.
Not once.
And Mia—
Mia couldn’t look away.
Even though every instinct in her body was screaming that something about this—
Was going to change everything.
- Writer
