CHAPTER 16: DIMITRI’S POV
1107 Words
The moment the class dismissed, I was already standing.
Humans took their time gathering their books and bags, shuffling out in groups, laughing, talking. I pushed past them, scanning the crowded hallway for a single person.
Clarice.
Even with her scent muffled and her aura locked away, my body reacted to her presence before my mind could. A faint tug at my chest, like an invisible thread tightening.
My wolf raised its head inside me, restless, pacing.
“She should be around… somewhere,” I muttered.
Rylan yawned behind me. “You know, normal people don’t track classmates five minutes after arriving on campus.”
“I’m not normal,” I said flatly. “And she’s not just a classmate.”
“Right. My mistake. Continue your totally healthy emotional crisis.”
I ignored him and stepped into the courtyard.
And there she was.
Standing near the stone steps, sunlight brushing through her dark hair, a soft breeze lifting a strand across her cheek. She tucked it back gently, unaware that she was taking years off my lifespan by just existing.
But she wasn’t alone.
A guy tall, dark hair, annoyingly comfortable jogged toward her with a too-bright smile.
My attention sharpened instantly.
Who is that?
He said something to her.
She smiled back.
He laughed.
They started walking together.
The invisible thread inside me didn’t just tighten it snapped and reattached somewhere deeper.
Something sharp cracked through my chest.
Rylan froze beside me. “Oh. No. Nope. I’m not doing this today.”
My vision narrowed.
A stranger.
Laughing with her.
Walking with her.
Too close.
Too familiar.
Every instinct in me roared in the same direction
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
Get him away from her.
A sound rose inside my throat not a growl, but something dangerously close.
I swallowed it so hard my jaw locked.
Rylan elbowed me. “Breathe, Dimitri.”
“I am breathing.”
“You’re vibrating.”
He wasn’t wrong. My hands had curled into fists, pulse spiking, instincts clawing at my ribs to leap forward and physically drag the guy away from her.
“I don’t know who he is,” I whispered.
Rylan blinked. “Is that the problem?”
“Yes.”
He sighed dramatically. “You can’t fight someone just because you don’t know him.”
“I can,” I said. “And I want to.”
He slapped a hand over his face. “Please don’t get arrested. Your father will kill me.”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
The stranger leaned in slightly as he talked, and Clarice tilted her head in that gentle way she always used when she was listening closely.
Inside me, my wolf slammed against my ribs.
No one should stand that close.
No one should make her smile like that.
She’s mine. She belongs with me.
Not him. Never him.
I forced air into my lungs, but it didn’t help.
The jealousy no, the instinct burned fiercely.
Rylan leaned in again. “Remember the concealment. She can’t sense you. If you lose control, she will feel something, and then she’ll panic.”
I clenched my teeth.
He was right.
Her fear was the one thing I refused to trigger.
So I repeated the same grounding truths from yesterday:
She doesn’t know me yet.
She doesn’t trust me yet.
She doesn’t understand the bond.
I have to take it slow. Carefully. Strategically.
But watching her with another male felt like swallowing broken glass.
“I’m not losing her again,” I whispered.
Rylan patted my shoulder. “Good. Great. Fantastic. Now please stop looking like you’re about to bury someone behind the science building.”
I didn’t respond.
Because Clarice was already walking toward the school gate with the guy what was his name? Adrian? Aiden? Whatever and I needed to follow.
We kept our distance, weaving through the students.
Rylan glanced sideways at me. “You don’t even know if he’s a threat.”
“He exists,” I said. “That’s threatening enough.”
"And besides I can feel it".
“You’re unhinged.”
“Accurate.”
Rylan groaned into his palms. “Why am I even here…”
"Here I was thinking this was going to be a vacation..." Rylan mumbled.
They reached the bus stop.
Clarice talked.
The guy nodded too much.
He laughed too loudly.
He stood too close.
I took mental notes.
Not because I was jealous even though I absolutely was but because strategy mattered.
If I wanted Clarice’s trust, I had to learn her world.
Rylan side-eyed me. “You’re doing the face again.”
“What face?”
“The one that says you’re memorizing the names of everyone she interacts with so you can… you know…”
“I don’t know,” I said calmly. “Finish your sentence.”
“Never mind.”
Clarice got on a bus.
Adrian stayed behind, waving.
I stared at him long enough for him to shiver and rub his arms.
Good.
I boarded a different bus, sitting near the back while keeping the front of her bus in sight. Humans thought it was coincidence. Wolves knew better.
This wasn’t stalking.
This was protection.
Instinct.
Bond.
Or “strategic observation,” as I preferred to call it.
Rylan rolled his eyes, but stayed with me. “You know, at this point I feel like your emotional support animal.”
“You are,” I said.
He stared at me. “…Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
He groaned.
Clarice stepped off the bus, walking down a quiet street lined with small houses and flowers. She walked with purpose, head held slightly low, bag clutched to her chest.
Safe.
Soft.
Unaware of the storm following her.
We stopped across from her house.
Lights glowed faintly inside, warm and gentle.
She disappeared through the front door.
But I stayed.
Even after Rylan tugged my sleeve.
Even after the night air chilled.
Even after the streets emptied.
Because seeing her silhouette cross the window did something to me.
Something painful.
Something grounding.
“Dimitri,” Rylan murmured, “I know you want to stay, but...”
“I’m not leaving yet.”
“You’re obsessing.”
I didn’t deny it.
Because it was true.
Because she was worth obsessing over.
I watched the light flick off in her room.
Rylan exhaled. “We’ll come back tomorrow, okay?”
I finally stepped back, eyes still fixed on her window.
Tomorrow.
A new day.
A new chance.
A new step toward her.
I whispered into the quiet night:
“I’m coming, Clarice.
Slowly.
Carefully.
But I’m coming.”
- Writer
