Chapter 2: The Mysterious Stranger
379 Words
The days in Evergreen blurred into gray rain and fog.
School was the only distraction.
Lucian Voss avoided me after that first biology class.
He switched seats.
Sat as far as possible.
But I felt his stare.
Burning.
Golden eyes following me in the halls.
Kai Black was the opposite.
He found me every day.
Lunch.
Between classes.
After school.
"Hey, Bella," he said one afternoon, leaning against my locker.
His smile warm, eyes sparkling.
"Want to grab coffee? There's a place in town."
I hesitated.
Lucian's warning stare from across the hall.
But Kai's heat was tempting.
"Sure."
The coffee shop was cozy, old wood, smell of fresh brew.
We sat in a corner.
He talked about the town.
The forest.
His family — big, close.
I listened, laughing at his stories.
His hand brushed mine on the table.
Electricity.
Different from Lucian's cold pull.
Warm.
Alive.
He walked me home.
Rain light.
His arm around my shoulders.
"Protecting me from the rain?" I teased.
"From everything."
At my door, he leaned in.
Kissed me soft.
Warm.
Real.
I kissed back.
Heart racing.
But as he left, I saw Lucian in the shadows.
Watching.
Eyes black.
The next day, accident.
I slipped on ice in the parking lot.
Car coming fast.
Lucian was there — impossibly fast.
Pushed me out of the way.
The car dented where he hit it.
He stood, unhurt.
"How..."
He looked at me.
"Stay away from him."
"Kai?"
"The dog."
He left.
Fast.
Too fast.
That night, Kai came to my window.
Tapped.
I opened.
"You okay?"
I nodded.
He climbed in.
Sat on my bed.
"Lucian saved you."
"Yes."
"He's dangerous."
"So are you."
He smiled.
"Maybe."
He kissed me.
Deeper.
Hands under my shirt.
Skin hot.
I pulled him closer.
Clothes coming off.
His mouth on my neck.
Biting — gentle.
Pleasure new.
Intense.
We stopped short.
But the pull was there.
The next day, Lucian in my room.
How?
"You let him touch you."
"You watched?"
"I protect."
His kiss cold.
Intense.
Hands pinning.
Fangs grazing.
I moaned.
He stopped.
"You can't have both."
But I wanted both.
The triangle tightened.
The secret closer.
My blood calling them.
The transformation coming.
The human girl falling.
Into eternal love.
And war.
- Writer
