THE WILD IN HER BLOOD

EPISODE SEVEN; SOMETHING’S COMING

I didn’t want to go home yet.

Blair had offered to walk with me after school, but I told her I’d be fine. I needed some air, I said. Some space. What I didn’t say was that my skin felt tight, like it didn’t fit me anymore. Like I was crawling out of myself from the inside. How was I even going to start explaining the feel to anyone, so I let it be

I didn’t know where else to go, so I wandered behind the gym and kept walking. i walked past the track, then passed the edge of the field, and went right into the woods.

I didn’t plan to go there . I just… ended up there

The sun was low and gold , i think it was what people called the golden hour, but the trees made it darker. I could still hear the school in the distance—barely—but every step into the forest made it quieter and colder.

I should’ve turned around. I knew i should have turned back . But I didn’t.

Because something in me wanted to keep going. And I don’t mean curiosity. I mean something inside me pulled me forward, like invisible strings hooked under my ribs. I wasn’t chasing anything, but somehow, I just kept going and going and going...

I was being called. That was the only explanation for all this. It was as if my body no longer belonged to me, and there was someone controlling me.

I stopped walking.

My hands were cold. My head felt hot. That pressure in my chest came back—tight and familiar now, like a second heartbeat underneath mine. My stomach turned, and not from hunger.

What’s wrong with me?

I crouched near a tree, gripping the rough bark, trying to steady myself. My fingers looked pale. My breath fogged in front of me, even though it wasn’t that cold. I thought I was going to throw up.

Then I heard the sounds of leaves shifting.

I stood quickly and turned, but they was nothing there.

But I knew I wasn’t alone.

And I wasn’t scared—not in the normal way. It wasn’t “someone’s following me” fear. It was something… deeper. My bones felt it. My spine felt it.

Then came his voice.

“You shouldn’t be out here.”

I jumped. “Kael?”

He stepped out from between two trees like he’d been watching the whole time. He didn’t smile. He looked at me like he already knew why I was out here. Like he was waiting for me to admit it.

“I wasn’t—” I stopped. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t lie to him. Not like this.

He walked closer. His hands were in his jacket pockets, but his shoulders were tense

“What’s happening to me?” I asked.

He looked at me for a long time. Too long. Then said quietly, “It’s starting.”

“What is?”

Kael sighed through his nose, like the answer hurt.

“You’re changing.”

---

That word made my stomach flip.

Changing?

I hated it.

Because it made everything feel permanent. Like I wasn’t just imagining things. Like this heat under my skin and the nightmares and the way I could hear things sometimes—like all of it was real.

“I don’t want to change,” I said. I meant it. It came out soft but desperate.

“It doesn’t ask what you want,” Kael said. “It never does.”

I looked at him hard. “You knew this. You knew what I was before I did.”

He didn’t deny it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you weren’t ready. You still might not be.”

My fists clenched at my sides. “Screw ready. I’m terrified. I don’t sleep. I don’t eat. I hear things. I feel like something’s crawling under my skin. And you just show up and stare at me like you’ve seen it all before.”

Kael stepped closer, eyes locked on mine. “Because I have.”

That shut me up.

He looked angry—but not at me. It's more like he was angry for me.

“I didn’t want this for you,” he said. “But I can’t stop it.”

Something behind me cracked.

Not loud. It's just a single dry branch.

I turned sharply. “Did you hear—”

“I did.” Kael moved so fast I almost didn’t catch it. His body shifted slightly in front of mine. Protective and at Alert.

“Is it a person?” I whispered.

“No.”

That answer chilled me more than anything else.

I moved closer to him without meaning. He didn’t move away.

“Are we in danger?” I asked him, but he did not answer

His body was stiff, and his eyes were locked into the shadows.

“Kael”

“Shh.”

I fell silent.

There was a sound again, softer, it was like something was walking—but not heavy. Carefully, I'm watching.

Then it growled.

Not loud, but deep. Too deep to be anything normal.

My heart stopped.

Kael growled back.

I felt it more than I heard it. It rumbled from him, from inside his chest, low and threatening. My stomach dropped.

I looked up at him, and I swear—his pupils had narrowed. His lips parted just slightly, and his jaw shifted.

His body was… changing.

Not shifting fully but just edging toward something that wasn’t human anymore.

My knees went weak.

“Kael,” I said, grabbing his sleeve. “Please.”

He turned his head slightly toward me. “Don’t run. Don’t move unless I say so.”

I nodded.

Something—someone—stepped between the trees. I saw eyes, Pale Empty eyes that were glowing faintly.And then two more behind it.

They weren’t like Kael. I didn’t know how I knew that. I just did.

They didn’t feel warm,or protective,or even angry.

They felt… hollow. Like they wanted to tear something open just to see what fell out.

“Who are they?” I whispered.

Kael didn’t look at me. “Rogues.”

My throat went dry. “They came for me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because they can smell power.”

---

That was when it hit me.

They weren’t just watching. They were waiting for something. For me!.

Because I was about to break.

The pressure inside me had reached a boiling point. My whole body was hot and buzzing. My ears were ringing. My spine felt like it was going to snap in half. I doubled over with a cry.

“Aria!” Kael grabbed my shoulders, steadying me. “Don’t shift!”

“I’m not—trying—I can’t—” My voice cracked.

“You have to hold it in. If they see you shift now, they’ll kill you.”

“I can’t”

“Yes you can.”

His hands were warm. His voice was shaking.

I looked at him, and something in his face broke open it was not fear. Not anger. It was pain

Like watching me lose control was tearing him apart.

“Breathe, Aria,” he said. “Breathe.”

I gritted my teeth. Clawed at the bark of the tree beside me. Focused on the ground. My heartbeat. Anything but the burning fire inside me.

Slowly… slowly… it started to fade.

Not disappear. But pull back. Like a tide going out.

Kael let out a long breath.

The rogues didn’t move. But they didn’t come closer either.

For now.

---

He helped me stand fully, his hand still on my back.

“We have to go,” he said.

“What if they follow?”

“They will.”

My chest rose and fell hard. “What do we do?”

He looked at me.

“We fight.”