Bite Me Softly

Chapter 12: Crimson Thread

Lunch came too fast.

The morning had dragged, but now the cafeteria was too bright, too loud, and I barely tasted the sandwich I had forced myself to bring. Kade and I met beneath the tree line, off to the side where no one really looked. We didn’t talk about where we would meet. We just did. Like the thread between us had quietly pulled us there.

He didn’t say much. Neither did I.

But he sat close. Not touching, but close enough that I could feel the warmth of him through the space. The silence had changed. It didn’t press down on me the way it had before. It just breathed with us, steady and slow.

I wasn’t sure what this meant. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But the panic from yesterday had faded, replaced by something strange and quiet that wrapped around my chest. Not comfort exactly, but not fear either. Just him.

I glanced at him. His hoodie was wrinkled and his eyes were still tired, but he looked more grounded. His jaw was relaxed. His hand rested near mine in the grass, close enough that I could feel a question in the air. I didn’t answer it, not with words. But I didn’t move away either.

Then someone dropped into the grass across from us like they had been waiting for the perfect moment.

“Well, look at this,” Ryker said, settling back on his elbows with a smirk. “Didn’t expect to find you two all tucked away out here.”

Kade stiffened beside me. I felt it immediately, the way his shoulders tensed and his attention narrowed.

I blinked at Ryker. “How long were you standing there?”

“Not long,” he said, casually popping open a bag of chips. “Just enough to confirm what I already suspected. That the two of you were going to end up like this sooner or later.”

“Ryker,” Kade said through his teeth.

Ryker raised an eyebrow. “What? I’m just saying I called it. Don’t be mad because I was right.”

He turned his eyes to me, and the teasing edge softened slightly. “No offense, Aria. I just know how stubborn Kade is when he thinks he’s doing the right thing. He tried to stay away. But clearly that didn’t stick.”

I didn’t answer. I was too focused on the shift in Kade’s breathing, the slight way his hands curled at his sides. He was trying not to lose his temper. But something Ryker had said had hit a nerve.

Ryker noticed too. He sat up a little straighter, brushing grass from his sleeves.

“Look, I’m not here to mess things up. Just figured it’s time we talk about the part nobody wants to say out loud.”

Kade glared at him. “You don’t need to say anything.”

Ryker ignored him and looked at me again. “The bond between you two. It’s not exactly subtle. That kind of connection doesn’t go unnoticed for long.”

I frowned. “Noticed by who?”

Ryker hesitated, just for a second, before answering. “By people who don’t like change. People who keep an eye on things that don’t follow the rules.”

Kade stood, fast. “That’s enough.”

Ryker stood too, but his posture was calm. “I’m not trying to scare her.”

“You already are,” Kade said, voice low.

I looked between them. My pulse was loud in my ears. “So, what exactly am I supposed to be afraid of?”

Ryker’s gaze flicked to me, serious now. “Not you. What you’re becoming. What it might mean. That’s what they’ll care about. That’s why Kade’s acting like the world is about to collapse.”

Kade said nothing.

Ryker gave a faint smile, this one quieter. “I’m not your enemy. Either of you. But this is going to get harder. The sooner you both accept that, the better chance you’ll have when things shift.”

Then he turned and walked off across the field, like he hadn’t just dropped a weight on both of us.

I looked up at Kade.

His jaw was tight, eyes still on Ryker’s retreating back. “He’s wrong about a lot of things,” he said.

“But not all of them,” I said quietly.

He looked at me. “No. Not all.”

Something cold brushed down my spine. Not from the air. From whatever was waiting beyond this moment.

The wind stirred the grass around us, and I thought about what Ryker had said. Not just about the bond. About what might be watching.

We weren’t alone anymore.

And someone else was about to notice.

The afternoon passed in a haze of restless silence.

Kade had walked me to class after lunch, quiet and thoughtful, his fingers brushing mine for just a moment before slipping away. He didn’t come inside. I didn’t ask why.

I sat through the rest of the day without hearing a word. The teacher’s voice faded into static. The clock ticked too loud. The lights buzzed overhead like they were warning me something was coming.

After the final bell, I stayed behind, pretending to organize my notes, waiting for the halls to clear. The classroom emptied out, slow at first, then all at once. When I stepped into the corridor, it was nearly silent. I didn’t know where I was going. I just walked.

Something pulled at me; not the bond exactly, but a sense of movement. Of something unfolding just out of sight.

It led me past the lockers, down the back stairwell near the science wing. The air was cooler here, heavier. I slowed as voices drifted from behind the closed doors of the old equipment room.

I recognized them both instantly.

Kade. Ryker.

I moved closer, my back against the wall, careful not to make a sound.

Ryker’s voice came first, low and serious — a tone I hadn’t heard from him before.

“You think you’re the only one feeling it? The pull, the pressure? It’s not just the bond, Kade. Something’s shifting, and you know it.”

Kade’s reply was a sharp whisper.

“I told you to leave it alone.”

“And I told you it was never just about one rogue.”

There was silence for a beat. Then Kade again, his voice rough.

“He didn’t come after her by accident.”

“No,” Ryker said. “They know what she is now. Or what she’s becoming.”

I pressed a hand to my chest, my breath catching.

They?

Kade’s voice dropped to something almost like a growl.

“If they touch her again-”

“You’ll do what?” Ryker cut in. “Lose control like last time? You’re barely holding it together now, and you know it.”

Something clattered inside the room. A thud. Footsteps shifting.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” Kade muttered.

“And you shouldn’t have kept her in the dark. You think you’re protecting her? You’ve only made her a target.”

My throat tightened. The bite. The bond. The way Kade looked at me like he was always bracing for disaster. Was this why?

Ryker spoke again, quieter now.

“You’re not the only one watching her.”

The air left my lungs in a rush.

Not the only one.

I stepped back, too fast. My shoe caught the edge of the hallway tile, and a soft scuff echoed like a gunshot.

The voices inside went silent.

A second later, the door creaked open.

Kade appeared first. His eyes met mine, surprise flashing into something colder.

“Aria-”

Ryker stepped out behind him, hands raised like I’d caught them doing something they weren’t supposed to.

“Guess we’re past the part where she gets to live in blissful ignorance,” Ryker said, half a smile, but his eyes didn’t match it. I got the feeling that he wasn’t surprised at my eavesdropping.

I looked at Kade.

“You knew,” I whispered. “You knew that thing in the woods wasn’t alone. You knew I was some sort of target?”

He didn’t deny it.

Instead, he said quietly, “It’s not just about one rogue. Something else is coming. Something worse.”

Rogue. The words settled over me like falling ash.

Ryker shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped back. “You can be mad at me later,” he said to Kade. “But she needed to hear it.”

Then he walked away.

Kade didn’t move. His shoulders looked heavier somehow, like the truth had finally dropped onto them.

And I was left standing in the hallway, feeling the air shift around us again. Not the soft pull of the bond, but something darker. Closer.

Watching.

Waiting.