Marked By Four

Two.

Isla's Pov:

The first thing I noticed about Blackridge University was how loud everything was.

Motorcycles were rumbling all over the big campus, people were laughing everywhere, and loud music was blasting from the main courtyard. Upperclassmen had set up welcome booths, games, and tables piled high with free food for the new students. It felt busy and full of life, like the whole place was awake and excited.

"Move it, Freshman!" someone shouted.

I jumped out of the way just in time as a motorcycle zoomed past me, missing my leg by only a couple of inches. The rider didn’t even turn around or say sorry.

"Show off," a girl next to me muttered under her breath.

I turned and saw her rolling her eyes. She looked about my age, with curly auburn hair tied up in a messy ponytail, and she was holding a coffee cup carefully in one hand.

"Are you a first-year too?" she asked.

I smiled a little. "Is it that easy to tell?"

She laughed. "Yeah, you still look like you’re amazed by all the buildings and everything. Most of us stopped noticing after the first week."

"I’m Isla," I said.

"Tessa," she replied, holding out her coffee cup instead of her hand. "I’d shake your hand, but my coffee is way more important right now. Don’t want to spill it."

I laughed. She seemed really easy to talk to, like we could be friends without trying too hard.

Within minutes, Tessa was pulling me along toward the orientation hall. She pointed out different buildings as we walked, complaining about professors she had only heard bad stories about. "And whatever you do, never challenge the seniors to a motorcycle race," she warned me. "They always cheat."

"How do they cheat?" I asked, curious.

"They’re seniors," she said with a grin. "That’s how. They’ve got all the tricks and the attitude to go with it."

I laughed again. For the first time in a long while, I started to think maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe I could actually settle in here and—

The loud roar of motorcycle engines cut through the whole campus. Not just one or two—four of them.

Suddenly, every conversation around us stopped. Students turned their heads toward the main entrance at the same time, like they all knew what was coming.

Phones came out. People started walking—not away, but straight toward the central courtyard to get a better look.

Tessa groaned. "They’re early today."

"Who?" I asked.

She stared at me like I had grown two heads. "You seriously don’t know?"

I shook my head. "No idea."

"The Kings," she said.

I frowned. "What kings?"

She looked genuinely shocked. "The Nightfang Four. Come on, how do you not know them?"

The name hit me hard, like someone had punched me in the chest.

Nightfang.

My breathing got tighter.

Before I could ask anything else, four black motorcycles came through the front gates in a perfect line. They looked powerful and serious, all matte black with no shine.

They stopped right in the middle of the courtyard. The four riders took off their helmets slowly.

For a second, the whole world seemed to stop.

No… it couldn’t be.

Ryker. Kael. Jace. Damon.

They were right there. Alive. All of them.

A small laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. My eyes started burning with tears.

Ten whole years. Ten years of wondering and hoping and thinking I would never see them again.

I started walking toward them without thinking. Tessa grabbed my arm. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I know them," I said.

She blinked hard. "You… what? You actually know the Nightfang Four?"

I didn’t answer her. My feet kept moving across the courtyard. The closer I got, the more I could see their faces clearly.

They looked older now, tougher, and even more handsome than I remembered. But they were still my boys. My family.

Ryker looked up first. Our eyes met, and his whole body went stiff. Kael noticed, his eyes following Rykers gaze until they landed on me and the easy grin on his face disappeared right away.

Jace stopped laughing in the middle of talking to someone.

Damon just stared.

None of them moved. I smiled even though tears were filling my eyes.

"Ryker…" I whispered, my voice barely loud enough for them to hear. "I finally found you."

Everything went quiet.

Hundreds of students were watching us with open curiosity now.

Ryker started walking toward me, slow and careful, like every step meant something. My heart beat faster with every one.

I thought he was going to hug me. I almost cried from happiness. But he stopped just an arm’s length away. His eyes moved over my face, cold and sharp, like he was looking for someone who wasn’t there anymore.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low so only the people closest could hear.

"You should’ve stayed gone, Isla."

My smile started to fade. "What… what do you mean?"

Kael let out a laugh, but there was no happiness in it at all. "No way… This has to be some kind of sick joke." He rubbed his hand across his jaw, like he was trying to convince himself I wasn’t really standing there.

Jace came closer. He looked me up and down slowly, then shook his head. "I almost didn’t recognize you at first." For a tiny second I felt relief, but then his smile came back—cold and sharp. "But then I remembered… cowards always show up again when they need something."

The words hit me like a slap across the face.

"I don’t understand," I said, my voice shaking. "What are you talking about?"

"No," Ryker said flatly. "Of course you don’t understand. You never do."

Students had stopped pretending they weren’t watching. Whispers started spreading through the crowd.

"Who is she?"

"Do they actually know each other?"

"I’ve never seen Ryker look like that before."

My chest felt tight with confusion. "Ryker…" I whispered again.

His eyes got even harder. "You don’t get to say my name anymore."

Everything inside me went cold.

Kael stepped up beside Ryker. "You disappeared for ten years. You left us to deal with all the mess your family caused. And now you just walk in here smiling like nothing happened?"

I stared at him, shocked. "What mess? Everything you heard was wrong."

Kael laughed again, sharp and angry. "She’s still pretending. I can’t believe she’s actually still acting like she doesn’t know."

"I’m not acting!" My voice cracked. "I really don’t know. I am equally just as confused."

"You don’t?" Kael leaned in closer. "So your aunt never told you anything? Not a single thing?"

Just hearing about Aunt Celeste made my stomach drop. "Told me what?"

Ryker’s jaw tightened. "That’s enough."

Kael looked at him. "She deserves to know the truth."

"Not from us," Ryker said firmly. "We’re not doing this here."

Not from us? None of it made sense. I looked from one face to another, desperate.

Jace wouldn’t even look at me. Kael looked furious. Ryker looked… broken, like I had let him down in the worst way possible.

Only Damon hadn’t moved yet. A tiny bit of hope came back. If anyone would explain, it would be him.

I took one careful step toward him. "Damon… please."

For the first time, his face changed. Pain flashed across it for just a second, then it was gone.

Then he took one big step backward, like being close to me hurt him too much.

That small movement broke something inside me.

A girl behind me whispered to her friend, "Did you see that?"

"They definitely know her."

"No…" another student said, shaking his head. "They hate her."

The whispers grew louder. Questions turned into rumors fast. Soon it felt like everyone had already made up their minds.

Nobody knew the full story, but they didn’t need to.

The Nightfang Four had made their feelings clear.

Ryker looked around the quiet courtyard. When he spoke again, his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Orientation’s over for today." Nobody moved. His eyes swept across the crowd. "If any of you are looking for trouble…" He glanced at me one last time. "You just found it."

Then he turned and walked away.

Kael made sure to slam his shoulder into mine as he passed, hard enough to knock me off balance.

I stumbled. My admission folder fell out of my hands, and all the papers scattered across the ground.

None of them stopped. None of them looked back.

I knelt down with shaking hands to pick up the pages. No one offered to help me.

When I finally looked up, the same crowd that had been smiling at me earlier was now stepping around me carefully, whispering.

I had come to Blackridge thinking I was coming back home.

Instead, I had just become the most hated girl on campus in a single afternoon.