Chapter 18:
………..
I didn't go home after the scholarship office.
I went to campus.
Not because I wanted to. Not because I had a choice. But because Alaric wasn't answering his phone, and the bond was pulling me toward him—toward the old stone building, toward the lecture hall, toward the office at the end of the hallway where he'd told me the truth about what I was.
I needed to see him.
I needed to thank him.
I needed to know if he was okay.
The man on the sidewalk—the one who'd called Kael brother—watched me walk away. He didn't follow. He didn't need to.
I could feel his eyes on my back the whole way.
---
The university was quiet.
It was early—barely 10 AM—and most students were in class. The quad was empty except for a few stragglers with coffee cups and tired eyes. The foun
