The nightfall academy

What hunts in the dark

The forest did not get quieter the deeper they ran.

It got louder.

Not in sound—but in presence.

Aiden felt it pressing in from all sides, thick and suffocating, like the trees themselves were watching… listening… waiting. Every step they took seemed to echo too far, carry too much.

Or maybe that was just him.

Maybe it was the Bloodmoon still burning through his veins, sharpening everything until there was no escape from it.

He could hear Ronan’s footsteps ahead—steady, controlled, impossibly calm. Not a branch snapped beneath him. Not a leaf betrayed his movement.

Predator.

Aiden’s steps were louder. Not clumsy—but not invisible either.

Not yet.

“You’re wasting energy,” Ronan said without turning.

Aiden frowned, breath uneven. “I’m trying not to die.”

“You’ll die faster like that.”

That annoyed him more than it should have.

“Then enlighten me.”

Ronan slowed—just slightly.

“Stop fighting the forest,” he said. “Feel it.”

Aiden almost scoffed.

Feel it?

The thing felt like it wanted to swallow him whole.

But still—

He tried.

He forced himself to breathe slower.

To listen differently.

Not just to the obvious sounds—the snapping branches, the distant howls—but to the space between them.

The rhythm.

The pattern.

And slowly—

Something shifted.

The forest stopped feeling like chaos.

And started feeling like structure.

His steps adjusted.

Lighter.

More deliberate.

The ground no longer surprised him. The shadows didn’t feel as suffocating.

For the first time since the siren—

He wasn’t just reacting.

He was moving with it.

Ronan glanced back.

Just once.

But it was enough.

Aiden saw it.

That flicker.

Approval.

It vanished just as quickly.

“You learn fast,” Ronan said.

Aiden didn’t know why that mattered.

But it did.

More than it should have.

They reached a clearing.

Not open—no, nothing in this forest was truly open—but less crowded. The trees thinned just enough to let pale moonlight spill across the ground.

Ronan stopped.

Aiden nearly ran into him.

“Why are we stopping?” he asked, his voice low.

“Because they’ll expect us to keep running.”

Aiden blinked. “And stopping is better?”

Ronan turned then.

Fully.

Facing him.

Up close, the intensity was worse.

Stronger.

Aiden felt it again—that strange pull beneath his skin. Not fear. Not exactly.

Recognition.

Like something inside him was leaning forward… reaching.

“You need to understand something,” Ronan said quietly. “Running only works if you’re weaker.”

Aiden’s jaw tightened. “And I’m not?”

Ronan’s gaze dropped briefly—to Aiden’s arm, where dried blood marked where claws had torn into him earlier.

The wound had already closed.

Almost completely.

When had that happened?

“You’re changing,” Ronan said. “Faster than you should.”

Aiden swallowed.

“I didn’t ask for this.”

“No one ever does.”

Silence stretched.

Heavy.

Unspoken things lingering between them.

Then—

“You shouldn’t trust me.”

The words came from Ronan.

Calm.

Matter-of-fact.

Aiden frowned. “That’s reassuring.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“Then why say it?”

Ronan’s eyes held his.

Because I’m giving you a choice.

He didn’t say it aloud.

But Aiden heard it anyway.

“You could leave,” Ronan continued. “Go back into the forest. Take your chances alone.”

“And you?” Aiden asked.

Ronan’s expression didn’t change.

“I’ll do what I always do.”

Hunt.

Aiden let out a slow breath.

“Then I guess I’ll stay,” he said.

Ronan studied him for a long moment.

As if weighing something.

Then—

“Stay close.”

It happened fast.

Too fast.

A rustle.

A shift.

A presence—

Aiden turned—

But Ronan moved first.

A blur of motion.

A collision.

A body slammed into the ground hard enough to c***k something beneath it.

A girl.

Aiden froze.

He recognized her.

Lira.

Her eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.

Her chest rose and fell too quickly.

Too sharply.

Fear.

Real fear.

“Ronan—wait—” she gasped.

Ronan didn’t.

His hand tightened around her throat, pinning her against the ground with effortless strength.

“You followed us,” he said, his voice cold.

“I had to,” Lira choked out. “They’re hunting him.”

Ronan didn’t look surprised.

“Of course they are.”

Aiden stepped forward. “Let her go.”

Ronan didn’t move.

Didn’t even look at him.

“She’s a liability.”

“She’s not,” Aiden snapped.

That got his attention.

Ronan’s gaze flicked to him.

Sharp.

Assessing.

“Everyone is,” he said quietly. “You’ll learn that.”

Lira’s hand tightened weakly around Ronan’s wrist.

“Aiden…” she whispered. “They’re not just after you anymore.”

Something in her tone—

Made Aiden’s chest tighten.

“What do you mean?”

Her eyes flicked past him.

Into the trees.

“They’re working together.”

That was wrong.

Everything about this was wrong.

“They don’t do that,” Aiden said.

Ronan’s grip loosened slightly—but not enough to release her.

“They do,” he said, his voice low, “when something changes the rules.”

A branch snapped.

Then another.

Then—

Silence.

The kind of silence that meant something was about to happen.

Ronan released Lira abruptly and stood.

His posture shifted.

Subtly.

But Aiden felt it.

The air changed.

Tension sharpened.

“Stay behind me,” Ronan said.

Aiden almost argued.

Almost.

But something in his voice—

Stopped him.

The shadows moved.

Not one.

Not two.

Too many to count.

They stepped into the clearing slowly.

Deliberately.

No rushing.

No chaos.

Organized.

Aiden’s pulse spiked.

“They really are working together…”

Ronan didn’t respond.

But his stance told Aiden everything he needed to know.

This was different.

Worse.

A figure stepped forward.

Taller than the rest.

More controlled.

More dangerous.

Cassian.

Even without introduction, Aiden knew.

Everything about him radiated dominance.

Power.

Authority.

“Well,” Cassian said, his voice smooth. “That didn’t take long.”

His gaze landed on Aiden.

And lingered.

Hungry.

Calculating.

“The rumors were true,” he continued. “You survived the Bloodmoon.”

Aiden didn’t respond.

Didn’t move.

But his body tensed.

Ready.

Cassian smiled faintly.

“You don’t even know what you’re holding, do you?”

Ronan stepped forward slightly.

Just enough to place himself between them.

“Leave,” Ronan said.

It wasn’t a suggestion.

Cassian’s smile widened.

“That’s bold,” he said. “Considering the situation.”

His gaze flicked briefly to Lira.

Then back to Aiden.

“You can’t protect him,” Cassian added softly.

Ronan didn’t respond.

But Aiden saw it—

That shift.

That edge.

“Try me.”

The air snapped.

Everything happened at once.

They attacked.

Not chaotic like before.

Coordinated.

Precise.

Deadly.

Ronan moved first.

Aiden barely saw it.

One moment he was standing—

The next—

Someone was already on the ground.

Aiden reacted.

Instinct taking over again.

But this time—

It wasn’t enough.

They were stronger.

Smarter.

Working together.

A blow landed.

Hard.

Aiden staggered.

Another hit—

Pain exploded across his ribs.

He struck back—

Connected—

But it barely slowed them.

“Focus!” Ronan snapped somewhere nearby.

Easy for him to say.

He wasn’t the one getting overwhelmed.

Aiden’s breathing turned ragged.

His vision blurred at the edges.

No.

Not like this.

Something inside him twisted.

Pulled.

Demanded.

More.

The power surged again.

Stronger.

Darker.

Aiden let it.

His body shifted—

Further this time.

Bones cracking.

Muscles tightening.

Senses exploding.

A growl tore from his throat—

Deeper.

Wilder.

And then—

He moved.

Faster than before.

Stronger than before.

Uncontrolled.

He struck—

And this time—

It mattered.

Bodies fell.

Not clean.

Not controlled.

Brutal.

Too brutal.

“Aiden—stop—!”

Lira’s voice barely reached him.

Distant.

Fading.

The world narrowed.

To movement.

To prey.

To instinct.

And then—

Something slammed into him.

Hard.

Precise.

Controlled.

Ronan.

They crashed into the ground together.

Aiden struggled—

Snarled—

Tried to break free—

But Ronan held him.

Firm.

Unyielding.

“Enough.”

The word wasn’t loud.

But it cut through everything.

Aiden froze.

For just a second.

And in that second—

The world came rushing back.

The blood.

The bodies.

The silence.

Aiden’s breathing slowed.

Shuddering.

Unsteady.

Ronan didn’t move.

Didn’t release him.

Not yet.

“Control it,” he said quietly.

Aiden swallowed.

Hard.

“I… don’t know how.”

For a moment—

Neither of them moved.

Then—

Slowly—

Ronan let him go.

Aiden pushed himself up.

Unsteady.

Changed.

Cassian was gone.

The others too.

They had retreated.

Not defeated.

Waiting.

Watching.

“Next time,” Ronan said, his voice calm again, “they won’t hold back.”

Aiden let out a shaky breath.

“Neither will I.”

Ronan’s gaze lingered on him.

Longer this time.

Deeper.

“Good.”

But something in his tone—

Said that might be the problem.

Far above them—

Hidden beyond sight—

Something watched.

And this time—

It was paying very close attention.