CHAPTER SIX — GROWING FEELINGS
804 Words
Levi began to notice the spaces Luna left behind.
Not her absence — her echo.
The bench outside the eastern stairwell stayed warm longer than it should have. The air near the potion labs carried a faint trace of soap and ink. When laughter drifted down a hall, his wolf lifted its head before Levi realized the sound didn’t belong to anyone else.
He told himself it was vigilance.
He was wrong.
They didn’t speak for two days.
Still, their paths bent toward one another like lines drawn by an unsteady hand.
Levi would turn a corner and slow, senses sharpening — only to find Luna already passing the far end of the corridor, braid swinging against her back. She never looked around. Never searched.
That somehow made it worse.
In Rune Theory, Levi caught himself tracking the rhythm of her breathing instead of the symbols on the board. In Combat Forms, his strikes landed too hard, too fast, the practice dummy splitting at the seam beneath his claws before he realized his hands had shifted.
Akira said nothing.
She didn’t have to.
That evening, rain settled over Pennysilvia in a soft, persistent veil. The courtyard stones darkened, slick and shining beneath the lantern light.
Levi took the covered walkways.
Luna didn’t.
She stood beneath the arch near the old fountain, skirt damp at the hem, sleeves pushed up as she fumbled with a folded map that had clearly betrayed her one too many times.
The fountain was dry. It hadn’t been used in years.
Levi stopped before he could think better of it.
She sensed him — not magically, just human awareness — and turned.
“Oh,” she said, surprised, then relieved. “You again.”
Again.
Not you. Not him.
Again.
“You’re going to ruin those shoes,” Levi said.
She glanced down, then shrugged. “They were cheap.”
He frowned despite himself.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
She tilted her head. “You keep saying that.”
“And you keep ignoring it.”
“I keep surviving,” she said lightly.
The word struck harder than it should have.
Rain threaded between them, quiet but insistent. Levi became acutely aware of how close she stood — close enough that her warmth brushed against his senses, close enough that his wolf pressed forward, curious rather than wary.
That was new.
“You don’t seem scared of this place,” he said.
Luna considered him for a moment. “I am.”
His gaze sharpened.
“But,” she continued, “I think most people here are more afraid of what I might be than what I actually am.”
Levi said nothing.
She hugged her arms loosely, not cold — thoughtful. “You’re not.”
It wasn’t a question.
Levi looked away, jaw tight. “You don’t know what I am.”
“Maybe not,” she said. “But you keep stopping me from walking into things that bite.”
A corner of his mouth twitched before he could stop it.
Silence settled again — not awkward, just… full.
Luna stepped closer to the fountain, peering into its empty basin. “It’s strange,” she murmured. “Being watched all the time. People deciding things about you before you ever speak.”
Levi’s fingers curled slowly at his side.
“Yes,” he said.
She glanced back at him, eyes softer now. “Does it get easier?”
He met her gaze.
“No.”
She nodded, as if she’d expected that answer.
The rain slowed. Lantern light reflected in her eyes, warm and steady. Levi’s wolf leaned into the moment, not to claim or chase — just to stay.
Levi swallowed.
“You should go,” he said, voice lower than before.
“Will you walk me?” she asked.
The question was simple.
The answer wasn’t.
Every instinct warned him away — the eyes, the rules, his father’s shadow. But something else, quieter and far more dangerous, settled in his chest.
“Yes,” he said.
They walked beneath the arches, steps falling into an easy rhythm. When Luna stumbled on the slick stone, Levi caught her elbow without thinking.
His hand lingered a second too long.
Neither of them moved.
Her pulse fluttered beneath his fingers — fast, alive, real.
Levi released her as if burned.
“Sorry,” she said at the same time he did.
They shared a brief, startled smile.
At her dorm entrance, Luna paused. “Thank you. For… everything.”
He nodded. Words felt inadequate. Too heavy.
As she disappeared inside, Levi remained beneath the arch, rain misting his hair, wolf unusually calm.
Growing feelings were dangerous.
Not because they were forbidden.
But because they were mutual.
And Pennysilvia punished weakness far more harshly than defiance
- Writer
