CHAPTER SEVEN:The Hunter
794 Words
The barrier shattered.
A deafening c***k tore through the night.
Fragments of glowing energy rained across the academy grounds like pieces of broken glass.
Students screamed.
Doors slammed open as instructors rushed into the corridors.
Kaelan grabbed Liranae's hand.
“Stay with me.”
They ran.
Liranae struggled to keep up, but something strange had happened to her body.
She wasn't tired.
She wasn't even breathing heavily.
Instead, every sound around her seemed painfully clear.
The footsteps of the students.
The instructors shouting orders.
The distant growls beyond the academy walls.
And underneath all of it...
A heartbeat.
Slow.
Steady.
Close.
Liranae stopped.
Kaelan turned.
“What is it?”
She pointed toward the western corridor.
Someone was there.
Kaelan's expression changed.
“How do you know?”
Liranae touched her ear.
She could hear it again.
A heartbeat.
Kaelan immediately understood.
“Your senses.”
She nodded.
He looked toward the corridor.
“Stay here.”
Liranae shook her head.
Kaelan frowned.
“Liranae.”
She grabbed his sleeve and pointed toward the darkness.
Then she shook her head again.
She wasn't going to let him go alone.
For a moment, Kaelan stared at her.
Then something almost like amusement appeared in his eyes.
“You're stubborn.”
Liranae raised an eyebrow.
He sighed.
“Fine. But stay behind me.”
They moved cautiously through the corridor.
The academy looked completely different in darkness.
Moonlight spilled through broken windows, illuminating the abandoned hallways.
Then—
A shadow moved.
Kaelan immediately stepped forward.
“Show yourself.”
Nothing.
Liranae heard the heartbeat again.
Behind them.
She turned.
A figure stood at the end of the corridor.
Black cloak.
Covered face.
Glowing silver eyes.
Liranae's mark burned.
The figure laughed softly.
“There you are.”
Kaelan's body tensed.
“You.”
The stranger tilted his head.
“You know me?”
“I know what you are.”
The figure smiled.
“Then you know why I'm here.”
Kaelan moved in front of Liranae.
“You're not taking her.”
The stranger's eyes moved around him.
“Her?”
He laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
Liranae's heart raced.
The stranger raised his hand.
The floor beneath Kaelan exploded.
Kaelan was thrown backward.
“Kaelan!”
Liranae ran toward him.
He pushed himself up.
“Don't come closer!”
The stranger moved faster than Liranae could see.
One moment he was across the hallway.
The next, he stood directly in front of her.
Liranae froze.
He reached toward her neck.
His fingers stopped just above the silver mark.
The mark suddenly erupted with light.
The stranger screamed.
He stumbled backward, clutching his hand.
“What are you?”
Liranae stared at him.
She didn't know.
The stranger looked frightened now.
Actually frightened.
“No...”
He backed away.
“You're not supposed to awaken yet.”
Kaelan stood.
“What did you say?”
The stranger ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on Liranae.
“The bloodline survived.”
Kaelan's expression hardened.
“What bloodline?”
The stranger smiled again.
“You really haven't told her.”
Kaelan went silent.
Liranae looked between them.
What wasn't Kaelan telling her?
The stranger suddenly disappeared into the darkness.
Kaelan ran after him.
But he stopped when he reached the end of the corridor.
The figure was gone.
Liranae walked toward him.
She pointed at the empty hallway.
Kaelan shook his head.
“He escaped.”
Then she pointed at him.
What does he know?
Kaelan didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
Her eyes demanded the truth.
Kaelan looked away.
“There are things you aren't ready to hear.”
Liranae shook her head.
She grabbed his arm.
She pointed toward the broken academy.
People were hurt.
Someone had attacked them.
And she was clearly the reason.
She opened her mouth.
She tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
But this time, she didn't cry.
She didn't feel ashamed.
She didn't need a voice to demand answers.
She pulled the notebook from her pocket and wrote:
I deserve to know.
Kaelan read the words.
His expression softened.
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“You do.”
A strange silence settled between them.
Then Kaelan reached for her hand.
The moment their fingers touched, the silver mark on Liranae's neck glowed again.
Kaelan froze.
Liranae felt the same invisible pull.
Stronger this time.
Her heart beat faster.
Kaelan stared at their joined hands.
Then he whispered something she had never expected to hear from him.
“Mate.”
Liranae's eyes widened.
Kaelan slowly looked into hers.
The truth was written all over his face.
The most feared Alpha at Silverhowl Academy had just discovered that the girl everyone had called an outcast...
Was his destined mate.
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