Chapter 8 - The Pull I Can't Escape
1895 Words
(Elena POV)
Lunch is no better.
Whispers trail behind me like shadows I can’t outrun.
“Why her?”
“She’s not even pretty.”
“Adrian has a type. She’s not it.”
Every word slices me open, paper-cut sharp.
I keep my head down, tray untouched, stomach in knots.
I don’t eat — I escape.
Pushing through the back doors of the cafeteria, I step into the courtyard. The air outside is cool, almost too crisp, but it feels like the first breath I’ve taken in hours. No students. No whispers. Just space.
Leaves rustle.
A soft shift — movement — from the edge of the woods.
My feet stop on instinct.
My lungs forget how to breathe.
Something is watching me.
Then…
I see them.
A pair of glowing, molten–gold eyes.
Not human.
Not possible.
They stare into me from between the trees, unblinking, patient, ancient. A low rumble breaks the silence — not just a sound, but a warning, vibrating in my ribs.
I take one shaky step back. “Hello?”
Branches part as the creature steps forward, moonlight sliding over it like silver water.
Not a dog.
Not a hallucination.
A wolf.
Huge. Muscled. Dark as a night without stars. A single streak of silver runs down its spine like a scar made of moonlight. Its eyes burn with something terrifying and—
familiar.
I should scream.
I should run.
Instead, I freeze under its gaze, because the wolf isn’t threatening me.
It’s… watching me.
Protective.
Possessive.
Like it knows me.
“Elena!”
The voice snaps the world in half.
Adrian.
The wolf’s ears flick. Its body tenses — and in one fluid motion, it bolts back into the forest, disappearing like mist.
Adrian reaches me, breath uneven, eyes scanning my face.
“What are you doing out here alone?” His voice is sharp—too sharp.
I can barely speak. “Did you… see that?”
“See what?”
“A wolf.”
Something flickers across his face — shock, fear, regret — gone before I can read it. When he speaks, his voice is too controlled.
“You imagined it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Elena,” he steps closer, lowering his voice, “there are no wolves here.”
But his eyes.
His voice.
His entire presence…
They are lying.
“You’re lying,” I whisper.
He goes still.
Completely still.
“Why does it feel like I know you?” My voice shakes. “Like I’ve known you before? My head doesn’t remember you, but my body—my soul—does.”
His breathing changes.
Faster.
Rougher.
Like he’s holding back a storm.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” I whisper. “Every time you’re near—”
He grabs me.
His hand slides to the back of my neck, gentle but claiming. His forehead presses to mine. I feel his breath on my lips.
“You feel it too.”
His voice cracks. Not with anger.
With need.
Heat floods my veins.
I should push him away.
I should remember he’s off-limits.
Off-limits.
Off-limits.
But all I breathe is—
“Yes.”
His eyes shut, relief and hunger tightening his jaw.
“Elena…”
His voice breaks against my name.
“I can’t stay away from you.”
His lips are so close, the world shrinks to the space between us—
BRRRING.
The bell shatters the moment.
He pulls back slowly, like it hurts. His palm drags down my arm before he forces himself to step away.
Jaw clenched.
Eyes dark.
“I’ll walk you home after school.”
“Why?”
He looks at me with a truth he can no longer hide.
IN HOME
I stormed into my room and shut the door harder than necessary.
Anger simmered beneath my skin—hot, restless, humiliating.
How could I let him get that close?
How could I let my guard slip… and say yes?
I pressed my palms against the dresser, breathing fast, as if I could steady the chaos inside me.
My reflection in the mirror looked back—flushed cheeks, wide eyes, a girl who clearly didn’t recognize herself anymore.
“I was supposed to be stronger,” I whispered to the empty room.
But the truth was simple.
His proximity had melted every piece of logic, every wall I had built around myself.
And now, I was furious—not at him.
At myself.
In Night ....
I didn't Sleep
Every time I shut my eyes, I saw his.
Golden. Animalistic. Wrong.
And yet… my heartbeat chased the memory like an addict.
I finally crawled out of bed at dawn, my mind replaying everything that happened yesterday on a merciless loop—the storm, the forest, Adrian’s eyes glowing, and that voice in the dark that sounded too much like a growl.
A shudder slid down my spine.
I should’ve been terrified.
Instead, I was curious.
That was worse.
I wrapped my arms around myself, staring out the window. Mist crawled over the yard, rolling in slow waves toward the forest line. The same place I had seen those eyes.
Nope. We are not thinking about that.
I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs.
The house was quiet—too quiet—but then again, my mother and stepfather left early for some charity banquet out of town. They wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.
Which meant…
Adrian and I were here alone.
My pulse tripped over itself.
It doesn’t matter.
You won’t even see him.
He avoids you.
But the universe hated me, because as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs—
He was there.
Leaning against the railing, one hand gripping the wood, the other holding a black mug. Sunlight spilled through the high windows, catching the damp ends of his hair. He’d just showered—his shirt clung to him, black and soft-looking, sleeves pushed up his forearms.
His eyes lifted slowly.
And locked onto me.
I froze midway on the staircase.
He didn’t look like the popular king of school right now.
He looked like something dark. Untamed. Watching me like I was the prey, and he was simply deciding when to strike.
“Good morning.”
His voice was deep and rough, like gravel rolling across heat.
I cleared my throat. “Morning.”
Smooth, Elena. Real smooth.
I stepped onto the last stair, trying to slip past him, but the second I did, his scent hit me.
Woods. Rain. A little smoke.
Like the night before had clung to him.
“And here I thought you were going to keep avoiding me,” I muttered.
He smirked.
“I wasn’t avoiding you.”
“You never talk to me.”
“That’s not avoidance. That’s restraint.”
I blinked. “…What?”
He set his mug on the counter and took a slow step toward me.
Then another.
My stomach twisted.
“Adrian—”
“You have no idea,” he murmured, voice barely above a whisper, “how much restraint you require.”
I swallowed, stunned.
My pulse pounded so loud it drowned everything else out.
Suddenly, he looked away, jaw flexing like he regretted saying it.
We stood there in thick silence.
Finally, I reached for the fridge, desperate to do anything that didn’t involve staring at the dangerously intense boy who looked at me like I was oxygen.
“Coffee?” he asked behind me.
“No, thanks. I don’t want—”
I turned.
He was too close.
Way too close.
My breath caught.
His hand brushed a strand of hair behind my ear—a soft, unthinking gesture—and heat shot through me like lightning.
I didn’t move. Couldn’t move.
He leaned in, nose brushing the side of my cheek, inhaling me.
Like he needed the scent.
“Elena,” he breathed, voice strained, “you smell like—”
He cut himself off, stepping back fast like he’d crossed a line.
He ran a hand through his hair.
“Never mind. We’re going to be late.”
And just like that, the moment was gone—shattered by reality.
He walked ahead, not waiting for me.
But his words stayed lodged in my chest like a secret.
You have no idea how much restraint you require.
---
At School
Whispers followed us the second we walked through the courtyard.
Eyes shifted. Heads turned.
Everyone noticed Adrian—the golden boy of Crescent High.
And they noticed me walking beside him.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Students in the corner were already whispering.
“She sat with him yesterday.”
“He never walks with anyone.”
“Who the hell is she?”
Great. Exactly the opposite of flying under the radar.
I slipped away from Adrian the first second I could, heading to my locker like my life depended on it.
Adrian stayed where he was—leaning against the lockers, arms crossed, eyes silently tracking me.
Possessively.
Like he was… guarding.
My chest tightened.
No. He didn’t get to look at me like that.
Especially after he spent the past two weeks pretending I didn’t exist.
I spun around to face him.
“What is your deal?” I hissed under my breath.
His jaw ticked.
“What do you mean?”
“You act like I’m invisible one second and then—then…” My voice lowered as heat crept up my neck. “Then you touch me.”
His eyes darkened.
“Elena, you don’t want me to touch you.”
“Yes,” I snapped, “I don’t.”
Lie.
It was a lie.
Something flickered in his gold-ringed eyes—something primal.
He leaned down, close enough that I felt his breath against my ear.
“You keep saying that,” he murmured, “but your heartbeat says otherwise.”
I froze.
He could hear that?
My heartbeat?
“That’s not— that’s impossible.”
He straightened, smirking slightly.
“It’s not.”
Fear. Thrill. Confusion.
All swirling into a storm.
Before I could speak, a sharp voice cut through the hallway.
“Hey, Elena!”
Hailey—the queen bee of the school—marched toward me wearing a forced smile. Her group followed like sharp-toothed shadows.
Adrian looked at her .
Hailey leaned against my locker.
“So… how do you know him?”
I swallowed. “We’re… family.”
Whispers rippled instantly.
Hailey’s smile twitched.
“Family?” she repeated slowly.
Adrian pushed off the locker and stood between us.
“That’s enough,” he said, voice low.
Hailey’s eyes narrowed on him ," So , You’re protecting her now?”
Adrian didn’t break eye contact.
“I protect what’s mine.”
The hallway went silent.
My breath left me in a rush.
Mine.
He said mine.
Hailey scoffed and turned away, heels clicking angrily against the floor.
Adrian watched her leave, then looked back at me.
His voice dropped so low I almost didn’t hear it.
“You are not ready to know how much that word means to me.”
My skin prickled.
“Adrian…” I whispered, “What are you?”
His lips curved—not a smile, but something darker.
“Something you should run from.”
- Writer
