Shadowless Hunt: Bound by their Desire

A dangerous pull

I stared at the message until the screen blurred.

Whoever sent it knew my name.

Not just my name.

The way they had written it made my skin prickle, as if they had been searching for me.

I should have been terrified.

Instead, an entirely different thought crept into my mind.

Aeron.

I hated that his name was the first thing that came to mind.

Maybe it was because of the way he’d looked at me earlier.

Like he’d seen me before.

Like he knew something about me that I didn’t know about myself.

I locked my phone and tossed it onto my bed.

I needed to stop thinking about him.

Especially after everything that had happened with Derek.

Aeron was a stranger.

A very attractive, incredibly mysterious stranger.

And apparently one who could make my heart forget how to beat properly just by looking at me.

I groaned and buried my face in my pillow.

“Get a grip, Lyra.”

There was something about him that made my heart race whenever he looked at me. I couldn’t tell if it was fear, fascination, attraction, or something else entirely.

Whatever it was, I didn’t want to find out.

So I made a decision.

I was going to avoid him.

All day.

The next morning, I headed to my locker with my eyes fixed on the floor.

I could already hear the usual noise coming from the hallway.

Students talking.

Lockers slamming.

Someone laughing loudly.

Then I heard a few girls whispering excitedly.

I looked up.

Aeron was standing near the lockers.

And, of course, people were crowded around him.

Mostly girls.

One of them was laughing at something he hadn’t even said.

Another kept trying to get his attention.

But Aeron looked completely uninterested.

His expression was cold, almost bored, as if he would rather be anywhere else.

I quickly looked away.

I opened my locker and pretended to search through my books.

I could feel the temptation to look back.

I ignored it.

I grabbed my books and shut my locker.

Then, without meaning to, I glanced over my shoulder.

Aeron was staring directly at me.

My breath caught.

His blue eyes were fixed on mine from across the hallway.

Not the casual kind of stare.

He looked like he had been watching me the entire time.

I immediately turned away.

My heart was beating far too fast.

I walked off without looking back.

And somehow, I managed to avoid him for most of the day.

Almost successfully.

Until the last class.

I arrived early, like I usually did.

The classroom was still mostly empty.

I walked in and froze.

Aeron was already there.

Of course.

He was sitting near the front, alone.

I immediately looked around the room.

There were plenty of empty seats.

Good.

I chose the one furthest away from him and sat down.

I placed my books on the desk and opened my notebook.

I tried to concentrate.

But I could feel it.

That gaze.

It was on me again.

I kept my eyes on my notebook.

Maybe if I ignored him, he’d stop.

He didn’t.

I shifted in my seat.

Still nothing.

Finally, I glanced up.

Aeron was looking at me.

Again.

I quickly looked back down.

Why did he keep doing that?

One by one, the other students started coming into the classroom.

The noise gradually filled the room.

I relaxed a little.

At least I wasn’t alone with him anymore.

The teacher walked in shortly afterward, carrying a stack of papers.

“Alright, everyone. Settle down.”

The class slowly quieted.

“We’re going to be doing a paired assignment.”

A few students immediately started whispering and choosing their friends.

I kept my head down.

The teacher began assigning the pairs.

Then she looked at her list.

“Lyra and Aeron.”

My head snapped up.

“What?”

The teacher looked at me.

“You heard me.”

I opened my mouth.

“But….”

“No excuses, Lyra.”

“But I….”

“You’ll work with Aeron.”

She had already moved on to the next pair.

I slowly turned toward Aeron.

He wasn’t surprised.

Not even slightly.

He simply picked up his things and moved to the empty seat beside me.

I stared at my notebook.

This had to be a joke.

Why him?

Why me?

I could feel him sitting beside me, but I refused to look at him.

Then I noticed his eyes weren’t on the assignment.

They were on my hand.

I looked down.

My sleeve had moved slightly, exposing the small scar across my knuckle.

Aeron stared at it.

“I’ve seen that before.”

I turned toward him.

“What?”

His eyes lifted to mine.

For a second, he looked almost startled.

Then his expression went blank.

“Nothing.”

I frowned.

“You just said you’ve seen it before.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

He looked away.

I stared at him suspiciously.

There was something strange about the way he had looked at my scar.

I wasn’t going to forget it.

Before I could question him again, the classroom door opened.

Derek walked in.

His eyes immediately landed on me.

Then they moved to Aeron sitting beside me.

His expression changed.

He walked straight toward us.

He stopped beside Aeron’s desk.

“Hey, new student.”

Aeron slowly looked up at him.

Derek pointed at the seat.

“Stand up.”

The classroom began to quiet down.

Aeron didn’t move.

Derek’s voice became louder.

“I said stand up. That’s my seat.”

Aeron remained seated.

Derek stepped closer.

“I’m Lyra’s boyfriend .” Derek announced smugly and I wanted the ground to swallow me whole

What the actual f**k!!

Who the f**k asked?

I was so tempted to scream and say I don’t know him but no doubt Derek would have twisted my neck.

Aeron gaze fell on me and I stiffened, it felt like I was caught red handed by my husband cheating.

I almost breathed a sigh of relief when he turned to face Derek back and sneered

A few students began whispering.

I could almost hear them saying how dare the two hottest guy fight for this ugly freak!.

I looked between the two of them.

Derek’s face was tense.

Aeron’s expression was completely unreadable.

Neither of them moved.

The air between them felt heavy.

I could practically feel every pair of eyes in the classroom on us.

Derek finally scoffed and stepped away.

“Whatever.”

He shot Aeron one last glare before turning toward his seat.

I let out a quiet breath.

The teacher cleared her throat.

“Are we finished?”

Neither of them answered.

“Good. Then sit down.”

Derek reluctantly moved away, and Aeron finally turned back toward me.

I kept my eyes on my notebook.

I didn’t want to look at him.

Not after everything that had happened.

The rest of the class passed in an uncomfortable silence.

I barely heard a word the teacher said.

When the bell finally rang, I immediately started packing my books.

I needed to get out.

Fast.

I shoved my notebook into my bag and stood.

I had barely made it through the doorway when someone grabbed my wrist.

I froze.

Derek.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Talking to you.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

I tried pulling my hand free, but his grip tightened.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“Because I don’t want anything to do with you.”

His expression hardened.

“You think you can just embarrass me in front of everyone and walk away?”

“I didn’t embarrass you. You did that yourself.”

His eyes narrowed.

He stepped closer.

“Watch your mouth, Lyra.”

I tried to step back, but he followed.

“Derek, let go.”

Instead, his other hand reached toward my face.

I jerked away.

“Don’t touch me.”

Something flashed across his face.

Anger.

His hand shot toward me again.

And then......

The lights flickered.

I stopped breathing.

Once.

Twice.

Then the entire hallway went dark.

Students screamed.

For a split second, there was nothing.

No voices.

No footsteps.

Only darkness.

Then the lights came back on.

And I saw it.

A shadow stood behind me.

I froze.

It wasn’t mine.

It stretched across the floor, long and unnatural.

And it moved.

A second after I did.

A girl standing near the lockers screamed.

“What the hell is that?!”

I couldn’t move.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

The shadow shifted behind me.

I didn’t.

Derek saw it too.

His face drained of color.

“W-what is that?”