Chapter 16
1086 Words
Kaden POV
I should’ve checked the message.
The second Keira’s eyes flicked to my phone and went cold, I knew I’d messed up.
But I didn’t care about the message.
Not when she was standing in my doorway saying what if I feel it too.
For six weeks I’ve been telling myself it was lust.
Possession.
That it was just because she was off-limits and I don’t lose.
Liar.
It started the night she moved in.
She came downstairs at 2 AM for water, hair messy, eyes puffy from crying.
Didn’t say a word to me.
Didn’t have to.
I saw it—she was terrified and trying not to show it.
I wanted to break something.
Not at her.
At the world for making her feel like she had to be small in her own house.
Now she’s saying she feels it too, and there’s a stalker in our house sending pictures of her asleep, and all I can think is get her upstairs, lock the door, don’t let anyone touch her.
Keira left before I could answer her.
Smart.
If she’d stayed another ten seconds I would’ve kissed her.
And then the whole school would have something real to talk about.
I picked up my phone.
Unknown:
_You two are cute.
But you can’t hide forever.
I see everything._
My blood went cold.
“Everything.”
Not just the library.
Not just the screenshots.
Everything.
I called Mrs. Hale.
“Get IT on the house network again. Now.
And tell the cops Mia’s not the end of it.”
“Already on it,” she said.
“Kaden, keep her with you.”
I hung up and went to Keira’s room.
She was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at nothing.
She didn’t look up when I came in.
“They know,” I said.
She nodded.
“About us?”
“About everything.”
Her shoulders dropped.
“So it’s over.”
“No,” I said.
“It’s not over until I say it’s over.”
She looked up then, and the fear in her eyes pissed me off.
Not at her.
At whoever put it there.
“Keira, listen to me,” I said.
“I’m not letting them use you to get to me.
And I’m not letting them use me to get to you.”
“What are we supposed to do?” she asked.
“Run?”
“No.”
I sat on the bed next to her.
Close enough that our knees touched.
“Fight back.”
She let out a shaky breath.
“You sound like you’ve done this before.”
I had.
Not like this.
But Dad taught me early: if someone comes for your family, you don’t wait.
You hit first, and you hit hard.
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
“You just stay with me.”
She studied me for a long time.
“You’re scared.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I’m terrified.”
She blinked.
“Of them?”
“Of losing you,” I said.
Before I could stop myself.
Her face went pink.
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” I said.
“It’s true.”
I’d spent the last month trying to keep her at arm’s length at school, trying to make her hate me so the girls would leave her alone.
It didn’t work.
Because every time I pushed her away, she looked at me like I’d betrayed her.
And it felt worse than any rumor.
I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Her skin was warm.
She didn’t pull away.
“Kaden—”
“Don’t,” I said.
“Don’t say it’s wrong.
Not tonight.”
Downstairs, Mom’s voice called up.
“Kaden? Keira? Dinner’s ready.”
We both flinched like we’d been caught.
Keira stood up fast.
“We can’t.
Not like this.”
“I know,” I said.
But I didn’t let go of her hand right away.
Her fingers were cold.
Mine were shaking.
I hated it.
I’m Kaden West.
I don’t shake.
I don’t lose control.
Except with her.
At dinner, we didn’t look at each other.
Mom kept talking about the lawyer, about the police, about “getting through this.”
My dad nodded along, but his eyes kept flicking to me.
He knows.
He’s known since the first night Keira called me “mate” and I didn’t correct her.
After dinner, I walked Keira to her room.
Mom and Mr. West were in the living room.
If anyone saw us, it was over.
I stopped her at the door.
“Lock it,” I said.
“Don’t open it for anyone but me or Mom.”
“Okay,” she said.
I hesitated.
Then I said it.
The thing I’d been holding back since she moved in.
“Keira.”
She stopped.
“If they make me choose between you and everything else,” I said,
“I’m choosing you.”
Her eyes went wide.
“Kaden, you can’t—”
“I can,” I said.
“And I will.”
I shut the door before I did something stupid.
Like pull her back and never let go.
---
At 1 AM, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number again.
Unknown:
_She’s in your room right now, isn’t she?
Check the closet._
I was out of bed before I finished reading.
Keira’s door was locked.
I knocked once.
“Keira. It’s me. Open up.”
She opened it, face pale.
“What?”
“Check your closet,” I said.
She did.
Empty.
Mine wasn’t.
There was a small black box taped to the back wall.
Camera.
Live feed.
It had been there since before Mia.
Someone had been watching me in my own room.
Watching us.
I ripped it off the wall and crushed it under my boot.
Keira’s hand was on my arm.
“Kaden, breathe.”
I couldn’t.
Because now I knew.
This wasn’t about Mom and Mr. West.
This wasn’t about the past.
This was about me.
And her.
Someone wanted us to break.
I pulled her against me, one hand on the back of her head, holding her like if I let go she’d disappear.
“Mate,” I whispered against her hair.
“Mine.
They’re not taking you.”
She didn’t argue.
She just held on.
And for the first time since this started, I wasn’t scared.
I was angry.
- Writer
