CHAPTER SIX — Shadows That Know Her Name
1108 Words
Aria tried to make herself small that morning.
Smaller than usual.
After yesterday’s hallway disaster, the entire school felt tighter, heavier, watching her with a mix of curiosity and fear. Every doorway she passed came with hushed breaths or silenced conversations. Some students looked away quickly. Others stared too long.
News traveled fast among wolves.
But rumors traveled faster.
Especially when Kael, the Alpha’s son, had nearly torn lockers off the wall because of her.
Aria kept her eyes down, hugging her books to her chest like a shield. Her heart beat carefully, trying not to disturb anything that might explode again.
She only wanted to survive the day quietly.
She did not expect to overhear something that would ruin that completely.
---
Between second and third period, the hallway thinned as students drifted toward class. Aria slipped into the corner near the staircase, intending to wait until the crowd passed.
Two senior boys were leaning against the wall behind her—not close enough to notice her presence, but close enough for their voices to reach her clearly.
“At least we’re safer than the east territories,” one said, lowering his voice. “Did you hear what happened to the Whitestone pack?”
Aria froze.
The boys didn’t.
“They found two healers dead near the border,” the other whispered. “Not natural deaths. Their marks were ripped out.”
Aria felt her lungs tighten.
Healers.
Dead.
Ripped out.
Her fingers dug into her books until her knuckles whitened.
That wasn’t random.
That was a message.
“Do they know who did it?” the first boy asked.
“Rogue pack,” the other muttered. “Some say they’re hunting down healers for their powers. Others say the healers refused to join them.”
A cold wave washed over Aria’s skin.
Hunting healers.
Her heartbeat fluttered painfully.
She wasn’t supposed to hear this.
She wasn’t supposed to remember the stories she had tried to bury.
The ones whispered about strange men, shifting shadows, and wolves who didn’t hunt for territory…
…but for people like her.
“Why healers though?” the boy asked again. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“Power,” the other replied. “A strong healer can change a battlefield. Some say if you kill one, you gain what they lose. I don’t know if it’s true, but…”
His voice dipped into something darker.
“…someone out there is killing them anyway.”
Aria’s breath hitched, too loud.
The boys paused.
She stiffened, shrinking further behind the staircase wall.
Did they hear her?
A moment of silence passed.
Then one of them snorted. “Whatever. This isn’t the east. We’re safe here.”
The other scoffed. “Tell that to the Alpha’s council. They’ve been on edge all week.”
A beat.
“And Kael’s been worse.”
Aria’s stomach twisted.
Kael.
He was connected to everything she didn’t want to be involved in.
The boys’ steps faded as they walked away, laughing lightly, unaware of the storm they’d dropped at her feet.
Aria stayed pressed against the wall until her legs stopped trembling.
The hallway emptied completely.
Still, she didn’t move.
A rogue pack hunting healers.
Her mind spun back to memories she didn’t allow herself to touch—blood on snow, a woman screaming, hands dragging her away from the only home she knew.
She swallowed hard.
No.
She had run far enough.
Hidden long enough.
Survived long enough.
Crescent High was supposed to be safe.
But now?
Now the shadows felt familiar again.
Too familiar.
---
She turned quickly, heading to her next class before the bell rang, but her thoughts were a mess.
She kept seeing faces that weren’t there.
Hearing voices she wasn’t sure were real.
Feeling the weight of something ancient and terrifying pressing into her chest.
She pushed into the classroom, head bowed—
—and walked straight into someone’s solid chest.
Her breath caught.
She stepped back immediately, eyes lifting before she could stop them.
Kael.
His blue gaze locked onto her like he’d been waiting.
Her pulse leapt painfully.
He opened his mouth to say something—she saw the moment the words gathered in his throat, heavy and dangerous—but she stepped around him quickly and went to her seat.
She couldn’t deal with him today.
Not with what she had just heard.
Kael turned slowly, watching her. His brows knitted together, his jaw tightening the way it always did when he sensed something was wrong.
And Aria knew he sensed it now.
He felt her fear.
Her panic.
Her trembling.
She cursed herself silently.
Kael didn’t look away from her the entire class. Not once. His gaze kept returning, sharp and searching, like he was trying to read something written on her skin.
Aria tried to sit still.
Tried to breathe normally.
Tried not to let the truth crawl into her expression—
Rogue wolves are hunting healers.
And I’m one of them.
But halfway through the period, her hands shook so badly she had to hide them under the desk.
She didn’t notice Kael’s chair scrape quietly against the floor.
Didn’t notice him shifting closer.
Watching harder.
Trying to understand why she suddenly looked like someone who had seen a ghost.
Or worse—
Something that recognized her.
Something that wanted her back.
---
When the bell finally rang, Aria shot up too quickly. Her heart throbbed against her ribs, begging her to run before Kael—
“Aria.”
His voice cut through the classroom like a blade.
Soft.
Controlled.
Dangerously attentive.
Her body froze.
He stepped closer.
“Something happened.”
It wasn’t a question.
She kept her eyes on the floor.
Kael’s voice lowered. “Look at me.”
Her breath caught. She shook her head.
He swallowed, something dark and furious stirring behind his eyes. “Who hurt you this time?”
This time.
As if hurting her was no longer a rare event—
but something he had come to expect.
Aria gathered what little courage she had and brushed past him, refusing to meet his gaze.
She could not tell him.
Could not tell anyone.
If the wrong wolves learned what she was—
They wouldn’t bully her.
They’d claim her.
Or kill her.
Kael watched her leave, frustration and concern pulling jagged lines into his expression.
She didn’t see the way his fists clenched.
Or the way his eyes followed her like a storm gathering strength.
Or the promise forming silently in the air around him:
Whoever is haunting you…
I will find them.
And I will tear them apart.
---
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