Aria’s pov
I had been living in the Cross mansion for exactly eleven days. Not that I was counting.
The place was too quiet, too big, and too spotless. My mother was busy playing the perfect wife to Rick Cross, and I was just trying to stay out of everyone’s way.
The school wasn’t much better. Different uniforms, different faces, different social rules. No one paid much attention, just how I liked it. And my days were awfully quiet.
Except today.
I noticed it as soon as I walked through the courtyard gate. Students were swarming near the main steps, phones half-raised, giggles very high pitched. All eyes were locked on a single figure leaning against his matte-black motorcycle like a damn magazine ad.
Jaxon.
Of course.
He was laughing at sothing a girl said, his grin crooked, his sleeves rolled up, and his chain swinging loosely over his shirt. Three girls stood uncomfortably close to him, and not one of them looked like they planned to leave anyti soon.
I lowered my gaze and adjusted the strap of my bag. He hadn’t noticed . Good. That was the point. I didn’t need this school knowing we shared a house, let alone a hallway.
I walked faster, slipping through the crowd like smoke. But halfway to the entrance, I felt it. I glanced behind and held his stare for a brief mont.
He had been my step brother for eleven days and every single ti he looked at , he said nothing, all he did was give that look.
Like he knew sothing I didn’t.
______
I was wearing my usual Havasuite hoodie, Havasuite top, and Havasuite tote bag. Headphones in, sleeves pulled over my hands. Nothing special. Just another background shadow in a public school full of elites trying not to be noticed.
I made my way toward the library. It had beco my quiet haven. No one asked questions there. No one cared if you sat in the corner with a book for an hour or four. Perfect peace.
But just as I rounded the corner into the east wing hallway, I saw her coming toward .
The lunch lady.
Pushing that giant tal trawler cart, loaded to the brim with trays and clattering pans.She was too busy yelling at soone across the hall. I didn’t think she even saw .
I should’ve moved faster, but I was wrapped up in my head, fumbling with the zipper of my bag, trying to find my damn ID card for the library scanner.
"Aria!"
A sharp voice bood in my ear, strong arms grabbed and pulled out of harm’s way before the trawler could ram into .
I barely registered the blur before I was yanked backward, my heels skidding across the marble floor.
The lunch lady’s cart whizzed past, missing by inches.
He stood in front of , one arm still loosely wrapped around my waist, his chain swaying gently from the motion. His brows were furrowed, but his lips carried that sa amused smirk.
"Maybe don’t die in the hallway next ti," he said, his voice low, only for to hear.
I jerked away from him,
"I was fine," I muttered, brushing down my hoodie like it had betrayed .
He raised a brow. "You were about to get steam-broiled by a atloaf."
I said nothing. My cheeks felt warm, and I hated that he could make feel anything at all.
He tilted his head. "You’re welco, by the way."
I didn’t reply. I turned to leave. But as I walked away, I could feel it.
That stare again. It had started bordering on the line of creepy and curiosity-inciting.
I jerked my arm again, but he held it tighter, not enough to hurt, just enough to make it clear he wasn’t letting walk away yet.
"I said I am going to the library," I repeated, my voice lowered this ti.
He didn’t respond imdiately.
His gaze was....different now. No more cocky amusent, no more casual teasing. Just heavy, unreadable silence. Then he leaned in slightly, his head tilted, eyes narrowed as though he was trying to figure sothing out.
"What?" I snapped.
Still nothing. He had this look in wholeso blue eyes, as if he was trying to figure sothing out about . And then he leaned forward and sniffed, he actually sniffed .
My entire body tensed. "Excuse , what the hell are you doing?!"
I tried to pull away, but he grabbed my other wrist too, pushing gently but firmly until my back hit the lockers. The hallway had mostly emptied, just a few students far off, none close enough to notice us.
"Jaxon!"
He wasn’t listening.
His head dipped again, closer to my neck this ti, inhaling like he was trying to place a scent, confirm a suspicion. I squird and tried to twist free. "Let go!"
Then I heard it. It was low and barely audible, but it made every hair on my body stand upright.
A snarl.
His breath hitched, and when he looked up again, his eyes, his warm blue eyes had changed. Replaced by a brighter hue of blue.
He looked straight at , his thick arms on each side of , trapping between them. And muttered a single word with a growl so raw it didn’t sound human.
"Mate."
I froze. That sounded familiar, I wasn’t quite sure where I had heard it though.
"What.....did you just say?"
His grip slackened, but he didn’t back away. His expression was total disbelief, his lips parted slightly, breathing uneven. Sothing about the way he stared at made it hard to breathe.
It was then I rembered where I had heard the word. I was an avid reader, so it wasn’t so hard to place anymore.
I had read it from a werewolf fiction novel.
Werewolves were given eternal partners by the moon goddess, the mythological woman of the moon or so crazy shit like that.
But still....why was Jaxon-
"It’s you," he murmured. His eyes softened as he took my palm in his hand. "It’s really.....you."
It seed like he had finally realized sothing, because as soon as the words left his lips, he turned around and bolted.
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