Chapter 2

THE NIGHT I CROSSED THE LINE.

Elara's POV

I shouldn't have stepped out that evening.

But I told myself all I needed was air especially after this morning's incident while I was out.

I tried to act okay, like it never happened but I couldn't even think straight in my own head...

The dorm room was unbearably loud, Lila twirling in her glittery new silver jacket, video-calling her best friend, and testing glitter eyeshadow like she was preparing for some sort of music video.

"Come on.... Sure you don't want to come?" she had asked again, already half way out the door. "Film night... Popcorn... People-watching... and Probably regrettable choices."

"I'm fine," I said, tugging my hoodie tighter. "I just need a little bit of silence."

"Okayyy" She sweetly said before blowing me a kiss then vanishing down the hall.

When the door clicked shut, the silence I had been craving finally wrapped around me like a soft cuddly blanket. But still, it wasn't enough.

Something inside me hummed... restless, charged.

My legs moved before my mind caught up, carrying me out the side door and into the dark.

The night air felt a bit colder than usual, stars scattered in the night sky like shattered glass and I walked aimlessly until the campus lights faded and the trees thickened.

That's when I saw it.

The entrance.

It wasn't supposed to be open... I mean it looked like it wasn't meant to be open, especially not at this hour.

A gravel path curved beyond, half-lost in the shadows of trees. My pulse quickened, but I stepped through anyway.

The explorer in awakening with each step I took.

Every footstep crunched the dry leaves softly and the wind whispered like it was trying to speak a language I almost understood but couldn't grasp.

Then I heard it. Chanting.

Low, rhythmic.

And it felt all shades of... Wrong.

I pressed myself against a split tree trunk, my breath caught in my throat.

That was when I saw it....

Figures in veils, standing in a ring of candles. In the center was Kael.

Bare-chested, glowing sigils carved across his skin. His eyes blazed silver, sharp enough to cut through the dark.

His eyes looked exactly like the moon.

An elder stepped forward, ritual blade in hand. Without hesitation, he sliced Kael's palm. Blood hit the ground and for some weird reason....

I gasped...

His head snapped towards me immediately and our eyes locked.

At that moment... something stirred inside me, something that knew him.

Something ancient.

But I was no fool to stand and wait for what was to come so u immediately bolted.

Branches clawed sharply at my arms, roots caught my ankles, but I didn't stop until the trees spat me out near the dorms.

I collapsed against the brick wall, lungs burning.

"Elara!"

Lila's voice jolted me. She stood in the doorway, wrapped in a blanket, chips in hand. Her eyes went wide when she saw me. "Are you okay?... You scared the hell out of me!"

"I... I had to get out."

She dropped the chips when she noticed my scratched arms. "What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I slowly spoke as I stared back in the direction I had escaped from "I think I did."

Her face went pale. "Elara...Where did you go?"

"The woods," I admitted.

She froze. "Elara, no. Don't tell me it wasthe grove."

"I know... I know you said we're not supposed to be there at this kind of time.. . But... there was a ritual... Kael was there."

Her voice dropped. "You saw them?"

"Who are they?"

"The Circle," she whispered. "Old bloodlines... Ancient power.... But... Everyone pretends they're rumors. Now you know better."

"They're not rumors," I said. "Not anymore."

Lila grabbed my hand. "I know I said he was to die for.. but for your own safety especially after tonight... Stay away from him, Elara."

I wanted to promise. But the truth slipped out anyway. "I don't... i honestly don't know if I can anymore."

That night, I didn't sleep.

As I replayed the moment over and over again. The look in Kael's eyes when he saw me.. like he recognized me. Like he knew something about me that I didn't.

I should have been afraid. And I was. But there was something else, too.

Something older.

Like a memory buried in my bones.

By morning, my thoughts were a tangled mess.

I trudged toward my locker, eyes on the floor, praying Kael wouldn't see me as he passed...

He did.

And then he slowly walked up to me and leaned against the wall, arms crossed, waiting. His storm-silver eyes pinned me the second I turned.

"Elara."

My name in his voice sounded softer than I expected, almost reverent.

"Hi." I slowly muttered.

"You were there."

"There? I don't know what you're talking about." Too quick. Too obvious.

His gaze sharpened. "Don't lie to me. You shouldn't have seen it. But you did. And now..." His voice dipped. "Now... I think we might have a problem."

I stepped back caught off guard. "So I'm a problem? And you're here to silence me?"

"That's not what I meant." His tone softened. "I just... I don't know why it happened. Why you... you felt it too didn't you."

My chest tightened. "Felt what?"

"That pull." His eyes burned into mine. "The second our eyes met.... Don't tell me you didn't feel it."

I couldn't.

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "I don't even know what to say right now but... I've spent my whole life preparing for a destiny I didn't choose. Last night... you broke it. And I'm not sure I want to fix it."

I swallowed. "Say what now? Break what? And how do I fix it? I really don't want to be a problem..."

"We'll figure it out," he said. "Toge...."

Before he could complete his sentence, a sharp voice cut between us.

"Kael!"

We turned.

Seraphina. Her perfect face twisted with disbelief. "What are you doing with her?"

Kael didn't flinch as he answered. "Talking."

"To her?" she snapped. "Why?.. She's not one of us."

His gaze returned to me steady and unshaken. "Maybe she is."

My stomach flipped.m as I stared back at him...

Up close, Kael was almost too much broad shoulders, sharp jaw, storm-silver eyes that felt like they could see through skin and bone

. He wasn't trying, either. No arrogance ... No swagger. Just quiet certainty, like the world bent around him and he knew and enjoyed it.

Seraphina's voice dripped frost. "She doesn't belong. She doesn't..."

Maybe she was right. Maybe I'd already gone too far.

But Kael didn't blink.

"Too late for the heads up... ," he said. "She already does."

And in that moment, I knew...whatever line I wasn't supposed to cross, I already had.