The Threat
The halls of Nightshade Academy were unnervingly still, the kind of silence that turned every shadow into a threat. Adrian moved through the darkness with practiced grace, his crimson eyes scanning the gloom for any sign of movement. His restless instincts had led him here, his gut insisting there was something in the restricted archives he needed to uncover.
What he found, however, was far from what he’d expected.
Lyra.
Her cloaked figure slipped through the corridor ahead of him, her movements quick and deliberate. The dark fabric of her cloak swayed with each step, though it did little to conceal her presence. Her silver eyes glinted in the faint torchlight as she glanced around, cautious and purposeful.
Adrian’s chest tightened as he watched her. Questions churned in his mind, anger and betrayal warring with something he couldn’t quite name. He moved silently, his steps as practiced as a predator stalking prey. When she stopped in front of the archive doors, her hand reaching toward the intricate lock, Adrian stepped out of the shadows.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
Lyra froze. Her heart thundered in her chest as she turned to face him, her wolf bristling beneath her skin. She forced her expression into calm neutrality, though her muscles tensed with the instinct to flee. “I could ask you the same thing,” she replied, her voice steady despite the fear thrumming in her veins.
Adrian’s gaze burned with suspicion as he stepped closer, his crimson eyes locking onto hers. “You’ve been lying to me,” he said, his tone sharp, though there was something deeper woven into it—an edge of hurt, of betrayal.
Lyra’s jaw tightened as she took a step back, the cold stone wall pressing against her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice even.
“Yes, you do,” Adrian countered, advancing on her with slow, deliberate steps. His voice dropped, low and cutting. “I can feel it. You’re not who you pretend to be.”
The space between them buzzed with tension, the air heavy with the weight of unspoken truths. Lyra’s wolf growled softly, clawing at the edges of her control as Adrian’s presence closed in. Her back hit the wall, and his hands came to rest on either side of her, trapping her in place.
“Tell me the truth, Lyra,” he demanded, his voice barely above a whisper but no less commanding. “What are you hiding?”
Lyra clenched her fists, her silver eyes flashing with defiance. “You don’t know anything,” she hissed, her wolf growling beneath her words, a warning more than a threat.
Adrian’s smirk was cold, his gaze unrelenting. “Not yet,” he murmured, his breath brushing against her ear, sending a jolt down her spine. “But I will.”
The proximity of him was suffocating, his presence a relentless force that made her heart race. Her wolf clawed at her control, driven by equal parts fear and something far more dangerous. Adrian’s unwavering determination, his intensity, ignited a storm inside her—one she didn’t fully understand, one she wasn’t sure she could withstand.
For a moment, the silence between them was deafening, crackling with emotions neither dared to voice. But Lyra knew this encounter was far from over. Adrian wasn’t just circling the truth—he was on its edge. And if he found it, everything she had fought to protect would unravel.
