Adrian
I find him outside behind the bar, sitting on the low stone wall that lines the alley. A flickering neon sign washes the pavement, giving it a pink and blue hue. He's scrolling through his phone, pretending not to notice me, but I can feel the tension inside him.
His heart is racing.
His mind is running.
He's nervous.
I almost turn back because what the hell am I doing? Why am I trying to talk to him? Yes, something's happening, but this is not the way to get to the bottom of things. This isn't my kind of scene. I have no reason to be in this bar at this party, but here I am, following my fucking wolf on a wild goose chase.
"Didn't think you were the type to sneak out mid-party," I say, leaning against the wall a few feet away.
Jamie glances up, expression unreadable. "Didn't think you were the type to follow."
Fair.
"I was heading out anyway," I lie. "Just saw you storm off. Thought maybe you'd lost your friend."
He shrugs. "Matt's fine. He's probably dancing with someone he'll regret tomorrow."
There's a beat of silence. The city sings around us. A bus brakes somewhere down the street, music leaks from the bar doors, and laughter spills out and fades again.
"You look like you could use water," I say.
"You offering to get me one?"
"Maybe."
That gets him to glance over, faint amusement tugging at his mouth. "Didn't peg you for the friendly type."
"I'm not," I admit, and that earns me a quiet laugh.
He studies me then, really looks, and for a second the world narrows to the way his eyes catch the light, brown with gold in them if you look close enough. He breaks the stare first, shaking his head.
"You always this persistent?" he asks.
"Only when someone keeps running into me."
"Right," he says dryly. "Total coincidence."
"Maybe." I tilt my head, smiling a little. "But if it's not… you don't seem all that bothered."
He scoffs but doesn't move away. "You've got an interesting way of saying hello."
"I'm out of practice."
That gets a real laugh, quiet, low, surprised out of him. He runs a hand through his hair and says, "You're weird, you know that?"
"Probably," I say. "But so are you."
He gives me a long look, something flickering there that feels almost like a challenge, then pushes off the wall. "Guess we're both bad at parties."
"Guess so."
He hesitates before heading for the door, and I catch the barest ghost of a smile when he says, "See you around, Adrian."
Close to the door, he stops.
Mid step.
Like, there's something he can hear that I can't.
His shoulders are tense. His breathing changes, deeper, heavier. What is stopping him from leaving? And when he glances back at me, I see what that is. His gaze isn't human anymore.
For a heartbeat, his pupils flare. Not just dark, but burning alive.
Gold bleeds into brown. It's gone as fast as it comes, but my wolf catches it and reacts so fast in a desperation I don't even understand.
There. The voice in my head is low, primal. You felt that.
Yeah, I answer silently. I saw it too.
He's one of us.
Impossible.
Jamie blinks, rubbing the back of his neck like he's dizzy. "Sorry," he mutters. "Weird... uh... head rush."
"Yeah?" My voice stays steady, though my pulse isn't.
He nods, but his eyes flick toward me again, wary now, confused. His body sways slightly forward, like something's pulling him closer despite himself.
Inside me, my wolf is pacing. Growling, but not from anger.Recognition.
He doesn't know what he is.
He's human, I insist, even though every instinct screams otherwise.
Look again.
Jamie exhales sharply, pressing a hand against his temple. And that's when I feel it, a whisper across the bond that shouldn't exist.Not words. Not yet. Just a sensation.Wild. Searching.
It hits like static behind my eyes.
Who are you? The voice isn't mine. It's his. Tentative. Afraid. Half-formed.
My wolf answers before I can stop it. Yours. You're one of—
I cut him off, grounding my claws into my palms. Stop.
Jamie flinches. Like he heard something.
"Hey," I say quietly, stepping closer. "You okay?"
He looks up at me, really looks, eyes wide, chest heaving. "Do you… ever feel like something's watching you?"
A thousand answers die on my tongue.
"Sometimes," I say. "But it usually stops when I stop running from it."
Jamie stares at me for a long moment, then laughs, shaky and uncertain. "You sound like a fortune cookie."
"Maybe I am."
He shakes his head, still half-smiling. "You're weird."
"So I've heard."
The air between us is thick again. Unsaid things. Unnamed things. When he finally walks back inside, the silence he leaves behind feels heavier than before, charged, alive.
My wolf's voice lingers, low and certain. He's ours.
And this time, I don't argue.
By the time I walk back inside, the noise of the bar feels distant. Laughter, clinking glasses, the scent of cheap liquor and sweat. None of it lands. Not after what just happened outside.
My wolf is still pacing beneath my skin, restless, alert. Jamie's scent, that strange, wrong-right mix, clings to me like smoke. I can still see his eyes. That flash of gold.That voice.
I head for the back hall where Luca's leaning against the wall, half-listening to some girl trying to get his number. He catches my expression and instantly dismisses her with a grin and a "maybe next time."
"What happened?" he asks once she's gone. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"Not far off," I mutter.
He raises a brow. "The human kid?"
I don't answer. That's an answer enough.
Luca's easygoing expression fades. "You're serious."
"He's not what he looks like," I say. "Something's off. I saw..." I stop, jaw tightening. "Doesn't matter what I saw. It shouldn't be possible."
"Start talking," Luca says quietly. "You don't spook easily."
I glance around. The hallway's empty, but the music from the main room dulls any sound. "His eyes changed. Just for a second. My wolf reacted to it. Like it knew him."
Luca whistles low. "You're telling me the Alpha's wolf decided to bond with a human?"
I glare. "I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
For a moment, the only sound is the muffled beat from the bar. Then I sigh and scrub a hand over my face. "Whatever this is, it's wrong. I need to know who he is, where he came from, if there's any record of his family."
"Alright," Luca says slowly, still watching me. "You want me to ask around campus?"
"No." My tone hardens. "Discreetly. And get a team to keep an eye on him. Nothing invasive. Just… make sure he doesn't go wandering off again."
"Protecting him?" Luca teases, but there's caution behind it.
"Watching him," I correct. "Until I know what he is."
"Right," Luca says, but the smirk on his face tells me he's thinking something else entirely. "You know, if anyone else asked me to babysit their mystery crush, I'd—"
"Luca." My voice is quiet, but it carries enough weight to shut him up.
He holds up his hands. "Fine. I'll handle it."
I nod once and start to leave, but he calls after me."Adrian."
I stop.
"What if you're wrong? What if he's just some kid?"
I hesitate before saying, "Then I'll make sure he stays that way."
And as I step back into the night, the wind shifts again. That faint thread of Jamie's scent brushes past me. Wild and alive and entirely out of place, and for the first time in a long time, I don't know whether I want to chase it… or run from it.