LOGINElara's POVRavin found me after evening prep, appearing beside me in the corridor the way he always did, like he simply decided to be wherever I was and the logistics of getting there were beneath consideration."Get ready tomorrow evening." He fell into step beside me. "We're going out."I looked at him sideways. "Out where?""My pack." He said it the way he said most things, like it was already decided and the conversation was just a formality. "I want you to see where I come from. Spend some proper time together outside of school walls, somewhere that isn't a corridor or the back of a classroom."Something warm moved through me at that, the idea of being somewhere that was his, seeing a part of him that existed beyond Draven and corridors and stolen moments in quiet corners of the school, something that was just his, that had nothing to do with the cover story or the false name or any of it."Okay," I said."Just okay?""I'm very excited. I'm containing it because we are in a pub
Elara's POVThe summons came during second period, a folded note delivered by one of the admin assistants with Miss Marcella's seal on it, and the entire class watched me pick it up with the kind of attention that made me want to slide under my desk.I excused myself and walked to the principal's office trying to think of what I had done wrong, which was a longer list than I was comfortable with, and by the time I sat down across from Miss Marcella I had already talked myself into at least three different scenarios, none of them good.She folded her hands on the desk and looked at me with that particular calm she always had, the kind that made you feel like you were the only person she had time for right now."I have some news for you, Elara, and I think you're going to find it welcome."That was not how conversations started when someone was in trouble. I let my shoulders drop slightly."Every year this school selects a small number of students for what we call the Exchange Visit," s
Elara's POVI found Ravin after class and pulled him aside before he could disappear anywhere, steering him into a quieter corner of the corridor where nobody was going to walk into the middle of what I had to say. He followed without asking questions, which told me he already had some idea of what was coming."You could have just told me," I said, keeping my voice low but making sure he understood I was not calm about this. "About the bloodline. About why you and Lyris were so comfortable with each other. If you had just said something from the beginning I would have had zero reason to be upset about any of it."Ravin looked at me with that steady expression he had, the one that never gave too much away, that particular patience he got when he was listening properly and had decided not to interrupt until I was done."I didn't think it was necessary," he said."You didn't think it was necessary," I repeated. "Ravin, I spent days watching the two of you smiling at each other in class
Lyris POV "I know part of the reason you've been giving me a hard time lately is because of Ravin."I said it directly, watching her face as it landed. Not accusatory, not confrontational, just honest. She deserved that much and I wasn't going to waste her time or mine by tiptoeing around the obvious.She didn't deny it. Something shifted behind her eyes but she stayed quiet, which told me she was listening properly, taking it in rather than preparing a defence."I'm not going to tell you you're wrong for feeling that way," I continued, keeping my voice even. "But I want you to understand why Ravin and I got close, because you deserve the actual reason and not whatever you've been sitting with in your head."She was watching me carefully now, that particular stillness she got when something mattered enough to actually pay attention to, when she had decided to hear something out rather than dismiss it. I could see her holding herself still, making space for what was coming."We share
Elara's POVI was sitting at my desk during lunch with my books open in front of me, doing a very convincing impression of someone actually reading them. The classroom was mostly empty, people drifting off to the dining hall or outside to make the most of the break, and I was enjoying the rare quiet of it, the kind that didn't happen often in a building full of people, when I felt it.Warmth behind me. Then lips on the side of my neck, slow and deliberate, like there was nowhere more important to be right now.I didn't jump, which I was proud of, i also didn't immediately pull away, which I was slightly less proud of but completely unsurprised by."I miss you," Ravin said, his voice low near my ear, and I could feel him smiling against my skin which was genuinely unfair given that we were in a school and I was supposed to be reading and there were other people in this building even if they weren't in this particular room right now."You literally saw me this morning.""That was hours
Elara's POV"Can we talk? Just for a moment."Lyris was standing directly in my path, that direct gaze of hers leaving very little room for pretending I hadn't noticed her. Which I did and clearly she noticed me too."I'm on my way to dinner," I said, keeping my voice somewhere between neutral and polite, "we can talk later.""Please." Something genuine came through in how she said it, not dramatic, just honest, the kind of please that meant exactly what it sounded like and wasn't asking for more than a moment.I was still deciding how to respond, running through the options in my head, when Freya stepped in beside me like she had been standing there the whole time waiting for exactly this moment, perfectly timed and completely unbothered about it."She'll catch you after dinner." Freya's tone was pleasant but final, the kind that didn't leave room for negotiation or follow-up questions. "We're heading down now."Lyris looked between us for a second and then nodded, stepping aside wit
Elara's POV The inter-house games had turned Draven Wolf Academy into a different kind of place.The training fields were busier than usual from early morning, groups of students running drills before classes even started, and the corridors had taken on the particular energy of a school that had b
Ravin's POV I found out on a Wednesday morning and had Cord in front of me before the hour was out.He was standing in the centre of the main hall with his jaw set and his eyes forward and the particular stillness of someone who knew exactly what was coming and had decided to face it standing up,
Elara's POVRavin's seat in second period was empty and I glanced at the door twice before Professor Aldric called the class to attention and I made myself look forward and stay there. He had been at school every single day since he transferred, present and on time without exception, and one empty
Elara's POV Principal Marcella appeared at the classroom door during third period and asked for me by name, and thirty pairs of eyes turned in my direction with the particular interest people reserved for someone being pulled out of class unexpectedly, the kind of attention that followed you down







