Chapter 65

Evaline:
It was only my third week at the Silver Moon, and the library had already became my haven. It was my most favorite place – a quiet space carved out of the chaos where my thoughts could breathe, where the weight of expectations didn’t press quite so heavily on my shoulders.
And today, it felt like my only escape.
It had been two days since I came across Celeste, and while I wasn’t feeling threatened, I still couldn’t entirely remove her and her words from my thoughts. Her veiled threats were still clinging to me like cobwebs I couldn’t shake off.
The whispers in the hallways had also grown sharper since many noticed our confrontation and took the initiative to presume that I was someone who could be turned into their newest prey.
The accusations were laced in honeyed tones and venomous smiles. My desk in the classroom was even defaced with mocking words etched faintly in pencil. Nothing bold. Nothing direct. Just subtle enough to make me feel like prey.
So I did what I always did when the world spun too fast. I retreated.
Tucked away in the farthest corner of the library, surrounded by towering shelves of forgotten tomes, I let the silence wrap around me like armor.
I was sitting with my legs tucked under me on one of the plush reading couches. And a book on defensive rune was left open on my lap.
I hadn’t turned the page in twenty minutes. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by.net
My focus had drifted back to the storm I had somehow walked into. Celeste. The rumors. River’s cold indifference. Professor Kieran’s silent concern. And that constant tension beneath my skin.
I pressed my hand against my chest, willing the ache to settle.
“I thought I might find you here.”
The voice was silk. Low and lazy, like a slow-moving storm. It sent an involuntary shiver skittering down my spine.
I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.
Draven.
The most dangerous of the Rogue Alphas… for me at the moment.
I turned my head anyway, and there he was – leaning against the bookshelf like he belonged in some romantic dream I had no business having.
He was drressed in dark, fitted clothes that were clinging to his lithe frame, his hair was tousled just enough to look like sin. His eyes were shimmering in the dim lighting of the library, locking onto mine with an intensity that made my breath catch.
He smirked. “Is this where you hide from all your adoring fans?”
I rolled my eyes. “If you are here to tease me, you can keep walking.”
He strolled forward, ignoring my words completely, and dropped into the seat across from mine like he owned it.
“I’m not here to tease,” he said, his voice dipping a little lower. “Not yet, anyway.”
I snapped my book shut. “What do you want, Draven?”
“Now that’s a loaded question.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands. His gaze dropped to my lips and then moved back to my eyes with a slowness that made my skin burn.
“I heard about the little drama storm around you lately,” he said casually. “Celeste Renwyn making her move. Girls sharpening their claws. You interning under River.”
I groaned. “Let me guess. You are here to warn me too?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Warn you?” He laughed. “No. I think it’s adorable watching them panic. You have turned their little world upside down without even trying.”
I blinked. “Then what are you doing here?”
He tilted his head and the grin on his face softened into something unreadable. “Maybe I wanted to see how you were handling it. Maybe I missed the way your eyebrows scrunch when you are pretending not to be annoyed by me.”
I stared at him. “You are impossible.”
He leaned closer. “So I have been told.”
The space between us shrank in slow degrees, but it felt charged, like every inch pulled us into a dangerous gravity. I forced myself to lean back, to break eye contact, to remember all the reasons why I should not fall into his orbit.
“You should go,” I said quietly.
But he didn’t move.
“You know,” he murmured, “the first time I saw you, really saw you, you looked like you wanted to disappear.”
I stiffened.
“But then you stood up to River,” he continued. “And arrived here, becoming the talk of the town He paused. “You don’t look like someone trying to disappear anymore.”
“I’m not,” I said before I could stop myself. “I’m just trying to survive.”
His gaze darkened, but not in anger. It was… something else. Something I couldn’t name.
He reached out in in slow and deliberate move, and brushed his knuckles against my cheek. Just once. The touch was barely there, but it lit my every nerve on fire.
“You don’t have to survive alone, Eva.”
I jerked back, with my breath caught in my throat. “Don’t. I don’t know what you are doing, Draven,” I said in a trembling voice despite my best efforts. “But I can’t – won’t – get tangled in games with you.”
His smile returned, softer this time. “This isn’t a game for me.”
“You flirt like it is.”
“I flirt because I like seeing you flustered. It’s cute. But I’m not playing.” He stood, towering over me now, and the light caught the edge of the tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve, something dark and intricate.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
He leaned down, bracing one of his hands on the back of my couch. His mouth was merely inches away from mine.
“Everyone wants a piece of you,” he whispered. “They want to break you, claim you, control you. But not me.”
“Then what do you want?” I whispered, hating the way my voice shook.
He smiled. “To watch you set them all on fire.”
Then he straightened and walked away, leaving me breathless and burning.
I sat there long after he was gone. My heart was pounding like it was trying to escape my chest.
I hated the way he got to me. Hated how easily he crawled under my skin.
But the worst part?
I wasn’t sure I wanted him to stop.