Chapter One — The Boy in the Shadows

The first thing I noticed about Blackwood University was that nobody smiled.

Not the students walking through the ancient stone gates.

Not the professors watching from the windows.

And definitely not the tall boy standing beneath the dead oak tree.

He was dressed entirely in black, his dark hair falling across his forehead as he stared directly at me.

I had never seen him before.

Yet somehow, the moment our eyes met, my heart stopped.

His eyes were strange.

Not brown.

Not black.

Red.

I blinked.

They were suddenly dark again.

Maybe I imagined it.

I looked away and tightened my grip on my bag.

"Don't stare at him," a girl beside me whispered.

I turned toward her. "Why?"

She glanced at the boy.

"Because people who get too close to Adrian Vale usually regret it."

Before I could ask another question, the bell rang.

Students rushed toward the main building.

I followed them, but I could still feel Adrian's eyes on me.

Like he was waiting.

Watching.

Remembering.

---

My first class was history.

I chose a seat near the window and tried to forget about the strange boy.

Then someone sat beside me.

I froze.

Adrian.

He didn't look at me.

He simply opened a book and said quietly,

"You shouldn't have come here."

I frowned.

"Excuse me?"

He finally turned toward me.

His eyes were no longer dark.

They were crimson.

My breath caught.

"You need to leave Blackwood," he whispered.

"Why?"

His expression changed.

For the first time, I saw something behind his cold face.

Fear.

"Because they already know you're here."

Before I could respond, the professor entered.

Adrian looked forward as if nothing had happened.

But then I noticed something written on the corner of his notebook.

A symbol.

A circle surrounded by three sharp lines.

The moment I touched it, a strange warmth rushed through my hand.

Adrian grabbed my wrist—not painfully, but quickly.

His eyes widened.

"You have the mark."

"What mark?"

He stared at my wrist.

Then at me.

And for the first time, the terrifying boy everyone warned me about looked completely shaken.

"You're my mate."

I didn't understand what that meant.

But somewhere beyond the classroom walls, something screamed.

And Adrian whispered,

"They've found you."

To be continued..