Chapter 20: Crossed Lines

Elias POV

I knew something was wrong the second I stepped back onto the training floor. People were staring at me and it wasn't the usual quick glances people threw at me because I was “the quiet one,” or because Ronan hovered around me like a storm cloud waiting to break, no!

These stares were sharper. Whispery. Curious in a way that made my skin crawl.

“Why’s Ronan acting like that?” someone muttered behind me.

“Did you see the way he snapped at Kael?”

“Is he protecting him… or what?”

Their whispers weren’t even subtle. They didn’t bother hiding it. They wanted me to hear.

I swallowed, pretending I hadn’t noticed, stretching my arms just to look busy. But my heart thumped louder than my movements. Something had shifted and it wasn’t my fault.

I glanced toward Ronan.

He was pacing at the far side of the mat, his jaw clenched tight, and his muscles coiled like he was fighting something inside him. Every few seconds his gaze flicked to me…no, latched on me.

Instinctively, my cheeks warmed.

Why was he looking at me like that? Like I was the only thing in the room. Like he heard my heartbeat from across the hall.

Luca approached, stepping into my view.

“You okay?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Yes,” I lied. “Everyone just seems… weird.”

Luca  exhaled through his nose. “That’s because they are. Ignore them. Just focus.”

I tried to nod, but the staring only got worse.

Two students whispered and darted their eyes toward me. Another brushed past too closely, inhaling, inhaling my scent like they were trying to study something.

I jerked away instinctively. “What….hey, why are you…”

The boy flinched. “Sorry. You smell… different today.”

My heart skipped. “Different how?”

He shrugged, embarrassed. “Stronger?”

Stronger. Stronger?

Before I could process that, the trainer blew the whistle.

“Pair up! Light sparring!”

Great. Perfect timing. I moved toward Luca automatically, but someone cut me off,

“Elias. With me.”

No other person than Ronan.

His voice was low, rough, more like a warning than an invitation..Luca  raised his brow but stepped aside.

I swallowed. “Sure.”

Ronan took his position opposite me, but he didn’t lift his hands. His pupils were blown wide, dark. He was breathing heavier than normal, as if he’d just run laps instead of standing still.

“Ronan,” I said slowly, “are you…”

“Don’t move,” he said.

“What? Why?”

He took a step closer.

My breath stilled.

“Your pheromones,” he murmured. “They’re… flaring.”

My heart lurched painfully. “That’s not… I don’t…I wasn’t trying..,”

“I know,” he said, voice thick. “That’s why it’s dangerous.”

I felt eyes on us again. Dozens of eyes are on us, whispering and watching,

“Ronan, you’re making it worse by staring at me like that,” I hissed.

He dragged a shaky hand through his hair. “I’m trying not to grab you, Elias. Just… stay still.”

My cheeks burned. “I’m literally not doing anything.”

“That’s the problem,” he muttered. “You don’t have to.”

Before I could ask what that even meant, another voice cut in…

“Hey Elias, switch to my side”

Kael.

Ronan’s entire body snapped toward him like a loaded weapon.

“Back off.” Ronan’s voice was lethal.

Kael lifted both hands slowly. “Relax. He’s my friend.”

“He’s not your anything,” Ronan growled, stepping slightly in front of me.

I felt the shift immediately, the sudden wave of heat behind Ronan, the subtle scent change in the air.

His Alpha instincts were waking.

“No,” I whispered, grabbing his arm. “Ronan. You’re overreacting. It’s just training.”

His muscles tightened under my hand. “Elias, you don’t understand what you’re giving off right now.”

“And you don’t understand how insane you look,” I shot back under my breath.

Kael smirked like he found the whole situation amusing. “Ronan, you’re acting like he’s in heat.”

Ronan lunged so fast Cass, his friend  had to physically block him.

“Enough!” Cass barked. “Control yourselves!”

Ronan breathed hard, his chest rising and falling sharply. Kael stepped back, his expression shifting from playful to calculating.

Something cold slid through my stomach. This was wrong. All wrong. I took a step back, needing space, needing air, but the moment I moved, Ronan moved too, grabbing my wrist gently but firmly.

“Elias,” he said, his  voice low enough only I could hear, “stop moving. Please. You’re making it worse.”

I froze.

His hand trembled where he held me. Behind us, the whispers grew again.

“Why is Ronan touching him?”

“Is Elias doing it on purpose?”

“Does he  even know when they’re flaring?”

My throat tightened. I wanted to shout at them, tell them I wasn’t flaring, that I wasn’t trying to attract anybody, that I didn’t even know how that worked…

Ronan suddenly braced his hand against the wall beside my head, caging me in.

I gasped. “Ronan, what are you…?”

“Breathing,” he said through gritted teeth. “Trying not to lose it.”

My heart hammered so loudly I thought he could hear it. He lowered his voice. “Elias. Look at me.”

I did. I shouldn’t have, but I did. His eyes darkened further.

My scent, whatever it was, intensified. I felt it shift in the air around us like warmth curling between us. This was bad. Really bad.

“Ronan,” I whispered, “people are watching.”

“I don’t care.”

The honesty in his tone hit me harder than it should’ve. Before he could move closer, Cass yanked him backward by the collar.

“Enough! Both of you. Separate!”

Ronan snarled, actually snarled.before catching himself and stepping back, breathing like it physically hurt him.

I exhaled shakily, wiping my palms on my pants. I felt warm all over, confused, embarrassed, overwhelmed.

I looked at Kael.

He wasn’t smirking anymore. He was watching me, no, studying me with a strange tightness in his gaze..I stepped away instinctively. Kael took that as confirmation..His expression sharpened.

“Interesting,” he murmured to himself.

I shivered.

Why did that feel threatening?

The whistle blew again, signaling a break, but no one moved. The air was too thick. Too tense.

Ronan tried approaching me, slowly this time.

“Elias…” he said softly.

But before he reached me, someone called out from the far corner,

“Ascendants. Move.”

The entire training hall went silent. My blood ran cold. One by one, figures emerged, Ascendants observing from the shadows, their expressions unreadable. Some held tablets. Others simply watched.

But every single pair of eyes turned toward me. Staring, assessing and measuring.

Ronan cursed under his breath. “Elias, don’t move.”

My heart pounded.

The whispers behind me turned into complete silence as the highest-ranking students in the school stepped forward like judges.

One of them..Nohiru spoke, voice calm but too sharp.

“Interesting flare, Elias. Very… sudden.”

I swallowed, but my throat was dry.

“I didn’t… I wasn’t trying…”

“Of course not,” he said smoothly. “Pheromone spikes often reveal hidden traits. Hidden potential. Hidden power.”

My stomach twisted.

Ronan stepped protectively in front of me. “Stay away from him.”

Nohiru smiled slightly. “We’re just observing.”

But his eyes were hungry. Watching me like I was an experiment unfolding.

A chill crawled down my spine. For the first time since I arrived here, I felt something I hadn’t felt before. Not embarrassment. Not confusion. Not frustration. But Fear!!!

Ronan reached behind him, his hand brushing mine carefully, reassuringly.

But my gaze stayed locked on the Ascendants. Because suddenly… I realized something terrifying.

They weren’t surprised by my flare. They were waiting for it. And now that it happened……they weren’t going to stop watching me..Not anymore. And I was no longer safe.