Chapter 6 Nocturnal Habits (Brynn POV)
I gave up on sleep at 1:47 AM.
For the third night in a row, I'd tossed and turned until my sheets were a tangled mess and Harper had thrown a pillow at my head, mumbling something about "counting sheep, for God's sake." But lying still felt impossible. My skin itched, my muscles ached with unused energy, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw amber eyes and felt phantom electricity racing across my skin.
I needed to move.
Harper's breathing had evened out into the deep rhythm of sleep, so I slipped out of bed as quietly as possible. I pulled on leggings, a sports bra, and an oversized hoodie, then grabbed my phone and room key. The hallway was dark and silent, emergency exit signs casting everything in an eerie red glow.
The gym would be empty at this hour.
I'd been using the gym at night since freshman year, back when insomnia was just garden-variety teenage anxiety rather than whatever this new restlessness was. The night security guard, Marcus, knew me by name and had stopped questioning why a seventeen-year-old girl needed to run on a treadmill at two in the morning.
I took the back stairs to avoid the main security desk, muscle memory guiding me through the dark academic building toward the athletic complex. The gym occupied the west wing, connected to the main building by a glass corridor that offered views of the mountain range in daylight. Now it just reflected my ghostly silhouette back at me.
The gym door was supposed to be locked after midnight, but someone had propped it open with a doorstop probably another insomniac athlete. I slipped inside, welcoming the familiar smell of rubber mats and disinfectant.
The main lights were off, but security lighting along the baseboards provided enough illumination to navigate. I headed toward the treadmills, already anticipating the mindless rhythm of running that might finally quiet my racing thoughts.
Then I heard voices.
I froze, one hand on the treadmill's control panel. The voices came from deeper in the gym, from the direction of the weight room. Male voices, multiple speakers, talking in low tones punctuated by sounds I couldn't quite identify heavy impacts, shuffling feet, something that might have been breathing or might have been growling.
Every instinct screamed at me to leave. To walk away and pretend I'd never heard anything.
Instead, I moved toward the sound.
I don't know what possessed me. Curiosity, maybe, or that same reckless impulse that had led me to attack that girl during the championship game. Whatever it was, I found myself creeping along the wall, staying low, keeping to the shadows.
The weight room door stood partially open, spilling harsh fluorescent light into the hallway. I pressed myself against the wall beside it, heart hammering, and risked a glance inside.
Jaxon stood in the center of the room.
He wore basketball shorts and nothing else, his torso gleaming with sweat under the lights. But it wasn't his state of undress that made my breath catch. It was the way he moved.
He faced off against another guy I recognized from the lacrosse team Tyler something, a junior with a buzz cut and shoulders like a linebacker. They circled each other with a predatory grace that seemed choreographed, except I knew it wasn't. This was instinct.
Tyler lunged.
The movement was too fast. Faster than any human should be able to move. One second he was three feet away, the next he'd closed the distance and aimed a strike at Jaxon's midsection.
Jaxon twisted, avoiding the blow with inhuman speed, and countered with a hit to Tyler's shoulder that sent the larger guy stumbling backward.
"Better," Jaxon said, breathing hard. "But you're still telegraphing."
"Easy for you to say." Tyler rolled his shoulder, and I heard something pop back into place. "You've been training since you could walk."
"And you've been training for three years." A third voice, coming from my left. I shifted slightly and saw Cole Steelclaw Jaxon's brother from my Chemistry class leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "No excuses. Again."
They reset, and this time I paid closer attention. Watching for the tells, the impossible things my rational mind wanted to deny.
Tyler's fingers. They weren't quite human anymore. The nails had lengthened into something sharper, darker. Not fully claws, but close.
Jaxon's eyes. They reflected the light wrong, flashing gold like an animal's.
And when they moved God, when they moved it was like watching apex predators play at being human. All coiled strength and barely restrained violence.
"Devon, you're up." Cole pushed off the wall, nodding toward a fourth figure I hadn't noticed. "Show us what you've learned."
Devon another lacrosse player, tall and rangy with dark skin stepped into the makeshift ring. He stripped off his shirt, and I saw scars. Long, pale lines across his ribs and back that looked like claw marks.
My phone chose that moment to vibrate in my hoodie pocket.
The sound was barely audible, just a faint buzz against fabric. But four heads snapped toward the door in perfect unison, and I knew with absolute certainty that they'd heard it.
"Someone's watching." Cole's voice dropped to something dangerous.
I didn't think. I just ran.
My footsteps echoed off the walls as I sprinted back through the gym, abandoning any pretense of stealth. Behind me, I heard the weight room door slam open and multiple sets of footsteps giving chase.
They were faster. So much faster.
I made it to the glass corridor before a hand grabbed my arm and spun me around. I stumbled, my back hitting the windows, and found myself face-to-face with Jaxon.
His eyes glowed gold in the darkness. Amber turned supernatural, inhuman, wrong.
"Brynn." My name came out as a growl. "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep. I just wanted to use the treadmill. I didn't" The words tumbled out in a rush. "I didn't mean to see anything."
The others caught up Tyler, Devon, and Cole forming a semicircle around us. All of them looked different now. Taller, maybe, or just more dangerous. Their eyes reflecting light that wasn't there, their movements too fluid, too predatory.
"She saw." Cole's voice was flat. "We need to handle this."
"Handle?" Ice flooded my veins. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Tyler said slowly, "that we have a security problem."
"I won't tell anyone." The words came out too fast, too desperate. "I swear. Whatever I saw, I'll forget it. I'll pretend I was never here."
"You can't unknow what you know." Devon moved closer, and I pressed harder against the window. "That's not how this works."
"Jax." Cole looked at his brother. "Your call. She's your responsibility."
Jaxon hadn't moved, hadn't released my arm. His grip wasn't painful, but it was unbreakable. His gold eyes searched my face, and I saw something warring behind them conflict, maybe, or calculation.
"What are you?" I whispered.
"That's complicated."
"You're not human."
"No." The admission fell between us like a stone. "We're not."
"Are you going to kill me?" My voice shook despite my efforts to steady it.
Something flickered across his face. "No. God, no. Brynn, we're not going to hurt you."
"Then what are you going to do?"
He looked at his teammates, some silent communication passing between them. Cole's expression was skeptical. Tyler looked concerned. Devon just shrugged, like my fate was someone else's problem to solve.
"We need to talk," Jaxon said finally. "But not here."
"I don't want to talk. I want to go back to my room and pretend this never happened."
"Too late for that." Cole stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "You saw something you weren't supposed to see. We need to discuss your options."
"Options?" Panic clawed at my throat. "What options?"
"Cole, back off." Jaxon's voice carried authority that made the older boy step back immediately. "You're scaring her."
"Good. She should be scared." But Cole moved away, giving me space to breathe.
Jaxon finally released my arm, and I resisted the urge to run. Where would I even go? They'd already proven they were faster than me.
"I'll explain everything," Jaxon said quietly. "But I need you to trust me first."
"Trust you?" I almost laughed. "You're not even human, and you want me to trust you?"
"I'm still the same person who helped you with Calculus yesterday."
"Are you?" I looked at each of them in turn. "Or was that just an act? The helpful wellness buddy assigned to monitor the problem student?"
His jaw tightened. "It's not like that."
"Then what is it like? Tell me. Because from where I'm standing, it looks like I stumbled onto something I wasn't supposed to see, and now you're all deciding what to do with the witness."
"Accurate assessment," Devon muttered.
"Not helping," Tyler hissed.
Jaxon ran a hand through his hair, a gesture so normal and human that it momentarily broke through my terror. "You're right. This is a mess. But I promise, we're going to figure it out."
"Figure what out?"
"How to keep you safe."
"Safe from what? From you?"
"From the truth." He met my gaze, and those inhuman gold eyes held something that looked almost like regret. "Because once you know what we are, everything changes. And I'm not sure either of us is ready for that."
My phone vibrated again, and this time I pulled it out. Harper's name flashed on the screen she must have woken up and realized I was gone.
"I need to answer this," I said. "She'll freak out if I don't."
Jaxon nodded. "Tell her you couldn't sleep and went for a walk. Tell her you'll be back soon."
"Will I?"
"Yes." The certainty in his voice should have been comforting. Instead, it just reminded me that he could probably stop me from leaving if he wanted to. "Answer the phone, Brynn."
I swiped to accept the call, my hand shaking. "Hey, Harper."
"Where the hell are you?" Her voice was thick with sleep and worry. "Your bed's empty and you're not answering texts."
"I couldn't sleep. Went for a walk." The lie came easily, smooth with practice. "Sorry, didn't mean to worry you."
"It's two in the morning, B. Where are you walking?"
"Just around campus. I needed air." I looked at Jaxon as I spoke, watching his expression for any sign of what came next. "I'll be back soon, okay?"
"You promise? You're not doing something stupid?"
Too late for that. "Promise. Go back to sleep."
She grumbled something unintelligible and hung up. I lowered the phone, staring at the four figures surrounding me in the darkness.
"Okay," I said. "I answered. Now what?"
Jaxon glanced at his teammates. "Give us a few minutes. We'll meet back at the house."
"You sure that's smart?" Cole's skepticism was evident. "Leaving you alone with her?"
"I can handle this."
"That's what I'm afraid of." But Cole jerked his head toward the exit, and Tyler and Devon followed him into the darkness, their footsteps fading until I couldn't hear them anymore.
Leaving me alone with Jaxon and the truth I'd accidentally uncovered.