Chapter 69 What Woke With Me
ZARA’S POV
The scream dragged itself out of me like it was made of metal scraping, violent, raw. It was the only thing tethering me to consciousness as darkness swallowed the yoga room whole. Something slammed into my chest, an energy so bright and sharp it cut throughout.
A heartbeat later, the world snapped back.
I was on the ground. Flat on my back. Trembling. My breath rushed in ragged gasps as though my lungs had forgotten how to work. The mat beneath me felt soaked, my clothes clinging with sweat that was somehow both freezing and burning at once.
“Look at me,” Diane said sharply.
My eyes fluttered open. Her face hovered above mine, pale with worry, strands of messy hair sticking to her temples. The glow on her fingertips slowly blurred into view....faint, golden traces of magic retreating into her skin.
She had been the one who snapped me out of it.
“What....what happened?” I rasped.
“Your power surged. Hard,” she replied breathlessly.
“You weren’t shifting. You weren’t meditating. You were… awakening.”
That didn’t make sense. My throat closed.
“I don’t....”
The door slammed open.
“KAI!” Diane shouted, relief crashing into her tone.
“Good gods, finally...”
"Where have you been?"
Before I could turn, warm, strong arms slid under my shoulders and pulled me up against a chest I knew better than my own heartbeat. Kai held me as though he could crush death with his hands. His scent flooded my lungs with pine, smoke, and danger. My body responded before my brain did. Muscles loosened. The shaking lessened.
“Zara,” he whispered, voice jagged at the edges.
I blinked up at him. His face hovered inches from mine....jaw clenched, eyes bright with fear and fury.
“You weren’t answering your link,” he said.
“I felt you drop. Hard. You disappeared.”
I swallowed.
Disappear?
That meant the bond went dead. For a wolf, that only happened if....
“You thought I died,” I whispered.
The truth hit him like a punch. His eyes closed, forehead dropping to mine.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he breathed.
Something in my chest fractured.
Diane cleared her throat awkwardly.
“I... Uhm... I will give you two some space. Zara needs to recover. Slowly. Meditation can destabilize her right now. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
She didn’t wait for a response. She slipped out quickly....too quickly. Almost like she was running from something.
Or someone.Kai.
His hands trembled faintly, where they held the back of my neck. Trembling Kai was rarer than mercy in this academy.
“You scared me,” I whispered.
“You nearly stopped my heart.”
I swallowed past the lump growing in my throat.
“I saw things.”
His gaze sharpened.
“What things?”
“Wolves. Cities burning. You and I....separated by fire. I couldn’t cross. You couldn’t reach me.”
"Those same visions again..."
"After how many weeks."
His chest rose sharply.
“That wasn’t a vision. That was fear.”
“It was too real.”
“Fear always is.”
A silence settled between us....not empty, but charged. Thick. Hot.
His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth... slowly, absently, like he needed to confirm I was real.
“You’re warm,” he murmured.
I blinked.
“And you’re staring.”
“I’m trying not to.”
My heartbeat tripped.
I became aware of every point of contact....his thigh pressed along the outside of mine, his knee touching my hip, his hand gripping my waist. His breath feathered over my cheek.
“You’re trembling,” I whispered.
“So are you.”
He leaned in, lips inches from mine.
Everything inside me tightened with want, fear, hunger, love.
“Kai…”
He swallowed hard.
“If I kiss you now,” he said, voice rough.
"I won’t stop.”
My breath hitched.
“And if I don't want you to stop?”
His pupils blew wide, black swallowing gold.
“Tell me to pull away,” he whispered.
“I can’t.”
He exhaled, a sharp, pained sound.
“Zara…”
The bond between us flared with heat crawling up my spine, wrapping around my ribs, dragging me forward. His forehead dropped to mine, our noses brushing. My lips parted. His breath shook.
Just...one...movement. One.
The universe held its breath.
Then...
The door slammed open again.
“Kai!” Mira burst in.
“Dr. Voss is looking for you. You both. Now.”
I jerked backwards. Kai froze. The spell shattered like glass.
Did Diane report us.
Was that why she ran away so quickly?
Mira stared, eyes wide, cheeks flaming when she realized what she’d interrupted.
“Oh, gods,” she muttered.
“Sorry. Again.”
Kai groaned softly.
I didn’t look at him. Couldn’t. My skin felt too thin. My heart was too exposed.
Mira saved me. And ruined me. At the same time.
Kai cleared his throat.
“What does she want?” His voice sounded sandpapered and murderous.
“She’s throwing a celebration,” Mira said.
“For the wolves staying through the break.”
Suspicion curled through Kai’s expression.
“And she wants us there specifically.”
I stiffened.
I thought she was done with the whole celebration... What was this woman really planning on doing?
They were trying to lure him back.
They wanted Mira controlled.
And me removed.
Because I wasn’t predictable anymore.
Kai stood slowly and helped me up. His fingers brushed mine deliberately, and every muscle in my body remembered almost kissing him.
“I’m coming,” he told Mira.
She gave one last awkward look between us before leaving.
The door closed.
We were alone again.
Silence stretched.
Kai turned to me, hesitant, just like touching me again, might break something.
“You should rest,” he said softly.
“I’ll come back for you after I see what Voss wants.”
“No,” I said immediately.
“I’m going with you.”
His jaw tightened.
“Zara....”
“I’m not hiding,” I cut in.
“Not again. Not from Voss.”
His gaze changed then with respect, replacing worry.
"You're not trusted by anyone, Zara." He said.
Ouch! That hurt deeply.
"What a nice way to put it." I sneered.
"I won't hide things from you, and neither will I sugarcoat words, darling." He replied.
"You know what?"
"What?" I queried.
“Fine,” he murmured.
“Come along, but stay close.”
My pulse fluttered.
“I always do.”
He stared at me for three long seconds, something molten moving behind his eyes.
Then we left.
The hallway outside the yoga room was colder than it should have been. The lights hummed faintly, flickering every few steps. Students had gone home, leaving the corridors empty and echoing.
I moved beside Kai, our hands almost brushing, not quite touching.
Which somehow felt more intimate than holding them.
“You almost kissed me,” I blurted.
He inhaled sharply.
“You almost kissed me back.”
Heat shot to my cheeks.
“You’re avoiding saying you wanted to.”
“And you’re avoiding saying you still want to.”
I stopped walking.
He stopped, too.
“Say it,” he murmured, voice low.
“Kai....”
“Say it, Zara.”
The air grew warmer.
“I wanted to kiss you,” I whispered.
His eyes darkened with triumph and torment.
“And I wanted to pin you to that mat,” he murmured, stepping closer.
"And make you forget your own name.”
My breath stuttered.
He leaned in, slow, dangerous, devastating.
“But we should wait,” he whispered against my ear.
“Why?” I breathed.
“Because when I finally kiss you,” he murmured.
"I want there to be no interruptions. No alarms. No visions. No, Voss. Just you. And me. And nothing else.”
My knees almost buckled.
“Promise?” I whispered.
He smiled, the dangerous kind.
“Promise.”
We reached Voss’s office.
The double doors were open. Golden banners hung everywhere. Tables of food and candles and music pulsed beyond the room.
Students who stayed for break filled the hall.
Like a party. Like a trap.
Dr. Voss stood at the centre...elegant, polished, smiling like a queen who owned every piece on the board.
“Kai,” she purred.
“Mira.”
Her gaze slid to me.
“And Zara.”
Something flickered in her smile.
“Welcome to the first evening of the Winter Break Celebration.”
Kai didn’t move closer. “Why are we here?”
She placed a hand over her heart. “To honour you,” she said.
No one in the room blinked. No one breathed.
“It is time,” she continued.
"To rebuild trust.”
Kai scoffed.
“You’re trying to win us back.”
“Not at all,” she said sweetly.
“I merely want to remind you of what we are building together.”
Her eyes landed on me like a knife coated in honey.
“And I have a very special announcement tonight.”
My stomach dropped. I felt Kai tense beside me. Voss smiled wider.
“One that will change everything.”
The bond inside me pulsed hard. Something was coming. Something big.
And for the first time since entering this academy....
I wasn’t afraid. I was ready. And I wasn’t alone.
Kai’s fingers brushed mine... barely, secretly, defiantly.
The night was just beginning.