Elara tried to focus in class.
She really did.
But every few seconds her mind drifted back to the boy at the entrance.
Those eyes.
Gold.
Not brown. Not hazel.
Gold.
She tapped her pencil against her notebook, staring at the same sentence she had been pretending to read for the last ten minutes.
"Elara?"
Her teacher's voice snapped her back.
"Yes?"
"Would you like to share the answer with the class?"
Every head turned toward her.
Her mind went blank.
"…Uh."
A few students laughed softly.
The teacher sighed and continued the lesson, but Elara barely heard the words.
The pendant was warm again.
Too warm.
As if reacting to something nearby.
Or someone.
The bell rang.
Students flooded into the hallway, voices bouncing off the lockers and walls. Mira grabbed Elara's arm before she could disappear into the crowd.
"Okay," Mira said. "You're acting weird today."
"I'm not."
"You stared at the board for thirty minutes like it personally offended you."
Elara forced a small smile.
"I just didn't sleep well."
Mira studied her face carefully.
Then her eyes dropped to the pendant.
"You're wearing that again."
Elara instinctively touched it.
The silver wolf symbol rested in her palm.
"My mom gave it to me," she said quietly. "It's important."
Before Mira could reply—
A cold wind rushed through the hallway.
The lights flickered.
Students murmured in confusion.
Elara's heart skipped.
The pendant suddenly burned against her skin.
Not warm.
Burning.
She gasped and stepped back.
And then she saw him.
The boy from earlier stood at the end of the hallway.
Watching her.
This time he didn't look away.
Students moved around him like water flowing around a stone, but his gaze remained locked on Elara.
Slowly—
He began walking toward her.
Every step felt deliberate.
Controlled.
Powerful.
Elara's pulse thundered in her ears.
Mira leaned closer. "Okay… that guy is definitely looking at you."
"I noticed."
The boy stopped a few feet away.
Up close, his presence felt even stronger.
Like standing too close to a storm.
His eyes flickered briefly toward the pendant.
Then back to her face.
"You shouldn't be wearing that," he said.
His voice was calm.
Low.
But there was urgency beneath it.
Elara frowned. "Excuse me?"
"That pendant," he continued quietly. "It marks you."
A chill ran down her spine.
"Marks me for what?"
For a moment he didn't answer.
His jaw tightened.
Then he said the words that would change everything.
"For them."
The lights flickered again.
Somewhere outside—
A distant howl echoed through the air.
The boy's eyes darkened.
"They're already close."
Elara's stomach twisted.
"Who is?"
He looked straight into her eyes.
"Werewolves."