-Alexia-
The tacos were gone, Zeus was snoring with his head in my lap, and I still couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched. Not just watched. Weighed. Measured. Judged.
I glanced over my shoulder again—just breeze, sun, and students drifting toward their next classes, like this world didn't constantly try to knock them sideways. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Again. But I had felt it. The flicker of tension. The way the air shifted, charged, like I was a puzzle piece someone didn't trust to fit. Asher.
Even when he wasn't there, I could feel the weight of his absence. Finn noticed it too, though he didn't say anything. Just smiled a little tighter, laughed a little louder. Jasper and Soren joined us halfway through lunch, their easy banter smoothing the cracks in the moment, but there was a gap. A rhythm thrown off-beat. And I was the reason.
I leaned back, face tilted toward the sun. My magic still hummed under my skin, steady and restless, like it wanted to remind me it was there—still wild, still strange, still mine. The Focus & Flow exercise had shaken something loose in me, something deeper than power. Feeling. Roots-deep, old-as-dirt feeling that refused to be tucked away.
Here, I couldn't hide from it. Not with the way Finn looked at me like I was something ancient rediscovered. Not with the way Soren studied me, like he could read the questions I was afraid to ask. Not with Jasper's grin, like he already knew where this was headed. And not with the way Asher's gaze had lingered, wary, assessing, like he hadn't decided if I was a threat or something worse.
I rubbed the back of my neck. Zeus huffed in his sleep, a soft whine under his breath, paws twitching like he was chasing something in a dream. Magic? Or something else? I didn't ask for any of this. The bond. The attention. The whisper of something wrapping around me, unseen and insistent, like a vine hunting light. But part of me wasn't fighting it either. The thought made me sit up straighter, pushing Zeus gently off my lap. He blinked awake, ears flicking, nose twitching as he sniffed the breeze, a low whine in his throat.
"What is it, buddy?" I whispered.
He didn't bark, but his tail thumped once, and he turned his head toward the north edge of campus, ears pricked, eyes bright with something that wasn't quite dog and wasn't quite normal. It was gone as quickly as it came, but I felt it—a subtle pull, like something brushing across my magic. A reminder. A promise. Zeus sneezed, shook out his fur, then trotted in a circle, looking up at me like, well, are we going?
I exhaled, rolling my shoulders. "Yeah. Let's move."
"I'm gonna stretch my legs," I said, stepping away from the bench.
Jasper waggled his brows. "Off to grow a secret garden?"
"Not today." I smirked.
Finn's eyes softened. "You sure you don't want company?"
I hesitated. Then shook my head. "I'm good."
His smile was warm, too warm, and I turned before I could second-guess it.
The path wound away from the crowds, slipping into old stone and moss, shadows pooling beneath trees older than most family lines. Zeus stayed close, head low, ears swiveling as if listening to the heartbeat of the forest. Every step felt like testing a boundary I didn't understand, like Whisperwind itself was waiting to see what I'd do next. The wards here buzzed low against my senses, like static under my skin, but not in a threatening way. More like a hum of acknowledgment. I paused, pressing a hand to a mossy wall, feeling a faint warmth, like the wards recognized me.
Zeus bumped my knee, and I pulled my hand back. "Yeah, I know. Let's keep going."
I didn't get far before voices cut through the hush.
"Thought I'd find you sulking somewhere green," a sharp voice teased.
Three students stepped into the path—two girls and a tall boy with a smirk that said he thought the world owed him something. The girl in front had a bob haircut and eyes like iced honey, arms crossed like a shield.
"I'm not sulking," I said, already tired.
"You're wandering. Alone. That's telling." Her tone was light, but the edges were sharp.
Zeus stepped forward, low growl curling in his chest.
"Easy," I murmured.
The boy scoffed. "She thinks the mutt's her emotional support animal."
"He's my familiar," I snapped. "And he's worth more than you."
His grin widened, and the second girl—a tall, braided, silver-pierced shadow—clicked her tongue. "Feisty. No wonder the Royals are sniffing around."
The bob-haired girl stepped closer. "That's the problem, isn't it? You show up, and suddenly they're tripping over themselves. Acting like you belong."
I felt it again, the heat under my skin, the pressure in the air. My magic pulsed, reaching for something—Zeus's fur bristled, but he didn't bark.
"Walk away," I warned, voice low.
"Oh, don't worry," she said sweetly. "We will. Just consider this your friendly reminder: people are watching. And not everyone wants you here."
Zeus stepped closer, head low, tail stiff, his eyes catching a brief glint of gold I almost missed.
My chest tightened, but I stood tall. "Good. Let them watch."
The girl's smile thinned, and then they turned, laughter drifting behind them like smoke.
When they were gone, Zeus nudged my hand, and I let out a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding.
"Thanks, bud," I whispered, scratching behind his ears. His tail wagged once, then stilled, his gaze fixed on me like he knew exactly what I was feeling. Maybe he did. I glanced back at the mossy wall, at the wards still humming under my skin, and felt it again: that subtle pull, a whisper of something beneath the earth and air, like Whisperwind itself was watching me. And for the first time since I arrived, I didn't feel like I was trespassing. I felt like I was being invited.