Jade
The walls of my dorm room felt like they were closing in. No matter how many times I told myself to stop thinking about Zade, about the way he had warned me to stay out of the woods, the thoughts kept circling around in my mind like vultures. I needed air. I needed to feel something other than confusion and fear.
Grabbing my jacket, I headed outside. I still have an hour before my first class. The campus was quiet, only a few students moving between buildings, their heads buried in their phones. My feet moved on their own, carrying me past the dorms, past the parking lot, and toward the woods that lined the far edge of campus. The trees stood tall and silent, thick enough to block out most of the fading afternoon light.
A shiver ran down my spine, but I ignored it. I told myself it was just a walk. Just a little time alone.
The moment I stepped onto the path, the world changed. The sounds of campus faded away, replaced by the soft rustling of leaves and the distant call of a bird. The woods smelled of damp earth and moss. It should have been peaceful. Instead, it felt like the trees were watching me, like they knew I didn’t belong there.
I pushed the feeling away and kept walking, my boots crunching softly on the dirt path. The deeper I went, the thicker the fog became, curling around my ankles like ghostly fingers. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to shake off the chill that had nothing to do with the weather.
I had just decided to turn back when I heard the laughter.
It wasn’t friendly. It was sharp and cruel, cutting through the mist like a knife. I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs. A group of guys stepped out from between the trees, their faces half-hidden by the fog. There were four of them, all older, all wearing the same cocky smirk that made my skin crawl.
"Hey there," one of them said, his voice dripping with false sweetness. "What’s a pretty thing like you doing out here all alone?"
I tried to step around them, but another guy moved to block my path, his smile widening in a way that made my stomach turn. "No need to rush off. We were just about to have some fun."
"Leave me alone," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady even though my hands were shaking.
They laughed, the sound echoing too loudly in the silent woods. One of them reached out, brushing his fingers against my sleeve. I jerked away, my heart racing.
"Come on," he said, his tone turning sharper. "Don’t be like that. We’re just being friendly."
I took a step back, then another, but they closed in around me like a pack of wolves. My mouth opened to scream, but before a sound could escape, something happened.
A shadow tore through the fog.
In less than a heartbeat, Zade was there, standing between me and the guys like a living wall. His body was tense, his fists clenched at his sides, and his entire presence seemed to hum with barely contained violence. His head was low, his breathing heavy, like he was fighting an instinct deeper than anger.
"Walk away," Zade said, his voice so low it was almost a growl, but every word was sharp and clear.
The guys hesitated, glancing at each other. The one closest to me tried to puff up his chest like he wasn’t scared. "We’re just talking," he said, but his voice shook.
Zade’s body shifted, and suddenly he wasn’t just a guy anymore. He was something more. Something dangerous. His eyes flashed with something wild, and when he stepped forward, the ground itself seemed to tremble under his feet.
"This is your last chance," Zade said, his tone dark enough to freeze the blood in my veins.
The leader of the group cursed under his breath. Without another word, they turned and stumbled back the way they had come, disappearing into the mist like cowards.
For a moment, Zade didn’t move. He stood there breathing heavily, his back still turned to me. I stared at him, my heart hammering so loudly I thought it might break free from my chest. He had saved me, but the energy rolling off him was almost scarier than the guys had been.
Slowly, Zade turned around. His dark hair was tousled, his jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful. When his eyes met mine, the intensity in them stole the breath from my lungs. He looked at me like I was something precious, something he wanted to protect but didn’t know how.
He took one step closer, his hand twitching like he wanted to reach for me but didn’t trust himself to touch me. His voice, when it came, was rough and raw, almost broken with the weight of what he was saying.
"You don’t realize it yet," he said, his gaze never leaving mine, "but you’re mine. And nothing in this world will ever change that."
The words hit me harder than any scream ever could have. I stood there frozen, too stunned to speak, too shaken to breathe.
Before I could find my voice, before I could ask what he meant, Zade turned and disappeared into the trees, swallowed by the fog and the shadows.
I stood there alone, the mist curling around me, the silence pressing down like a weight. His words echoed in my head, each syllable sinking deeper into my chest.
You’re mine.