bCaleb’s /bPOV

We were halfway across the parking lot when Caroline suddenly stopped, her hand clutching my arm with a grip tighter that I uld have oil to look at her, my brows furrowing in confusion. The afternoon air was thick with an uneasy silence, the distant ham of cars on the male gend Verrely audible.

“Caleb,” she said, her voice unusually tense, her eyes scanning the building we had just left. I don’t feel right about this. Something’s bwing /b

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, already exhausted. “Caroline, we’ve been over this. Aurora is fine. She’s in there with the teacher, she’s safe. If we go back in there, we’re just going to look paranoid.”

“I don’t care how it looks,” she snapped, stepping closer, her eyes burning with a conviction I wasn’t used to seeing from her. I just have the feeling, bCalet /bI swear to you, something isn’t right. I felt it the moment we stepped outside, and I can’t ignore it.

I hesitated, ncing back at the entrance to the school building. It stood there, a heavy and unmoving structure, it’s cold facade giving no indication of bany /bdanger within. But Caroline’s expression didn’t falter. If anything, it grew more determined when I didn’t immediately agree, I need you to bar in there and check on Aurora.”

I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. “Caroline, this is ridiculous. Do you realize how crazy we’ll look if I just walk back in there for no reason? Aardes is fine. You know she can handle herself. You’re letting paranoia get the better of you.”

“No, I’m not,” she countered fiercely. “You don’t understand, Caleb. bIt’s /bMr. Hemming. bI /bbhave /bthis feeling–this terrible feeling–that he’s nning something. I saw the way he was looking at her before we left, like he was bjust /bwaiting for bus /bto be gone. Pleaseb, /byou have to trust me on this.”

Her words sent a ripple of unease through me, but I still hesitated. Mr. Hemming had always been an odd one, his presence looming in a way that never sat right with me. But surely, he wouldn’t do anything reckless, not with so many people around.

Right? I wanted to dismiss Caroline’s concerns, btell /bher she was overthinking things, but there was something in bher /beyes–something rawb, /bsomething real- that made it impossible for me to ignore her.

“Damn it, Caroline,” I muttered under my breath, rubbing the back of my neck before finally giving in. “Fine. I’ll go check. But if I go in there and everything’s fine, you owe me a week’s worth of coffee bruns/bb./b”

She gave me a tight nod, though there was no humor in her eyes. “Fine. Just go. Quickly.”

With a reluctant sigh, I turned on my heel and made my way back toward the building, my pace steady but unhurried. The moment bI /bstepped inside, ba /bstrange stillness settled over me. The hallways were empty, eerily so. The usual distant murmursb, /bthe asional creak of the old floorsb–/bnone bof /bbit /bwas there. It was too quiet.

I pushed forward, my steps echoing slightly as I approached the room where Aurora was supposed to be. The door was closed. That bwasn’t /bunusual, but something about it made my stomach clench. I reached for the handle, about to push it open, but then–I heard it.

A noise. Muffled at first, but unmistakable. A scuffle, a sharp intake of breath, the sound of somethingb–/bbor /bsomeone–being shoved. My blood turned cold.

I had almost walked away. I had almost ignored Caroline’s instincts. But now, standing thereb, /bmy hand hovering over the door handle, my pulse hammering in my ears, I knew she had been right all along. Something was veryb, /bbvery /bwrong.

“Aurora? Mr. Hemming?” I called out, but the silence was almost eerie.

I called out again, my voice echoing through the hallway, a desperate edge creeping into my tone.

“Aurora? Mr. Hemming?” Nothing. Just the suffocating silence of the building settling around me, but my gut told me bsomething /bwas off. And thenb, /bfaintly, my wolf hearing picked up something–a muffled struggle, the sound of fabric tearing, the gasping breath of someone in distressb. /b

My heart pounded so hard bI /bcould feel it against my ribs as my body moved before my mind could even process what was h grabbing the doorknob, twisting it hard. Locked.

That was all the confirmation I needed. olling. I blunged /bforwardb, /b/li/ol

bChapter /bb34 /b

I bdidn’t /bwaste bany /bbmore /btime. Moving back a few steps, I gave whoever was inside, a false bhope /bbthat /bI was going away, but in medity, fro bclosely/bb…/bbwaiting /bbfor /bthem to fess upb. /bAnd it didn’t take long.

b“/bbSee/bb?/bb” /bbA /bsly voice whispered from inside, as the muffled voice became frantic, the sound of thrashing around intensifying “We des anne are all alone now…with me

bThe /bvoice had me stopping for a second, not because of the gleeful menace in them, but because of how true they were.

Aurora bwas /balone…she didn’t have any friends, anyone to talk to or anyone who woulde looking for her in case she went missing..

Was that why Mr. Hemming had targeted her?

But I had gotten what I needed. With brute force, I mmed my shoulder into the door once, and the wood cracked and splintered beneath the force W one final shove, it flew open, and what I saw sent a hot rush of rage through my veins so fast it nearly blinded me.

Mr. Hemming–his disgusting hands–his entire body–was pinning Aurora down on the floor, her blouse ripped down the middle, exposing her btrembling /bform. Her face was twisted in horror, lips parted, breathing in quick, shallow gasps as she struggled beneath his weight. Her wide, fear filled eye fored onto mine, pleading, screaming without making a sound.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Everything else ceased to exist, and all I could see was her–so vulnerable, so terrified. And him. His fithy hands, the bway /bhe hovered over her, the sickening smirk just starting to twist his lips before he realized bI /bwas there.

bChapter /bbComments /b