The college halls were alive with chatter, footsteps echoing against marble floors polished to a silvery gleam. To Isabella, it felt overwhelming—the sea of unfamiliar faces, the towering walls, the air tinged with something she couldn't quite name. She hugged her books closer to her chest, reminding herself that this was the beginning of something new.
Most students here looked normal enough, laughing in clusters, leaning against lockers, or rushing to their classes. But Isabella often felt as though eyes lingered on her for too long, as if whispers followed her when she passed. She brushed it off, convincing herself it was nothing more than new-girl nerves.
Then she saw him.
He was standing at the far end of the corridor, tall, broad-shouldered, and utterly magnetic. His presence was so commanding that the space around him seemed to shift, as if even the air itself bent to his will. Students moved aside without realizing it, giving him a clear path wherever he walked.
His eyes lifted—and locked with hers.
For a heartbeat, Isabella forgot how to breathe. A strange warmth shot through her chest, so sudden and fierce that she nearly dropped her books. Her pulse raced, the world around her blurring until only his gaze remained.
And Theodore—Alpha of the Crescent Blood Pack, though none of these humans knew it—felt it too. His wolf stirred violently within him, pressing against his skin, demanding recognition. Mate. The word thundered in his mind, primal and undeniable. Yet the girl standing before him looked fragile, human. Impossible.
Their eyes held for a second too long. The noise of the hallway dimmed, the world narrowing to just the two of them. He took a step forward, his jaw tight, his expression unreadable, as if torn between approaching her and staying away.
Isabella's breath caught. Something about him was different—something dangerous, something magnetic. She didn't know why, but she couldn't look away.
And in that suspended moment, though neither spoke a word, both knew their lives had just changed.