Chapter 2 One Tiny Spark

Kathy's POV

I told myself I would unpack first. Just open the suitcase, take things out one by one, pretend I belonged here long enough for it to maybe become true. I didn’t.

The room felt too still, like it was waiting for me to prove something I couldn’t prove, and my skin had that restless, prickly feeling I get when I stay in one place too long with my thoughts.

So I grabbed my bucket and my towel and decided a bath would fix at least one thing. Warm water, something normal. Something that didn’t involve being Malia Mooncrest’s daughter or the girl without a wolf.

The hallway outside my room was quieter now. A few doors shut, distant voices echoing somewhere I couldn’t see. I followed the signs until I found the bathroom, pushed the door open, and paused for a second just inside.

It was… nicer than I expected. Clean, mirrored tiles catching the light, everything a little too polished, like even the reflections were watching themselves. I set my things down, told myself to relax, and went in.

The water helped. Not in some life-changing way, just enough to make my shoulders drop a little, enough that I could breathe without it feeling forced. I stayed longer than I planned, letting the heat sink in, letting the noise in my head dull out. For a few minutes it was just me and the sound of water and nothing else. No expectations. No whispers.

When I finally stepped out, wrapping my towel tighter and reaching for my clothes, I felt almost normal again. Almost.

I should have left right then. That would have been the smart version of this story.

Instead, I took my time, drying my hair a little, staring at my reflection like it might suddenly look different if I waited long enough. It didn’t. Same face. Same eyes. No hidden power staring back at me, no sign of anything waking up inside. Just… me.

I turned toward the door.

And the opposite door flew open.

I froze. Completely. My brain didn’t even try to process it at first, it just stopped. Because standing there, stepping out like this was a perfectly normal moment in his day, was a boy. Naked. Water still running down his skin, hair damp, expression just as shocked as mine for about half a second before he reacted.

My eyes went wide. I mean actually wide, like I could feel it, like I might never blink again.

He moved fast, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around himself in one smooth motion, like he’d done it before or maybe like he just had better instincts than me. I turned away just as quickly, face burning so hot it felt unreal.

“Oh my God,” I muttered, staring very hard at the wall. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know. I thought this was— I mean, obviously it is, but I didn’t think—”

Great. I was rambling. Of course I was.

“It’s fine.”

His voice cut through my mess of words. Calm. Not annoyed, not laughing either, just… steady. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw that he had the towel secured now, one hand running through his damp hair like he was trying to push it back into place.

“Are you sure?” I asked, because apparently I wanted to make this worse. “I didn’t mean to just stand there like that, I just… froze.”

Something flickered in his expression then. Not quite a smile, but close enough that it made my stomach do something weird.

“Yeah. You’re not the first person to walk into the wrong side.”

Wrong side.

Right. That would have been useful to notice earlier.

I turned properly this time, keeping my eyes firmly on his face like that would somehow erase the last thirty seconds. Up close, he looked… different from most people I’d seen since arriving. There was something sharp about him, not in a harsh way, just… precise. Like he knew exactly where he stood in the world.

“I’m Kathy ,” I said, because introducing myself felt like the only normal thing left to do.

“Zayden.”

The name settled in my head instantly, like it belonged there.

We shook hands. Simple. Normal. Except it wasn’t…

The second our skin touched, something hit me. Not pain, not exactly, but a sudden jolt that ran straight through my arm and into my chest, sharp and electric, like my body had been waiting for something and didn’t know how to react now that it had found it. I sucked in a breath before I could stop myself.

His fingers tightened slightly around mine, just for a second. His eyes flickered, like he felt it too, but he didn’t say anything. Neither did I. We just stood there for a moment longer than we should have, caught in something neither of us had words for.

Then I pulled my hand back.

“Okay,” I said quickly, too quickly. “I should go.”

Smooth. Very smooth.

I grabbed my things, probably forgetting something important, and headed for the door before my brain could catch up and trap me there any longer. I didn’t look back. I didn’t want to see his expression, didn’t want to know if I’d imagined that whole thing or if it had been as real as it felt.

The hallway air hit me like a reset button, cooler, quieter. I walked fast at first, then faster, until it was almost a run. My heart hadn’t slowed down at all, if anything it felt worse now, louder, like it was trying to get my attention.

By the time I reached my room, my hands were shaking just enough to make the key slip once before I got the door open. I stepped inside, shut it behind me, and leaned back against it, pressing my head lightly against the wood.

“What was that,” I whispered.

Not even a question. More like I was stating a fact I didn’t understand.

I could still feel it. That moment. That spark. My palm tingled like the memory of his hand was still there, like something had been left behind. That didn’t make sense. None of this did.

I pushed myself off the door and crossed the room slowly, dropping my things without really seeing where they landed. My thoughts were everywhere at once, circling the same point and never quite landing on it.

Zayden.

The name again. It stuck.

And that feeling. That sudden, impossible reaction from my body, from something deeper than my body maybe. I’d spent my whole life waiting for something to happen, some sign that I wasn’t just… empty where it mattered. And then this. A handshake. A stranger. A moment that shouldn’t mean anything.

Except it did.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands like they might explain themselves if I looked long enough. They didn’t. Of course they didn’t.

Maybe it was nothing. Just nerves, just being in a new place, my brain trying to create something out of nothing because it couldn’t handle the alternative. That sounded reasonable. Safe.

It also felt like a lie.

I let out a slow breath and lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling again, same as before. Only now everything felt slightly off, like something had shifted just enough that I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

First the boy in the hallway. Now this. I had been here less than a day.

And somehow, things were already changing.