Chapter 3 Tangle

Kathy's pov

The next morning felt too normal for a place like this.

Sunlight through the window, people talking in the hallway, doors opening and closing like it was just any other school, not Mooncrest, not the place where things were already starting to feel… off. I stood in front of the mirror longer than I needed to, tying my hair, untying it, then tying it again like that would somehow settle whatever was restless inside me.

It didn’t.

I ended up grabbing my bag and leaving before I could overthink it any more.

My first lecture was called Wolf and Man, which sounded exactly like the kind of thing I wasn’t ready for. Still, I went. Because what else was I supposed to do, hide in my room and pretend none of this was happening?

The classroom was already half full when I got there. I slipped into a seat somewhere in the middle, not too noticeable, not too far back either. Just… there. The professor started talking almost immediately, something about origins, balance, control. I tried to listen. I really did. But my mind kept drifting, circling the same things from yesterday.

The hallway. The boy in the hoodie.

The bathroom. Zayden.

That… feeling.

I pressed my pen harder against the page than necessary, trying to focus on the words in front of me.

It lasted maybe ten minutes.

The door opened.

Not quietly. Not dramatically either, just enough to pull attention without asking for it. A boy walked in like he didn’t care that he was late, hands in his pockets, hood up, moving at his own pace. And then, like something out of a movie I didn’t ask to be in, a few girls behind me actually whispered. Not subtle. Not quiet. The kind of whisper that’s meant to be heard.

I didn’t want to look.

I did anyway.

He lifted his head slightly, just enough for me to see his face clearly, and something in my chest tightened before I could stop it.

Him.

The boy from yesterday.

Same unreadable expression. Same way of looking at everything like it didn’t quite matter. Except now, in actual light, it was worse. Or better. I couldn’t tell. He looked… sharp. Like every detail about him had been chosen on purpose.

The professor stopped talking mid-sentence. “Riven Nightfang.”

So that was his name.

“Care to explain why you’re late?”

Riven didn’t even look sorry. “No.”

A few quiet laughs scattered across the room. The professor sighed like this was expected, like this happened often enough to not be worth arguing about.

“Sit down.”

His gaze moved then. Straight to me.

It wasn’t dramatic. No slow-motion moment, no sudden shift in the air. Just his eyes landing on mine and staying there for a second too long. Long enough that I felt it, that same strange awareness from yesterday creeping back up.

There was an empty seat beside me.

Of course there was.

“Take the free seat,” the professor added, already turning back to the board.

Riven hesitated. Just for a second. I saw it. Then he moved, walking up the steps and dropping into the seat next to me like it didn’t mean anything at all.

It shouldn’t have.

Except suddenly I was very aware of how close he was.

His bag hit the floor beside his feet. I could feel the heat from him, not even touching, just there, like sitting near a fire you didn’t choose. I kept my eyes on my notebook, pretending I was writing something important, pretending I couldn’t feel him there.

The professor kept talking.

Something about dual nature. Instinct versus restraint. None of it stuck.

“Open your leaflets.”

I hadn’t even noticed when they were handed out. Mine sat on the desk, untouched. I reached for it at the same time Riven did.

Our fingers brushed.

It wasn’t like yesterday. Not exactly. But it was enough.

A sharp shiver ran up my chest, quick and sudden, stealing the air from my lungs for half a second. I froze. He pulled his hand back immediately, like the contact meant something he didn’t want to deal with.

I didn’t look at him.

I couldn’t.

We didn’t speak for the rest of the lecture. Not a word. Not even a glance, at least not that I caught. But the silence wasn’t empty. It felt… full. Like something sitting between us, unspoken and uncomfortable and impossible to ignore.

When the professor started calling names to pair people up, I barely paid attention at first.

Then I heard it.

“Kathy Moonfall.”

My head snapped up before I could stop it.

A pause spread across the room, thin at first, then breaking into whispers that weren’t even trying to hide anymore. I felt it before I really heard it, that shift in attention, that sudden weight of everyone knowing something I hadn’t said out loud.

Of course they knew. The Moonfalls aren’t exactly a secret.

My face stayed still. I’ve had practice. But inside, something twisted, tight and uncomfortable. I didn’t correct him. Didn’t say anything at all.

“And Riven Nightfang.”

Of course.

Of course it was him.

I turned slightly, just enough to look at him, to see if he’d react. If the name meant anything to him the way it did to everyone else.

Nothing. His expression didn’t change. If anything, he looked… more distant, like he’d already decided something and I wasn’t part of the explanation.

The bell rang before we could even start whatever we were supposed to do together.

Chairs scraped. Voices rose, students moved.

Riven stood and left without a word.

Just like yesterday.

I sat there for a second longer than necessary, staring at the empty space beside me, trying to understand why that bothered me more than it should.

Then I grabbed my bag and stood up.

I needed air.

Outside was brighter than I expected, the kind of light that makes everything feel sharper. I stepped onto the path, not really sure where I was going, just away from the noise, away from the room, away from that feeling of being watched.

“Hey.”

I turned. Zayden.

Of course.

He was walking toward me, hands in his pockets, expression easy in a way that made everything else feel less steady. Like he didn’t belong to the same tension that seemed to follow me around.

“You look like you survived your first lecture,” he said.

“Barely,” I replied, letting out a small breath that almost felt like a laugh. “I think it tried to kill me with information.”

He smiled, just a little. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

We fell into step without really deciding to. Just walking. It felt… normal. More normal than anything had since I got here.

Then he glanced at me, something thoughtful in his expression. “I see you’ve met my cousin already.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Riven.”

The name landed heavier this time.

“He’s my cousin. Distant, but still.”

Something in my chest dropped. I stopped walking without realizing it. “Wait… what?”

Zayden slowed too, turning slightly toward me. “Yeah. Why?”

But I wasn’t really hearing him anymore. Cousins, Riven and Zayden.

The same strange pull. The same reactions. Different, but not completely. Not separate.

Connected.

My mind tried to piece it together and immediately wished it hadn’t. Because suddenly it made a kind of sense I didn’t want it to.

This isn’t good…