Chapter 4 Grounded.

Kathy's POV

Cousins. I could have never thought they were.

The word just kept sitting there, in the back of my head, refusing to leave. Like something stuck to the bottom of a shoe. Zayden had said it so casually, like he was just filling me in on something small and forgettable. Like it didn't matter.

It mattered.

I didn't say that out loud. Obviously. I just nodded and made some sound that probably passed for "oh, interesting" and kept walking because what else was I supposed to do, stand in the middle of the path and have a crisis in front of him?

My feet kept moving anyway, one after the other, while my thoughts spun in tighter circles. Riven and Zayden. Two completely different vibes but suddenly linked in the worst way. The quiet intensity from the hallway collision.

The warm spark from that bathroom handshake. Both of them hitting me in places I didn't even know were waiting to be touched. And now family. Distant or not, it still counted for something, right? Blood had a funny way of complicating everything.

We walked back toward Ashveil and I tried, genuinely tried, to just be normal about it. To let it go. To file it under weird coincidence and move on.

It didn't work.

My brain wouldn't let it. It kept pulling the thread, trying to make it make sense, and every time I thought I had it, it would slip and start over. Riven and Zayden.

The hallway, the bathroom, the lecture. That feeling, both times, that electric sharp thing that hit somewhere below my ribs. I'd told myself it was nerves. Being new, being overwhelmed, being here at all when I wasn't supposed to have arrived as myself, just Kathy, just ordinary, just wolfless.

But twice now. Two people. Related people.

That wasn't nerves.

I didn't know what it was.

Zayden was talking about something. Orientation maybe, or the dining hall schedule, I wasn't fully tracking it but I kept making the right noises because I am, above everything else, very good at appearing to be fine when I am absolutely not fine.

"Yeah, that sounds useful," I mumbled at one point when he mentioned the best spots to study without getting interrupted by shifting practice noise.

He kept going, voice steady and calm like always, and I nodded along, smiling in the places that felt right.

"You went quiet," he said after a minute, slowing his steps a little so he could look at me properly.

"I'm listening," I said quickly, maybe too quickly. My voice came out a bit higher than I wanted.

He gave me a sideways look that suggested he didn't fully believe that. Those ice-blue eyes had a way of seeing through the surface without making it feel invasive. "You sure? You look like your head's somewhere else."

I let out a small laugh that sounded forced even to me. "First day, you know? Everything's kind of loud in here." I tapped the side of my temple lightly, trying to play it off. "Plus I didn't sleep great last night. New bed and all that."

Zayden nodded slowly, like he was deciding whether to push or let it drop. "Fair enough. This place can mess with your head even on good days. If you ever want to talk about it, or not talk, whatever. I'm around."

That was nice of him. Really. Most people would have kept digging or changed the subject to something safer. He just offered and left it there. I liked that about him more than I wanted to admit right then.

We reached the front of Ashveil and I slowed down, glad to have a reason to wrap this up before he noticed anything else. My head was too full. I needed to be in my room, alone, where I could just sit with all of it without anyone watching my face for reactions. The stone steps felt solid under my shoes, a little grounding at least.

"Thanks," I said. "For walking me back. You really didn't have to."

"No problem." He shrugged, easy, like everything with him was easy. I wondered briefly if that was just who he was or if it was something he'd learned. "You okay?"

"Yeah." A beat. "Just tired."

He didn't push it. I liked that about him. He just nodded and took a small step back, hands in his pockets. "Get some rest then. And hey, if you see my cousin around, tell him not to be late to everything. He never listens but worth a shot."

I managed a weak smile at that. "I'll keep it in mind."

"See you around, Kathy Moonfall."

He said my name differently than everyone else did. Not like it was a weight, not like he was thinking of my mother when he said it. Just my name. That was… something. Warm, almost. Like he saw me separate from all the legends and expectations.

I turned toward the door, pulling my key from my jacket pocket, shoulders finally starting to drop a fraction. Okay. Room. Bed. Stare at the ceiling until things started making sense. That was the plan. Maybe unpack a little. Maybe not. Mostly just breathe without feeling like someone was waiting for me to prove I belonged here.

I pushed the door open.

And froze.

My books slipped straight out of my hands before I could catch them. I heard them hit the floor but I wasn't looking at them anymore.

Couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Just stood there in the open doorway with my key still pressed hard into my palm, staring at what was on the other side…