By the time I got back to the dorm block, my mind was still spinning from everything that had happened outside.
The vampire's words refused to leave me alone.
This isn't the power of an ordinary wolf.
Your wolf side is already waking.
I tightened my grip on my bag strap as I climbed the stairs, trying to convince myself the night was finally over.
The corridor was quiet when I reached my floor, almost too quiet. The dim light above flickered faintly, throwing shadows across the walls.
Then I saw him.
Philip was leaning against the wall near my door, his arms folded, looking like he had been there for a while.
For a second, my steps slowed.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
Philip straightened and looked at me, his expression unreadable.
"You're late," he said calmly.
There was something about the way he said it that made my chest tighten. It sounded less like a casual remark and more like he had been expecting me.
"I stayed in the library," I replied.
His eyes stayed on me for a moment too long.
"That's not all," he said quietly.
I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Instead of answering, his gaze dropped briefly to my hand. I hadn't even noticed it was still trembling.
His eyes lifted back to mine. "You look like something happened."
For a moment, I considered lying again. Pretending tonight had been normal. But after everything that had happened, even I was starting to get tired of pretending.
"A lot has been happening lately," I said.
Philip gave a small nod, as if that answer alone confirmed something in his mind.
The silence between us stretched, and the memory of the vampire's voice returned.
So you are the little wolf.
I looked up at Philip.
"Why do they keep calling me little wolf?" I asked.
For the first time, his calm expression shifted ever so slightly.
It was small, almost invisible, but I caught it.
"Did something happen tonight?" he asked instead.
The way he dodged my question only made my frustration grow.
"Stop doing that," I said, my voice sharper now. "Every time I ask you something, you answer with another question."
Philip held my gaze, silent.
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to calm down. "Another vampire found me tonight."
That got his attention.
His expression didn't fully change, but something in his eyes sharpened.
"He said I wasn't like an ordinary wolf," I continued. "Then he said my wolf side was waking."
Philip's gaze darkened slightly, like he was thinking through something carefully.
"And what do you think that means?" he asked.
I let out a dry laugh. "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you."
For a second, neither of us spoke. The corridor felt colder somehow.
Then Philip finally said, "It means they've started noticing your changes."
The words settled heavily in the silence.
"My changes?" I repeated.
"The things happening to you aren't random anymore."he said calmly. "Things that shouldn't belong to an ordinary human."
A chill ran through me.
So he had noticed too.
That alone made me look at him differently.
How much had he been watching?
Before I could press him further, a movement at the far end of the corridor caught my eye.
A shadow slipped past the staircase corner, fast and silent.
My body tensed immediately.
When I looked at Philip, his eyes were already fixed on the darkness.
For the first time that night, his calm expression hardened.
He saw it too.
The vampire hadn't left.
It was still watching.