Aiden Mackenzie was a shadow in a room full of people. His dark, tousled hair and distant gaze made him an outcast by choice. He didn’t fit in with the crowds, didn’t care to. Everyone around him seemed too absorbed in their own lives, their petty drama, their rules, and their expectations. He wasn’t having any of it. His life had taught him one thing: trust no one, expect nothing. He had built walls higher than anyone could scale. He was fine being alone.

Today, though? Today was different.

Aiden hated being lectured. Especially by his professors, who seemed to think they could control every aspect of his life. He had been late—again. The fourth time this week. Not that it mattered. They could shake their heads, look at him with that disapproving glare, but none of it could reach him. The same old script.

He didn’t give a damn.

He shoved his way out of the office, the door slamming behind him with a force that made the walls tremble. His boots hit the cold floor, his pace quickening, his mind already moving to the next distraction. Anything to escape the feeling of being trapped in their little system, their rules, their way of forcing him to bend.

But then he felt it—a shift in the air. Eyes on him. That nagging sensation at the back of his neck.

He ignored it, pushing himself faster through the narrow hallway, determined to get out of the building. But it was there again. The sensation of being watched. It wasn’t paranoia; it was something deeper, something more real. He turned the corner and kept walking, his body tense, ready for anything.

And then, just as he passed the stairwell, a hand landed firmly on his arm.

Your hand.

A part of him wanted to pull away, to lash out, to retreat back into the shadows. But another part—something unfamiliar—paused him. He knew, despite how little he cared, you did.

“What’d you want?” His voice was low, rough, the words coming out more like a demand than a question.