Dark Twin Moon - The Awakening

Chapter 58:

The sun shone brightly in the sky, the moderate autumn temperatures easing day by day. The cold of winter would soon sting. But the sun was a constant reminder that the next warmer season would come sooner than many might think,

People were running around like ants, going to work, school, or just running errands. Still, the sun shone on them.

Even though the cold would soon be on their doorstep, at least the students at North High School were smiling like summer had just begun.

Their newest member, Kayleb Whiteoak - as he's known there - had the brightest smile they'd ever seen on anyone. He proudly entered the school through the front door, walked down the halls, greeted his friends, and jokingly threw Luke over his shoulder only to carry him to his locker, where he set him back down and kissed him on the top of his head. He left him standing there with a bright red head walking away, chuckling.

Everyone has gotten used to his antics over the last few weeks. People even laughed at it because everyone knew it was just fun. Thanks to him, life had improved drastically. No one was the victim of bullying anymore. The bullies feared for more pain than they had already received. And even teachers who regularly disrespected their students became more cautious about their actions.

Not everything was his fault, as James and even Dal helped him turn the former bullies into genuinely nice people under the watchful eye of their hero. However, interactions between Kayleb and his soulmate remained low-level. Everyone knew about the tension between them.

As Kayleb walked back to the front, where his locker was, he passed his soulmate.

Dal saw his soulmate walk by and followed him with his eyes. As soon as it happened, he stopped listening to his friends, who tried to talk to him almost desperately. When he saw Kayleb's friends heading to their own lockers, he jumped at the chance. He apologized to his friends and went on his way.

His heart was pounding nervously in his chest. The school's wide concrete walls had never felt so narrow. But he went on like a soldier.

He leaned casually against the locker to the right of his soulmate's open locker door. However, since his soulmate refused to acknowledge him even moments later, he immediately knew the game.

"Good morning, handsome," he said in his deep, velvety voice.

He could see Kayleb stopping in his movements and even a slight shiver running down his spine. But he still didn't acknowledge him. Not wanting to seem desperate, Dal just stood there and waited, a smug smirk on his face. His arms crossed over his chest, showing off his growing muscles.

Not once did he care that the atmosphere was getting heavy, and he seemed oblivious to the pressure it had put on the situation.

Kayleb held his head in his locker, where he swallowed loudly. The pressure made it difficult for him to breathe. He had kept his distance because he knew he couldn't control himself around his mate. Before they took the next step, he wanted to see if he was truly a changed person.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to forgive everything, even though he knew it wasn't really Dal who had decided to do that to him. But he still couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal or the sense that, in the end, he really was his father's son and would probably do it all again.

His resolve slowly weakened as he caught Dal's irresistible scent, like the forest mixed with his own natural smell. He once almost collapsed under it when his heart was dominated by disgust and hatred. But since then, he softened: hate became compassion, and disgust turned into longing.

Still, Kayleb could have stayed away from Dal for a while longer if his heart hadn't been pounding so hard in his chest that he feared it would explode at any moment. He could feel the uncertainty that Dal was slowly succumbing to. It had been a long time, and Kayleb knew this, too.