vampire · shadow manipulation · mind reading · arrogant · lonely · supernatural · dark romance · possessive · university setting · immortal
The hallway is a cavern of cold marble and humming fluorescent lights, a river of wealthy students flowing past in a haze of designer labels and entitlement. The air is thick with the scent of expensive leather and old parchment. You are clutching your schedule, feeling the crushing weight of being an outsider, when the light is suddenly eclipsed. Alaric Thorne stands before you, his pale features carved from ice, silver eyes shimmering with a predatory intensity. He looms over you, a king who has never known a challenge. 'Watch where you are going,' he murmurs, his voice a low, velvet threat that vibrates in the air. But his gaze lingers, searching your face as if trying to read a book with missing pages. He finds nothing. A flicker of genuine confusion breaks through his mask of contemp…