Night settled heavy and silent after the fire, as if the world itself was holding its breath. The echoes of flames still danced behind my eyes, a haunting reminder of how close I came to death. The air was thick with ash and memory, and nothing felt the same. Something had shifted. Inside me, around me.
Luthor said nothing more as we walked. Only the sound of our steps, mine uneven and his sure. Echoed in the empty corridor. The mansion had returned to its usual hush, but something inside me had shifted. The fear, the helplessness, it lingered like ash in my lungs. But so did something else. Something I couldn't quite name.
He opened the door to the chamber I'd been staying in. I stepped in, the torchlight spilling over my bed, my books, the abandoned shawl draped over the chair. Everything looked the same, but nothing felt familiar anymore.
"I'll have someone post guard outside," Luthor said, his voice carefully neutral. "You'll be safe."
I turned to face him.
Safe.
I had almost died minutes ago.
"Elira…" he began, but I shook my head.
"Don't go," I whispered.
He stopped.
"I mean it, Luthor. Don't disappear again. Not tonight. Please."
Something passed through his eyes. Conflict. Maybe confusion. Maybe guilt.
"I won't," he said.
He stepped inside and closed the door gently behind him. The room felt smaller now, more intimate. Or maybe it was just the weight of everything unsaid between us.
I sat on the edge of the bed, fingers twisted together, trying to suppress the tremble still hiding beneath my skin. He walked to the hearth and lit it with a whisper of his hand. The flames crackled softly, casting golden light over his face.
"You could've died," he said after a long moment.
"I know."
He turned toward me, his expression unreadable. "You don't say it like someone afraid of death."
"I was afraid," I admitted. "But not just of dying."
His gaze held mine. "Then of what?"
"Of being forgotten. Of not meaning anything in the end."
He knelt in front of me. "You're not forgettable, Elira."
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "Then don't leave me."
He was silent again. Then, slowly, his hand reached out. It hovered for a moment, like he wasn't sure if he should touch me. Then his fingers brushed mine. Warm. Solid. Real.
My heart skipped.
"I don't want to rely on anyone," I said, my voice cracking. "But I don't think I can do this alone either."
"You won't have to." His grip tightened, gentle but certain. "Not anymore."
I looked at our joined hands, at how easily mine fit into his, and for the first time since the attack, I didn't feel like I was falling.
"I used to think you didn't care," I whispered. "That all of this, your protection, your magic. Was just duty or maybe there was something you wanted from me, something personal, perhaps the alpha's blood "
He didn't deny it. But he didn't confirm it either. But the answer would soon reveal itself to me. Soon
Instead, he brought my hand up to his lips.
It was the barest brush of skin, his mouth to my knuckles. But it made me shiver like he'd branded me.
"I care," he said simply.
I drew in a breath, my pulse fluttering. I should have been tired. Broken. But his nearness lit something in me. Something fragile. Something bold.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"The truth is better kept on silence." His voice was rough. Honest. "You're from a bloodline of Alpha's, they were mighty and Gods among Gods. It not something you would want to hear ."
"I get to decide what I need." I said firmly
"And how I need you" my tobe broken but certain
And I leaned in.
It wasn't a kiss, not yet. Just my forehead against his, our breaths shared in the space between heartbeats. But it was enough to make everything else disappear.
He sighed, his hand cradling my jaw. "You don't know what you're doing to me."
"I think I do," I said.
He was so close now. So warm. And for once, I wasn't afraid of what came next.
I rested my other hand on his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heart. Not fast, but deep. Like thunder before a storm.
I moved first.
My lips brushing his, slow and questioning.
He answered with a deeper kiss, one that pulled something from both of us. Something desperate and real.
It wasn't just a kiss. It was a promise. One sealed by the way he pulled me closer, his arms encircling me like I was something he didn't intend to let go of again.
When we parted, breathless, he kept his forehead against mine.
"I'll stay," he said again. "All night, if you want."
"I want," I breathed.
We lay side by side, fully clothed, but close. Closer than I'd ever been to anyone. His fingers tangled with mine beneath the sheets. My head rested against his chest, his heartbeat steadying me.
"I'm scared," I admitted into the dark.
"Good," he replied. "Fear means you still care what happens next."
"And what does it mean if I'm not scared of you anymore?"
He paused. Then said, "Then I've finally earned a part of your trust."
"You've earned more than that," I said.
He kissed the top of my head, and it wasn't just comfort. It was a vow.
A long silence stretched between us, but this time, it wasn't heavy. It was peaceful.
He didn't leave.
He held me as the hours passed, and when I finally drifted into sleep, I did so with his promise wrapped around me like a second skin.
The last thing I remember before the dream took me was his voice, quiet against my temple.
"I won't leave you again, Elira. Not now. Not ever."
And then morning
came.
The first day of my true becoming. I would no longer be the girl hidden in fear, but the Alpha rising from ruin. Today, I'd begin the path to power, to purpose. To become the strongest among all the packs of wolves. My destiny had finally awakened.