The night has come, the moon start to rise and shine softly above the dark sky. The serendipity atmosphere should make others to calm and enjoy the night, but not with Elira. Her minds engtangled with the voice of two man. One she longing for but decide to dissapear from her life and the other one looming around her as someone who she never want to tied together.
"Wolves, Elira. I hunt wolves."
"Don't be alone with him when full moon rises."
Thane's warning about Kael send a creepy sensation to her bone.
And now—it was a full moon.
And she was alone.
In her chamber.
Inside the Rennar mansion.
Inside Kael Rennar's home.
She first entered this mansion some time ago, but even now, everything inside seems alien—eerly so. But now it felt different, for the first time. Alone, uncovered and unguarded, as though she had stumbled into a lion's cage. A strange chill crept through her. Elira couldn't explain why, but an unsettling fear began to stir deep within her.
Elsewhere, Kael Rennar is in his own room, sitting at his desk, when his door is knocked on. Before long, a man dressed as a servant approaches him cautiously.
"Has everyone left the mansion?" The quiet room echoed with Kael's deep voice.
"Yes, sir." The head servant completed the report "as you ordered."
"Good, now you have to leave too"
The servant bowed his head and dared not enquire further. As directed by his lord, he quietly retreated into the shadows and left the mansion. Then Kael's eyes lingered on the sky and the full moon. Despite his serious demeanour, there is a deeper emotion in his eyes that he cannot identify.
Tonight__ She'd break. And he would be there to catch her__ or kill her.
He leaves his desk and heads to Elira's room.
Meanwhile, in the woods beyond the estate, a shadow moved between the trees. A man's figure emerged, drawing near the iron gate of the Rennar property. He reached out—his fingertip brushing the cold metal—then recoiled sharply.
The silver had burned him.
As he recoiled from the gate, Elira's palm seared __ a phantom burned.
He stared at the mansion beyond the gate, pain in his eyes—and longing.
Back in the mansion, Kael stood before Elira's door. He hesitated.
Silent and unmoved, he stood there as though deciding whether to enter or leave her in peace. Still, his hand moved gently toward the handle after a protracted stop. The door squeaked open.
Elira sat on the edge of her bed inside, back to him. Her shoulders swung with heavy breaths, each more laboured than the next.
He said her name gently, "Elira," but she turned away.
He approached her slowly.She kept her eyes unfocused on the floor even as he stood before her, silent tower. She just breathed, not flinches or moves.
A faint flush bloomed on her cheek, a deep, unnatural red. Kael kneeled infront of her, studying her quietly. Then, gently, he reached out and brushed his fingers against her cheek.
The warmth of his touch drew her eyes upward. Their gazes met—but hers held no recognition, no guarded restraint like before. Her pupils were wide, her breath uneven. Feverish.
Her skin burned beneath his hand.
He traced her cheek, her jaw, then her neck. The heat radiating from her skin was alarming, unnatural.
But the moment his palm fully rested against her throat, something shifted.
Elira sucked in a sharp breath. Her body tensed. And for the briefest moment—barely a blink—her eyes flashed gold.
Elira had never experienced a burning sensation in her body. It was something else, not sickness. Her breath was irregular and her throat felt dry. She experienced a deep, twisting ache in her chest along with an odd, urgent hunger. A raw, hollow yearning that made her feel as though she were falling apart from the inside out.
And then—his hand touched her neck.
Warmth. Human. Real.
And something inside her stirred.
The sensation was utterly foreign, yet hauntingly familiar. She didn't understand it, couldn't name it—but it rooted itself deep within her bones.
Then she heard it.
His heartbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Loud. Fast. Frantic.
She knew that rhythm. She remembered it. That heartbeat had once quickened at her presence, had once whispered things he never dared say aloud. That pace... it belonged to someone who once felt more than he ever let on.
A tide of emotions crashed through her—fear, longing, emptiness, and something desperate that demanded reassurance. So when Kael touched her again, she didn't pull away.
She couldn't.
Part of her screamed to run. But another part—deeper, more instinctive—urged her to stay.
Kael leaned in, slow, measured, his gaze flicking between her lips and her eyes. He didn't move to kiss her. He was waiting—for her.
And she moved first.
With trembling urgency, she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in. Her lips met his with a fevered hunger. She kissed him as though her life depended on it. As though his warmth could quiet the storm inside her. Her body pressed into his, seeking, craving. For a moment, it felt right—or something inside her pretended it did.
But then, something shifted.
A pulse. A jolt. A warning.
This wasn't right. This wasn't him.
He's not my mate.
Her heartbeat roared in her ears. Her breath hitched—and then, on the edge of it all, a scent drifted in.
Faint. Distant. But unmistakable.
Thane.