The late afternoon sun spilled golden light over the palace gardens, glinting on dew-kissed leaves and glimmering off the fountain at its center. Lyria moved among the herbs, her hands brushing against rosemary, thyme, and lavender, checking for the freshest sprigs. She hummed softly, a tune she had learned from her mother long ago, and for a brief moment, the palace's tension seemed far away.
A shadow fell across the sun-dappled path. Lyria looked up, heart skipping — amber eyes locked onto hers.
"Picking herbs alone?" Kael's voice was low, smooth, carrying that quiet authority she had felt before.
Lyria stood, straightening quickly, a small blush warming her cheeks. "Yes, Alpha. The kitchen requested some fresh herbs. I… I thought it would be quicker if I gathered them myself."
Kael stepped closer, hands resting casually on the railing of the fountain. His wolf shifted beneath his skin, subtle, restrained, sensing her presence as more than coincidence. "You spend a lot of time here," he said softly, amber eyes following her every movement. "Does no one in the palace teach you to avoid the sun?"
She laughed, light and melodic, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "My mother used to say sunlight makes the herbs happy. And happy herbs… make for happy food. I suppose that's my excuse."
Kael's lips curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile. "And your mother… does she still speak to you like that?"
Lyria's eyes softened, a wistful shadow crossing her face. "No… she's gone. I live with my aunt now, but… she was wonderful. She taught me everything I know about herbs, but also… about life, about strength. She said a woman should always know her power, even if no one else does."
Kael's gaze lingered, amber eyes intense. "Power," he echoed. "Do you believe that?"
"I… I try to," she replied softly, sitting on the edge of the fountain with a quiet grace. "My family… we've always been… a little different. My father was a healer, my mother… she had gifts no one in the village understood. I grew up learning to hide and to see, to understand what people didn't say. To feel… things before they happened."
Kael leaned on the fountain, observing her closely. "Gifts… like this?" He gestured subtly toward her hands, the way they moved with care and attention.
Lyria laughed lightly, a sound that carried through the quiet garden. "Perhaps. Or perhaps just the patience to notice what others miss. You… you would not understand, Alpha."
"Try me," Kael murmured, his tone teasing, the wolf beneath him stirring with curiosity.
She tilted her head, eyes glinting with amusement. "I come from a line of women who could bend situations without raising a hand, who could heal and harm in equal measure, who understood the world… in ways most never would. My mother, she used her knowledge to protect those she loved. My father… he protected what could not protect itself. And me? I learned to see, to listen, and to move without being noticed."
Kael's amber eyes softened, but only slightly, masking the intensity that his wolf betrayed. "And yet here you are, in plain sight, moving through my palace… unafraid, and unguarded."
"That's because the palace… it does not notice me," Lyria replied, brushing her fingers over the leaves of a lavender plant. "No one… except you, perhaps." Her voice was quiet, but a playful spark lingered in her eyes.
Kael's wolf growled low in approval, though he did not speak of it. He took a careful step closer. "And you? Do you notice me?"
Lyria's gaze lifted, steady and fearless, though her heartbeat quickened. "Sometimes," she admitted softly, "but only when you are not looking."
For a moment, the world shrank to the garden, the fountain, the herbs, and the quiet space between them. Kael's amber eyes studied her, measuring, sensing the pull he could not name. He stepped closer, close enough for her to feel his warmth, yet restrained, his restraint deliberate.
"You speak of gifts, of power… yet you laugh so easily. I wonder… how can someone so… capable, be so… unguarded?" Kael's voice was low, teasing.
Lyria's lips curved, and she leaned slightly forward, hands resting on her lap. "Perhaps because I know that even power… even gifts… do not mean I can control everything. And perhaps because… some things are better left unguarded."
Kael's gaze darkened, the wolf beneath him stirring restlessly. "Some things… indeed. I will have to watch you closely, Lyria Selene."
Her laugh rang out again, light and fearless. "Then I shall watch you too, Alpha. But do not be surprised if I see more than you expect."
The garden held its breath as they sat there, the connection unspoken but undeniable. Flirtation, curiosity, tension, and recognition — all tangled between them like threads of silver moonlight.
And as the sun dipped lower behind the palace walls, casting long shadows across the gardens, Kael's wolf stirred, sensing something powerful — a presence, a bond, a force that had just begun to awaken.
Lyria, unaware of the depth of his awareness, felt only the pull in her chest, the warmth that lingered in the quiet of the evening. She had spoken freely, laughed easily, shared her past… and unknowingly, she had become the center of Kael's focus, the axis around which his thoughts began to revolve.