MasukKieran
The great hall feels smaller these days.
I take my place at the high table, spine straight, hands steady.
Alexei stands with the guards along the far wall. Not at my back, not at my shoulder. A dark, solid presence half in shadow.
If I look at him, Vorlag will see it. He’ll smell it like blood in the water. So I don’t look. I butter my bread. I ask Lyra a question about the southern patrols. I listen with half an ear to Marcus’s summary of Hrolf’s behaviour in the cells.
“He’s eating,” Marcus says. “Sleeping. Smi
AlexeiI wake up to Kieran pretending to still be asleep.He’s curled on his side, back to me, shoulders tense in a way they weren’t when he knocked out last night. His breathing is too measured. Every few inhales there’s a tiny hitch, like he’s waiting to see if I’ve noticed he’s awake.I stretch, slow and deliberate, one arm sliding over his waist, my hand splaying across his stomach. The skin is warm. He goes rigid for half a heartbeat, then forces himself to relax.
KieranI don’t remember the walk back to my rooms.I remember the hall. The sound of chains. The expression on Hrolf’s face when Marcus’s blade fell.I remember the weight of hundreds of eyes, all measuring. Deciding what kind of Alpha I am.After that, everything blurs.
AlexeiThe hall has never been this quiet during my time here.Kieran stands in the center of it. No throne. No raised dais. Just him on the flagstones, a few paces from the foot of the high table. Behind him is one empty chair, and behind that chair is me.My hands are loose at my sides. My stance says, relaxed. My wolf says, let me kill something
KieranThe morning of the trial dawns grey and sharp.No dramatic storm. No symbolic sunburst. Just flat, colorless light leaking over the courtyard stones, like the sky is holding its breath with the rest of us.Marcus meets me outside the stairwell to the cells.“Alpha,” he says. His voice is as neutral as it ever gets. That’s how I know he’s tense.“
AlexeiHis eyes flash. “You’re not nothing,” he says fiercely. “You’re not some… experiment I’ll move past when I’m bored.”“I know that,” I say.“Do you?” he presses.I shrug one shoulder. “Most days.”“Alexei-”“The logic is sound, Kieran,” I say, because if I don’t say
AlexeiThe problem with running morning drills in the main yard is that I can’t un-hear things.“Again!” I shout. “Shields up, feet apart. If my fist can fit between your boots, so can an enemy blade.”Groans. Shuffling. The clatter of wood on wood as they reset.Tarek mutters something rude under his breath. I smile, pleasantly, and smack his shield hard enough to rattle his teeth.“Use your legs, pup,” I say. “Or I’ll borrow them.” The line adjusts. It’s better, but still not







