The Walk

Naya’s POV

The large room I was put in was too quiet. I still didn't see it as my room. It was too hard to personalize it as mine. It just still felt like a glorified cage.

That was the problem.

Everything in it was too much. It was either too soft, too clean, or too large, like it was mocking me for every night I’d spent curled up on stone, wondering if I’d wake up alive.

The bed alone looked like it could swallow me with its many layers of thick blankets and pillows that smelled faintly of lavender and something warm I couldn’t place, and yet I hadn’t slept.

I’d tried. Goddess knew I had tried to sleep. Instead I laid there staring at the ceiling, listening to the crackle of the fireplace, feeling the faint pulse of the mate bond like an itch under my skin that refused to go away.

I hated it.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face. Sometimes it was not even his face, just his chest, solid and unmovable, the way I’d slammed into him like fate itself had clotheslined me back into hell.

I rolled onto my side with a frustrated groan and kicked the blankets off.

“Stupid,” I muttered. “This is stupid.”

Luxury didn’t erase grief. Silk sheets didn’t undo massacres. And a fancy room didn’t make me forget that the Alpha of this pack had destroyed everything I loved.

I stood abruptly, pacing the length of the room barefoot. The rugs were so soft it pissed me off. Everything here was designed to make people feel safe, comfortable, cared for.

Like I was supposed to relax.

Like I was supposed to forget.

I didn’t belong here.

After five minutes of pacing and accomplishing absolutely nothing, I yanked the door open and stepped into the hallway.

I had no escape plan. No grand idea. I just needed air that didn’t smell like him which was already a problem since he literally ruled and lived in the pack.

When I stepped outside my room doors, two guards stiffened instantly.

I stopped short, my muscles coiling.

“I’m not running,” I snapped before they could even speak. “If I wanted to, I wouldn’t announce it.”

One of them hesitated, then nodded. “We were instructed not to restrain you.”

That alone should’ve made me suspicious. So they were there to what? Protect?... Protect who? Me?

“Fine,” I muttered, brushing past them.

The halls here were brighter than the dungeon levels. Windows lined the stone walls, letting in pale afternoon light. I squinted against it, lifting a hand to shield my eyes like I’d been dragged out of a cave.

It made my chest ache.

I walked without direction, letting my feet decide where to go. Wolves passed me, servants, guards, pack members, and every single one of them reacted differently.

Some bowed their heads, some stared, some even looked away quickly like they were avoiding eye contact with me.

I hated that too.

I turned a corner sharply and nearly collided with someone's broad chest again.

“Oh...”

Strong hands steadied me automatically, then immediately let go.

“Well damn,” a familiar voice said. “Either you’re magnetically attracted to Alphas and Betas, or this entire pack house is cursed.”

I blinked up at him.

Dorian.

He looked exactly like he had earlier... relaxed, irritatingly put together, like nothing in the world stressed him out except paperwork and bad wine.

“You,” I said flatly.

“Me,” he confirmed. “Alive. Breathing. Handsome as ever...still charming,you know, the usual”

I snorted out a laugh before I could stop myself.

He grinned like he’d just won something.

“See? Progress already.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Walking,” he replied easily. “Super dangerous activity, I know. They let me do it without supervision, though.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “You’re supposed to be guarding me.”

He shrugged. “I prefer the term hovering nearby in case of chaos.”

I stared at him for a long second, then I sighed.

“Fine,” I said. “Hover.”

He fell into step beside me without hesitation, hands clasped behind his back like we were out for a casual stroll instead of navigating a hostile pack territory held together by trauma and power struggles.

“You look like you want to throw something,” he observed.

“I want to throw everything.”

“Relatable.”

We walked in silence for a few steps.

Then he said, “The room’s too quiet, isn’t it?”

I shot him a look. “Did he send you to spy on me?”

Dorian raised both hands. “On my life, no. If Kade wanted updates, he’d pace holes into the floor himself.”

That… sounded accurate.

“Then how do you know?”

He glanced at me. “Because that room’s always too quiet. It’s built for people who sleep easily.”

I scoffed. “Must be nice.”

“It’s overrated,” he said. “Quiet gives the thoughts too much room.”

I didn’t answer.

We reached a balcony overlooking the inner training grounds. Wolves sparred below, metal clashing, bodies moving in brutal rhythm. It was familiar in a way that made my throat tighten. Goddess, I missed my pack...

“Sit?” Dorian asked, nodding toward the stone railing. I hesitated, then I sat.

He leaned back against the wall beside me, not crowding, not looming... Just there.

I hated how normal it felt.

“So,” he said lightly. “You hate him.”

“Yes.”

“Wow... No hesitation. Impressive.”

“I don’t do half-feelings.”

“Clearly.”

I watched two wolves circle each other below. “You're not even trying to defend him?"

Dorian tilted his head. “You didn’t ask me to.”

That surprised me enough to look at him.

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “Because defending him wouldn’t make you trust me. And frankly, I’d rather you trust someone around here.”

My chest tightened slightly.

“That’s… inconveniently reasonable.”

He smiled. “I try.”

We stayed there longer than I meant to. Talking about nothing important. He complained about council meetings. I complained about everything else. At some point, he handed me a cup of tea from a passing servant like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I didn’t even question it.

That should have scared me.

“You make this place easier to breathe,” I muttered without thinking.

The words hung in the air.

Dorian didn’t gloat. Didn’t tease.

He just nodded once. “That’s the goal.”

Then the air shifted. Of course it would. He never let me enjoy a moment of peace and normalcy.

I felt it before I understood it... The pressure, like the world was leaning in.

Dorian straightened slowly.

I followed his gaze.

Alpha Kade stood at the far end of the balcony.

Watching.