Ciaran’s POV
The moment I saw her in the clearing, I felt it—the pull of something fragile and fierce all at once. Therrin stood there, her posture tense, shadowed threads of her magic rippling faintly around her like restless currents beneath a still surface. My chest tightened. Protecting her wasn’t just instinct; it was necessity. It was as though the air itself demanded I keep her safe, that every misstep of mine could shatter her.“Therrin,” I said softly, letting my voice cut through the quiet hum of the forest. She didn’t turn immediately, and I wondered if my words had startled her or if she simply hesitated to face me. Either way, I could feel the weight of every doubt, every fear she carried, pressing between us like a tangible wall.I took a step closer. Each movement measured, careful not to startle, but intentional. “We need to talk,” I said. “About us. About everything.”Her head tilted slightly, a silent question. I wanted to tell hCiaran’s POVThe moment I saw her in the clearing, I felt it—the pull of something fragile and fierce all at once. Therrin stood there, her posture tense, shadowed threads of her magic rippling faintly around her like restless currents beneath a still surface. My chest tightened. Protecting her wasn’t just instinct; it was necessity. It was as though the air itself demanded I keep her safe, that every misstep of mine could shatter her.“Therrin,” I said softly, letting my voice cut through the quiet hum of the forest. She didn’t turn immediately, and I wondered if my words had startled her or if she simply hesitated to face me. Either way, I could feel the weight of every doubt, every fear she carried, pressing between us like a tangible wall.I took a step closer. Each movement measured, careful not to startle, but intentional. “We need to talk,” I said. “About us. About everything.”Her head tilted slightly, a silent question. I wanted to tell h
Therrin’s POVThe moment I stepped into the clearing near the waterfall, I could feel Ciaran’s presence before I even saw him. The soft ripple of the water, the glint of sunlight on the mist, it all carried the subtle weight of his aura. My chest tightened—not with fear, but with that strange pull he always seemed to exert, the gravity of him.He was waiting. Arms crossed loosely, gaze sharp but soft, studying me as if reading my every unspoken thought. My fingers flexed at my sides, restless.“Therrin,” he said softly, voice carrying across the glade. “We need to talk.”I hesitated. Talking usually meant questions—questions about my thoughts, my fears, my shadows. But I knew he didn’t ask to control me; he asked because he cared. That made it harder.I stepped closer, feeling the moss under my boots. “About what?” My voice was guarded, low.“About us,” he said simply. His gaze didn’t waver. “About where you are, where I am, and
The Mistress’s POVThe glade breathed beneath the pale silver of the moon, leaves trembling in the soft whisper of night air. Every rustle, every scent was a note in a symphony composed entirely for me and my intent. I lingered at the edge, letting the shadows cradle me, letting them conceal the quiet smile curling at the edge of my lips. She was there, finally. Therrin, alive and teetering on the precipice of curiosity and caution, unaware of how close she was to my design.Her every step was deliberate, cautious, but her pulse betrayed her. I could feel it, a faint tremor through the threads of magic she carried. A delicate, shimmering line connecting her to the world, to herself, and now, to me. She had been trained, yes, but not fully yet. Not enough to resist entirely. The brand had taken root, subtle but unyielding, like a vine weaving through the soul it had claimed. Soon, very soon, she would bend entirely to my will.I stepped forward, allowing th
Therrin’s POVThe forest around me breathed like it had a pulse of its own, the wind whispering through the trees in patterns that both soothed and unsettled me. Each step along the mossy path felt heavy, though my feet barely sank into the ground. My thoughts were heavier still, tangled in knots tighter than any branch or root I brushed past. I had always believed I knew myself—my fears, my desires, my limits—but now, I was adrift, and each heartbeat reminded me that certainty was an illusion.Dion. Ciaran. The Mistress. Three names that should have held meaning, but instead, they wove a confusing tapestry of longing, fear, and guilt in my chest.Dion. He was warmth and laughter, a steady pulse in the chaos of my soul. The way he touched me, the way he saw me, it wasn’t just desire—it was reverence. His patience, the way he let me stumble through my own darkness without judgment, made me ache in ways I didn’t fully understand. I craved him, yet I could no
Grimm’s POVThe forest had moods, and Grimm knew them all.This one was wrong.It wasn’t the clean kind of silence, the kind that came after fresh snow muffled every sound, or when a summer storm sat heavy in the air, waiting to break. This silence was the breath before a predator pounced. The air was sharp, metallic on the tongue, and beneath it was something else — something old, patient, and far too aware of him.Grimm padded through the undergrowth, his paws barely whispering against the damp earth. Each step was deliberate, weight distributed so the forest barely registered his passage. Above, the canopy swayed in a restless wind, leaves whispering a language older than mortals. He listened — always listening — but what he wanted to hear wasn’t there.The birds hadn’t returned since dawn.The squirrels that normally chattered insults from the branches were gone.The forest was holding its breath.He had been shadowing Cia
Ciaran’s POVCiaran had never liked silence.Not the natural kind—he could live with the hush that came after snowfall, or the muffled calm of dawn before the first birds found their voices. That sort of silence was alive, layered with whispers the patient could learn to hear. No, what unsettled him was the other kind—the silence that didn’t belong. The silence that swallowed breath and heartbeat alike, that pressed in from all sides like a predator’s shadow.That was the silence sitting on his shoulders now, heavy as stone.He was alone, or at least he thought he was. The forest around him was thick with the smell of damp earth, the air still damp from an earlier rain. The clouds had pulled apart just enough to spill moonlight across the clearing where he stood, but the light didn’t reach far. Beyond a few paces, the trees looked like an army of blackened sentinels.Ciaran drew in a slow breath, forcing himself to listen. No rustle of le