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The Break in the Storm
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2025-06-08 07:43:06The sky cracked open just after dusk.
Liora stood at the edge of the northern ridge, arms folded tightly across her chest as rain broke over the trees in a slow, rhythmic patter. The forest below blurred into shadows and mist, the kind of eerie stillness that made her wolf tense with instinct. The kind that meant something was coming.
Thunder rumbled low and deep across the mountains. Not close, not yet. But it would be.
She didn’t move.
The air was too heavy, her skin too tight, her thoughts a tangled storm of their own. The conversation at the war table played over and over in her mind—Cael, silent but sharp, his eyes darting to her without permission. His voice steady when he answered her, but strained. Controlled.
Too controlled.
There was something behind it. Behind him.
And she hated that part of her still wanted to see it.
She heard him before she saw him.
Footsteps on wet earth, slow and deliberate. A pause. Then more.
He was giving her time to notice. Time to leave, if she wanted to.
She didn’t.
“You always run to the edge of the world when you're angry?” Cael asked, his voice a low echo behind her.
She didn’t turn.
“I’m not angry,” she said. “I’m tired.”
He was quiet for a moment. Then: “I don’t believe you.”
Liora exhaled through her nose. “I don’t care.”
His footsteps stopped just short of her left side. Close enough for her to feel the weight of his presence, but not close enough to touch.
Lightning flickered in the distance, illuminating the sharp line of his jaw, the tension in his shoulders.
“I came to say something,” he said.
She still didn’t look at him. “And here I was enjoying the silence.”
He took that in stride. “I need to apologize. For what I said. For how I… handled everything.”
That drew her attention.
She turned her head slightly, just enough to glance at him over her shoulder. His expression was unreadable. But something in his eyes looked… frayed. Like he hadn’t slept. Like something inside him was unraveling.
“I thought you were protecting your pack,” she said carefully.
“I was,” he said. “At least, I told myself I was. But that wasn’t the only reason.”
Liora turned fully then, arms still crossed, but her voice was quieter now. “Then what was?”
He looked at her—really looked at her—and this time, he didn’t look away.
“I was protecting myself.”
That struck her like a stone between the ribs.
She wanted to stay guarded. Wanted to bite back with something clever. But the honesty in his voice—raw, hesitant—cut through her like fog.
Her voice was barely a whisper. “Why?”
“Because if I let myself feel it…” He hesitated, jaw clenched, throat working. “If I let myself want you—this—it would change everything. And I don’t know who I am if I stop fighting.”
A beat passed.
Then another.
Raindrops slid down her face, cold on her skin, but she didn’t move to wipe them away.
She stepped forward once. Just enough to bridge the smallest distance between them. Enough to feel the bond vibrate softly between their bodies, tugging gently, reminding them both that it was still there.
Still waiting.
Still wanting.
“I didn’t ask you to stop being who you are,” she said. “But you don’t get to use your pain as a shield and then expect me to pretend none of this matters.”
He looked down at her, his expression shifting—uncertain, reverent, hungry and afraid all at once.
His hand lifted.
She didn’t stop him.
But he didn’t touch her.
His fingers hovered near her jaw, barely an inch away. She felt the heat of him—so close. Her wolf surged toward him, desperate for contact. But Liora held the line.
Not yet.
Not like this.
He seemed to sense it.
Their eyes locked—bond humming between them, neither of them giving in.
“I don’t know how to be what you need,” he said, voice barely audible.
She stepped back. Just enough to breathe again.
“I don’t need you to be anything, Cael,” she said. “I need you to decide.”
His jaw flexed, but he nodded once.
“I’m trying.”
“I know.”
And then she turned, walking back toward the path.
He didn’t follow.
But the bond did.
It stretched between them like a silver thread—quiet, powerful, unbroken.
For now.
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