Him

Chapter Six: Him

Selene's POV

The trees whispered around us as we walked in silence.

Ronan said nothing, and neither did I.

The forest floor was soft beneath our boots. Sunlight slipped through the leaves above, dancing on our faces as we moved deeper, farther, into the quiet heart of the woods.

I didn't ask where we were going.

Something in my chest already knew.

We finally stopped in a small clearing.

It was silent here.

There were no twisted thorns. No suffocating shadows. Just light. Just air.

In the center of the clearing was a flat, smooth rock covered in moss and wildflowers.

Someone—Ronan, maybe—had placed fresh white petals upon it. My breath caught when I saw the symbol carved into the rock.

My father's crest.

My legs grew suddenly heavy.

This… was where he was buried.

Tears welled up in my eyes before I could stop them.

Ronan stepped aside, giving me space. I didn't look at him. I walked slowly forward to the stone, knelt down, and put both hands on it. The cold seeped through my skin.

"Father," I whispered. My voice cracked.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to come."

The trees around me appeared to be holding their breath.

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on the rock.

"I should've known Kael would betray us. I should've seen through Mira's lies. I was weak. But not anymore."

The tears came. Soft, silent. Not loud like before.

But I didn't try to hide them this time.

"I don't care how long it takes," I said to him.

"I don't care if it hurts. I don't care if I bleed. I will take back everything he took from you. Your name. Your honor. Your pack."

I laid my hand on the stone.

"I swear it on your grave."

I felt a hand on my shoulder touch me softly.

I turned.

Ronan was behind me now, kneeling next to me.

His eyes were motionless. Silent. Yet kind.

"He would be proud of you," he said to me.

I shook my head.

"Not yet. I've done nothing."

"You lived," he said.

"That in itself is something Kael never expected."

I gazed at him.

There was a smear of dirt on his shirt. Sweat on his skin from training. A tiny scar near his collarbone that peeked through the fabric. But he did not hide it.

He was raw.

Uncooked.

"You didn't have to save me, " I whispered.

"You could've stayed hidden."

He smiled a little, the corner of his mouth.

"Your father once told me… if I ever got the chance to protect what mattered most to him, I wasn't to hesitate."

My heart missed a beat.

" And I mattered to him?" I asked, voice small.

"You were his world," Ronan whispered. His eyes then fell to my lips.

"And now… you matter to me too”

I froze.

Not in pain.

Not in fear.

But something else.

Something I hadn't experienced in so long.

His hand drifted from my shoulder to my fingers. He didn't pull. He didn't grab. He just held them gently, giving me the choice.

I allowed him.

The wind stirred silently around us, as though the forest itself was clearing a path for us.

He bent forward.

And this time… I didn't push him away.

His lips brushed mine. Soft and cautious. Like a vow he had no intention of breaking.

He pulled back before I could even breathe, eyes scanning mine.

"Too fast?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"No," I whispered.

"It's… it's exactly what I needed."

We sat, side by side, our hands still held.

"I'm not giving up," I said again.

He smiled.

"Then neither am I. "