Katie’s POV“How could you just leave me here all alone, master?” Fenrir groused and I leveled him a stare. Not even backing out one bit, even though he flinched as he was surprised.Because..Here he goes again. And I thought we already talked about this very issue just months ago!Wait.. Or was it merely even weeks ago?He cleared his throat and corrected his mistake, “..I mean, Katie.”I smirked and proudly nodded as I exuded my pheromones to heal this mythical beast of ours. He then added, still pouting like a child that he is, “I get that those ungrateful vampires left me here..” Vladimyr grunted in protest, but we both ignored him as he continued, “..but you? We are of the same species, Katie!”“I apologized ten minutes ago, didn’t I?” I scoffed at how silly he is right now. But I get that at this point, we are just teasing one another. Maybe an unspoken love language between us of the same kind?“There.” I patted his large paws. Comforting him as I blasted my pheromone for one
Katie’s POV The following morning...I woke to the subtle weight of an arm around my waist and the slow, deep rhythm of another's breathing against my back. For a moment, I didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe too loudly. I just let the reality of this moment sink in.Vladimyr was here. Still.Warm, solid, alive—and with me. I cannot believe it.My heart ached in the best possible way, like a wound slowly stitching itself closed. It hadn’t been a dream. None of it. The fountain. The look in his eyes. The way he trembled when I touched his hand like I was a ghost came to haunt him, or worse—leave him again.And now... we were here.I turned gently in his arms, careful not to wake him. His face was slack with sleep, and there were faint shadows beneath his eyes—he hadn’t been sleeping well lately, that was evident. But thankfully, right now, it seemed the exact opposite. I smiled at the thought that he finally slept peacefully after those exhausting nights.I reached up and brushed a st
Katie’s POVThe manor was hushed at this hour, the halls stretched long and sleepy ahead of us, lit only by the flicker of the occasional candle left burning low on the walls. Vladimyr walked beside me, his hand brushing against mine now and then, each accidental touch sending ripples of warmth up my arm.I couldn't help glancing at him from the corner of my eye. His hair was still damp from the fountain, curling boyishly at the ends. His jacket was missing—still draped over my shoulders—and every few steps, he would glance at me like he wasn’t quite sure I was real. Like he was afraid he might wake up and find himself alone again.I tightened the jacket around myself and smiled softly.I wasn’t going anywhere. Not now. Not ever.When we reached the familiar dark wood doors of our bedchambers, he paused. His hand hovered at the handle for a moment too long.I could feel the tension rolling off him in waves—uncertainty, maybe even fear. Not of me, though.Of what this meant.
Vladimyr's POVKatie’s hand in mine was the only real thing. The night could have collapsed around us—the stars could have burned out one by one—and still, I would have known the shape of her palm pressed to my skin."I'll try," I'd said. But even that word felt too small for what this moment deserved.She squeezed my hand gently, grounding me. Not demanding, not forcing. Just there. I breathed in her scent once again as if it's the only thing that is keeping me sane and still. And for the first time, it didn’t feel like a ghost whispering through my ribs. It felt alive. She felt alive. And so did I.We sat there long enough that the chill crept through my jacket, but I didn’t move. Neither did she. The silence between us was comfortable now, not sharp. Like an old quilt draped over bruised skin. Healing, even if it hurts."I remember," I said at last, the words rough in my throat. "Not everything. But... you had this ridiculous red cloak once." I slowly took off my jacket and p
Vladimyr's POVI hadn’t meant for the piano to become a confessional, but there I was—spilling pieces of myself I didn’t understand to a woman whose scent had begun to haunt my every breath again.And now, even after she left the room, the scent lingered. Lavender and wolf. Her heartbeat was etched in the air, pounding in my ears like the last echo of a dream. And me? I sat there like a man who had walked into a burning building hoping the flames would remember his name.A quiet knock interrupted the haze of my thoughts.“Come in,” I said, voice rough with disuse.Sebastian entered, ever the shadow in well-tailored formality. His gloved hands were folded behind his back, eyes downcast at first—but I caught the flicker of something in his gaze when he looked up.“You missed dinner, sir,” he said. “Again.”“I wasn’t hungry.”“You say that every night.”I said nothing.He hesitated. “Lady Katie took her meal in the garden. Alone.”The way he said it… the weight in that single word.Alone
Katie’s POVI didn’t realize how long I’d been standing there, giggling like a lovesick fool in the middle of the courtyard, until Miranda cleared her throat behind me.“My Lady?” she asked gently.I nearly jumped. “Oh—Miranda. Sorry. I was just… um. Thinking.”Her expression softened, though her eyes flicked toward the space Vladimyr had vanished from. “He called you little wolf, didn’t he?”“Yeah. So uhm, you also heard that huh? For a second I really thought I was dreaming..” I said, my cheeks heating. “He hasn’t done that in… well, since before the memory loss.”Miranda nodded slowly. “That’s something, then. You’re getting through to him. In small ways, my lady”Baby steps.I turned my face toward the sky, letting the breeze cool the storm that still stirred in my chest. The ache hadn’t gone away—not completely—but it felt different now. Like a splinter had been pulled loose. A sliver of something familiar had finally broken the surface.But the question still burned in my mind—w