Chapter 2

The comments kept coming.

“They look too good together.”

“You can tell they grew up together.”

“@Cassian Careful. Serena might see this.”

Cassian actually replied:

“She won’t care. If she’s going to make a scene over something this minor, then maybe this bond shouldn’t happen at all.”

I stared at that line for a long time, then quietly hit like and locked my screen.

He was already used to me giving way.

Used to me accepting the change of location, accepting the new ceremony design, accepting him saying, “Lyra was only making a suggestion. Stop being so selfish.”

But this time, I didn’t want to give in.

The next day, I went to the Bonding Hall alone to confirm the arrangements.

The snowfield altar I had originally reserved was gone. In its place was a completely new plan from the coastside ritual grounds.

I turned the pages one by one, growing quieter with each one.

The main altar had been changed from silver-white to deep sea blue. The moon lamps I had chosen, carved from frostbone crystal, had been replaced with shell lanterns. Even the wolf-tail crest I had designed by hand had been changed into a tide pattern.

The woman handling the paperwork even smiled as she spoke.

“Alpha Cassian specifically told us the ceremony should reflect everyone’s preferences and not feel too rigid. The coast is more open, more suited to younger people.”

I looked at the plan and almost laughed.

So everything I had spent so long preparing was, to him, nothing more than rigidity.

By the time I left the Bonding Hall, night had already fallen.

I had always been afraid of the dark.

Before, whenever the road home felt too long and too empty, I would instinctively message Cassian.

This time, I only stood there for a while before starting home alone.

Halfway back, Cassian called.

“Serena, where are you?”

I hesitated.

“On my way home.”

“It’s late. Why are you out by yourself?”

Before I could answer, I heard Lyra’s voice from his end, small and trembling.

“Cassian, the power’s out here. I’m scared…”

He did not hesitate.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m coming now.”

Only after saying that did he seem to remember I was still on the line.

“Serena, just go home on your own. Lyra needs me more right now.”

Then he hung up.

The night wind cut straight through me.

I was afraid of the dark too.

And yet, in his eyes, I never seemed to need protecting.

The next day, Cassian came to pick me up as if nothing had happened.

The silence inside the car was suffocating.

I leaned back, closed my eyes, and said nothing.

His fingers tapped against the steering wheel, as if he were waiting for me to speak first.

After a while, he finally brought it up in an offhand tone.

“I had the coastside ceremony design revised again. When you see it, try not to cling so hard to your original ideas. A bonding ceremony should reflect more than one person’s taste.”

I opened my eyes slowly.

“More than one person’s taste?”

He cleared his throat.

“Lyra has a good eye. She looked over the drawings yesterday. She said your original design felt too cold. Too impersonal.”

I looked at him for a long moment, then smiled faintly.

“So my bonding ceremony is going to be arranged around what she likes?”

His brows drew together.

“Can you not put it like that? She was only trying to help. Why are you so sensitive lately?”

I lowered my gaze and said nothing more.

So it wasn’t only the location. Every part of the ceremony I had prepared could be changed whenever he wanted.

That day, we were on our way to the workshop to choose a new vow ring.

The original pair had been designed by me. I had drawn the pattern myself, with moon marks and wolf-claw lines for the smith to follow.

But a few days ago, Cassian suddenly said the design looked dated and wanted something more modern.

Now I understood why.

He walked into the workshop with me, but he was distracted from the start, glancing down at his phone again and again.

I pretended not to notice and asked the attendant to bring out the new ring designs.

I had just lowered my head when a familiar laugh sounded behind me.

“Cassian? You’re here too?”

I looked up.

Of course it was Lyra.