There was a hallway between our rooms.
Ten meters. Maybe less.
I counted them as I stood in the dark.
1… 2… 3…
The light from her window spilled faintly across the marble floor. I didn't even know why I was there — only that something inside me wouldn't let me go anywhere else.
She hadn't spoken after I told her I was drawn to her. Just looked at me like I'd torn something open inside her.
Maybe I had.
But she'd done the same to me first.
I should be stronger than this.
I am the Alpha of the Dravyn line. The king with blood under his boots and a war scar down his spine. My enemies retreat at the sound of my name. My own wolf has been silent since the day I became ruler — no longer a beast beside me, but within me, silent and sharp.
And yet today…
One girl with fire in her silence and gold under her skin had made that wolf move.
Had made it growl softly in recognition.
And even now, I could feel it pacing beneath my bones.
Mate.
The word hovered like a snare I refused to step into.
No.
She couldn't be.
She was human. She was unknown. She was hiding something — something that glowed through her hands and cracked the air when she was afraid.
She was not safe.
And still… I could feel her.
Not just in memory.
Now.
I stepped closer to her door.
My hand hovered just above the frame. Not to knock. Just to feel.
Something pulsed behind the wood.
Not magic.
Her.
Her presence.
Like she was waiting.
Like she knew.
I didn't knock.
Didn't enter.
But gods help me — I almost did.
Because I wanted to see her.
Not touch. Not claim. Not even speak.
Just see her breathing, sleeping, alive.
Because her nightmares were getting worse.
Because I could hear them.
Because something in my chest ached every time she cried out, even if no one else heard it.
I turned away before I could lose the war inside me.
But I whispered, so quiet even the guards couldn't hear—
"Don't make me care for you."
Because if I did...
If I let this bond become real...
I would never survive her breaking it.
And worse — neither would she.