---
The door closed behind her.
And just like that, I was alone again—barefoot, half-dressed, and still burning with questions I couldn't even begin to ask.
The air was thick. Not just with warmth, but with something heavier. Like every breath I took was laced with desire that didn't belong to me.
I stepped to the mirror across the room. The man staring back wasn't the same one I remembered. My reflection shimmered faintly, like the world itself didn't fully believe I was real. My eyes glowed faintly gold—when had that started?
A distant voice echoed beyond the stone walls.
Aelira.
I couldn't make out every word, but the tone? Confident. Velvet-wrapped arrogance. Lyria's growls were quieter in comparison, more animal than regal. The contrast was striking.
Then…
Silence.
Not peace—expectation.
The door creaked open again.
And in she came.
Aelira.
No invitation. No hesitation.
Her wings were tucked neatly behind her, white feathers streaked with soft obsidian along the edges. Her silver-white hair flowed over bare shoulders, and her gown—if you could call it that—clung to her like it had been poured on, leaving little to the imagination.
"Hello, Jin," she said, like she'd known me her whole life. "You're more beautiful than I imagined."
I froze. "How did you—?"
"Lyria held the door shut for as long as she could," she said casually, gliding toward me. "But she's stubborn, not omnipotent."
She circled me like a hawk, eyes flicking over every inch. "The last male. The only untouched soul in a starved world."
Her fingers traced the edge of my shoulder, barely a touch—but it was enough.
That fire returned, stronger now. More demanding.
I stepped back. "You can't just walk in here."
She smiled faintly. "I already did."
Then her eyes softened. "But if you want me to leave… I will."
I hesitated. The rational part of me screamed yes. But the rest of me—the part that had been asleep for years, the part that was now awake and hungry—couldn't stop watching her. Couldn't stop feeling the pull.
She saw it. Of course she did.
"I don't need to claim you," she said softly. "I'm not like Lyria. I won't cage you. I just want to feel you breathe. To feel that you're real. That we haven't gone mad hoping for something that would never return."
Aelira stepped closer, slower this time.
"I won't force you," she whispered. "But let me stay with you. Just for a while."
I didn't answer. I didn't have to.
She reached out and touched my chest—same place Lyria had. But where Lyria's touch had sparked dominance and danger, Aelira's felt like moonlight—cool, reverent, yearning.
And when her forehead rested against mine, eyes closed, wings lowering behind her in submission—I let her.
Just for a moment.
Just to see what it felt like to be wanted so gently.
She leaned in, her breath warm against my skin.
"You don't have to give me anything," she whispered, voice breaking. "But if you do… I'll never betray it."
Her lips brushed mine.
And I let the moment stretch.
Until heat overwhelmed everything.
And I closed my eyes.
---
Her kiss wasn't greedy.
It was soft—uncertain at first, like she feared I'd vanish if she pushed too hard. But there was something deeper beneath it. A trembling sort of desperation. Not just for my body… but for my presence.
She kissed like someone who had been alone for far too long.
And I…
…I didn't stop her.
Because part of me understood it. The ache. The craving.
My hand moved on instinct, brushing along the curve of her back. Her skin was smooth like satin, and her wings twitched at the contact, brushing against my arm with feathery caution.
Her breath caught.
"You feel it too, don't you?" she murmured against my lips. "This isn't just want. It's need. Cosmic. Buried in the marrow."
I didn't answer. My thoughts were a haze, tangled between fear, want, and something unspoken that pulsed through my blood like thunder.
The longer I was near her, the more that strange force stirred inside me again. That heat Lyria had woken—it didn't fade. It grew. Hungrier. Wilder.
But it wasn't a fire I could control.
It was something that fed.
And the moment Aelira leaned in fully—letting her body press against mine, her wings folding behind her like a protective curtain—I felt it pull from her too.
Her breath hitched. She gasped softly, gripping my shoulders. "You're… draining me?"
"No," I said, though I wasn't sure.
"I don't mind," she whispered, lips brushing my jaw. "If it means I can feel you, even just once… I'll give it all."
"No." This time it came out firmer. I caught her by the waist. "You're not giving me anything. I won't take it like that."
She stared up at me, stunned—but then, slowly, she smiled.
"You're different," she whispered. "Even now. After everything this world has become… you still care."
I felt her hand press over my chest again—where my heartbeat thundered, fast and erratic.
"That's why they'll never stop coming," she said, more to herself than to me. "Because they'll feel this, too. And they'll want it all."
I swallowed. "Aelira… what are you really doing here?"
She hesitated.
Then said softly, "To warn you."
She pulled back slightly, eyes gleaming with something darker.
"Lyria isn't the only one who's staked a claim. And not all of them will knock first."
A chill prickled across my skin.
She stepped away, hands sliding from me reluctantly. "I won't stay. If I do, I'll want more. And I think… so will you."
Her wings unfurled as she reached the door. But just before she stepped through, she looked back.
"Be careful, Jin. You really are the last man."
My breath caught. "What?"
She smiled faintly.
"You're the only one awake."
The door closed behind her.
---