Velvet Grayfang
~~~~
I didn't sleep. Not even a little.
The palace was quiet, but not my skin. It buzzed. It burned fiercely, like I'd walked through fire and come back with embers still clinging to me.
The scent of smoke and frost lingered in the air. No, it wasn't strong—not even obvious.
But it was enough to make my mouth taste like ash…
And my thighs ache with a pressure I didn't understand.
No.
That's a lie.
I understood.
I just hated it.
I threw the covers off and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The cold stone kissed my bare feet—
But it wasn't enough to cool me. Nothing was.
I needed air. My breath caught. Dammit. I had to get out of here. I needed to focus on something—anything—that wasn't him.
So I stepped out of my room.
The halls were dark, warm torches burning low along the walls. No one stopped me. No one was there. The palace slept, and only the quiet of the night greeted me.
Tomorrow they would gossip. Let them whisper among themselves. I don't care.
The cold night air whispered against my skin, easing the fire—just a bit. Or maybe it was the blade clutched in my hand.
I turned, facing the open sky as moonlight fell across my pale skin. The wind swept through my hair.
With my blade, I truck the air—again and again—like I was fighting an unseen enemy.
"Ahh!"
My voice echoed into the silence. I didn't stop until my breath turned ragged.
The worst part?
Every strike held his face. Every spin, I imagined him—standing behind a pillar, watching me with those dusk-gold eyes like he already owned me.
I swung harder, slicing the air more fiercely.
I had to forget that face. Forget how his scent still clung to my skin.
But my body betrayed me. My legs trembled. Not from exhaustion, but from want.
Every time I moved, I felt where he had stood. Where his gaze had landed. Where the words "She is mine" had pierced through my armor… and branded something beneath it.
"I don't want him…"
Then why does your wolf beg?
Why is your fire waking?
No. Not my fire. That's not possible.
My wolf had been dormant for as long as I could remember. Surely this stranger wasn't…
"Ahh!"
I screamed and slammed my fist into the wooden post. Bark cracked, my knuckles split, and pain finally broke through the heat simmering in my blood.
Blood dripped down my wrist, warm and grounding. I stared at it, my chest rising and falling in uneven pulls.
"There," I whispered, breathing hard.
That was mine. That was real. Not some illusion. Not some fantasy born from a stranger's touch.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
I turned sharply, heart leaping into my throat. I hadn't expected anyone.
Elias stepped out of the shadows, his arms crossed, brow furrowed, those familiar blue eyes narrowing as they landed on me.
His long pale white hair was tousled by the wind, falling across his cheek in loose strands. He looked at me like I'd broken something sacred, like he wasn't sure whether to speak or stay silent.
"I saw you leave your chambers," he said after a beat, voice quiet but firm. "Figured you'd come here."
I sheathed my blade with a click, letting the weight settle back at my hip. "So, you've been watching me?" I asked, not bothering to hide the edge in my voice.
His gaze dropped to my bleeding knuckles, and something shifted in his expression. The tightness around his mouth, the flicker of concern in his eyes—it was all too familiar.
"Don't," I said, catching the change. "It's nothing."
But Elias didn't listen. He stepped forward, tearing a strip from the hem of his silk shirt. The pale blue fabric fluttered in his hand as he reached for me.
"Let me," he said.
"I can do it myself."
I snatched the cloth from him and wrapped my knuckles, keeping my focus on the task. Knowing Elias, he wouldn't rest until the wound was covered.
"Thanks," I said once I was done.
He stared at my hand for a moment… then lifted his gaze to mine. His face was grim, "You feel it. Don't you?"
I didn't answer. Just looked away.
"You didn't even touch him," Elias hissed, voice low. "And yet you—"
"Don't."
I closed my eyes, then opened them slowly and met his gaze with a frown.
I didn't want to talk about yesterday.
Not about a stranger I knew nothing about—
One who stirred heat in my bones like a flame I couldn't control.
Elias stepped back a few paces, his expression softening in that way I hated—gentle, patient, too knowing.
"I'm not judging you, Vel," he said quietly. "I'm just… worried", he sighed, "...about you. About your wolf. She's… different now."
I shrugged. "Maybe she's waking up."
"Or maybe he's waking her up."
I met his gaze. "Does it matter?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "Because the wrong bond could kill you."
The words cut deeper than the blood in my palm. And deep within, my wolf growled.
He was right.
I knew the stories. The ancient rite.
The bite between the legs—a claiming not just of body, but of power. A bite that awakened what lay buried. If it wasn't a fated match, the fire would consume the she-wolf from the inside out.
But if it was…
"I don't want him," I said aloud. Maybe to Elias. Maybe to myself.
He didn't respond.
He didn't have to—because just then… the wind shifted.
Every hair on my body rose.
The heat I'd felt before returned, burning more fiercely this time. My skin prickled as I turned toward the edge of the courtyard, where darkness lingered.
And there.....
He stood.
Lucien.
I knew his name before anyone ever said it aloud.
He didn't move. He just watched me, still as stone, but I felt him, like a storm rising behind my ribs.
Elias stepped forward, placing himself between us like a shield, "What do you want?"
Lucien's golden eyes flicked to him, barely a glance, then returned to me. Like I was the only one that interested him.
My lips parted, and I heard my own slow breathing—soft, like the hush of the wind.
Inside me, my wolf pressed forward, whining low.
And all he said was—
"It's not what I want. It's what she already feels."
Then he turned and vanished into the dark…
As if he had never been there at all.
I didn't speak.
I couldn't.
My legs nearly gave out, but Elias caught me, steady, and began leading me back inside.
I said nothing as he guided me to my room.
He paused at the door, looking at me with concern, but didn't say a word. Then he left.
I climbed into bed, still lost for words.
My hands gripped the sheets tightly. Because my skin still burned with the heat he'd left behind. And deep inside, my wolf whispered—
"Soon…"
The mating bond would awaken my power.
My fire.
But what if it awakened something I couldn't control?