Closer Than Before
*****
The days passed slowly after the rogue sighting. The rain didn't stop, and the skies stayed gray. But even with the storm outside, something between Aria and me started to change. The bond—the thing that connected us—it was growing stronger.
I felt her emotions more clearly now. When she was scared, I felt uneasy. When she smiled, something warm moved through me. It wasn't just attraction. It was something deeper, something I couldn't explain but couldn't ignore.
One morning, I woke up with her name on my lips. I hadn't even realized I'd said it aloud until Luca tossed a towel at me.
"Man, you've got it bad," he said, smirking.
I didn't bother denying it. I did have it bad.
---
Aria was in the garden behind the packhouse that afternoon, standing in the light rain with her face tilted up to the sky. She didn't look cold. She looked calm, like the water helped her forget everything.
"You'll get sick," I said, walking toward her with an umbrella.
She smiled. "I like the rain. It makes me feel free."
I stepped into the rain beside her. No umbrella. Just me and her. "You don't need the rain to feel free."
She turned to me slowly. "But you do. Don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
She lowered her eyes. "You're always tense. Always careful. It's like you're trying to carry the whole world on your back."
I didn't answer. She was right. I had been trying so hard to do everything right—follow the rules, protect the pack, keep my father satisfied. And none of it had made me feel free. But being with her? Just standing in the rain? That felt more real than anything else.
"You make me feel like I can breathe," I said.
Her cheeks turned pink. "Even if I'm just a maid?"
"You're not just anything."
We were quiet after that. But the silence wasn't awkward. It felt full. Safe.
---
Later that night, I couldn't sleep. My thoughts kept going back to her. So I walked down the hall to her room. I knocked once. She opened the door almost immediately, like she had been expecting me.
"I can't sleep," she said softly.
"Me neither."
She stepped aside. I entered, and she shut the door behind me. A fire burned in her small fireplace. The room was warm and smelled like lavender.
We sat on her bed, side by side.
"I keep dreaming," she said. "Dreams I can't explain. Someone calls my name, but I can't see who it is. Then everything goes dark."
"Maybe it's just your mind reacting to the bond," I said.
"Maybe," she said. "But it feels real."
I reached out and took her hand. She looked down at our hands, then back at me.
"This bond," she whispered. "It scares me. But it also makes me feel... alive."
"Same here."
She leaned her head on my shoulder, and we stayed like that until she slowly fell asleep. I laid her down gently and pulled the blanket over her. I didn't leave. I stayed in a chair beside her bed, keeping watch.
For the first time in a while, I felt like I had something worth protecting.
---
The next day, my father summoned me to his office. Again.
He was alone this time, standing at the window.
"You're wasting time," he said without turning.
"I'm not rejecting her," I said.
He turned to face me. "Then you've made your choice. Just know this—if the pack senses weakness in you, they will tear you apart."
"She isn't my weakness."
He stepped forward slowly. "No? Then prove it. Put her in a position where she has to fight. Let the pack see what she's made of."
"She's never trained."
"Then she'll fail. And when she does, you'll understand what real weakness looks like."
I clenched my fists. "She's not your enemy."
"She's not my Luna either."
He walked around the desk and sat. "I'll be watching. So will everyone else."
I walked out, anger burning in my chest. But I didn't say another word.
---
That afternoon, I found Aria by the stream near the forest's edge. She sat on a flat rock, her feet dipped into the water.
"I thought you weren't allowed this far without a guard," I said.
She smiled. "You're here, aren't you?"
I sat beside her.
"My father wants to test you."
She looked at me. "How?"
"He wants to throw you into training. See if you can handle it."
"Will I be fighting?"
"Not yet. But it's a start."
She nodded slowly. "Then I'll do it."
"You don't have to prove anything."
She looked at me, her eyes serious. "I want to. Not for him. For me."
That night, I spoke with Luca.
"She wants to train?" he asked, surprised.
"She does."
"Then I'll help her," he said. "But we start slow."
"Thanks."
He looked at me. "You really care about her, huh?"
"I do."
"She's good for you," he said. "Don't let anyone take her away."
---
The next morning, training began.
Aria stood in the center of the training field, wearing simple clothes. Her hair was tied back. She looked nervous, but determined.
Luca stood beside her. "Alright. First things first. Balance."
He tossed her a wooden staff. She caught it, though clumsily.
"Not bad," he said. "Now hold it steady."
She tried. The staff wobbled.
"Focus," I said from the side.
She looked at me, then steadied the staff.
"Better," Luca said.
They trained for over an hour. Aria was tired, but she didn't complain. She kept going, kept trying. And every time she looked at me, I felt that pull in my chest.
She was trying for me. For herself. For both of us.
---
Later that night, she knocked on my door.
When I opened it, she looked tired but proud.
"I didn't quit," she said.
I smiled. "I know."
She stepped inside. We sat together on the bed, side by side.
"I feel stronger," she whispered. "Like something inside me is waking up."
"You're stronger than you think."
She looked at me. "Do you feel it too?"
"The bond?"
She nodded.
"Yes," I said. "Every minute of every day."
She reached out, touched my face gently. My heart beat faster.
"I'm not scared anymore," she said.
I leaned closer. "Good."
We didn't kiss. Not yet. But the space between us closed. Her forehead touched mine, and we stayed that way, breathing the same air.
---
Outside the packhouse, in the woods, the shadow returned. Watching. Waiting.
"She's growing," the figure whispered. "He's protecting her.
But can he protect her forever?"
---
With the bond pulling Kieran and Aria closer, how far will his father go to keep them apart?
And when the real danger comes... will love be enough to survive?