"You don't tame something born to burn… you just decide if you'll burn with it."
---
KAIRO
I avoided her.
For two days.
Not because I didn't want to see her — but because I wanted to tear down the walls I'd built if I did.
And I wasn't sure what would happen if I finally let myself.
But she didn't wait.
Lyra found me at the edge of the training field, the moon hanging low behind her like a witness.
---
"I'm not a child," she said.
Her voice was calm. Controlled.
But her eyes…
They dared me.
"I never said you were."
"Then stop treating me like I'm going to shatter."
---
She stepped closer.
One step. Then another.
Until I could smell her again — that maddening mix of smoke and storm.
---
"I'm not afraid of what I am," she said.
"I am," I admitted.
Her brows drew together. "Of me?"
"No," I breathed.
> "Of what I'll do if I let myself have you."
---
She didn't flinch.
Didn't move away.
She stepped even closer, until her chest brushed mine.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
> "Then maybe… stop thinking."
---
I grabbed her.
One hand around her waist.
The other in her hair.
And for the first time since she entered my world — I didn't hold back.
I crushed my lips against hers like I'd been starving for it.
Because I had been.
---
She kissed me back with heat, with teeth, with something in her that tasted like rebellion and prophecy.
My wolf clawed beneath my skin, begging to surface.
I didn't shift — but I growled, low in my chest, when she pulled away just enough to catch her breath.
"You're playing with fire," I rasped.
She smiled.
> "So burn me."
---
We kissed again.
Harder.
Slower.
Until the world blurred, and I didn't know if I wanted to protect her or ruin her more.
---
LYRA
His lips were everything I imagined.
Rough. Deep. Hungry.
But what shattered me was what I saw in his eyes when he pulled back:
Not dominance.
Not lust.
> Worship.
Like I was something holy.
And that was more dangerous than any flame I carried.
---
But the moment shattered too quickly.
Ren barged into the clearing, out of breath, blood on his arm.
Kairo spun, already half-shifted.
"What happened?"
Ren's face was pale.
> "We found a body in the west woods. One of ours."
"Rogues?"
He shook his head.
> "No. This wasn't a rogue.
This was someone inside the pack."
---
My blood went cold.
Kairo cursed under his breath and turned to me.
"Stay here."
But I shook my head.
> "If it has to do with me… I want to know."
---
He hesitated. Then gave a sharp nod.
And I followed him into the dark.
Heart still racing from the kiss…
But faster from the fear that someone among us had finally decided to betray the flame.