Chapter 31 – The Fox in the Ashes
(Chyron's POV)
From the ridge above the clearing, I could see everything.
The smoke from their fire curled lazily through the morning air, carrying the scent of iron, ash... and her. Maise.
I told myself I was here out of curiosity — a fox's nature, nothing more. But the truth clawed deeper every time I watched her move. She had that way about her, the kind of presence that refused to be contained. Even the air bent differently around her.
Nox stood close, his posture loose but protective — the mark on his throat fresh and bright in the sunlight. The matebond pulsed faintly between them, a tether of power that stirred the instincts in every beast for miles. And Luka... he lingered nearby, gaze soft but distant. The quiet ache in his stance told me everything.
Three predators. One center of gravity.
It shouldn't have made sense, yet it did.
I shifted on my perch, the bark rough beneath my palms, tail flicking once in agitation. I'd lived long enough to know how dangerous fascination could become. But watching her now — the way she soothed the unease in Luka's shoulders with a single glance, the way Nox's usual edge softened when she smiled — I felt something I hadn't in years.
Envy.
Not for the bond, but for the belonging.
The fox in me wanted to run. To keep to the shadows where I was safe, where no one could scent the uncertainty beneath my calm. But the man — the part that remembered warmth and laughter and the sound of another heartbeat near his own — that part wanted to step into the light.
Maise turned suddenly, head lifting, her golden eyes cutting through the distance like sunlight through fog. For one breathless instant, I thought she'd seen me.
The world seemed to still.
Then Nox said something low beside her, and her attention shifted. The moment broke.
I exhaled slowly, realizing I'd been holding my breath.
My claws dug into the bark. "Careful, fox," I muttered under my breath. "You're circling too close."
But I didn't move away.
Not yet.
There was something about this pride — about her — that pulled at the quiet places I'd thought long dead. I wasn't ready to face it, not entirely. But I knew one thing with the clarity of instinct:
Soon, the shadows wouldn't be enough to keep me hidden.
And when that moment came, the world — hers and mine — would both change.