The old lady’s accent sounded like ho.
The mont she spoke again, sothing inside tightened. The tone, the rhythm of her words it reminded of Sole. I never expected to et soone from my hotown in a foreign territory.
The stone resting against my chest looked plain at first glance. Smooth, pale, almost like marble. To anyone else, it could pass as a simple charm. Sothing decorative. Sothing harmless.
But the mont her eyes fell on it, her face drained of color.
"What’s wrong?" I asked carefully. "This stone..."
"Young girl," she interrupted, her voice urgent, almost trembling. "So things should not be worn lightly. If you carry the wrong thing, it can cost you your life."
Her reaction made my pulse quicken, but I kept my face calm. I couldn’t tell a stranger about my second chance at life. I couldn’t tell her what this stone had done for .
"Thank you for the warning," I said politely.
She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know what it is?"
"Yes," I replied.
Her gaze searched my face for a long mont, as if trying to see through my skin and into my soul. Then she sighed. It was the kind of sigh that carried regret.
She turned away, clutching the lotus pod she had picked. As she walked off, I heard her mutter under her breath.
"Good advice cannot save a soul that has already chosen its path. Compassion cannot pull back soone who has stepped beyond the line. Even the gods cannot claim what already belongs to the underworld."
A chill crawled up my spine.
The air shifted. The lotus leaves trembled as a breeze swept across the pond. My hair lifted with the wind, brushing against my lips.
Before I noticed, Lewis was already beside .
His presence was quiet but solid, like a wall at my back. "What are you thinking about?" he asked. "You’ve been standing in the sun too long."
I blinked and looked up. He was holding a large lotus leaf above my head, shading from the harsh light.
"Lewis," I said slowly, "I just t a strange old lady."
His expression didn’t change much, but his eyes sharpened slightly. "Strange how?"
I told him everything. Her reaction. Her warning. Her muttered words. The way she froze when she saw the stone around my neck.
"Why would she react like that?" I asked softly. "If this is what you said it is... why would she talk about dood souls and death?"
If the pendant truly stabilized my spirit, shouldn’t it be sothing blessed?
Unless...
Unless it was sothing else.
"Lewis," I asked, looking straight at him, "are you sure this is the soul-stabilizing pendant?"
He sighed lightly and reached up to move a strand of hair that had stuck to my lips. His fingers lingered against my cheek.
"Silly girl," he murmured. "What else could it be?"
I repeated quietly, almost to myself, "Yeah... what else could it be?"
"Don’t overthink," he said gently. "You’re alive. You’re standing here in front of . That’s what matters."
The light was behind him, casting his face partly in shadow. His eyes looked darker than usual, deep and unreadable. When he stood like that, it reminded that he wasn’t just my mate.
He was Alpha.
There were parts of him the entire pack feared. Parts even I did not fully understand.
I placed my hand against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath my palm. His heartbeat was strong. Controlled.
"Lewis," I whispered, "you’re not hiding anything from , are you?"
His hand moved to the back of my head, fingers threading through my hair. He lowered his forehead to mine until our noses almost touched.
"Elena," he said softly, "what could I possibly hide from you?"
His voice was warm. His touch was gentle.
But sothing flickered in his eyes.
"I don’t know," I admitted. "Sotis I feel like... I don’t know what you’re thinking. You suddenly beca so careful with . So protective. Why?"
A faint smile curved his lips. Not mocking. Not cold. Just quiet.
"I do want sothing," he said.
I raised an eyebrow. "What?"
He brushed his nose lightly against mine in a playful, almost boyish way. "I just want you to live well. I want you to have a good life."
My chest tightened.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Then you need to live long too. You have to grow old with ."
For a second, sothing shifted in him.
Then he kissed .
It wasn’t soft this ti. It was intense. Fierce. His hands gripped my waist tightly, pulling close enough that I could barely breathe. The lotus leaf slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
His mouth moved against mine with a hunger that felt deeper than desire. It felt like fear. Like he was trying to hold onto sothing slipping away.
"Lewis..." I gasped, pushing lightly against his chest. "You’re hurting ."
He froze.
His eyes t mine, and for a mont, they looked... shaken.
"Sorry," he said quietly.
He stepped back and glanced toward the pond. "Do you want so lotus seeds? I’ll pick them for you."
I nodded, trying to steady my breathing. "Okay."
He handed the lotus leaf. "Stay here. Hold this."
Then he removed his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants, and stepped into the water.
I sat down by the shore, dipping my toes into the cool surface. The water rippled around my feet, calm and simple.
For the first ti in a long while, I felt sothing close to peace.
I watched him move through the pond with quiet strength. Even here, relaxed and barefoot, there was power in the way he carried himself. An Alpha never truly stopped being one.
As I sat there, a thought crept into my mind.
What if we had a child?
I knew it wasn’t the safest ti. We still had enemies. The one behind everything hadn’t been found.
But I loved him.
I wanted sothing that belonged to both of us. A little life born from our bond. A child who would run along this shore, clapping and laughing, shouting that their father was the strongest in the pack.
I imagined a small voice calling him "Dad."
My heart felt full just thinking about it.
When Lewis returned, holding fresh lotus seeds in his wet hands, he flicked water at my forehead. "You were daydreaming again," he said with a faint smile. "What made you smile like that?"
I didn’t hesitate this ti.
I looped my arms around his neck and looked straight into his eyes.
"Lewis," I said softly, "I want to have a baby."
His smile faded slightly.
His gaze shifted away.
"The one behind all this hasn’t been found yet," he said after a mont. "We’re still in danger. Let’s not talk about that for now."
The wind moved across the water again.
And this ti, it felt colder.
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