FIA
I turned fully to face the cloaked figure.
The stillness in the hallway pressed against my skin. Every nerve ending scread danger, but sothing else threaded through the alarm. Sothing familiar that didn’t quite match the threat my instincts insisted was there.
"Is the intention to scare or talk?"
The figure reached up. Hands pulled back the hood, revealing a face I’d seen only twice before but had morized anyway.
Lysander.
"How did you know it was ?" His voice carried genuine curiosity.
"I have a decent sense of sll."
He walked closer. Each step asured and deliberate. "It does boost my ego to know that though our etings tend to be short, you never forget ."
Heat crept up my neck. I pushed it down and focused on the question that actually mattered. "Are you here to pay your respects to the dead?"
"No." He stopped a few feet away. "Considering I was the one who ended your sister and in turn pushed your stepmother to suicide."
The words should have shocked . They didn’t. So part of had already known. The pieces had been there, waiting for confirmation.
"I don’t know if this helps," I said carefully, "but I do not feel too bad about it."
His expression shifted. Sothing almost like relief flickered across his features. "I heard your speech. I know."
A smile tugged at my lips despite the strangeness of this entire situation. "Why are you here then, Alpha Lysander?"
"I thought about visiting Skollrend." He slipped his hands into his pockets. The gesture looked casual, but tension radiated from his shoulders. "But I know your mate. So I ca here in secret, hoping you would co." He paused. "I guess the goddess heard my prayer."
"I am still mated." The correction felt important sohow. "Happily, might I add."
"I know." His gaze held mine. "But I believe I am allowed this."
I reached for his hand before I thought better of it. My fingers wrapped around his, and I gave them a gentle pat. The contact felt strange and oddly natural at the sa ti.
"I am glad you are here too."
His eyes widened. The surprise that crossed his face was so genuine it made my chest tighten.
"I want to thank you."
He scoffed. "What?"
"I know you know I am a healer." I kept my voice low. "And I know you also did things for my sake. To protect ."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, I am a healer." I squeezed his hand once before releasing it. "And one of my talents happens to be foresight."
His posture changed. He stood straighter, his attention sharpening in a way that reminded he was an Alpha. That he’d killed his own father and walked away with the council’s blessing.
"Though I will admit that foresight was not one I saw." The confession tasted bitter. "Regardless, I am thankful."
Suddenly running footsteps echoed down the hallway.
I turned just as Cian rounded the corner. His eyes found first, then tracked to Lysander. His entire stance shifted. The protective fury I’d seen earlier at the podium ca roaring back, but this ti it carried a possessive edge that made the air feel charged.
"Lysander Asker?"
Surprise jolted through . I hadn’t expected Cian to quickly recognize him.
"Get away from him." Cian closed the distance between us in three long strides. "I sensed your discomfort and ca running." His gaze never left Lysander. "What kind of incompetent security does this pack have?"
Lysander’s weight shifted. His hands ca out of his pockets, and he took a stance that scread readiness for a fight.
"Get away from my wife."
The air between them crackled with tension. Two Alphas, both prid to tear into each other, and I stood in the middle like so prize to be claid.
"It is fine." I stepped between them. "We were talking."
"That is not what I felt from you minutes ago."
He wasn’t wrong. My initial reaction to the cloaked figure had been pure alarm. But that had changed the mont I recognized Lysander’s scent.
"Feel what I feel now."
I pushed the emotion toward him through the bond. It showed that I was calm and most importantly certain. He could see now that there was no threat here, and this was just an unexpected conversation that needed to finish.
Cian’s shoulders relaxed fractionally. The murder in his eyes dimd to sothing more manageable. He didn’t look happy, but he stopped advancing.
Lysander turned back to face . His expression had shuttered, beco unreadable.
"I do not need appreciation for that." His voice ca out flat. "And you do not have to worry anymore... I burned the files."
My breath caught. The files. The ones docunting my heritage, my connection to fleshcraft, the evidence that could have been used against in a dozen different ways.
"You should know that you will be safe."
"Oh, I am sure." The words ca out softer than I intended. "I guess I could say I owe you a second ti." I paused. "If you do need my help in the future, which I doubt, I will be there to render it."
He looked at with eyes that carried too much knowledge. Sothing sly moved behind his gaze. "There is sothing I want, but I have a feeling you will not give it to ."
"Excuse ?" Cian’s voice ca out sharp.
I gave him a look that kept him still. Then I turned back to Lysander and touched his hand again. The contact sent a jolt through , but I ignored it.
"I guess this ans I will keep owing you for a while."
Still... the mont my skin made contact with his, the vision hit.
It slamd into like a physical blow. The hallway disappeared. The belely of the church vanished. Everything dissolved into fragnted images that felt more real than the ground beneath my feet.
Lysander was on his knees.
A crown being lowered onto his head, heavy and ornate, gleaming with precious stones.
A woman with platinum silver hair was standing beside him. Her features were sharp and beautiful in a way that made mortals look dull by comparison.
The images flickered like photographs being shuffled too fast to process properly. Then they stopped.
I blinked as the hallway quickly reford around . Lysander was staring at with an expression caught between concern and confusion.
"But I do not think you would want what you want in the near future." My voice sounded distant to my own ears. "I have a feeling soone is about to find you, and your love story... It will be legendary." I paused, let the weight of what I’d seen settle. "Your majesty."
His eyes widened. "Huh.’
"You will get to know with ti. But I am afraid I have to take my leave now."
I walked to Cian and slipped my hand into his. The familiar warmth of his palm against mine grounded , pulling back from the strange space the vision had left in.
"We should go."
"I have no idea what any of that ans." Lysander’s voice stopped mid-step. I turned slightly, just enough to see him still standing in the sa spot. "But Cian—that is the na, right?"
Cian’s attention snapped to him. The murder ca back into his eyes.
"If you do ss this up, you should know soone will be right there to pick up right where you left off."
Cian’s hand tightened around mine. The grip bordered on possessive.
"Fia, I think we should go." His voice ca out strained. "The last thing I want to do at a funeral is cause a scene."
We walked. Cian’s pace was just slightly too fast to be casual. I glanced back over my shoulder and caught Lysander’s gaze one more ti.
I waved.
He smiled. The expression transford his face into sothing softer, more genuine than I’d seen from him before.
"You should not wave," Cian said through gritted teeth.
"I am being nice." I kept my tone light. "He has helped three tis now." We pushed through the side door and stepped into the cetery. The afternoon light felt too bright after the dim hallway. "You do know it was probably not Hazel who took out Alpha Wenzel."
Cian stopped walking. His grip on my hand tightened further.
"But you did not ntion the psycho was obsessed with you." His voice carried an edge I’d rarely heard. "Is that why he did it? He killed his father for you?"
"I am sure you would have done the sa." I looked up at him. "Right?"
"Perhaps."
I shook my head. "He is winning then."
He stopped . Both hands ca up to grip my shoulders, turning to face him fully.
"You do not an that. Right?"
"No."
He kissed . Hard and possessive and desperate in a way that made my knees weak. When he pulled back, his eyes searched my face like he was looking for cracks in my certainty.
"Though it is best you never change." The words ca out before I could stop them. "I sohow had a peek into Lysander’s future, and he will be king of the Alphas soday. That wouldn’t be a bad choice for a second marriage."
"I do not think you should tease like that."
I laughed. The sound felt good after the weight of the funeral, the speech, the unexpected encounter in the hallway. Cian’s expression softened, and he kissed again. This ti slower, sweeter, with less desperation and more promise.
"Can we go ho now?"
I looked past him at the three filled graves. At the mourners still clustered in small groups. At the church where my grandfather had offered a birthright I didn’t want.
"Yeah." I laced my fingers through his properly. "I agree. Let us go ho."
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