The realization hit him like a physical blow. Of course she didn't. She was nobility—Princess Luna Avriantya, raised in luxury, accustomed to servants and silk gowns and warm baths.
What could he offer her? A life of constant danger, sleeping on the ground, eating whatever they could hunt or steal. No soft beds, no beautiful dresses, no safety.
'Of course she'd rather stay here. Even as a fugitive, she'd have a better life than anything I could give her.'
Something twisted in his chest—an annoyance.
"I know I cannot give you everything you deserve—" he began, his voice rougher than he intended.
"At least give me some clothes!" Luna interrupted, her crimson eyes flashing with genuine irritation. "I am naked!"
The words hit the group like a thunderclap.
Dead silence.
Javrian blinked, his prepared speech about noble comfort and sacrifice dying on his lips as the obvious reality crashed over him.
'She's... she's naked under the cloak.'
The knowledge had been there, of course—he'd wrapped her in his cloak after... after everything. But somehow, in the chaos of the night and the journey, it had become background information.
Now it slammed to the forefront of his consciousness with embarrassing force.
"Oh," he said stupidly.
Behind them, the pack members were having their own moment of horrified realization.
Kael's scarred face went bright red as he quickly averted his eyes. "I... we didn't... that is..."
Vera clasped both hands over her mouth, her gray eyes wide with shock.
Naturally, she and the others were covered with cloaks, wearing dresses that adapted to their transformations without tearing.
Darius made a strangled noise that might have been a squeak.
But it was Lila's reaction that made everyone freeze.
Her pale eyes had locked onto the black cloak wrapped around Luna's form—a cloak that, while modest enough to preserve dignity, clearly showed the bare curve of shoulders, the way the fabric clung without any underlying structure.
Luna's legs, visible below the cloak's hem, were completely bare.
Which meant...
'She's been pressed against his skin this entire time,' Lila realized, her hands clenching into fists so tight her knuckles went white. 'Skin to skin. For hours.'
The image seared itself into her mind—Luna's naked body molded against Javrian's chest, held close in his arms, warmed by his body heat.
Her jaw clenched so hard she heard her teeth grind.
"We will leave soon; how about you just wear the cloak like—" Kael started, trying to break the awkward tension.
"She is a noblewoman, she needs good clothes, you screw heads!" Lila's voice exploded across the mountainside, sharp enough to make birds scatter from nearby trees.
Everyone jumped at the sudden outburst.
Kael actually took a step back, his massive frame dwarfed by the sheer fury radiating from the silver-haired woman. "Lila, what happened to you—"
But Lila was already moving.
Without another word, she sprinted toward the cliff edge with inhuman speed, her muscular frame flowing with deadly grace.
"Lila, wait—!" Vera called out, but it was too late.
LEAP
"Make her sit on the ground! I will bring some clothes now!" Lila launched herself off the rocky outcrop in a perfect arc, her body already shifting mid-air.
Silver fur erupted across her skin as bones cracked and reformed, her human shape flowing into the powerful form of a white wolf.
She hit the ground below in full wolf form, rolling with the impact before bounding toward the town in great, loping strides.
Within seconds, she'd vanished among the buildings.
"Heh?" The silence that followed Lila's dramatic exit stretched uncomfortably across the mountainside.
Luna blinked, still processing what had just happened. "Did she just... jump off a cliff to get me clothes?"
"That's Lila for you," Darius muttered, shaking his head. "Always the dramatic one."
Javrian carefully lowered Luna to the ground, making sure his cloak stayed securely wrapped around her. The moment her bare feet touched the rocky surface, she shivered slightly from the cool mountain air.
"Here," he said, settling beside her on a large boulder. "At least sit on something warm."
Vera approached cautiously, her gray eyes studying Luna with newfound curiosity.
"I have to admit," she said, settling cross-legged on a nearby rock, "I didn't expect a noblewoman to be so... bold. How did you manage it? Most Empire nobility I've encountered would have fainted by now."
Luna tilted her head, genuinely confused. "Bold? I haven't done anything particularly brave."
"You called our pack leader foolish to his face," Kael pointed out from where he stood near the cliff edge, still in his wolf form. His voice came out as a low rumble. "That takes guts."
"Why are you still in wolf form?" Darius asked, raising an eyebrow at the massive black wolf.
Kael's ears flattened against his head. "I... may have lost my pants during the last transformation."
"That was unnecessary information, Kael," Darius said flatly, covering his face with his hands.
Vera snorted with laughter. "At least you have an excuse. Javrian here is bold enough to roam around shirtless most of the time, and he doesn't even shift that often."
Luna's crimson eyes automatically drifted to Javrian's bare chest, taking in the network of scars that crisscrossed his torso like a roadmap of battles fought and survived.
The morning light caught the defined ridges of muscle beneath the damaged skin.
While looking at him, she lost herself in thought.
'Strange,' she thought, her gaze lingering despite herself. 'In all the books I've read about the territories beyond the Empire, they described the people as savage, with no concept of clothing or shame. But these wolves seem just as modest as anyone in the capital—more so, even.'
It was making her see them all in a completely new light. They weren't the mindless beasts the Empire propaganda had painted them as.
They were people—complex, emotional, caring people who just happened to transform into wolves.
"What happened to you?" Javrian's quiet question interrupted her thoughts.
Luna looked up to find his silver eye studying her face with that intensity that always made her stomach flutter strangely. "What do you mean?"
"You looked intensely at me. Like you were... If you want—."
'Don't tell me.' Luna felt her mouth twitch as she sensed this man was talking about something like making her hug him again.
But then again, she didn't seem to feel it mattered after all.
So, she hesitated, then decided honesty was easier than deflection. "The Empire teaches us that people outside our borders are uncivilized. But you're all more considerate than most nobles I've known." Her gaze drifted back to his exposed torso. "Though I have to ask—why do you roam around like that? Can't you wear something too?"
The question seemed to reach him as his composed expression, scar on face twitched as he blinked.
His entire body went rigid, and something flickered across his scarred features—uncertainty, maybe even vulnerability.
"Do you find my scars repulsive?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral, but Luna caught the genuine concern underneath.
"Why?" Luna, with both hands holding the cloak to cover her body, looked towards him, tilting her head, getting what he meant but also recalling what Lila said and then wanting to tell him how these scars were like marks of how many times he saved others over his own comfort.
But, naturally due to her mind in trance earlier about this wolf pack and the Empire's perspective, she just stretched her finger, caressing a small inwardly curved mark near his chest, brushing her finger and reflexively told the utter truth without filter.
"I like these scars because they give me a perfect grip to hold you."
'!'