The carriage rocked softly as it rolled down the frost-covered road. The walls were high, the windows small, but the air inside was charged, heavy with the silent pull between us. Snow stirred beneath my skin, tense and alert, sensing Kai coiled quietly inside Levi.
Levi's human form sat opposite me, hands folded, calm and unreadable. Yet I could feel him—sharp, aware, aware of me in ways that went beyond sight. His wolf was silent but present, threading instinct through the air like an undercurrent.
Finally, his voice broke the quiet. Low, steady, almost careful:
"Your family…" he began, eyes locking on mine, though I looked away. "They treated you poorly, didn't they?"
I stiffened, shoulders tightening. "I… I don't want to talk about it," I murmured, keeping my voice small.
Kai shifted inside him, subtle but insistent. Snow responded, coiling protectively. I felt the thread of the mate bond, faint and still, tug at me. He was aware—not just of my words, but of my hesitation.
Levi's gaze softened slightly. "I need to understand you. Your past, what you've endured… it matters."
I swallowed, unsure if I could. The memories clawed at me—my father's cold hands, my brother's sneers, the way they had treated me like nothing more than a tool. I had learned to hide my fear, my anger, my sadness. To show nothing.
"I…" I hesitated. Snow stirred again, nudging me toward caution. Not yet. Not everything. Only what you are ready to give.
Levi leaned back slightly, still calm. "I won't force you. But I need you to know… I see you, Raelia. Everything you are, every part of you, I see."
I shivered slightly, caught between instinctive pull and long-ingrained mistrust. To be seen… truly seen… was dangerous, but oddly comforting.
I lowered my gaze. "They… they weren't… nice. They… they wanted control. That's all I ever understood. I… I don't know why they hated me so much."
Kai purred quietly inside him, resonating through the thread, and Snow responded, easing some of the tension coiling in my chest. Levi's eyes softened further, though the sharpness of the wolf within him still hummed beneath the surface.
"I will protect you," he said simply. "And I will make sure they can't hurt you again."
I nodded slightly, unsure if I could trust the words, but aware that, for the first time, someone had acknowledged the pain that had shaped me.
The carriage rocked on in silence again, the frost-covered road stretching ahead. Outside, the world was vast, cold, and unknown—but inside, a thread of connection had begun to weave itself between us.
Snow shifted, coiled closer, resting lightly against my instincts. Kai responded in kind. The journey was far from over, but for the first time, I felt… cautiously seen.