The guards were real now.
Not distant. Not symbolic.
They stood outside her door that night, silent, armed, alert. Kael hadn't asked her opinion. He hadn't needed to. Protection, whether she wanted it or not, had become unavoidable.
Lyra paced her room, restless.
The bond hummed beneath her skin, no longer a quiet presence but a living thing, aware, impatient, stretched too tight.
She felt him before he came.
The pressure.
The heat.
The Alpha.
A knock sounded.
Once.
Then the door opened.
Kael stepped inside and closed it behind him.
The room felt suddenly too small.
"You shouldn't be alone right now," he said.
Lyra turned on him. "You're the one who made me a target."
Kael's gaze darkened. "And you made yourself impossible to ignore."
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
"You followed me," Lyra said.
"Yes."
"You watched me train."
"Yes."
"You rejected me," she said, voice steady but sharp. "And yet you won't let anyone else near me."
Kael took a slow step forward.
"You don't understand what you are," he said quietly.
Lyra didn't back away. "Then explain it to me."
The bond snapped tight.
Heat surged through her, fast, intense, disorienting. Her breath caught as her wolf surged forward, demanding, aching.
Kael stopped inches away.
Too close.
"You smell like restraint," he murmured. "Like something coiled and waiting to strike."
Her pulse thundered.
"Is that supposed to frighten me?" she asked.
"No," Kael said. "It's supposed to warn me."
It wasn't planned.
That was the lie.
The truth was written in instinct and tension and everything they'd both been denying.
Lyra lifted her chin.
Kael leaned down.
The bond exploded.
When his mouth brushed hers, the world narrowed to heat and breath and shock. The kiss wasn't gentle. It wasn't consuming.
It was raw.
A collision.
Lyra gasped, and Kael deepened it before he could stop himself.
The bond roared, fire racing through her veins, her wolf howling in triumph. For one dangerous heartbeat, she leaned into him, fingers fisting in his coat.
Mine, the bond screamed.
Kael pulled back violently.
His breath was ragged. His eyes burned silver-bright.
"Never again," he said hoarsely.
Lyra's lips tingled, heart pounding. "You kissed me."
"That was a mistake."
Her voice dropped. "Did it feel like one?"
Silence answered.
Kael stepped away as though distance alone could save them.
"You don't understand what that did," he said. "To you. To me."
Lyra wiped her lip slowly, her wolf pacing, restless and satisfied all at once. "Then stop pretending this bond only affects me."
Kael looked at her then, really looked.
And for the first time since the rejection, Lyra saw it clearly:
Fear.
Not of her.
Of himself.
"If this happens again," Kael said, voice low and controlled with effort, "I won't stop."
Lyra met his gaze without flinching.
"Then don't come back," she said.
Kael turned and left.
The door closed softly behind him.
Lyra sank onto the bed, fingers trembling as she touched her mouth.
The kiss still burned there.
The palace had crossed a line.
So had they.