Violet
I woke slowly, my cheek pressed against parchnt.
For a mont, I didn’t move. The library was silent around , and the crystal lamps still glowed steadily overhead.
I blinked, lifting my head carefully.
The scroll I had been reading was still spread beneath my hands, the unfamiliar script blurring slightly as my eyes adjusted. I must have dozed off while studying it.
I hoped I hadn’t slept for long.
My gaze drifted to the table beside mine, and I went still.
Rowan was lying on it.
He was stretched out on his back, one arm draped across his face, the other resting on his stomach. His chest rose and fell in the slow, steady rhythm of sleep.
He looked deeply asleep.
I stared at his sleeping form, surprised.
He had stayed. Even after I told him he didn’t need to.
I sat there for a long mont, watching him breathe.
The discomfort from earlier had settled into a duller sensation now.
I had sensed Nessa in his room when I was leaving Bei and the others. The awareness had puzzled at first, before it made uncomfortable. I found it odd how she had just entered his bedroom just like that and had stayed there until Rowan had entered.
Like an idiot, I had made the decision to race to the hallway. I didn’t know what I had been thinking or what I had been hoping to hear. But the mont I arrived there, Nessa was already stepping out.
But Telsid being in that room monts earlier had eased sothing in , though I wasn’t sure why it should matter.
If Rowan had a history with Nessa...
I closed my eyes briefly.
I had no right to judge him for it or feel any sort of way about it at all. Not when I am entangled with Kael, and especially not when I had asked Rowan not to tell anyone about us.
I was in no position to demand anything from him, but it still made sad as much as I would like it not to.
I glanced at Rowan again.
His arm still covered his face, hiding his features from view. I found myself wishing he would move it. I wanted to see his sleeping face.
The wish caught by surprise and I imdiately looked away.
What was I even thinking?
The longing startled .
I pushed down the feeling and carefully stood, making no sound as I rose from my chair.
He had inconvenienced himself for . I doubted the table was comfortable enough for him to sleep on, especially since it was shorter than his fra.
Guilt twisted in my stomach.
I gathered the scroll and book I had been reading earlier and moved quietly to his table, hoping he wouldn’t wake up.
It was strange how at tis, he was a light sleeper and other tis he slept so deeply.
I sat down on the chair beside where his head rested, close enough that I could see the slow rise and fall of his chest.
He didn’t move.
I continued from where I had left off, but once in a while, my eyes would drift towards him.
To the arm covering his face.
To the steady rhythm of his breathing.
To the warmth of his presence beside in the quiet library.
I hoped he wouldn’t wake yet.
I wanted to stay like this a little longer.
[ - ]
The next two weeks passed in a strange rhythm.
Rowan had gotten busier, pulled in every direction by the weight of responsibilities he had neglected for months. I saw him rarely, and he was disgruntled by not being able to spend ti with which never ceased to amaze .
I wasn’t sure anyone had ever wanted to be in my company for so long.
But I understood he was a Supre Alpha. His territory needed him.
Before he left for a pack right beside the capital, he had promised a full day for us to spend ti with each other upon his return. He had already arranged everything, and when I tried to protest that he didn’t need to go through such trouble, he simply insisted.
I don’t think I have ever heard such a thing about soone setting up a whole day to be with soone.
And in a sad way, it reminded of the weeks I had spent with Kael trying to hone my syzygy.
In truth, I still missed Kael, and it was slowly alarming how much I was growing fond of Rowan.
In his absence, Telsid beca my guide to the private archive. He was stoic and efficient at first, and oddly reserved around , but he turned out to be a very warm person by that second week since Rowan had left.
I spent hours in that vast library, working through the Lycan docunts one page at a ti.
The space had also been an avenue for to freely used my abilities.
Outside the archive, my days took on an unexpected pattern.
Nessa.
She appeared everywhere. In corridors when I was walking to visit Bei and the others. In courtyards when I was taking in air. In the garden I had started using as a shortcut. She would always with that bright smile, always with so reason to fall into step beside , and start talking.
I always wondered if she had anything better to do...
It was irritating at first. I couldn’t tell if she was watching , testing , or simply incapable of leaving people alone.
But what truly stunned was how quickly she chard Bei, Ana, and Corin.
Within days, she had embedded herself in their circle like she belonged there. She made Bei laugh, traded stories with Ana, and sohow coaxed smiles out of Corin, who I had rarely seen smile at anyone. I watched it happen with a mixture of disbelief and reluctant admiration.
She was persistent, overwhelming, and far too curious about things that weren’t her business.
I still hadn’t forgotten that she had been in Rowan’s chambers that night, or the knowing smile she had worn when she left.
But she never brought it up or even hinted at it.
Why wouldn’t she just leave alone?
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