All eyes turned to Zoran as he coughed out his wine. He grabbed the napkin and hurriedly sloshed off the mess, his hands shaking a little.

The paper dissolved into the liquid.

"Uncle Zoran, is everything fine?" Silas reached out to help him clean the table's surface. Rowan too had paused munching and seemed concerned.

"Was there something in the drink, brother?"

"No. I just... forgot that I had to purchase extra yarn in order to knit like I had planned and-"

Naelis bit into her apple and licked her lips, holding his gaze when it crossed hers. Zoran's eyes got even wider seeing she wasn't bothered.

He immediately excused himself.

That was when Silas noticed the tiny piece of parchment soaking in the spilled wine.

"Is this your doing, Nae?" He whispered.

"Probably."

He fished for the paper but it was already falling apart. "What does it say?"

"Nothing you need to know in particular," she whispered back.

Rowan was confused, but he was too immersed in his lemon curd to ask.

"Alpha Rowan, I'll head upstairs for a bath. I don't want to ruin the carpets any further."

"Alright, child, I could still have the cooks prepare the boar. I'd like it with curry sauce and a little bit of parmesan."

"Of course, Alpha, enjoy."

She licked her fingers clean and waltzed away.

•••

Steam still clung to Naelis's skin as she stepped out of the washroom, drying her hair with a towel while her phone buzzed.

"Mm-hmm, yes, Sally, I'll tell you another story later, no, don't sneak cookies, you little thief," she laughed softly before hanging up.

Sally. A very soft, but yet, over-curious six-year-old.

Half-sister. Her father's bastard, but yet... a girl that had come to matter to her. Somewhat.

She tossed the towel aside, tugged on a loose robe, and flopped across her bed. With the curtains drawn and the mansion quiet, her finger hovered over her screen, tapping open something explicit.

She opened her flap and parted her legs, her heat cycles still pungent.

KNOCK-KNOCK.

The sound interrupted her before her hands could even make contact with her folds.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Silas, if that is you trying to dissuade me again-" She snatched a shoe off the floor and flung it.

The sensor-stimulation feature was still on. The doors creaked open just in time for the shoe to collide squarely with Zoran's chest.

He let out a small grunt, clutching his laptop.

"May I... have a word?" His voice was polite, but there was a rough edge beneath it.

Naelis's jaw dropped, heat rising in her cheeks. "Shit. Sorry. I thought you were... never mind. Come in."

He stepped inside, his refreshing scent hitting her nostrils.

Wild-root and coffee-tang.

She gestured behind her. "Make yourself comfortable, the bed is free."

Zoran nodded, moving stiffly to the chair instead. He set the laptop on his knees.

"I... ah... came to clarify," he began, "the note you handed me at breakfast. It was... wildly inappropriate."

Naelis stretched languidly on the bed, her damp hair spilling over her shoulders. "Oh? Inappropriate is just another word for memorable."

His gaze averted, just for a second, toward the sleek little wand-like toy resting near her pillow. He stiffened, color rising in his cheeks. He tried to look anywhere else, her window, the carpet, the wall... anywhere but there.

"Miss Haldrith-"

"-Naelis."

"N-Naelis," he said, carefully, "I am not... interested in... any of that."

She cut him off with a soft laugh.

"You sound like you swallowed a sermon. Relax, Zoran. I wasn't proposing anything serious. Just a little... fun fact." She dragged the words out deliberately, savoring his fluster.

His knuckles whitened on the edge of the laptop.

"It wasn't funny."

"It was hilarious." Her grin widened. "The way you nearly spat out your wine? Priceless."

He narrowed his eyes. "You enjoy making people uncomfortable."

"Only the ones I want to look at me twice," she shot back, leaning forward on her elbows. "And I want you to look at me, more than twice."

That silenced him.

"Aren't you thinking of getting back with my nephew?"

"No."

She slid off the bed with an almost feline grace, the hem of her robe dragging behind her. The fabric clung damply to her skin from the steam of her bath, emphasizing her figure. She sank down to her hands and knees, and then began to crawl.

Zoran felt a rush of trepidation.

He stood up. Every time her hand pressed into the carpet, he took another step back.

Her robe gaped, her cleavage visible with each movement, the curve of her breasts strained against the thin fabric, and Naelis didn't hide it, she wanted him to notice.

He didn't. At least, he tried not to. His gaze kept darting toward the wall or the floor.

"Miss Haldrith. Stop this. Calm your raging... omega hormones. There are other men out there, plenty of them. Dozens, hundreds. Someone that would willingly want this."

She laughed softly as she crawled another inch closer.

"I don't want any of them," she whispered. She crawled another pace forward, closing the gap he kept trying to create. "Let them be the fishes in the sea."

Her lips curved into a lethal smile. "For now, I just want one shark."

Zoran's back hit the wall, laptop clutched against his chest like a holy relic. "Naelis, this...this is not amusing."

Her laughter rang out. "Relax, hot cake..."

Zoran blinked. His red-ringed eyes shuffled with awkwardness.

"I'm not asking for forever," she continued, a sly grin tugging at her lips. "Just... wicked little moments. Nothing to fear, unless you're afraid of enjoying yourself."

"I am fourteen years older than you, I could be your uncle too," he blurted, as though the number itself might build a barricade.

Not when Naelis Haldrith was involved. Certainly not.

"Listen to me, young lady-"

She whimpered, letting out a half-moan that made his entire locomotive system come to a stand-still.

His lips parted in disbelief.

"Stop being so bashful and come here." Her nails reached out to grab his pants.

His back was against the wall. There were no more backward steps to take.

"N-Naelis!"

She didn't notice the intensifying red in his eyes, the venomous claws prickling at his fingertips.

"Zoran-uh... your pheromones."

Something was happening, his pores were leaking something. But it definitely wasn't pheromones.

"Enough!"

One moment his cheeks were flushed and he was frozen against the wall. The next, he leaned down and grabbed her by the throat.

Eyes blazing with distinct blood-lust.

Three days had passed, and Zoran was nowhere in her line of sight. He was absent at breakfast and neither Rowan nor Silas knew where he had gone. Her door had been fixed from when he tore it down and sprinted out, but the complexity of her thoughts? Nah.

Naelis sat on the sun-warmed bench, tilting her face toward the sky. Her heat had dulled, leaving her skin oddly restless. She should have been relieved, but instead the quiet made her itch.

Even the young pups playing nearby couldn't lift the knot in her chest. Not like she liked kids that much anyway.

Something wasn't right.

She noticed it first in the way the guards moved along the perimeter, with quicker strides and glances. It was a little whiff at first, but her nose caught the scent almost instantly.

Gunpowder.

Her senses were sharper now that she was on her period, (lunar cycle).

The first shot went off.

The children screamed, scattering like startled birds. "Shit! Get inside, quickly." Naelis yelled, springing to her feet.

They ran inside, all... but one.

A boy tripped, a painful scream was torn from his throat as his ankle snapped. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg. His friends attempted to skiddle back to his rescue with their little friend.

"Don't!" Naelis barked, sharper than the gunfire echoing from the borders. "Get inside! I'll handle him!"

And though their eyes brimmed with fear, they obeyed, rushing for the Alpha house.

She sprinted to the ash-haired five year old, attempting to pull him up, she tried and almost successfully got him off the ground.

Except...

She felt a sharp abdominal twinge, a menstrual cramp. She hissed, nearly doubling over. She never had cramps before, never.

"Miss, are you okay? Are you hurt?" the boy whimpered, his eyes wide.

"Shit," she muttered, clutching her stomach with one hand while shoving him up with the other. "Goddammit-go inside! Get your little playmates in, cover your ears, and stay put!"

He was conflicted. The little boy shook his head, insisting on sniffing out what was wrong with her.

Kids and their damn innocence.

"Do I have to root my claws in your snout before you run inside already?" She hissed, grabbing her abdomen and shoving him forward on his good feet.

The threat scared him and forced him to limp inside to the safety of the main house.

Naelis tried to stand up, tried to push through the twisting pain, but the cramp worsened, making her scream.

A stone was thrown toward her direction and she narrowly missed it by an inch.

Are these intruders really resorting to throwing rocks?

Another stone came from over the fence and collided with her temple. She cursed and placed her palm on her bruised forehead while still fighting her cramps.

Come on, Naelis, move!

She kept screaming at her legs that seemed paralyzed. These no longer felt like cramps but like little acidic explosions in her uterus.

The children yelled at her from inside as a large rocky stone was hurled into the air. With her chest blazing with panic and her legs immobile, all she could do was close her eyes and hope to not get crushed to smithereens. Which was highly unlikely.

Three...

Two...

One...

Firm arms slid under the knees and pulled her from the line of impact before the rock could impale itself on her skull.

Zoran.

"Your abdomen..." His eyes darted to her stomach. "What is wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" He leaned down, his nose hovering just below her navel. He inhaled. "I can smell blood...."

Naelis bit her lip, suddenly feeling very doe-like.

"Are you hurt?"

She tapped her tummy twice and he understood.

Oh, that kind of blood.

He straightened, touched her temple where the rock had grazed her. His fingers were surprisingly gentle against her skin. "It will swell if we don't handle it. There is a health kit upstairs. We can treat it there."

He was effortlessly professional like he had done this many times, saving people, carrying them. Her eyes couldn't help but notice the strands of fur jutting out from his skin.

"Why?" she asked softly, brushing her fingers against the fur before she could stop herself.

Zoran went still. His grip on her tightened, as if he was forcefully pinning the wolf back inside.

"My wolf is on edge," he admitted.

The noises of trouble outside were still very loud.

"Intruders, invaders, curious personnel, or?"

"A band of rogues. We had a fragile alliance, but they broke it."

Her brows furrowed. "Why?"

"They demanded that Rowan betroth Silas to their leader's daughter. To solidify the alliance further."

An arranged marriage?

She scoffed.

"Sometimes, some werewolves act a bit too traditional."

"The rogue leader lacks the ability of discernment."

She lifted a brow, surprised an insult was spewing out from his holy lips. "Did you just-"

"No, Naelis. I only speak the truth. Rowan refused and said that Silas should choose his own woman, in his own time. They took offense to that and said that Rowan rejected them for being rogues."

"But Alpha Rowan isn't like that."

Zoran's eyes flicked to hers, a glint of agreement in their depths. "Exactly. He wasn't looking down on them, he was simply protecting Silas's choice. And for that, they are here....."

She looked down at her abdomen scornfully.

"If not for these cramps, I would've marched down there and curdled off some heads."

"Rowan has it handled."

"I know that. But he is probably what... reasoning with these rogues? Talking? No. Rogues understand one language and one language only. Death. And Frostpine should give it to them."

"Not everything-"

"No. I guess you are some kind of delusional eunuch, I don't expect you to see that violence is necessary sometimes."

"I'm not a eunuch. Eunuchs are usually castrated. I wasn't."

"So your intact-cock is what separates you from those timble men of faith?"

He marched the stairwell quietly.

"Is your tongue always this... sharp?"

"Untamed? Unbridled? All words people use to caution me when I speak the truth and they know it."

He looked down, at the way her thick brows furrowed in anger. The way her eyes narrowed with distaste. Her feline-like eyes, radiating the same intensity her hair did.

This was the first time he really looked.

"What? Gawking now?" She rolled her eyes, "I assumed I had the body of a parasite since a certain man punched a hole in my door, to run away from me."

His eyes turned guilty. Maybe she had tried to seduce him against his will. But his actions were far from the spectrum and inexplicable. For someone who held rationality as essential.

He opened his mouth to apologize,

"Miss Haldrith,-"

Her finger pressed to his lips, sealing the words in.

"Tell me what happened and why you ran, Zoran. I want the truth."

Zoran froze the moment her fingertip touched his lips. For a heartbeat, he looked like he forgot how to breathe.

Naelis could clearly see his struggle as he tries to find a suitable response to her question or an excuse not to answer.

He gently pulled her hand away and tightened his jaw. "Miss Haldrith... this is not the moment for such discussions."

Of course he changed the topic.. Classic Zoran.

Before she could argue, he adjusted her in his arms, tightening his hold as he descended the last steps. The main hallway came into view, Silas rushing toward them with his shirt half-buttoned and panic in his eyes.

"What happened? I smelled blood, Naelis, are you hurt?" Silas reached to take her, and Zoran instantly handed her over like she was a burning coal.

Zoran didn't even spare her a full glance. "Her injury is minor, tend to it. I must return to the front and join your father in controlling the situation"

He looked like one more whiff of her would make him combust.

Without another word, Zoran spun on his heel and stormed down the hallway. Naelis watched him go, her lips curling into a slow, wicked smile.

Silas followed her gaze and groaned. "Naelis... stop smiling like that, It scares me."

"Oh please," she muttered, flipping her hair back. "If he wants to keep running, let him. It only makes the chase sweeter."

"Chase?" Silas sputtered. "Naelis, he's a primordial wolf. He took a vow. A vow-vow, not the casual 'I'm taking a break from dating' vow. This is a centuries-old, ancient text carved-in-stone type of vow."

"I know," she said, swinging her legs down from his arms despite the lingering pain in her stomach. "And I want to see how far that vow bends before it snaps."

Silas stared at her like she was about to summon a demon in the middle of the hallway. "Please Naelis, I'm begging you. Do not go anywhere near the citadel."

She raised a brow. "Who said anything about the citadel?"

"You just did."

She scoffed, "Nope, you are just assuming things."

"You were smiling."

"And?"

"That smile," he said with despair, "means you're about to ruin someone's life."

"His life?" Naelis laughed softly. "Silas, honey, I'm just trying to unwrap a very old present."

Silas buried his face in his palms. "If my father finds out about this, I am dead"

She patted his shoulder. "Relax, I just need a few books."

"A few books?"

"Yes, traditional texts. So I can walk into the citadel with a totally innocent reason."

Silas's head snapped up. "Naelis! You... "

But she was already turning away, waving him off like he was a mosquito buzzing too close to her ear. The ache in her abdomen hadn't subsided but it wasn't as unbearable as earlier.

She was determined to make Zoran willingly submit to her.

---

An hour later, the rogue attack has been taken care of and everything has returned to calm.

Naelis walked across the courtyard wearing full traditional Frostpine attire.. A deep forest-green gown with embroidered gold runes, her red hair braided into two, and a thin veil draped over her head like the model devotees that frequent the citadel.

She carried three thick books in her arms, all borrowed from the library.

Well, borrowed without permission but still the same thing.

Every elder and guard she passed stared at her like she had grown a second head.

Seeing their reactions, she smirked and headed in the direction of the citadel.

The citadel loomed ahead, towering and solemn. Ancient stone pillars spiraled upward, their surfaces etched with prayers and warnings.

Naelis stepped in anyway.

Because why the hell not?

Her boots tapped softly against the polished stone. She peeked around corners, skirt brushing against her legs as she navigated the dim corridors. Incense drifted from the meditation quarters, warm and irritatingly calming.

She wrinkled her nose.

"Ughh. . It smells like enlightenment." she murmured with an irritated expression.

Finally, she reached the large wooden doors that separated the main hall from the meditation wing.

Silas told her that Zoran usually meditates at this specific time. She pushed the door open, at first it seemed empty but when she looked at the center of the room, she smiled triumphantly.

Zoran sat in the center of the room, cross-legged, eyes shut, back straight as a spear, shirt discarded on the floor beside him. Only loose ceremonial pants hung on his hips, exposing the carved map of muscles across his chest. His skin had faint silver markings that were glowing softly.

He looked... otherworldly and perfect.

Naelis grinned.

"Challenge accepted" she murmured before silently slipping inside and closed the door behind her.

Her foot caught deliberately on the edge of her gown. She gasped and let herself fall directly onto him.

Her body landed on his lap, knocking him slightly off balance. His eyes flew open, the red ring in them looked like it was burning.

Both of them froze.

Zoran's hands hovered around her waist, not touching but dangerously close. His breath hitched quietly.

"Miss Haldrith," he murmured, voice hoarse, like he was holding something back, "why... are you in the meditation chamber?"

She winced dramatically. "My leg twisted and I slipped."

He gave her a hard deadpan expression and she almost broke into laughter.

He gently lifted her off his lap, but the contact alone sent a jolt through him, she saw it in the way his jaw clenched, and his nostrils flared.

"You should not be here," he said, his voice low. "This is a consecrated place."

"I came for guidance," she lied sweetly, waving the book in her hand. "Religious guidance."

He blinked at the titles.

Ancient Binding Rituals.

The Wolf and His Chosen.

Celibacy: A Guide.

Zoran inhaled sharply, looking like he wanted to throw her out the door.

"That last title," he said stiffly, "is not for public reading."

"And yet," she countered, "here I am, public and reading."

He exhaled slowly, as if controlling a beast.

She leaned closer, her shoulder brushing his bare arm. "You didn't answer my question earlier," she whispered. "What exactly did you run from?"

"Naelis," he warned.

"Come on," she teased. "Are you scared of me?"

His gaze snapped to hers, blazing like molten gold. "I fear what my wolf wishes to do around you."

That caught her off guard and heat rippled down her spine.

"Oh?" she whispered.

Zoran rose to his full height, towering over her. The soft glow of the chamber lights caught the silver strands in his hair and the ancient markings on his chest.

"I must maintain the vow," he said, voice thick but strained. "I must keep my distance."

"And how's that working out?" she asked, stepping closer to him.

His fingers twitched.

"Poorly," he admitted.

Naelis's smile grew slow and knowing. "Good."

She moved to walk around him, pretending to browse the scroll shelves. "Honestly, Zoran... if you're going to keep avoiding me, you should at least be better at it."

"I am not avoiding," he said stiffly.

She snorted. "You literally handed me to Silas and sprinted."

Zoran's face flushed.. barely, but enough to see. "Proximity to you is... difficult."

"Why?"

He hesitated.

She turned, leaning back against a pillar, letting the fabric of her gown cling to her curves as she raised a brow. "Zoran. Why?"

He swallowed and it felt like his years of built up restraint was a joke.

"My wolf reacts to you," he murmured. "Too strongly. It is... unsafe."

"For me or for you?" she pressed.

"Yes," he said.

She laughed softly. "You really are an ancient relic."

Zoran bristled. "I am disciplined."

"You're repressed."

Their eyes locked.

A spark lit between them, sharp and undeniable.

Naelis stepped closer. "Tell me, Zoran... does your vow forbid you from looking?"

Silence at first then he gave her a hard look.

Her throat, her lips, the exposed slip of thigh where her gown had parted.

He snapped his gaze away like it burned him. "Miss Haldrith, I will escort you out... "

"No."

She placed her hand on his chest. It felt warm and she could feel his rapid heartbeats.

His breath stopped altogether.

"Miss Haldrith," he whispered, voice dangerously low like he was about to snap, "remove your hand."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Because my... ."

She leaned up on her toes and nudged his neck with her nose.

His eyes flashed, wolf surging for a split-second.

Zoran stumbled back like he needed distance to breathe. "Leave the citadel."

"No."

"Miss Haldrith... "

"No," she repeated, smiling and giving him a seductive wink. "You keep running away and I keep chasing... I'm enjoying myself."

He stared at her, chest rising and falling too fast for someone supposedly calm.

"And you know what, Zoran?" she added, tilting her head, voice dropping to a seductive whisper. "I'm not stopping until you break that vow."

Zoran shut his eyes like her words physically hit him. He turned away, one hand gripping the edge of the altar as if anchoring himself to something real.

"You should not tempt me," he said, his voice shaking slightly.

She walked past him, trailing her fingers across his shoulder. "I plan to do much worse."

He shuddered but it was barely noticeable.

Naelis strode to the door, pausing only once to glance back. Zoran stood frozen in the center of the chamber, fists clenched, and chest heaving while murmuring some kind of cleansing chant.

She smiled wickedly and triumphantly.

"See you tomorrow, Monk "