A loud knock shattered the tension next!
A couple of guards stepped in, breathless. "Forgive the interruption . But Alpha Kieran requested Luna Lyla’s presence. Immediately."
Lyla reached up, her fingers a little unsteady, and slowly peeled the blindfold from her eyes.
The fabric slipped away, and the dimly lit room swam back into view...pillows and feathers scattered across the floor like the aftermath of a festival gone rogue( which had in fact) .
The scent of wine and crushed tarts lingered in the air.
But Lyla’s attention did not go to the chaos.
It went straight to the doorway.
And the scene framed there was like a painting.
The laughter had died.Time stilled. Breath caught in every throat.
Lyla pulled down the rest of the blindfold, blinking as her vision cleared,her gaze adjusting forward...
Alpha Kieran stood in the doorway, tall and broad, his presence swallowing the space like a storm cloud spilling into sunlight. His coat was disheveled, his dark hair tousled by the wind. And in his arms...
Autumn was cradled against him.
The hem of her dress had tangled at her knees, her legs unsure. Her head had turned instinctively towards the solid wall of his chest, even though her eyes were still blindfolded. One of her hands...splayed, tentative...was curled into the front of his coat, as though it had found familiarity before her mind could even catch up.
Kieran wasn’t looking at anyone else.
His eyes were fixed entirely on her...pressed against his chest.
The other of Autumn’s hands clutched instinctively at her stomach. Her fingers trembled against it. She wasn’t moving. She didn’t need to see. She knew where she was...and she looked quite...comfortable.
Everyone else had gone completely cold. No one even dared to breathe, forget uttering a word!
Kieran’s facial expression was unreadable... but the look in his eyes...swear by the Moon, it wasn’t soft. It wasn’t tender. It was...raw. Undeniable. A kind of storm eyed gravity that bent the air around them.
No one dared interrupt what they were witnessing...even the guards who had accompanied Kieran.
Lyla’s lips parted, her heart strangely tripping against her ribs. She didn’t move.
Autumn didn’t speak either. But the way she tensed...like she for certain, knew exactly who it was holding her.
Kieran’s jaw was tight. His hand, still holding her waist, flexed once... but didn’t let go. He could have stepped back.But he did not.
Then, with disarming gentleness, he reached up and tugged the blindfold away from her eyes... slow... Very subtly.
Autumn’s chest was already rising and falling too fast. Her breath hitched the moment the fabric slipped away, lashes fluttering, the world tilting sharply into clear forms.
And her entire body flinched.
She recoiled as if she had touched fire. .
A strangled sound tore from her throat as she stumbled backward, footing unsure.
The air left her lungs in a rush.Like she had been stabbed with her own heartbeat.
Kieran did not blink.
But then her feet slipped over a half trampled cushion.
"Wait..." Lyla called out as if instinctively, already surging forward.
Kieran moved too...lightning fast.
The two of them caught her at the same time, arms on either side of her. One strong. One steady. But neither of them said a word at first.
For a moment... they just looked at each other.
Autumn, caught between them, stared down at her trembling hands.
Then Kieran looked at Lyla.
Lyla looked at Autumn.
Autumn looked anywhere but at either of them.
The tension was a thread pulled so tight it could slice skin. None of them moved.
Then,Autumn wrenched herself free.
Kieran let go this time...abruptly. Coldly. As if her skin had burned him this time.
He turned to Lyla, jaw clenched.
"Your father just called," he said, voice sharper than before. "He is furious. Extremely angry!Asked me to bring you back immediately.He said he was already on his way!"
He looked at Lyla, searching. " Do you know why that might be? "
Lyla innocently shook her head!
His gaze softened just enough to add, "Did you forget your medicine again?"
Lyla blinked, snapped from the trance of moments ago. "Wait, what? What the..." Then her eyes widened. She slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm.
"Oh... Damn.How could I forget..."
Autumn took a few careful steps back, her fingers curled tight around the back of a chair as she moved. " I... I will get out of the way... "
But Lyla turned too quickly...perhaps out of guilt, or to escape the pressure in the room...but her foot slipped on the mess of spilled food and satin cushions as well. Her arms flailed.
She would have face planted.
But Kieran caught her too. His arms locked around her wrists, his grip strong and unyielding.
The room held its breath.It had been too long since anybody had breathed properly actually.
Lyla looked up at him, stunned. Her fingers clung to his sleeves. "Thank you."
He just bent slightly, adjusted his grip, and then without ceremony, picked her up.
"Wait! Alpha...I can walk..." she started.
"No time! I am...we are getting late. Besides, you are sick...You might slip again."
Lyla gave out a small gasp, arms instinctively wrapping around his shoulders. "You could have just helped me walk, you know."
"I said it’s getting late, didn’t I? " he replied flatly, almost stomping forward like her weight didn’t even matter ( it didn’t, she was a frail little thing anyway).
And walked out through the corridor.
Autumn stood rooted to the spot.
Did not even seem to notice the others staring.
Only after the door clicked shut did her body remember how to breathe. She swayed slightly and clutched the back of the chair harder.
A few feathers floated gently to the ground.
The grandfather clock in the corner let out a loud clang...followed by another.
The pendulum swung in a solemn rhythm.
The clock struck exactly twelve.
It was finally midnight.
Serra was the first to speak, "...Well. That escalated."
Autumn did not speak. Her eyes were still on the door...wide...awake.