The dawn is pale, almost timid.
The cold wind bites the skin.
The trees of Bois-Gris tremble, tense.
Lunaya pulls her coat tighter around her.
Kael is already there.
He isn't waiting for her.
He is... watching her.
His golden eyes shine in the morning light.
Not wild.
Not threatening.
Just...
deeply attentive.
"You came," he says.
"I chose," she replies softly.
He looks away, his ears reddening.
"I know.
But I was afraid that...
that you would regret it."
She shakes her head.
"I don't regret it."
Kael takes a long breath, as if her words pierced his chest.
Then he recovers.
"Very well.
Training begins.
But...
not like the dragons.
Nor like the felines.
He steps forward, stopping at a dangerously close distance.
With me...
it is the heart that we test.
And the heart...
never lies."
I. The Breath Link
Kael takes her to a circle of stones.
A quiet space.
Isolated.
Sacred to the Moonfang Wolves.
"Sit down," he says, kneeling in front of her.
She obeys.
He breathes slowly.
Very slowly.
And she understands that she must imitate him.
They breathe together.
Their breaths synchronize naturally.
Kael frowns slightly.
"This... shouldn't be so easy."
"What?"
"You follow my rhythm without hesitation.
As if...
you already knew it."
Lunaya blushes despite herself.
"Maybe I... listen to you better than I think I do."
Kael's heart skips a beat.
She sees it in his eyes.
He swallows hard.
"Lunaya...
if you keep saying things like that...
I can't be responsible for myself."
She looks down.
Her own heart is beating too fast.
The breath.
The silence.
The connection.
Something pulsed between them.
Stronger than yesterday.
Clearer.
"Close your eyes," Kael said softly.
She obeyed.
He placed his hand near hers, without touching it.
Their fingers... brushed against each other.
And the air changed.
A warmth wraps around her chest.
A familiar feeling.
An echo.
Kael whispers:
"Lunaya...
Do you feel that?"
"Yes."
"You're the one causing it."
She opens her eyes suddenly.
"What?"
Kael looks at her with a mixture of fear and admiration.
"The resonance of the heart.
It responds... to me.
To...
to you and me, together."
She holds her breath.
"Is it... dangerous?"
Kael thinks.
For a long time.
"For you?
No.
For me?
Probably."
"Kael..."
"Because if this bond grows any stronger...
I won't be able to hold back when Dravik provokes you.
Or when Sahr talks to you the way he does.
He clenches his teeth.
I'll become... possessive.
And a possessive wolf...
is a problem."
Lunaya shivers.
"Then why are you agreeing to train me?"
He moves closer to her.
Very close.
Too close.
His forehead almost touches hers.
"Because I'm afraid someone else will touch you before I do.
And...
because I want to be the first one to understand you."
She feels her heart explode.
Kael steps back hastily, troubled by his own frankness.
"Forget it.
Let's continue.
Okay?"
But she doesn't forget anything.
Every word is engraved in her mind.
II. What the Wolf Tries to Hide
"Let's move on to the second step, Kael says, trying to pull himself together.
Emotional control."
She nods.
"What do I have to do?"
He hesitates.
His eyes turn a little more golden.
"I have to... provoke you."
She smiles, amused.
"You're already very good at that."
He almost chokes.
"Th-that's not what I meant!"
"I know."
She gives him a playful look.
Kael freezes completely.
"Lunaya...
don't do that."
"What?"
"Look at me like that.
You're going to
no, never mind."
"Kael."
He sighs.
"You're going to bring out the instinct.
My wolf."
"So what?"
He stares at her, shocked.
"You want me to lose control?"
She looks calmly into his eyes.
"No.
I want...
to see who you really are."
Kael blinks.
Once, twice.
He takes a step back, breathing shakily.
"Okay, he whispers.
You'll get it."
He closes his eyes.
A golden aura spreads around him.
An animalistic breath.
A raw instinct.
He opens them again.
They are no longer Kael's eyes.
They are the eyes of a wolf.
Lunaya is not afraid.
She moves forward slowly until she is within reach of him.
"Kael... is that you?"
Her voice trembles.
Not with fear.
With something else.
He whispers, his voice deep, almost double:
"Yes.
And no."
He approaches.
His breath caresses her skin.
"Do you want to see who I really am?"
"Yes."
"Then don't back away."
She stays where she is.
He smiles, slowly.
A predatory smile.
"Good girl."
His tone sends an electric shock through her chest.
He stops a few inches away, trapped by the bond.
"You're not afraid of me."
"No."
"You should be."
"Maybe.
But I don't want to be."
The wolf inside him growls softly...
as if those words had finished him off.
Then
He reaches out his hand.
Hesitates.
Touches her.
Just with his fingertips.
A touch.
A shiver.
A wave of Resonance bursts between them, stronger than any before.
Kael gasps.
So does Lunaya.
"L-Lunaya..."
"Step back...
Please.
I can't hold on any longer..."
She squeezes his hand in hers.
"Then don't hold on."
He closes his eyes.
A sound escapes his throat.
Half-human, half-wolf.
"You're going to kill me," he whispers.
"Or save you."
And the Resonance explodes into the air...